BRUNSWICK, Mo. (AP) - This year's flooding on the Missouri River has washed away hopes that the river barge industry might recover from a drought that nearly decimated the business in the past decade, industry experts said.
Low water levels caused by the drought resulted in shipping falling off in 2009. It began to recover last year, but hopes of a greater rebound were dashed this summer when flooding began along the river, making navigation dangerous and eventually prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to close the river between Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota and Glasgow, Mo.
"You can imagine the frustration of the people who make their living on the river," Army Corps of Engineers Navigation Manager John LaRandeau said. "River shippers eking by, just trying to get through the drought years, then business comes back and they're ready to enjoy the good years, and the river puts a stop on that."
LaRandeau told The Columbia Missourian that he expects this year to be one of the worst years ever for Missouri River shipping.
Shipping along the Missouri River from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis fell from 1.3 million tons in 2000 to 269,000 tons in 2009 because of the drought.
But the situation improved in last year, when shipping estimates reached 333,000 tons, and before record rainfalls began this spring, the Missouri Department of Transportation projected increases of 15 percent to 20 percent this year, Freight Development Administrator Ernie Perry said.
Instead, barge service has ground to a halt. Bill Jackson, general manager of the grain and fertilizer supplier AGRIServices of Brunswick LLC in Missouri, said his business usually has weekly barge service but it hasn't had any since early June.
Barge traffic accounts for about one-third of business for AGRIServices, a joint venture between the Brunswick River Terminal and Columbia's MFA Inc. Lack of barge traffic means more costs for Jackson, who pays roughly 25 percent more per ton to ship by rail and double for truck shipments. A barge can move one ton of cargo 576 miles per gallon of fuel versus 413 for rail car and 155 for semi-truck.
AGRIServices is not alone. Magnolia Marine, a barge company that takes asphalt into Kansas City, has not shipped on the Missouri River since June 11, Port Captain Lester Cruse said.
That means Paul Dolak, the operations manager at Brenntag Mid-South in Kansas City, cannot receive asphalt shipments over the river from Magnolia Marine and send them all over Kansas City and surrounding areas for public projects.
"It has a tremendous effect," Dolak said. "It's been a long time since I've had a barge come up the river."
Rather than one man operating a barge shipment, Dolak has eight people working overtime to manage rail cars. The plant is operating at 30 percent of its normal business.
"This plant survives off the Missouri River. I don't think we could stay in business if we lost navigation on that river," he said. "Right now, I'm maintaining with the rail cars. How long I'm going to maintain, I don't know."
It is unclear how long the stretch of river will stay closed.
"From the folks I have talked to, they are shut down till September," Perry said "It's just eliminated doggone near all the traffic on the Missouri River."
The flooding is another frustrating setback, he said, but he expects barge services to salvage what they can of the season.
"They'll make plans for next year, too," Perry said, "But most certainly that depends on if the weather and the river cooperate."
Jackson also is confident shipping will return to the river and he plans to expand barge service, using a second boat to run shipments between Kansas City and Sioux City.
"Everything is here. The infrastructure is here," Jackson said. "It's just a matter of getting the correct amount of water."
---
Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com