Posted on August 16, 2016
Delays caused by congestion in the Port of Ogdensburg can cost shipping companies $10,000 per day.
The dock can handle only one ship at a time. Additional problems are caused by the fact that the port has not been dredged in more than 30 years.
U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., wants to see these issues rectified. He is seeking federal funds so that upgrades at the port will be made. He was in Ogdensburg two weeks ago to discuss his plans.
Mr. Schumer “is urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide dredge funding through the Army’s Civil Works Continuing Authorities Program,” according to an Aug. 3 story in the Watertown Daily Times. “The Corps is in the final stages of its feasibility study, and funding will need to be approved by the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works. According to the Corps, the second berth will need to be deepened to 27 feet with a channel width of 305 feet. The cost of the deepening project is around $7.3 million, and the federal government can provide $2.7 million. State Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, also procured a $200,000 member-item grant to help fund the project.”
It’s important to make these improvements to the port. It’s the only major shipping port on the St. Lawrence Seaway and the closest one to Europe. The shipping industry uses it to transport items such as salt, corn gluten, fertilizers and project cargo. But it hasn’t been dredged since 1984.
Mr. Schumer noted that the Corps has been underfunded, in part, as a result of sequestration. This has left necessary projects for the port undone.
If someone on Capitol Hill can provide the impetus to get things moving in the right direction on this issue, Mr. Schumer can. We urge his colleagues in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to identify the funding necessary to see that these projects are completed. Dredging the port and opening up additional shipping lanes will relieve congestion, reduce industry expenses and boost the local economy.
Source: Watertown Daily Times
