River Shipping in Jeopardy —
There are conflicting forecasts, but the shipping channel on the lower Mississippi River could be lost in a matter of days. Others are reporting the river will be safe for barge traffic through most of January. Regardless, Waterways Council, Incorporated President and CEO Michael Toohey is asking the Army Corps of Engineers for two things. First of all, the trade group wants the Corps to quickly complete the excavation of rock pinnacles near Thebes, Illinois. "The second is to release Missouri River water," said Toohey, "What we're asking for is that they release about one percent of what they have in storage over a 90-day period and we feel that is not a major request, it is a small amount of water, but, so far, there's been no willingness to do that and they seem to be in the mode of waiting until an actual crisis occurs before they will respond." For agriculture, the river is used to ship grain south and bring fertilizer north. A river shutdown would be expensive, with a financial impact in the billions of dollars.
www.rrfn.com.
There are conflicting forecasts, but the shipping channel on the lower Mississippi River could be lost in a matter of days. Others are reporting the river will be safe for barge traffic through most of January. Regardless, Waterways Council, Incorporated President and CEO Michael Toohey is asking the Army Corps of Engineers for two things. First of all, the trade group wants the Corps to quickly complete the excavation of rock pinnacles near Thebes, Illinois. "The second is to release Missouri River water," said Toohey, "What we're asking for is that they release about one percent of what they have in storage over a 90-day period and we feel that is not a major request, it is a small amount of water, but, so far, there's been no willingness to do that and they seem to be in the mode of waiting until an actual crisis occurs before they will respond." For agriculture, the river is used to ship grain south and bring fertilizer north. A river shutdown would be expensive, with a financial impact in the billions of dollars.
www.rrfn.com.
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