By KWMU staff
St. Louis – Engineers say they've found an "urgent" problem with a Metro East levee.
The Post-Dispatch reported Thursday that there is no imminent threat, but a failure of the 60-year-old levee during a Mississippi River flood would cause major damage in Alton, East Alton and Wood River.
In July, the Army Corps of Engineers discovered a number of sand boils in a wetland east of the levee, which have since worsened. This bubbling up of water and soil indicates that water is seeping under the levee. And if too much soil is washed away, the levee could break.
The Corps said engineers do not know the extent of the problem since the area was not routinely monitored.
However they do say it's likely cause is an increase in water pressure caused by the Melvin Price Lock and Dam - which was built in 1990.
Repairs to the levee would be funded by the federal government, but the Corps would have to go to Congress to get funding.