Corps of Engineers will dredge Missouri ports

News - August 29, 2007

Noting the increased number of Southern Missouri acres planted in corn this year, US Senator Kit Bond and US Representative Jo Ann Emerson have announced that three Missouri ports will receive dredging by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Caruthersville Harbour (US$366,000), New Madrid Harbour (US$317,000), and Southeast Missouri Port (US$85,000) will all receive funding to complete badly-needed dredging in ports threatened by low river levels.

"We have to be able to get barges in and out of these key Southeast Missouri ports because the entire region depends on river transportation to move agricultural products up and down the river," Emerson said. "This has been a major annual priority for me since I first came to Congress, but it needed special attention this year. This funding keeps our ports operational and markets available at critical moments during the harvest season."

Senator Kit Bond has been a key partner in annual efforts to secure the funding for the dredging. He and Emerson have also secured language in the Water Resources Development Act directing the Corps on Engineers to provide a reliable, consistent and predictable source of funds for dredging ports and harbors on the Mississippi River.

"It never ceases to amaze me how the bean counters in Washington fail to understand where the beans they are counting originate from," said Senator Bond. "Missouri inland ports are a vital component of our state's inter-modal transportation which our farmers depend upon to deliver commodities to the world marketplace. Funding for dredging is essential, especially with low water projections we are challenged with this year during prime harvest season."

In the House of Representatives, Emerson led a letter to General John P Woodley of the US Army Corps of Engineers which was sent on June 26th 2007 after learning that funds had not been allocated for the dredging projects earlier this year.

In the House version of the Energy & Water Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008, Emerson has already secured US$793,000 for future dredging projects through the appropriations earmark process.

"Dredging is an annual concern in the appropriations process. Left to their own designs, these are projects that Washington bureaucrats seldom understand or identify as important. In my opinion, this is the perfect illustration of how an earmarked project comes back to help the taxpayers of the Eighth Congressional District. It is Congress' responsibility to correct these oversights, and I appreciate Senator Bond's active role in helping to earmark funds for dredging in next years' federal budget," Emerson said.