Barge industry warns of crippling water woes on Mississippi River

[Sherman A1]

ST. LOUIS • Barge industry leaders on Friday renewed their warnings of far-reaching economic losses in the Midwest if water levels on the Mississippi River continue to drop to levels that disrupt shipping.

Severe drought conditions coupled with the reduced flows expected from the upper Missouri River later this month have prompted the American Waterway Operators and the Waterways Council to warn that river commerce could come to a standstill by early December.

“Slowing down or severing the country’s inland waterway superhighway would imperil the shipment of critical cargo for export, significantly delay products needed for domestic use, threaten manufacturing production and power generation, and negatively impact jobs up and down the river,” said Craig Philip, chief executive officer at Ingram Barge Co., based in Nashville, Tenn.

Philip and other industry officials spoke during a Friday morning news conference in St. Louis, alongside Maj. Gen. John W. Peabody, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Rear Adm. Roy A. Nash, commander of the Coast Guard’s 8th District.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/609d1e7f-70de-513d-a90e-cfc7d1aaef2c.html

[kooljerk666]

1. one more reason to invest in electric rail..................

The weather ain't gettin better in our lifetimes or even the next several generations..................

Note Rails can replace river traffic easy......................



http://steelinterstate.org/topics/stimulating-rural-economies-and-small-metro-areas

[RC]

2. I have only read a small part of their site, but

it sounds good.
Think of the jobs this will generate. And the spin-off jobs. And the spin-offs of the spin-offs...

[kooljerk666]

3. Shutting down flow in Missouri River as of now............

going from 37k CFS (cubic feet per sec) to 35k to 12k cfs by dec 31 2012.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/23/drought-river-shipping/1723457/

Barges carry 20 percent of the country's coal and more than 60 percent of its grain exports. Other cargo, including petroleum products, lumber, sand, industrial chemicals and fertilizer, also gets shipped along the Mississippi River.

Barge operators and those who ship on the Mississippi have warned that a shutdown would have disastrous economic consequences on those industries, with companies laying off workers if it lasts for any significant amount of time.

River shipping trade groups have even asked President Barack Obama to intervene.

"This is a pending economic emergency," said Ann McCulloch, director of public affairs for the American Waterways Operators.

Pending economic emergency huh??? caused by what???
One good part is coal shipping is screwed, no matter where that crap is burned the carbon effects the whole planet.