Barges that make their way up and down the Mississippi River carry more than $100 billion worth of goods every year. Any disruption has significant consequences for the U.S. economy.
“We move crude oil out of here, anhydrous ammonia, coal, all the grain products, all the farm products. So yeah, this is a pretty critical waterway," he said.
That critical waterway is the lifeblood of Marty Hettel’s AEP River Operations.
“We transport about 70-million tons of commodities on the inland waterways, with our approximately 3,250 barges," he said.
The place where Hettel is standing for this interview along the Mississippi River near St. Louis is usually submerged. He says that level will drop even further unless more water upstream is released.
“About 60 percent of the water you see behind us came off the Missouri River, so as the (Army) Corps (of Engineers) cuts back the flow from the Missouri River, of course our levels in St. Louis are going to fall out," he said.
But releasing more of that flow off the Missouri River is a politically and environmentally sensitive decision. Releasing more water upstream might be a quick fix to solve some problems downstream on the Mississippi, but it could impact future water levels throughout the system, particularly without a significant amount of precipitation in the coming weeks.
Hettel says the alternative could be just as bad.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25