Nationwide, the Corps received $1.72 billion from the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2012, which was signed by President Obama Dec. 23. Of that, $55 million of an overall $534 million dedication for operation and maintenance of inland waterway systems nationwide was directed to the Lower Mississippi River to restore the channel from Baton Rouge to the Head of Passes at the mouth of the River.
“This is tremendous news not only for the Port of New Orleans and the local maritime community, but for the growers, producers and manufacturers in the 32 states that depend on the Lower Mississippi River to get their goods to global markets,” said Gary LaGrange, the Port’s President and CEO.
The Louisiana delegation in both the House and Senate worked tirelessly in a bi-partisan fashion to secure the additional funds, which brings the Corps’ budget for operation and maintenance on the Lower Mississippi River to more than $126 million this year, including the Corps’ original $72.6 million budget for the waterway. Over the last decade, the average cost to maintain the Lower Mississippi River is about $104 million.
“The entire Louisiana delegation is to be commended for their efforts to secure the money necessary to fully restore the Lower Mississippi River’s channel to its full dimensions,” LaGrange said. “The River serves more than two-thirds of the nation’s consumers and moves about 450 million tons of international cargo worth about $114 billion annually.”
That cargo consists of two-thirds of the U.S. grain exports and is vital to other commodities, such as export coal, petroleum products, and U.S. refining capacity – along with cargo activity at the Port of New Orleans.
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander – both members of their respective chambers’ Appropriations Committee, were instrumental in securing the additional funding. However, all members of the delegation, including: Sen. David Vitter, Rep. Cedric Richmond, Rep. Steve Scalise, Rep. Charles Boustany, Rep. Bill Cassidy, Rep. John Flemming and Rep. Jeff Landry were supportive of the efforts.
The Congressionally authorized dimension of the River’s shipping channel is 750 feet wide by 45 feet deep. This week, 42-foot draft restrictions were placed at Southwest Pass, the main channel for ships entering the River. Also, the channel’s width has deteriorated since the high river levels of 2011 to less than 150 feet wide in some sections of the channel.
The Corps’ dredge Wheeler arrived at Southwest Pass Wednesday to begin dredging operations and the additional funds will allow the Corps to hire private dredges to begin work shortly on areas near the mouth of the River and on crossings between Baton Rouge and New Orleans where shoaling is a concern.
While the immediate efforts have been focused on obtaining additional funding to maintain the River for the current fiscal year, Port officials have worked closely with the Louisiana delegation to reform the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which places a .125 percent tax on imports arriving at U.S. ports to maintain federal waterways. In a typical year, only 50 percent to 60 percent of the funds generated by the tax are spent on dredging and related harbor maintenance expenses nationwide. The rest of the proceeds are not being spent for their intended purpose. The Port and maritime stakeholders are supportive of HR 104 by Rep. Boustany, called the Realizing America’s Maritime Promise Act, or RAMP Act. The legislation essentially ensures that amounts credited to the HMTF are used for harbor maintenance.
