EPA announces completion of Columbus, Miss., ditch improvement project

Celebrating the completion of the Columbus, Mississippi, 14th Ave. Ditch Improvement Project (DIP), representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the Greenfield Environmental Multistate Trust, the City of Columbus and the Memphis Town Community Advisory Group attended a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday.

The area of 14th Ave. was plagued with flooding, causing road safety and containment migration concerns for the city and local residents. The 14th Ave. DIP remediated the roadway, which is now in a much better condition.

The project began in 2010 with intensive negotiations and coordination between different environmental, real estate, infrastructure and community stakeholders. Multistate Trust, which has an office at the site, began work excavating the ditch under a Superfund decision document in a way that allowed city contractors to create a concrete drainage ditch without exposure to contaminants. The existing ditch was filled and used to widen the avenue.

The project was a success story in interagency and inter-organization cooperation, require a high level of teamwork from the groups and communities involved.