Army Corps Officials Push Growth Plan

The military commanders of the Army Corps of Engineers have launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to boost the agency’s $4-billion civil works budget by more than 50%, at a time when the Clinton administration is publicly questioning the agency’s traditional agenda of major water projects. The Army Corps has been strongly criticized for wasteful and environmentally damaging construction, even by some of its own leaders. Nevertheless, the Corps’ military command recently developed a remarkably detailed “Program Growth Initiative” in a series of internal meetings and documents.