Construction of 40B Halted

by Ima Phibber

There has been a ton of excitement about the new scenic byway, 40B, coming to The Valley. The SRVO broke the news about 40B in July, and you can read the story HERE. Construction workers broke ground last week on the much anticipated project, but work has been halted. A biologist has discovered what is believed to be a new species of water beetle in the Strong River. The US Fish and Wildlife Service along with the EPA have halted construction.

I was able to catch up with Styfel Prahgrez, the biologist that discovered the minnow. Prahgrez works with the left wing activist organization Anarchy for Animals located in San Francisco which does everything it can to stunt economic growth and progress under the guise of preserving nature and animal species. Prahgrez said, “When we heard about 40B, we knew we’d be sending someone from our headquarters in California down to The Valley to do what we could to keep this project from happening. We knew protests wouldn’t work here; these people won’t put up with that. It took me a few months, but I accomplished my goal.”

Prahgrez has discovered a new species of water beetle, and he has named it the Zigzagger water beetle. Prahgrez said, “I was wading in the Strong River one day a few weeks back, and I noticed a small water beetle that was swimming in a zig zag pattern. I found that very interesting, and I was able to collect 5 of the beetles. I observed them for a couple hours swimming in water, and they all constantly swam in a zig zag pattern. I did some research, and I talked with multiple coleopterists (biologists that study beetles). They all found that very interesting, so I sent them some videos and close up pictures of the beetles. I was told by a couple coleopterists that they didn’t recognize that beetle, and I might have found a new species. Sure enough, after some more digging, I had discovered a new beetle species. And, even more importantly, I stopped the construction of 40B! This is the best accomplishment of my life!”

Prahgrez immediately contacted the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the EPA, and they contacted local authorities and ordered the project to be halted. The discovery of the Zigzagger could have put 40B on hold for good or for a couple weeks; no one really knows at this point.

EPA spokesperson Pharr Lleft said, “We’re grateful Mr. Prahgrez made this discovery. Now, we’re going to study the Zigzagger and its impact on the Strong River Valley ecosystem. It’s a very fragile and diverse ecosystem, and we don’t want to alter it in any way. This could take weeks or months, but it’s really not clear at this point.”

Most Valleyans I talked with about this are not happy. Construction company owner Dert Pushar said, “I bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment for this job, and now they’re stopping construction before we’ve really gotten started. All this over a freakin water beetle! Really?! Are they gonna make my loan payments now? This is so ridiculous!”

A Valley resident I talked with said, “I can’t believe this. This is something that happens in California or New York; this is not supposed to happen in Mississippi and The Valley. Great! We found a new species of beetle, but no one cares. Has anyone even seen one of these beetles? How do we know this is not made up? Get on with 40B! We’re ready for 40B!”

No one knows how long construction will be paused, but the residents of The Valley are anxious to get construction going again as soon as possible. The SRVO will keep you updated on the situation with 40B.