Posted:
March 18, 2011
The fiscal year 2012 budget request from the White House seeks to slash funding for Great Lakes dredging by 32 percent, a proposal that has the Great Lakes shipping industry declaring a state of emergency.
The administration's proposed appropriation for Lakes dredging next year would remove the smallest amount of sediment since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started keeping records more than half a century ago. As a result, only 11 of the 83 U.S ports on the Great Lakes would be dredged.
"What was a dredging crisis is now a state of emergency for each of the eight Great Lakes states," said John Baker, president of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force. "At this funding level, the Corps won't be able to dredge even half of the sediment that builds up each year. If this proposed dredging budget is implemented, ports will close and cargo will either shift to modes of transportation that burn more fuel and produce more emissions than vessels, or production will be moved to other regions of the country or even overseas.
"Never in my 51 years in this industry have I seen such a total abandonment of the federal government's responsibility to maintain the Great Lakes Navigation System," Baker said. "Cargo movement on the Fourth Sea Coast can top 200 million tons per year, yet the federal government is turning its back on us."
The Great Lakes are shouldering a disproportionate share of the nationwide decrease in federal dredging funds under the proposed budget for fiscal year 2012, Baker said. "Why? The Great Lakes basin is America's industrial heartland, and these waters are our link to overseas markets via the St. Lawrence Seaway, but we are being treated like second-class citizens."
Adding insult to injury is the fact the government can fully fund dredging on the Lakes and across the nation without raising taxes or borrowing. "The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), which is the depository for tax dollars levied on waterborne commerce, has a surplus of $5.65 billion," said Don Cree, 2nd vice president of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force. "We all recognize the need for the federal government to balance the budget, but there is no reason to further reduce spending dredging dollars, which were to be held in trust. The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund has a surplus precisely because it already doesn't spend what it should on dredging."
Bills have been introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate to require the HMTF to spend what it takes in each year - about $1.6 billion, Cree noted.
"H.R. 104 has 50 cosponsors and S. 412 has 14. We urge those Great Lakes legislators who have yet to cosponsor these bills to do so as quickly as possible and avert an economic catastrophe," he said. "Adequate funding, in this case a $200 million appropriation, or 3.5 percent of the HMTF surplus, restores the Great Lakes Navigation System to project dimensions."
Approximately 3.5 million cubic yards of sediment build up in Great Lakes ports and waterways each year. Funding for dredging has been inadequate for many years and 15.5 million cubic yards of sediment already clog the system. Consequently, thousands of tons of cargo are left behind each time a vessel leaves port. The administration's budget proposal would only dredge 1.6 million cubic yards next year, so the backlog will balloon to more than 17 million cubic yards unless Congress authorizes adequate funding.
FY 2012 budget proposal sets state of emergency for Great Lakes shipping
The fiscal year 2012 budget request from the White House seeks to slash funding for Great Lakes dredging by 32 percent, a proposal that has the Great Lakes shipping industry declaring a state of emergency.
The administration's proposed appropriation for Lakes dredging next year would remove the smallest amount of sediment since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started keeping records more than half a century ago. As a result, only 11 of the 83 U.S ports on the Great Lakes would be dredged.
"What was a dredging crisis is now a state of emergency for each of the eight Great Lakes states," said John Baker, president of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force. "At this funding level, the Corps won't be able to dredge even half of the sediment that builds up each year. If this proposed dredging budget is implemented, ports will close and cargo will either shift to modes of transportation that burn more fuel and produce more emissions than vessels, or production will be moved to other regions of the country or even overseas.
"Never in my 51 years in this industry have I seen such a total abandonment of the federal government's responsibility to maintain the Great Lakes Navigation System," Baker said. "Cargo movement on the Fourth Sea Coast can top 200 million tons per year, yet the federal government is turning its back on us."
The Great Lakes are shouldering a disproportionate share of the nationwide decrease in federal dredging funds under the proposed budget for fiscal year 2012, Baker said. "Why? The Great Lakes basin is America's industrial heartland, and these waters are our link to overseas markets via the St. Lawrence Seaway, but we are being treated like second-class citizens."
Adding insult to injury is the fact the government can fully fund dredging on the Lakes and across the nation without raising taxes or borrowing. "The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), which is the depository for tax dollars levied on waterborne commerce, has a surplus of $5.65 billion," said Don Cree, 2nd vice president of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force. "We all recognize the need for the federal government to balance the budget, but there is no reason to further reduce spending dredging dollars, which were to be held in trust. The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund has a surplus precisely because it already doesn't spend what it should on dredging."
Bills have been introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate to require the HMTF to spend what it takes in each year - about $1.6 billion, Cree noted.
"H.R. 104 has 50 cosponsors and S. 412 has 14. We urge those Great Lakes legislators who have yet to cosponsor these bills to do so as quickly as possible and avert an economic catastrophe," he said. "Adequate funding, in this case a $200 million appropriation, or 3.5 percent of the HMTF surplus, restores the Great Lakes Navigation System to project dimensions."
Approximately 3.5 million cubic yards of sediment build up in Great Lakes ports and waterways each year. Funding for dredging has been inadequate for many years and 15.5 million cubic yards of sediment already clog the system. Consequently, thousands of tons of cargo are left behind each time a vessel leaves port. The administration's budget proposal would only dredge 1.6 million cubic yards next year, so the backlog will balloon to more than 17 million cubic yards unless Congress authorizes adequate funding.