All Posts from April 29, 2013

High water, barge accidents impact navigation on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers

High water on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week to expand the number of lock closures, further limiting the movement of commercial barges. The river conditions also caused a number of barge accidents on both rivers.

The Corps announced on April 22 that it had closed Mississippi lock 24 in Clarksville, Mo., and lock 25 in Winfield, Mo., as well as the lock on the Kaskaskia River “to protect critical components and facilities and be able to restore services as quickly and economically as possible after water levels recede.”

The closures are in addition to eight lock closures that were announced earlier on the Mississippi between Muscatine, Iowa, and Clarksville (GM April 22, p.11). The Corps on April 18 said it would close locks 15-22 in staggered intervals beginning on April 18 and extending through April 21 due to high water fed by torrential rains and heavy snow in parts of the Midwest.

“We are working closely with our partner agencies, including the National Weather Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, state and local agencies, and the navigation industry to ensure safety of people and property, ensure safe navigation, and assist in reducing flood risk to communities and business,” the Corps said.

The flood waters are a striking change from just three months ago, when critically low river levels on the Mississippi nearly stopped barge traffic between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill. The threatened January closures raised concerns within the fertilizer industry that tons would not be adequately positioned for the start of spring planting, but the Corps was ultimately able to keep the navigation channel open with dredging operations.

Although a growing queue of northbound fertilizer barges was reportedly gathering at Cairo last week, fertilizer contacts were not particularly alarmed by the recent river closures, noting that movement out of Midwest warehouses was at a virtual standstill because of saturated field conditions. One contact in the Minneapolis, Minn., area told Green Markets that “a lot of barges are already in place up here.”

As of April 24, the Corps’ Rock Island District reported that lock closures were still being enforced at Mississippi locks 16-18 from Illinois City, Ill., to Gladstone, Ill., and at locks 20-22 from Canton, Mo., to Saverton, Mo. The Corps said those locks were expected to reopen between April 26-29.

Mississippi lock 19 at Keokuk, Iowa, reopened on April 24 after being closed for five days due to high water, and locks 11-15 from Dubuque, Iowa, to Rock Island, Ill., remained open and were not expected to close. In addition, the Corps said locks in Alton, Ill., and Granite City, Ill., are not currently anticipating closures.

Earlier in the week, the U.S. Coast Guard closed the Mississippi between mile markers 155-170 near St. Louis after high water caused 114 barges to break free from a fleeting area on April 20. Eleven coal barges reportedly sank, but navigation was expected to resume when salvage operations were complete.

River closures were also being enforced on April 21 at Vicksburg, Miss., between mile markers 415-435 when 27 coal barges and three grain barges broke free from a tow. One of the barges sank after hitting a railroad bridge. The river there reopened to southbound traffic early on April 22, and northbound traffic resumed after the queue of southbound vessels had been cleared.

On the Illinois River, lock closures were being enforced last week at Marseilles and at Starved Rock in Ottawa, Ill. The Thomas J. O’Brien lock in Chicago and the Dresden Island lock in Morris, Ill., reopened on April 21 after being closed for several days due to high water. Illinois River locks in Lockport, Joliet, Creve Coeur, and Versailles were open and not expected to close.

The Marseilles dam sus

Investigation continues at West Fertilizer; cause of fire and explosion still uncertain

Federal and state investigators were combing through the West Fertilizer plant site in West, Texas, last week to determine what caused the fire and massive explosion there on April 17. The devastating blast claimed 15 lives, injured more than 200, and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in a 37-block residential area of the small Texas town.

Officials on April 23 said they believed they had recovered all the bodies, capping the death toll at 15. Authorities confirmed that 10 of the victims were firefighters and two more were first responders. A memorial service, attended by President Obama, was held April 25 at Baylor University in Waco.

Authorities also revealed on April 23 that lightning had been ruled out as a cause of the fire and blast, and that a railcar loaded with ammonium nitrate that was present at the site had not been part of the explosion. The force of the explosion, which registered as a 2.1-magnitute earthquake and left a crater 93 feet wide and 10 feet deep, knocked the railcar off the spur and on its side, but both the car and its contents were intact after the blast.

Investigators also determined that the explosion originated from one of two storage buildings on the site, both of which were leveled in the blast. The plant itself consisted of approximately 11 structures on 10 acres, including several anhydrous ammonia tanks that were largely intact after the blast. The ammonia tanks have also been ruled out as a cause of the explosion.

Other details were also released, including the dispatcher log, which shows the fire was first reported at 7:33 p.m., and that first responders were on the scene at 7:35. “There’s heavy smoke coming out of one of the buildings behind the fertilizer, one of the grains here,” was the first on-site dispatch from a police officer at 7:35 pm. Just one minute later, that responder was asking for an emergency contact with West Fertilizer.

The first fire truck arrived six minutes after the initial call, and almost immediately requested mutual aid from another fire department. “This is fully involved, big time,” was the 7:40 dispatch. At 7:48, the plant manager for West Fertilizer was on the scene. The last transmission before the explosion comes at 7:51 p.m., when the West Fire Department refers to “73,000 gallons of water.”

The next transmission comes minutes later from a panicked firefighter after the blast. “We need every ambulance we can get this way,” the firefighter says. “A bomb just went off inside here. It’s pretty bad. We’ve got a lot of firemen down.”
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused that powerful explosion, and which of the structures initially caught fire. There were many other unanswered questions as well, including whether the fire was accidental or intentional, and whether lax enforcement of state and federal regulations or negligence on the part of West Fertilizer contributed to the tragedy.

Some 70 state and federal investigators were on the scene last week, with the State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives acting as the lead agencies. The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will also investigate, but was not yet at the site until the ATF completes its initial investigation.

West Fertilizer is owned by 83-year-old Donald R. Adair, a lifelong resident of West, who also owns Adair Grain Inc. at the same location. Adair bought the retail facility in 2004, but the business has been in operation in West since 1962. During those 50-plus years of operation, the town of West grew around and in close proximity to the fertilizer plant. Among the many structures damaged in the explosion were an apartment complex, a nursing home, and West Middle School.

Adair released a statement on April 19 in which he expressed “heartfelt sympathy for those affected and