JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Attorney General Chris Koster and a state agency are suing to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from destroying a levee in the Bootheel.
Koster says in a news release that he and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday asking a judge to stop the corps from intentionally breaching the levee at Birds Point in Mississippi County.
The corps believes breaking the levee will take a significant amount of water out of the river and relieve upstream pressure on the levee protecting the Illinois town of Cairo.
The decision on whether to detonate the levee is expected Tuesday afternoon.
Koster says the levee's destruction would cause flooding of up to 130,000 acres of land. Gov. Jay Nixon is also opposed to the corps' plans.