Weekly News Summary For May 8-14, 2006:
Senators, Farmers, Laborers Rally For Action On WRDA
A rally on Capitol Hill May 2 brought together a group of senators and farm and labor representatives pleading with Senate leaders to schedule floor action on the Water Resources Development Act of 2005.
Despite the reluctance of Senate leaders to call up the bill approved last year by the full House and by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, supporters of the authorizing legislation remained hopeful that the Senate would schedule debate and pass the bill this year, possibly this month.
The measure (H.R. 2864 and S. 728) would authorize nearly $4 billion for increased lock and dam capacity and an improved ecosystem on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Specifically, the bill includes $1.8 billion for the construction of seven new 1,200-foot locks on the Upper Mississippi and at LaGrange Lock and Peoria Lock on the Illinois Waterway; $1.58 billion for ecosystem restoration, and $235 million for small-scale and non-structural improvements, such as traffic management and boats that push the barges through locks faster.
At the gathering hosted by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, said if the country does not invest in infrastructure for the next generation, “we will have a transportation straitjacket on our economy.”…
River activity in the Port of Pittsburgh district increased 23 percent during the first quarter of the year, with lockages on both the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers exceeding totals higher than any quarter since 2002, the Port of Pittsburgh Commission announced last week.
According to James R. McCarville, executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, “Our analysis told us that traffic through the port would likely be increasing during 2006, and we are heartened to have exceeded 2002 first quarter levels—which was a record year for the port,” said James R. McCarville, executive director of the commission.
McCarville noted that coal traffic was up at both Emsworth and Dashields Locks by nearly 30 percent and more than 15 percent at Montgomery Lock.
“This is a good news/bad news story,” he said. “We’re delighted that traffic is up, but these are already the busiest and the smallest locks within the Port of Pittsburgh and yet they are the oldest—between 70 and 87 years old.”
The three locks have chambers that measure just 600 by 110 feet, half the standard 1,200- by 110-foot size of main chambers along the remainder of the Ohio River. Modern tows—15 barges plus the towboat—are 1,200 feet long, and they must be split up to transit the locks….
Ergon Ethanol Inc., Jackson, Miss., and Bunge North America Inc, St. Louis, signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture to build an ethanol plant with an annual capacity of at least 60 million gallons in the state of Mississippi.
Jim Temple, director of communications for Ergon, said the exact location of the plant is yet to be determined, but it will be located somewhere in Vicksburg. He said the logistical transportation plans are unknown at this point.
The state-of-the-art facility will provide a key link between Bunge’s grain handling facilities in Mississippi and Louisiana and Ergon’s petroleum refining assets….
The Army Corps of Engineers announced that it intends to release a “spring pulse” from the system of Missouri reservoirs to promote spawning of the endangered pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River but not until later this month.
There is currently nearly 38 million acre-feet of water stored in the reservoirs. Even though this is above the storage preclude for the pulse, there are other factors that weigh in the decision on the timing of the pulse. These include the temperature of the water below Gavins Point, current and forecasted downstream river flows and actual and forecasted precipitation. Because of these factors, and in accordance with the Corps’ master water control manual and 2006 annual operating plan, the pulse will be delayed until later in May.
“The Corps is committed to complying with the Endangered Species Act to protect and recover the pallid sturgeon while continuing to serve the other authorized purposes, especially flood prevention,” said Brig. Gen. Gregg Martin, Northwestern Division commander, in a statement. “The Corps worked closely with the Fish and Wildlife Service, basin tribes and stakeholders to develop a plan for spring pulses that benefits the fish with the least possible impact to other users of the river and reservoirs….”
Capt. Tom Echols is now semi-retired after 55 years in the inland towing business and has seen a lot of changes in the industry. What impresses him most is not that tows have gotten larger; it’s the paperwork that has increased.
He also sees crewing boats as a looming problem, although he says most of his crewmen have been with him more than 10 years and he encourages them to constantly upgrade their certification.
Had it not been for his son and daughter joining him in the business, he said he probably would have retired by now, a victim of excessive regulations. But he stays on to help out.
In fact, he just finished three days crewing on a boat, filling in for a crewman who was attending a licensing school.
Capt. Tom is 75 years young.
He says he got his start as a deckhand when a relative helped him land a job with Bacon Towing Company in 1951, after he got out of the Army. After three years, he left to try working as a roofer, but he did not like the heat and cold and, with not enough work, “I like to starved to death.”
So he returned to Bacon Towing in 1955 for the steady paycheck, knowing it was work he really liked. By 1957 he was in the wheelhouse full-time.
For 22 years he worked for Bacon, hauling sulfuric acid from Houston to Baton Rouge and also doing a lot of harbor work around Houston. When he had a run-in with a port captain, he knew it was time to take a chance to start his own company….
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