High waters stop traffic

By Donna Hales
Phoenix Staff Writer

April 20, 2008 09:11 pm

— Those using the Oklahoma side of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation System are losing a minimum of $1.25 million per day because barges can’t navigate rushing, rain-swollen rivers, officials said.
The loss could be twice that amount because about half of those queried in a survey recently didn’t participate, said Muskogee City-County Port Authority Director Scott Robinson.
Flows in the river several weeks ago were 180,000 cubic feet per second — while the average is 8,000 cubic feet per second, Robinson said. Thursday, the flow was 95,550 feet per cubic second, he said.
The elevation of the river has been averaging 497 feet recently, which is at least 7 feet higher than normal, he said.
“The river has been out of control,” said Steve Taylor, vice president of Johnston’s Port 323, Inc., which manages the port facility for the Muskogee City-County Port Authority.
That has been the trend as rain storms move across the country. And that means losses to local shippers, he said.
“We’re having one of the worst experiences riverwide in a long, long time,” Taylor said. “It’s the worst maybe since 1986 on the river, as far as moving cargo. There’s very little control steering barges downstream.”
Johnston’s has been losing $250,000 each month but is paying its 30 employees at the Muskogee port, Taylor said.
“It’s just killing us — it’s devastating,” he said.
“Customers are having to find alternative loads. This is an extreme situation. It’s generally not this bad on the Arkansas (River).”
Even if the rains stop, river traffic won’t be up and moving until after May 1, he said.
Rosedale, Miss., is the transfer station where hundreds of barges are trapped right now, Robinson said.
A tow will only move about 16 barges at a time, so if service were to start tomorrow, that doesn’t mean your barge will move, Robinson said. Twenty steel coil barges are on the river right now that need to be in Muskogee.
“If you use $1,000 as the value of a ton of steel — you’ve got $30 million worth of steel you’ve paid for that you need — and it’s not here,” Robinson said.
Port records show that steel accounts for 29 percent of the tonnage at the Port of Muskogee.
Asphalt barges in Pine Bluff (Ark.) that can’t move need to be in Muskogee, Robinson said. Quality Liquid Feed has molasses barges tied up and waiting at Rosedale, so they are having to truck and rail molasses to the port here, he said.
“They have to have molasses or stop production,” Robinson said.
There are many costs to having barges stuck along the way, Robinson said.
Companies with loaded barges on the river that can’t move are charged a demurrage penalty, or lease fee, Robinson said.
“Quality Liquid Feed has been paying it for several weeks now,” he said.
Paragon Industries has had to unload barges already loaded and truck the contents to Memphis, Tenn., Robinson said. That’s added expense.
Water transport is cheaper than rail or truck, Robinson said.
“Everybody is anxious for the river to get back in operation,” he said.
Flooding along the Arkansas, Verdigris and Grand rivers and all along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, including the McClellan-Kerr, are in the same shape now, Robinson said.
Barges of Dal-Tile raw materials, including feldspar from Turkey and clay from Ukraine, make up 21 percent of the Port of Muskogee’s inbound barge business, he said. Some of those raw products were shipped to New Orleans and then loaded on barges.
When much of the material arrives here, it is stockpiled at the port and delivered to the tile plant when needed, Robinson said. Stockpiles are lower than usual.
Barge tonnage for the Muskogee port was higher in 2007 than any other year, port records show.
“The future looks very bright for waterborne transportation — which is very good for the Port of Muskogee,” Robinson said.
Reach Donna Hales at 918-684-2923 or Click Here to Send Email

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