Free Republic

Once again, man steps forward to tinker with nature in order to fix the damage done by man's previous tinkering with nature. And this time it's only going to cost taxpayers a little more than $9 million. In two weeks, the Army Corps of Engineers will begin building a permanent electric barrier to keep Asian carp from swimming into the Great Lakes. Asian carp are a big threat. Literally. They can grow up to 150 pounds and gobble as much as 40 percent of their body weight a day. According to Tom Henry, a reporter with The Blade in Toledo,...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.PENTAGON While violence continues in some parts of Iraq, this is a banner day for people in Basra (BAHS'-rah). Iraq's first new electric generating plant since 1976 is beginning operation there. The Army Corps of Engineers supervised construction of the 40-megawatt facility, which should provide enough electricity to serve 120-thousand homes. Dependable power, or the lack of it, has been a huge issue for average Iraqis ever since the fall of Saddam and the arrival of U-S forces. The Corps of Engineers is working with Iraqi technicians to get additional generating facilities...

More than two million tons of waterborne cargo, including some that floats through the Port of Pittsburgh district, will be disrupted by the planned two-week shutdown next month of the McAlpine Lock on the Ohio River near Louisville, Ky. Chemical, mining and basic manufacturing companies are among those that could be adversely affected by the emergency closure, said James R. McCarville, executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, a state agency that promotes commercial river use. "This is something we think will have a significant impact. Everything below Louisville that comes here will be subject to closing. All of...

The jobs of hundreds of workers who oversee operation of the region's river system for the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers could be in jeopardy if a shortfall in federal funds to upgrade the rivers' aging lock-and-dam system continues, officials warned Thursday. Operation of the river system itself could also be in peril, along with the millions of dollars worth of commerce that are shipped annually. "While we are here to celebrate a really striking development in the dedication of the Braddock dam ... we have some problems because of the perilous condition of our locks and dams," said James...

Elizabeth Dam improvements could be delayed 15 years or longer When tow boat Capt. Steve Lumpkins moves coal through the century-old locks and dam on the Monongahela River at Elizabeth, he gingerly avoids weakened concrete walls and jutting metal rods that could gash and sink the 195-foot barges he pushes. "There are big chunks out of the wall as we approach from the upper end and three spots that we avoid touching that could cause a crash. That metal could rip the whole side of a barge open,'' Lumpkins said from the Richard C., a tow boat he operates for...

Faced with federal budget reductions for four consecutive years, the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers is trying to reduce its 770-employee staff without resorting to layoffs. The Pittsburgh District, facing the same funding problems as other corps districts nationwide, has "insufficient funds to continue supporting staffing at the levels we have done in the past," said Karen Auer, a spokeswoman. She said eligible employees are being offered early retirement. The deadline for accepting is next week.

<p>A controlled explosion late this morning at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' dam on the Monongahela River will close a portion of the river to boating and fishing from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.</p> <p>The demolition of a 90-foot section of the 100-year-old fixed crest dam at Locks and Dam 2 at Braddock is scheduled for noon. All river traffic and activity will be restricted about one-quarter mile in each direction.</p>

ARTICLE SUMMARY:Developer Stephen Lathrop was threatened with jail and fines for turning a DUMP into a lake and resolving a 40-year flooding problem. Mr. Lathrop was doing, at no cost to the taxpayer, what two very expensive government studies had recommended -- digging a lake or reservoir to control flooding. Stephen Lathrop and his neighbors continue to live in the bureaucratic, regulatory nightmare zone. A place where dumps are protected "wetlands" and flood control is badly needed. A government solution (from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency) is only allowed when regulators can needlessly spend...

<p>Eight thousand years before workers began casting two gigantic sections of a dam on the banks of the Ohio River in Leetsdale, people were wading out from shore to the same spot, then a sandbar, and camping for short periods.</p>

KRT) - Capt. Pat Gerlach is celebrating his 48th birthday in the wheelhouse of the towboat Lauren D. He is thrilled with a gift that has come his way. "The good Lord is looking out for me. He sent me a little water for my birthday," says Gerlach, pushing barges laden with fertilizer upriver to Kansas City.In fact, it was the Army Corps of Engineers that dispatched the extra water into the Missouri River after a monthlong standoff with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over protecting the nests of endangered birds.The episode was the latest example of threats...

Report: Corps Projects Need External Review WASHINGTON, DC, July 26, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should seek external scientific reviews of its most costly, complex and controversial planning studies, concludes a new report from the National Research Council. The reviews should be made public, and the Corps should respond in writing to each key element, added the committee that wrote the report. The report, "Review Procedures for Water Resources Planning," comes as the Corps faces heavy criticism from members of Congress and environmental groups for its handling of several massive projects, including a $1 billion...

<p>Barge industry officials call it a silent but growing problem. Aging infrastructure, including locks and dams on the upper Ohio River, are quietly choking the flow of goods in and out of the region.</p> <p>The problem was demonstrated in early July, when delays caused by routine repairs on the Montgomery lock had barge operators waiting as long as three days to move gas, coal, iron ore and other products in and out of the port of Pittsburgh. One barge company operator estimated the delays were costing the region more than $100,000 a day.</p>

<p>The government's chief obligations are safeguarding the citizenry and providing the infrastructure through which Americans may seek economic reward.</p> <p>The nation's system of ports and waterways fits snugly into that paradigm. They are, in fact, far more efficient than highways and are essential to the economy. Need we remind that the economy is essential to generating the resources needed to defend the nation?</p>