NGFA Wants River Study Done and Modernizing Begun

August 31, 2000

The National Grain and Feed Association has urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete its study of the Upper Mississippi/Illinois River System and begin modernizing the locks and dams for the benefit of U.S. agriculture and the economic health of the region.

"The NGFA strongly supports the continued use of water transportation for the economic and environmental benefits that it provides," said James W. Keistler, merchandising manager for Twomey Co., Smithshire, IL. "Further delay in the modernization of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers will only increase project costs and threaten the economic viability of U.S. agriculture, family farmers and businesses in the region."

Keistler made the statements at a hearing conducted earlier this month by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which is conducting a study of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' economic analysis and feasibility study regarding proposed improvements systems of locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi-Illinois waterway.

Barge congestion caused by lock delays "results in increased (barge freight) rates that threaten our international competitiveness and diverts cargo to other less-environmentally friendly transportation modes," said Keistler, a member of the NGFA's Executive Committee and Waterborne Commerce Committee, and chairman of its Trade Rules Committee. "It appears more prudent from an economic and environmental standpoint to remove the congestion, avoid tows idling along the riverbanks and capture the economic and environmental efficiencies of water transportation."

Keistler told the NAS that empirical studies conducted by economists at the Universities of Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa State and Texas A&M, as well as the Allegheny Institute and Criton Corp., found that the benefits of modernizing the locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers are three times greater than estimated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"We do not oppose reasonable efforts to address environmental impacts of commercial and recreational use of the inland waterways," testified Keistler, who recently completed his second two-year term on the federal Inland Waterways Users Board. "Nevertheless, those who claim that other modes of transportation can offset the river tonnage at no increased cost, public safety risk or environmental damage are not being realistic. The economic reality is that the availability of competitive water transportation holds rail and truck costs in check. The environmental reality is that maintaining commercial barge transportation is a better alternative than increasing truck and rail traffic."