Weekly News Summary For May 1–7, 2006:
IRPT Leads Return To New Orleans
Emblazoned on the ball caps that Port of New Orleans gave to volunteers from Inland Rivers Ports and Terminals Inc., the words “Team Katrina” pretty well captured the theme of the group’s 2006 annual meeting held in New Orleans April 19–21.
Port Director Gary LaGrange handed out the hats to members of IRPT for their help in beautifying a FEMA trailer park that is currently home to about 85 port employees and their families. The trailers are set up near the Perry Street Wharf; workers planted bushes and flowers in a picnic area where the displaced families congregate for barbecues.
“We are very happy IRPT kept their conference in New Orleans and volunteered their valuable time to such a worthy cause,” LaGrange said. “Our employees who have been affected by the storm appreciate their thoughts and efforts.”
The volunteer effort was the idea of James McCarville, executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh, who noted the importance of the Port of New Orleans to America’s inland waterways, and said “We understand they have endured tough times in recent months and we wanted to help brighten their environment.”
Deirdre McGowan, executive director of IRPT, said the group as a whole “just wanted to do something nice for the port employees. They’ve been beaten up.”
In his opening remarks at the conference, IRPT president George Andres, general manager of the Kaskaskia (Ill.) Regional Port District, said the convention was one of the first meetings booked in New Orleans after the hurricane. For the Convention and Tourist Bureau volunteers who manned the registration desk, it was their first post-Katrina convention, he said. The meeting was held at the New Orleans Board of Trade building in downtown New Orleans.
Like LaGrange, numerous New Orleans officials expressed their gratitude to IRPT for coming to the hurricane-torn city, from Councilwoman Jackie Brechtel Clarkson, who thanked attendees profusely during her welcome address, to an emotional bus tour director, who lost her homes in the Lakeview area and Mississippi coast….
Citing higher rates in general and a greater use of the spot market, American Commercial Lines Inc., reported last week that its revenues for the first quarter of 2006 were $198 million, a 36 percent increase compared with the first quarter of 2005. Net income for the quarter was $11.1 million, or 36 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $6.2 million in the first quarter of last year.
“We are pleased with our results for the first quarter,” said Mark R. Holden, president and chief executive officer. “As previously announced, industry fundamentals continued to strengthen during the first quarter in both of our business segments, transportation and manufacturing. First quarter results benefited from very favorable operating conditions, stronger than normal freight demand and accelerating productivity gains within our manufacturing business.
“At the beginning of the year, we increased the portion of our transportation business which is sold on the spot market from approximately 20–25 percent in 2005 to approximately 30–35 percent in 2006. Our spot business is experiencing a favorable rate environment driven by demand during the first quarter and, therefore, more of our business benefited from this trend than in prior years.”…
Three Missouri River rulings by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were upheld after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider challenges in three appeals.
The Supreme Court upheld the Flood Control Act of 1944 that gives priority to navigation and flood control over other uses of the river by declining to hear the appeal made by North and South Dakota. The high court denied a writ of certiorari request by the states in response to an August ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Last month, the Supreme Court declined to hear North Dakota’s arguments in a second case appealing the lower court’s decision that the Corps didn’t violate state water pollution laws in managing the river.
The other appeals were by environmentalists or other similarly natured groups that challenged that the Corps should release less water to support navigation and the state of Nebraska, which challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s policy determination methods affecting federally protected species.
Paul Rohde, president of Midwest Area River Coalition 2000, said “flood control and navigation are once again laid out—no matter how many times they ask—as the two intended primary purposes of the Missouri River.” He added the other purposes created are a byproduct of the reservoir system….
After an extensive refurbishment, American Commercial Lines (ACL), Jeffersonville, Ind., rechristened the mv. Delmar Jaeger on April 12 in Harahan, La. It is the second of six ACL towboats slated to be refurbished in 2006; the first was the 10,500 hp. mv. Norb Whitlock (WJ April 10).
The nameboard is one of the only features on the boat that is the same as before.
“We stripped the entire boat,” said Butch Barras, director of maintenance for ACL.
The 80- by 30-foot vessel, surprisingly, has many of the same luxurious features as the mv. Norb Whitlock including satellite radio in every room, a flat-screen television in the galley and complete soundproofing. According to Barras, the noise level has been reduced by 25–30 decibels. The soundproofing, total blackout shades and individual Mitsubishi air conditioning units in each room are all a part of ACL’s efforts to maximize crew comfort.
The vessel is also 100 percent ready for wireless Internet. It is just a matter of time before a company steps up and provides the boats with Internet access, explained Barras.
Another remarkable feature of the vessel includes the rough oak flooring installed in the wheelhouse. Referring to the floor as “floating,” Barras said that it is softer than normal and more comfortable to the crews. The rough oak is the same flooring found in the plush galley of the mv. Norb Whitlock….
TransPORT (The Heart of Illinois Regional Port District) announced it will begin the redevelopment of its first port project on 80 acres of land that includes the 1-million-square-foot former Caterpillar foundry building located on more than 80 acres of land in Mapleton, Ill., just south of Peoria. The foundry was closed more than 20 years ago when Caterpillar opened a new foundry nearby.
The first phase of the site and facility redevelopment will begin thanks to a $300,000 grant from Caterpillar combined with a $250,000 Opportunity Returns grant from the state of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity secured by Sen. George Shadid.
“In order to promote a healthy and vibrant economy, we need to invest in efforts that support the redevelopment of underutilized sites that have great promise for future development and business investment. This port redevelopment project is an excellent example of a public-private collaboration that will lead to economic revitalization in a very important area of the state…” said Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, in a statement….
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