House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter (TX-31) today demanded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rescind new regulations issued to homeowners on Lake Belton this week that require removal of all submersible pumps from the lake.
Carter has been working with Corps Region II officials since last November in a good faith effort to offer homeowners an alternative to submersible pumps before the Corps issued new regulations banning use of the pumps on Corps-managed area lakes. Carter was assured alternative water withdrawal methods would be identified before homeowners were ordered to remove submersible pumps, which have been in use on the lake for decades.
"I fully support efforts to improve safety on our public lakes," says Carter, "but we need to do so in reasonable ways that don't unnecessarily disrupt property owners. I thought we had reached agreement with the Corps on this issue, and I urge them to immediately withdraw their order to remove all submersible pumps to give homeowners adequate time to install Corps-approved replacement systems."
The former Texas judge says if the Corps fails to comply he will seek further remedies for affected property owners.
Source: http://carter.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=40&parentid=6§iontree=6,40&itemid=1304
