Cincinnati Enquirer, OH
04-12-06
River study flawed, groups say
Army Corps of Engineers proposes lock fixes
BY DAN KLEPAL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Two environmental groups accused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on
Tuesday of overestimating the amount of goods being moved up and down the
Ohio River in order to justify an expansion of the lock system, which could cost
taxpayers as much as $2 billion.
The corps is in the midst of a $51 million study that is looking at long-term
maintenance and expansion of the 20 locks along the 981-mile river from
Pittsburgh, Pa., to Cairo, Ill. Two projects - expansions of locks near Portsmouth,
Ohio, and Evansville, Ind., totaling more than $350 million - have been
authorized by Congress.
Rich Cogen, executive director of the Ohio River Foundation, said the projects
are unnecessary, and threaten the viability of the river's recreational uses in
places like Cincinnati. Losing recreational uses while increasing commercial
traffic will further damage important ecosystems, he said.
"It's astonishing that even in the face of increasing budget deficits, stagnating
river traffic growth and minimal support from the Bush administration that the
corps continues to recommend building these lock structures," Cogen said. "Ohio
River communities are interested in improving the condition of the river, so as to
make the river attractive places for growth and tourism.
"We're talking about a balance, but the corps continues an emphasis on
navigation investments to the detriment of the river communities."
The river was once called Belle Riviere, or "the beautiful river" by French
explorers. But now, it's more like a series of pools, with the depth of each
regulated by the 20 dams from start to finish that make the river a watery
superhighway that moves 275 million tons of goods every year.
The locks are mechanisms that move barges and other vessels through the
dams.
Army corps officials say they are dealing with an aging system that, in some
places, has been operating in the water for nearly 100 years.
Wes Walker, a regional economist for the agency, said the main channels of the
locks require closure about once a year for maintenance. That causes delays as
the shorter alternate channels are used to move barges through. The two
projects already authorized by Congress are to extend those alternate channels
and reduce delays.
"When you look at their earlier life, it was once every 10 years," he said of the
need to close the main channels. "These are happening pretty frequently now."
Walker also admitted that there has been a decline in the movement of coal
along the river. That was due to new environmental regulations in the 1990s that
led many coal-burning power plants to ship in low-sulfur coal from the west. The
corps is forecasting more coal movement on the river in coming years, he said,
because newer environmental regulations will force most power plants to install
pollution equipment that will allow those plants to burn coal that is higher in
sulfur.
"We expect plants to go back to buying coal that's local," he said.
The Ohio River Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation hired an
independent review of the corps proposals for the two alternate channels
projects, and found their justification flawed.
C. Phillip Baumel, emeritus professor at Iowa State University, compared
corps' estimates with actual barge traffic between 1990 and 2004.
He found an overestimation then, and says those errors will be repeated in the
new corps study. That's because the agency doesn't take into account trends in
coal production, coal exports and the availability of rail and truck transportation.
Corps officials defended their methodology of forecasting future barge traffic.
"The intent of the study is to identify the long-term priorities for maintaining a
viable navigation system," said project manager Veronica Rife. "The study is
looking at when those items should be repaired or replaced. The mistakes (in
forecasting) we made in the past have helped shape our new projections."