The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study to justify the expansion of locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi is too flawed and incomplete to support the $1.2 billion project, according to a new report by independent economists.

The economists reviewed the Corps' seven-year study that attempts to evaluate the economic benefits, and the financial and environmental costs of lock expansion.

The proposed lock expansion would benefit agribusiness, but help farmers only marginally and cost taxpayers dearly.

The $54 million Corps study also overlooks current available data, uses outdated information, and makes methodological errors. The economists claim that the Corps work is so unscientific that it raises suspicions that officials were actively seeking results that would justify expansion.

The economists went further, saying that such a large amount of taxpayer money should have to be supported with a clear understanding of the costs and benefits and that current research doesn't justify that type of expenditure.

Supporters of the proposed expansion say the project is necessary to ease river traffic and help farmers compete in a global marketplace.

The economists denied these claims, noting that, the Corps barge traffic projections are based on economic assumptions that are inconsistent with recent trends in agricultural exports.

The study is released in a climate of growing skepticism about the Corps' economics. Two Corps economists recently signed affidavits that they were pressured to manipulate a study to justify an expansion of the lock and dam system on the Upper Mississippi. One of the whistle blowers, Richard Manguno, recently provided testimony to Congress stating that he was ordered to alter figures to arrive at the desired result.

But, as criticism builds against the Corps for tampering with economic studies to green-light new construction projects and for having a secret plan to grow the agency's budget by billions of dollars, some Senators are trying to protect the Corps of Engineers from reform.

Last week, Senator Domenici (R-NM) tacked a rider onto the agriculture spending bill that would immunize the controversial agency by not allowing any federal funds to be spent on reforming the Corps.

This type of rider is bad for democracy, but it is not surprising considering the Corps' gravy train of pork barrel projects that Members of Congress have ridden for decades.

Taxpayers hate to see their hard-earned tax dollars flushed down the drain. At the very least, Americans deserve an independent economic study of the Upper Mississippi project and other boondoggles.