Port authority secures flood mitigation grant

Muskogee Phoenix (OK)

Jul. 18--Muskogee City-County Port Authority secured a $4.9 million grant for a levee construction and site elevation project to mitigate risks of future flooding at the inland port along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.

The Port of Muskogee sustained significant damage in 2019, when much of it was inundated by near historic flooding that shuttered some businesses for weeks and damaged rail infrastructure. The Economic Development Administration grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce will be used to protect businesses located at the port from future flooding events.

Kimbra Scott, communications and public affairs manager for the port authority, said the grant "will be used to raise the elevation of two existing undeveloped industrial sites" and construct "a levee around the north end of the port." The $7.2 million project will require a local match of $1.65 million, which she said will come from "non-federal cost-share partners, including Vallourec and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce."

This will "protect investments and jobs, both public and private which will suffer impacts from future floods, if not protected," Scott said. "We are still working with a couple of cost share partners not referenced."

The project was made possible by regional planning led by the Eastern Oklahoma Development District and the combined efforts of the public and private sectors, creating an economic development roadmap intended to strengthen the regional economy. Funding was made available through a 2019 supplemental appropriations package for disaster aid.

The EDA identified opportunity zone-related projects as priority investments that same year. The port is located within one of Oklahoma's 117 designated opportunity zones.

In a media release announcing the award, U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, who is competing this year for a fifth congressional term, said the "investment will make long overdue improvements to help protect the area from floods." U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who also is campaigning for re-election, said he is "continually proud of local, state and federal cooperation that brings needed federal investment to Oklahoma's infrastructure and leads to economic expansion and job growth."