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Sunday, January 6, 2013
California storm bringing round of odd weather
This news article is brought to you by ADVANCED DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Weather disrupts Shell efforts to free Alaska oil rig
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard and Shell were making fresh preparations on Sunday to tow a grounded Alaska oil rig, saying crews would keep trying to connect a tow line after rough weather prevented their efforts all Saturday.
According to a news release from the unified grounding response team, the aim, once the conditions are right, is to tow the rig to a sheltered bay nearby so experts can make a better assessment of its sea worthiness.
Officials have declined to speculate on the exact timing of the removal of the Kulluk from the rocky coast of tiny Sitkalidak Island, though a senior Shell executive said last week he believed it was a matter of days.
The fortunes of the grounded drillship, which started a well in the Beaufort Sea late last year, face particular scrutiny because it was a key part of Royal Dutch Shell's controversial and error-prone 2012 Arctic drilling program.
Sean Churchfield, Shell's Alaska ventures manager, said salvage teams have found no signs of breaches to any of the Kulluk's fuel tanks and only one area where seawater leaked onboard. A tow plan has been approved by government regulators.
'According to naval architects, the vessel is sound and fit to tow,' Churchfield said at a news conference late on Saturday.
All that is left, said Coast Guard Captain Paul Mehler, is to await the right combination of tides and weather, as well as equipment that still needs to be delivered.
'We want to get this off as soon as we can. And we're looking at the best tides, the best opportunities,' Mehler said. 'As I stand here today, we don't have it all.'
The Kulluk went aground in a Gulf of Alaska storm on December 31 after the ship towing it lost power and its tow connection in the Kodiak archipelago - far from where it began a well in September and October. The rig was headed for maintenance near Seattle.
The removal plan is to pull the Kulluk about 30 miles to Kiliuda Bay, a site previously designated as a refuge for disabled vessels. Whether it continues on for its maintenance work will be determined after the assessment, Churchfield said.
The rig has about 155,000 gallons of diesel fuel and other petroleum products aboard, none of which has spilled, state environmental regulators said.
The Aiviq, the vessel that lost power and its tow connection to the Kulluk a week ago, is the ship designated to tow it to safe refuge. An investigation into its failures is not yet complete, Churchfield said.
Alaska environmentalist Rick Steiner questioned Shell's reliance on the Aiviq, and believed all the problems with the Kulluk and its other contracted drillship, the Noble Corp-owned Discoverer, would preclude any drilling this year. 'The 2013 season is on the rocks in Kodiak with the Kulluk,' he said.
Shell officials in Alaska have so far declined to comment on the upcoming Arctic drilling season.
Prior to the Kulluk accident, Shell's main problem in Alaska was the Discoverer, which was assigned to Chukchi Sea work.
The Discoverer failed to meet federal air standards, which prompted Shell in June to ask the Environmental Protection Agency for a permit with looser limits for air pollution. In September, the ship dragged its anchor in the Aleutian port of Dutch Harbor and nearly grounded on the beach there.
After completing a truncated 2012 drill season in the Chukchi, the Discoverer was temporarily detained by the Coast Guard in the port of Seward, Alaska. The Coast Guard cited numerous safety and environmental-systems deficiencies, which Shell and Noble vowed to fix before the summer season began.
(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Braden Reddall and Tim Dobbyn)
This news article is brought to you by ECONOMY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
According to a news release from the unified grounding response team, the aim, once the conditions are right, is to tow the rig to a sheltered bay nearby so experts can make a better assessment of its sea worthiness.
Officials have declined to speculate on the exact timing of the removal of the Kulluk from the rocky coast of tiny Sitkalidak Island, though a senior Shell executive said last week he believed it was a matter of days.
The fortunes of the grounded drillship, which started a well in the Beaufort Sea late last year, face particular scrutiny because it was a key part of Royal Dutch Shell's controversial and error-prone 2012 Arctic drilling program.
Sean Churchfield, Shell's Alaska ventures manager, said salvage teams have found no signs of breaches to any of the Kulluk's fuel tanks and only one area where seawater leaked onboard. A tow plan has been approved by government regulators.
'According to naval architects, the vessel is sound and fit to tow,' Churchfield said at a news conference late on Saturday.
All that is left, said Coast Guard Captain Paul Mehler, is to await the right combination of tides and weather, as well as equipment that still needs to be delivered.
'We want to get this off as soon as we can. And we're looking at the best tides, the best opportunities,' Mehler said. 'As I stand here today, we don't have it all.'
The Kulluk went aground in a Gulf of Alaska storm on December 31 after the ship towing it lost power and its tow connection in the Kodiak archipelago - far from where it began a well in September and October. The rig was headed for maintenance near Seattle.
The removal plan is to pull the Kulluk about 30 miles to Kiliuda Bay, a site previously designated as a refuge for disabled vessels. Whether it continues on for its maintenance work will be determined after the assessment, Churchfield said.
The rig has about 155,000 gallons of diesel fuel and other petroleum products aboard, none of which has spilled, state environmental regulators said.
The Aiviq, the vessel that lost power and its tow connection to the Kulluk a week ago, is the ship designated to tow it to safe refuge. An investigation into its failures is not yet complete, Churchfield said.
Alaska environmentalist Rick Steiner questioned Shell's reliance on the Aiviq, and believed all the problems with the Kulluk and its other contracted drillship, the Noble Corp-owned Discoverer, would preclude any drilling this year. 'The 2013 season is on the rocks in Kodiak with the Kulluk,' he said.
Shell officials in Alaska have so far declined to comment on the upcoming Arctic drilling season.
Prior to the Kulluk accident, Shell's main problem in Alaska was the Discoverer, which was assigned to Chukchi Sea work.
The Discoverer failed to meet federal air standards, which prompted Shell in June to ask the Environmental Protection Agency for a permit with looser limits for air pollution. In September, the ship dragged its anchor in the Aleutian port of Dutch Harbor and nearly grounded on the beach there.
After completing a truncated 2012 drill season in the Chukchi, the Discoverer was temporarily detained by the Coast Guard in the port of Seward, Alaska. The Coast Guard cited numerous safety and environmental-systems deficiencies, which Shell and Noble vowed to fix before the summer season began.
(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Braden Reddall and Tim Dobbyn)
This news article is brought to you by ECONOMY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Gore under fire from conservatives, Jewish leaders, for selling to Al-Jazeera
WASHINGTON - American conservatives and Jewish leaders are up in arms over former vice-president Al Gore's sale of Current TV to Al-Jazeera, accusing the noted climate change activist of everything from hypocrisy to lining his pockets with cash from anti-Americans.
Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh has been at the forefront of the attacks, pointing out that Gore sold his pet cable network to an Arab news giant owned by the royal family of oil-rich Qatar, an OPEC regime.
He also asked if some of the female hosts on the left-leaning cable news network, including Joy Behar and Jennifer Granholme, will 'now have to wear burkas and veils over their faces?'
Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly piled on, maligning Gore for selling to the 'anti-American' Al-Jazeera before the Jan. 1 hike in the U.S. capital gains tax.
'This is really stunning,' O'Reilly said this week. 'A former vice president selling his far-left cable network to anti-Americans, then trying to jam the deal to avoid higher taxes.'
O'Reilly called Gore a 'hypocrite,' pointing to the one-time Democratic presidential nominee's assertions in a November interview that people 'like me should pay our fair share.'
Gore reportedly decided in December to sell Current to Al-Jazeera for US$500 million, pocketing an estimated $100 million personally in the sale. He had previously turned down an offer from the right-wing The Blaze network, rebuffing its owner, conservative pundit Glenn Beck, because of his politics.
American Jewish leaders are also expressing concern that Al-Jazeera could gain access to tens of millions of American homes via the Current TV deal. They accuse the network of anti-Israeli coverage and supporting extremist Islamic regimes.
'Al-Jazeera has a troubling record and history that is very disturbing, particularly in its Arabic language broadcasts,' said Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement from the organization on Friday.
'It has exploited and exaggerated the Arab-Israel conflict in a heavy-handed and propagandistic manner, and always at the expense of Israel, while giving all manner of virulent anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic extremists access to its airwaves.'
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, agreed.
'Their general coverage has served to destabilize regimes and favour some of the more extremist elements in the Arab world,' he said.
Al-Jazeera has fought to gain a foothold in the U.S. market because of the refusal of many American cable providers to carry it. Time Warner, the second-largest cable company in the U.S., dropped Current TV after the sale to Al-Jazeera was confirmed earlier this week.
The news network is readily available on most major Canadian cable providers, including Rogers and Bell, after Ottawa approved the channel for distribution three years ago.
Americans turned on Al-Jazeera following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when it gave al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden a broadcasting platform. But in recent years, it's earned praise from some U.S. officials, in particular Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lauded its coverage of the so-called Arab Spring.
The brouhaha about Gore's sale to the network comes as the Republican party confronts anti-Muslim sentiment among some of its lawmakers. The soul-searching follows last November's presidential election, when three of the party's most vocal anti-Muslim legislators were defeated.
Even anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, a hard-right conservative on fiscal issues, has acknowledged the need for the party to evolve in terms of attitudes towards Muslims.
'They have gotten a bit of bad odour,' Norquist recently told Mother Jones magazine.
The tipping point appears to have come in July, when Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann and four colleagues suggested the State Department had been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood thanks to Huma Abedin, a respected aide and longtime friend to Hillary Clinton.
John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Sen. John McCain were among the prominent Republicans who assailed Bachmann for her allegations.
This article is brought to you by DAILY HOROSCOPE.
Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh has been at the forefront of the attacks, pointing out that Gore sold his pet cable network to an Arab news giant owned by the royal family of oil-rich Qatar, an OPEC regime.
He also asked if some of the female hosts on the left-leaning cable news network, including Joy Behar and Jennifer Granholme, will 'now have to wear burkas and veils over their faces?'
Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly piled on, maligning Gore for selling to the 'anti-American' Al-Jazeera before the Jan. 1 hike in the U.S. capital gains tax.
'This is really stunning,' O'Reilly said this week. 'A former vice president selling his far-left cable network to anti-Americans, then trying to jam the deal to avoid higher taxes.'
O'Reilly called Gore a 'hypocrite,' pointing to the one-time Democratic presidential nominee's assertions in a November interview that people 'like me should pay our fair share.'
Gore reportedly decided in December to sell Current to Al-Jazeera for US$500 million, pocketing an estimated $100 million personally in the sale. He had previously turned down an offer from the right-wing The Blaze network, rebuffing its owner, conservative pundit Glenn Beck, because of his politics.
American Jewish leaders are also expressing concern that Al-Jazeera could gain access to tens of millions of American homes via the Current TV deal. They accuse the network of anti-Israeli coverage and supporting extremist Islamic regimes.
'Al-Jazeera has a troubling record and history that is very disturbing, particularly in its Arabic language broadcasts,' said Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement from the organization on Friday.
'It has exploited and exaggerated the Arab-Israel conflict in a heavy-handed and propagandistic manner, and always at the expense of Israel, while giving all manner of virulent anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic extremists access to its airwaves.'
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, agreed.
'Their general coverage has served to destabilize regimes and favour some of the more extremist elements in the Arab world,' he said.
Al-Jazeera has fought to gain a foothold in the U.S. market because of the refusal of many American cable providers to carry it. Time Warner, the second-largest cable company in the U.S., dropped Current TV after the sale to Al-Jazeera was confirmed earlier this week.
The news network is readily available on most major Canadian cable providers, including Rogers and Bell, after Ottawa approved the channel for distribution three years ago.
Americans turned on Al-Jazeera following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when it gave al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden a broadcasting platform. But in recent years, it's earned praise from some U.S. officials, in particular Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lauded its coverage of the so-called Arab Spring.
The brouhaha about Gore's sale to the network comes as the Republican party confronts anti-Muslim sentiment among some of its lawmakers. The soul-searching follows last November's presidential election, when three of the party's most vocal anti-Muslim legislators were defeated.
Even anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, a hard-right conservative on fiscal issues, has acknowledged the need for the party to evolve in terms of attitudes towards Muslims.
'They have gotten a bit of bad odour,' Norquist recently told Mother Jones magazine.
The tipping point appears to have come in July, when Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann and four colleagues suggested the State Department had been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood thanks to Huma Abedin, a respected aide and longtime friend to Hillary Clinton.
John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Sen. John McCain were among the prominent Republicans who assailed Bachmann for her allegations.
This article is brought to you by DAILY HOROSCOPE.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Cost of combating climate change surges as world delays: study
OSLO (Reuters) - An agreement by almost 200 nations to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 will be far more costly than taking action now to tackle climate change, according to research published on Wednesday.
Quick measures to cut emissions would give a far better chance of keeping global warming within an agreed U.N. limit of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times to avert more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.
'If you delay action by 10, 20 years you significantly reduce the chances of meeting the 2 degree target,' said Keywan Riahi, one of the authors of the report at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.
'It was generally known that costs increase when you delay action. It was not clear how quickly they change,' he told Reuters of the findings in the science journal Nature based on 500 computer-generated scenarios.
It said the timing of cuts in greenhouse gases was more important than other uncertainties - about things like how the climate system works, future energy demand, carbon prices or new energy technologies.
The study indicated that an immediate global price of $30 a tonne on emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, would give a roughly 60 percent chance of limiting warming to below 2C.
Wait until 2020 and the carbon price would have to be around $100 a tonne to retain that 60 percent chance, Riahi told Reuters of the study made with other experts in Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and Germany.
And a delay of action until 2030 might put the 2C limit - which some of the more pessimistic scientists say is already unattainable - completely out of reach, whatever the carbon price.
'The window for effective action on climate change is closing quickly,' wrote Steve Hatfield-Dodds of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia in a separate commentary in Nature.
Governments agreed to the 2C limit in 2010, viewing it as a threshold to avert dangerous climate change. Temperatures have already risen by 0.8 degree C (1.4F) since wide use of fossil fuels began 200 years ago.
ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN
After the failure of a 2009 summit in Copenhagen to agree a worldwide accord, almost 200 nations have given themselves until 2015 to work out a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions that will enter into force in 2020.
Amid an economic slowdown, many countries at the last U.N. meeting on climate change in Qatar in December expressed reluctance to make quick shifts away from fossil fuels towards cleaner energies such as wind or solar power.
Each U.S. citizen, for instance, emits about 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. There is no global price on carbon, only regional markets - in a European Union trading system, for instance, where industrial emitters must pay of they exceed their CO2 quotas, 2013 prices are about 6.7 euros a tonne.
The report also showed that greener policies, such as more efficient public transport or better-insulated buildings, would raise the chances of meeting the 2C goal.
And fighting climate change would be easier with certain new technologies, such as capturing and burying carbon emissions from power plants and factories. In some scenarios, the 2C goal could not be met unless carbon capture was adopted.
This article is brought to you by DAILY HOROSCOPE.
Quick measures to cut emissions would give a far better chance of keeping global warming within an agreed U.N. limit of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times to avert more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.
'If you delay action by 10, 20 years you significantly reduce the chances of meeting the 2 degree target,' said Keywan Riahi, one of the authors of the report at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.
'It was generally known that costs increase when you delay action. It was not clear how quickly they change,' he told Reuters of the findings in the science journal Nature based on 500 computer-generated scenarios.
It said the timing of cuts in greenhouse gases was more important than other uncertainties - about things like how the climate system works, future energy demand, carbon prices or new energy technologies.
The study indicated that an immediate global price of $30 a tonne on emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, would give a roughly 60 percent chance of limiting warming to below 2C.
Wait until 2020 and the carbon price would have to be around $100 a tonne to retain that 60 percent chance, Riahi told Reuters of the study made with other experts in Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and Germany.
And a delay of action until 2030 might put the 2C limit - which some of the more pessimistic scientists say is already unattainable - completely out of reach, whatever the carbon price.
'The window for effective action on climate change is closing quickly,' wrote Steve Hatfield-Dodds of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia in a separate commentary in Nature.
Governments agreed to the 2C limit in 2010, viewing it as a threshold to avert dangerous climate change. Temperatures have already risen by 0.8 degree C (1.4F) since wide use of fossil fuels began 200 years ago.
ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN
After the failure of a 2009 summit in Copenhagen to agree a worldwide accord, almost 200 nations have given themselves until 2015 to work out a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions that will enter into force in 2020.
Amid an economic slowdown, many countries at the last U.N. meeting on climate change in Qatar in December expressed reluctance to make quick shifts away from fossil fuels towards cleaner energies such as wind or solar power.
Each U.S. citizen, for instance, emits about 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. There is no global price on carbon, only regional markets - in a European Union trading system, for instance, where industrial emitters must pay of they exceed their CO2 quotas, 2013 prices are about 6.7 euros a tonne.
The report also showed that greener policies, such as more efficient public transport or better-insulated buildings, would raise the chances of meeting the 2C goal.
And fighting climate change would be easier with certain new technologies, such as capturing and burying carbon emissions from power plants and factories. In some scenarios, the 2C goal could not be met unless carbon capture was adopted.
This article is brought to you by DAILY HOROSCOPE.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Mississippi River nears historic lows, shipping at risk
(Reuters) - The drought-drained Mississippi River will rise slightly later this week between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois, but later continue its decline toward historic lows, according to a National Weather Service forecast.
Low water, due to the worst U.S. drought since 1956, has already impeded the flow of billions of dollars worth of grain, coal, fertilizer and other commodities between the central United States and shipping terminals at the Gulf of Mexico.
A further drop in river levels could halt commercial shipping traffic entirely by this weekend, the American Waterways Operators and the Waterways Council Inc said in a statement on Wednesday.
Last week, the council said the river along the Cairo-St. Louis stretch would be too low for navigation by January 7 but on Wednesday it said shipping may come to a halt between January 5 and 15.
A shutdown could affect more than 8,000 jobs, cost $54 million in wages and benefits, and halt the movement of 7.2 million tons of commodities valued at $2.8 billion, the two industry groups said.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which is spearheading a project to remove river-bottom rock that could impede shipping if the river becomes too shallow, remains optimistic that the nine-foot-deep channel, which most commercial vessels need, can be maintained.
Forecasts for warmer weather, which would limit river-choking ice from forming, and the potential for rain next week bolstered that outlook.
The Corps is removing the most threatening rock pinnacles near the Illinois towns of Grand Tower and Thebes first, hoping to deepen the shipping channel by about two feet by mid-January, just before the river was forecast to hit critically low levels.
'The Corps rock removal contractors are making excellent progress in removing the rock obstructions from the primary area of concern,' said Major General John Peabody, the Corps' Mississippi Valley Division Commander.
'We believe we will deepen the channel ahead of the worst-case river stage scenario, and I remain confident that navigation will continue,' he said.
The Corps has also been dredging various soft-bottom sections of the river nearly round-the-clock for months to maintain a deep enough shipping channel. The vast majority of commercial vessels need a depth of at least nine feet so shippers are closely monitoring river gauges and forecasts.
The Mississippi River gauge at Thebes fell from a reading of 4.45 feet late last week to four feet late on Wednesday. It was forecast to rise to 4.2 feet on Friday morning before slipping to 3.2 feet by next Wednesday, the lowest level at Thebes since 1988 and the second lowest on record.
Gauge readings do not reflect the actual depth of the river at a certain location because the gauges are fixed and the river's bottom is steadily changing with the current. But they do aid navigation as a shorter term reference point.
The Army Corps has said once the Thebes gauge reads 2 feet, boats with a nine-foot draft, or distance between the water's surface and the lowest point of the vessel, would be at risk of hitting rock pinnacles there.
'We lose 9 feet of depth for the navigation at about 2 feet on the Thebes gauge,' said Army Corps spokesman Mike Petersen. 'That's when those rocks become an issue.'
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Bob Burgdorfer)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Low water, due to the worst U.S. drought since 1956, has already impeded the flow of billions of dollars worth of grain, coal, fertilizer and other commodities between the central United States and shipping terminals at the Gulf of Mexico.
A further drop in river levels could halt commercial shipping traffic entirely by this weekend, the American Waterways Operators and the Waterways Council Inc said in a statement on Wednesday.
Last week, the council said the river along the Cairo-St. Louis stretch would be too low for navigation by January 7 but on Wednesday it said shipping may come to a halt between January 5 and 15.
A shutdown could affect more than 8,000 jobs, cost $54 million in wages and benefits, and halt the movement of 7.2 million tons of commodities valued at $2.8 billion, the two industry groups said.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which is spearheading a project to remove river-bottom rock that could impede shipping if the river becomes too shallow, remains optimistic that the nine-foot-deep channel, which most commercial vessels need, can be maintained.
Forecasts for warmer weather, which would limit river-choking ice from forming, and the potential for rain next week bolstered that outlook.
The Corps is removing the most threatening rock pinnacles near the Illinois towns of Grand Tower and Thebes first, hoping to deepen the shipping channel by about two feet by mid-January, just before the river was forecast to hit critically low levels.
'The Corps rock removal contractors are making excellent progress in removing the rock obstructions from the primary area of concern,' said Major General John Peabody, the Corps' Mississippi Valley Division Commander.
'We believe we will deepen the channel ahead of the worst-case river stage scenario, and I remain confident that navigation will continue,' he said.
The Corps has also been dredging various soft-bottom sections of the river nearly round-the-clock for months to maintain a deep enough shipping channel. The vast majority of commercial vessels need a depth of at least nine feet so shippers are closely monitoring river gauges and forecasts.
The Mississippi River gauge at Thebes fell from a reading of 4.45 feet late last week to four feet late on Wednesday. It was forecast to rise to 4.2 feet on Friday morning before slipping to 3.2 feet by next Wednesday, the lowest level at Thebes since 1988 and the second lowest on record.
Gauge readings do not reflect the actual depth of the river at a certain location because the gauges are fixed and the river's bottom is steadily changing with the current. But they do aid navigation as a shorter term reference point.
The Army Corps has said once the Thebes gauge reads 2 feet, boats with a nine-foot draft, or distance between the water's surface and the lowest point of the vessel, would be at risk of hitting rock pinnacles there.
'We lose 9 feet of depth for the navigation at about 2 feet on the Thebes gauge,' said Army Corps spokesman Mike Petersen. 'That's when those rocks become an issue.'
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Bob Burgdorfer)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Mississippi River approaching historic lows, shipping at risk
(Reuters) - The drought-drained Mississippi River will rise slightly later this week along a stretch between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois, but will then continue its decline toward historic lows, according to a National Weather Service forecast.
Low water due to the worst U.S. drought since 1956 has already impeded the flow of billions of dollars in grain, coal, fertilizer and other commodities between the central United States and export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico.
A further drop in river levels could halt commercial shipping traffic entirely as soon as this weekend, the American Waterways Operators and the Waterways Council Inc said in a statement on Wednesday.
Last week, the council said the river along the Cairo-St. Louis stretch would be too low for navigation by January 7 but on Wednesday said shipping may come to a halt between January 5 and 15.
A shutdown could affect more than 8,000 jobs, cost $54 million in wages and benefits, and halt the movement of 7.2 million tons of commodities valued at $2.8 billion, the two industry groups said.
Prime areas of concern are near the Illinois towns of Thebes and Grand Tower, where river-bottom rock pinnacles pose a risk to boats when the river is exceptionally low.
'That reach has historically been the rock-bottom part of the river and pretty much everywhere else on the mid-Mississippi is sand- and silt-bottom,' said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Mike Petersen.
The Corps has been dredging various soft-bottom sections of the river nearly round-the-clock for months to maintain a deep enough shipping channel, but a project to remove the most threatening rock pinnacles will not be completed until the end of January.
The vast majority of commercial vessels need a depth of at least nine feet so shippers are closely monitoring river gauges and forecasts.
The Mississippi River gauge at Thebes fell from a reading of 4.45 feet late last week to 4.1 feet at midday on Wednesday. It was forecast to rise to 4.2 feet on Friday morning before slipping to 3.7 feet by Sunday, the lowest level at Thebes since 1988 and the second lowest on record.
Gauge readings do not reflect the actual depth of the river at a certain location because the gauges are fixed and the river's bottom is steadily changing with the current. But they do aid navigation as a shorter term reference point.
The Army Corps has said once the Thebes gauge reads 2 feet, boats with a nine-foot draft, or distance between the water's surface and the lowest point of the vessel, would be at risk of hitting rock pinnacles there.
'We lose 9 feet of depth for the navigation at about 2 feet on the Thebes gauge. That's when those rocks become an issue,' Petersen said.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
This article is brought to you by ASTROLOGY.
Low water due to the worst U.S. drought since 1956 has already impeded the flow of billions of dollars in grain, coal, fertilizer and other commodities between the central United States and export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico.
A further drop in river levels could halt commercial shipping traffic entirely as soon as this weekend, the American Waterways Operators and the Waterways Council Inc said in a statement on Wednesday.
Last week, the council said the river along the Cairo-St. Louis stretch would be too low for navigation by January 7 but on Wednesday said shipping may come to a halt between January 5 and 15.
A shutdown could affect more than 8,000 jobs, cost $54 million in wages and benefits, and halt the movement of 7.2 million tons of commodities valued at $2.8 billion, the two industry groups said.
Prime areas of concern are near the Illinois towns of Thebes and Grand Tower, where river-bottom rock pinnacles pose a risk to boats when the river is exceptionally low.
'That reach has historically been the rock-bottom part of the river and pretty much everywhere else on the mid-Mississippi is sand- and silt-bottom,' said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Mike Petersen.
The Corps has been dredging various soft-bottom sections of the river nearly round-the-clock for months to maintain a deep enough shipping channel, but a project to remove the most threatening rock pinnacles will not be completed until the end of January.
The vast majority of commercial vessels need a depth of at least nine feet so shippers are closely monitoring river gauges and forecasts.
The Mississippi River gauge at Thebes fell from a reading of 4.45 feet late last week to 4.1 feet at midday on Wednesday. It was forecast to rise to 4.2 feet on Friday morning before slipping to 3.7 feet by Sunday, the lowest level at Thebes since 1988 and the second lowest on record.
Gauge readings do not reflect the actual depth of the river at a certain location because the gauges are fixed and the river's bottom is steadily changing with the current. But they do aid navigation as a shorter term reference point.
The Army Corps has said once the Thebes gauge reads 2 feet, boats with a nine-foot draft, or distance between the water's surface and the lowest point of the vessel, would be at risk of hitting rock pinnacles there.
'We lose 9 feet of depth for the navigation at about 2 feet on the Thebes gauge. That's when those rocks become an issue,' Petersen said.
(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
This article is brought to you by ASTROLOGY.
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