{"id":1624,"date":"2014-05-06T14:04:40","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T19:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=1624"},"modified":"2014-05-06T14:06:16","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T19:06:16","slug":"channel-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2014\/05\/06\/channel-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"CHANNEL OF CHOICE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why The Port of Lake Charles Is A Key To Our Economic Boom<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Matt Young<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the eyes of America now on Southwest Louisiana \u2014 and the estimated $62 billion in development projects coming to the region \u2014 it stands to reason that special attention would be paid to the infrastructure so necessary for this economic activity \u2014 most notably the Port of Lake Charles and the Calcasieu Ship Channel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Port is vital to these projects,\u201d said Bill Rase, executive director of the Port. \u201cExisting industries and the industries coming into the area count on the Calcasieu Ship Channel to transport their goods.\u201d<\/p>\n

A public body created by the Louisiana Legislature in 1924 as the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District, the deepwater Port of Lake Charles is currently listed as the country\u2019s 13th-busiest seaport by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, based on cargo tonnage. The Calcasieu Ship Channel currently accommodates 54 million tons of cargo annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaterborne transportation remains one of the most efficient and environmentally safe methods for global trade,\u201d said Rase.<\/p>\n

Waterborne commerce at the Port is expected to double by 2020. That kind of increase could push the Port of Lake Charles into the Top 10 busiest ports in the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPorts are not visible to the average person who is not involved in industry,\u201d said Channing Hayden, director of navigation and security for the Port. \u201cYet 90 percent of the items folks buy come in by ship, and much of our exports go out by ship. The items in our closets wouldn\u2019t be there without the maritime industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to such cargoes as grain, forest products, aluminum, petroleum coke, barite and rutile, a significant portion of the nation\u2019s energy resources \u2014 an estimated 7.5 percent \u2014 currently move up and down the Calcasieu Ship Channel each year.<\/p>\n

The Port manages the channel, which runs inland for 36 miles and extends into the Gulf of Mexico for another 32 miles, as well as two marine terminals \u2014 the City Docks and Bulk Terminal No. 1.<\/p>\n

The City Docks, a 200-acre general cargo facility located in Lake Charles, features an automated terminal and the Gulf Coast\u2019s first new grain terminal in more than 40 years. The new grain terminal will have a capacity to store 60,000 tons of cargo in phase one of construction, with storage for an additional 120,000 tons planned in the second phase.<\/p>\n

The past year has seen an unprecedented number of major project announcements, trumpeting more than $60 billion in investment coming to Southwest Louisiana. The Port of Lake Charles has played a key role in attracting that investment, whether by offering prime channel-side land for development, by assisting in negotiations and arrangements with industrial prospects, or simply by maintaining an effective transportation route \u2014 the Calcasieu Ship Channel \u2014 that\u2019s brought industry to this area for decades.<\/p>\n

Most of these projects \u2014 which include Sasol North America, Lake Charles Clean Energy, Sempra Energy\u2019s Cameron LNG, IFG Port Holdings, Magnolia LNG, Trunkline LNG and G2X Energy \u2014 are coming to this area specifically to make use of the Calcasieu Ship Channel.<\/p>\n

One factor that\u2019s contributed heavily to this influx of industrial projects is the discovery of major natural gas resources in the U.S. Much of that natural gas will make its way to Southwest Louisiana to be liquefied and exported via the Calcasieu Ship Channel.<\/p>\n

That trend will only strengthen the channel\u2019s claim to be \u201cAmerica\u2019s energy corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initial projections are that the announced projects will create nearly 18,000 construction jobs and 14,000 additional direct and indirect jobs. Anticipating a demand for housing for the growing workforce, a private company broke ground recently on a $70 million temporary employee housing village to be located on Port property. Once completed, the facility could house as many as 4,000 workers. \u201cIn order for all these projects to be successful, we have to have a place for workers to stay,\u201d said Rase.<\/p>\n

As a result of this seemingly endless uptick in business, the Port has plans for nearly $275 million in capital improvements over the next five years. Recently completed improvements include a new unloader for the bulk terminal, which increases offloading and cargo-handling capacity, and new rail tracks at the City Docks. Designed as a loop, these tracks are critical for operations at the new grain elevator.<\/p>\n

Improvements at the City Docks also include a new entrance plaza near the intersection of Marine and Sallier streets to more efficiently process incoming and outgoing truck and other vehicular traffic while enforcing Dept. of Homeland Security credentialing requirements. There will also be a new command and control center for the Harbor Police Dept.<\/p>\n

Despite the burgeoning economy \u2014 or maybe because of this growth \u2014 the Port still has challenges, not the least of which is funding for maintenance of the channel.<\/p>\n

The Corps of Engineers recently allocated $10 million for the dredging of a crucial 3.5-mile section of the waterway. A portion of this allocation, which came from the 2014 Omnibus Budget Bill discretionary fund, will be added to the $16.24 million originally budgeted for this fiscal year to dredge between mile markers 7 and 10.5. The widening will be to a federally mandated width of 400 feet.<\/p>\n

Left with only the $16.24 million originally budgeted for harbor maintenance and security, which encompasses dredging, this section of the channel would have been significantly shy of the mandatory width, at only 250 feet.<\/p>\n

A narrowed corridor would have adverse economic consequences for channel users, and for Southwest Louisiana as a whole, according to Hayden. \u201cWithout dredging, there are consequences \u2014 higher costs to ship into or out of our harbors,\u201d he said. \u201cHigher shipping costs will ultimately be passed on to consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In and of itself, the Army Corps of Engineers has limited funds. During the President\u2019s budgetary process, funds are appropriated for the Corps from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), which was established in 1986 specifically to subsidize the operation and maintenance of ports and harbors.<\/p>\n

The HMTF is funded by a Harbor Maintenance Tax levied on imported goods.<\/p>\n

For a number of years, appropriations from the HMTF have lagged behind the estimated $1.6 billion collected annually. As a result, the HMTF had a surplus of $7 billion at the end of fiscal year 2012. That surplus continues to grow \u2014 as does the need for additional dredging dollars at ports throughout the U.S.<\/p>\n

Dredging is an annual expenditure for the Port of Lake Charles that totals between $40 and $60 million and entails removing 4 million cubic yards of material from the channel each year. The excavated mud has historically been used to shore up banks of the channel and as fill for the Port\u2019s properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cLouisiana\u2019s coast supports highways, ports, pipelines and navigational waterways: critical infrastructure that is important to the nation\u2019s economy,\u201d said Hayden. \u201cWithout restoration efforts, and at the current rate our coasts are eroding, hundreds of miles of waterways and several of Louisiana\u2019s ports will be exposed to open water within 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sediment dredged from the local channel has been used to build up deteriorated wetlands in the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge west of the channel in Cameron Parish. And sediment from the dredging of Miles 7 to 10.5 in 2014 will be pumped into nearby marshland to restore it to health.<\/p>\n

As plants and grasses root in the slightly elevated mud, new marsh is created.<\/p>\n

CWPPRA has identified 6,200 acres of Southwest Louisiana\u2019s coastal marshes for possible marsh creation projects in conjunction with the Port. \u201cThis is a synergy that could be developed to maintain the region\u2019s economy and environment at the same time,\u201d said Hayden.<\/p>\n

A water route from Lake Charles to the Gulf of Mexico has been important to business and industry leaders in Southwest Louisiana since the early 1800s, when lumber and agriculture were the kings of commerce in the region.<\/p>\n

With the end of the Civil War in 1865 came a demand for Louisiana lumber to rebuild a war-torn South. And with the demand for lumber came the need for better access to the mills that had sprung up throughout Calcasieu Parish.<\/p>\n

At the time, Lake Charles was a port of call for vessels navigating the shallow Calcasieu River. But sandbars made the river impassable to all but shallow-draft schooners, which were not suitable for transporting lumber.<\/p>\n

The lumber industry declined, in part due to limited access to and from the Gulf. It was replaced by a rapidly growing rice industry. Ironically, the rice industry also needed navigable waterways.<\/p>\n

Cuts were finally made through sandbars in Calcasieu Lake, resulting in a 70-foot-wide by 7,500-foot-long channel to the Gulf. But pleas for a deeper channel went unheeded until Congress authorized a deputy harbor tax collector for Lake Charles in 1880. However, it was another 10 years before a harbor tax collection office was established at Calcasieu Pass.<\/p>\n

With the completion of the Intracoastal Canal in 1915, the Calcasieu and Sabine rivers were connected by a 20.5-mile-long, 12-foot-deep canal with a 90-foot bottom width. Business leaders saw this as an opportunity to open Calcasieu Parish to commerce.<\/p>\n

Under provisions of the 1921 state Constitution, parish police juries were authorized to fund and initiate public works projects. By an act of the Legislature passed that year, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury was authorized to call a bond election for dredging to widen Calcasieu River and Calcasieu Lake.<\/p>\n

An election was held a year later, and voters approved $2.75 million to dredge the Calcasieu River to a 30-foot depth, with a bottom width of 125 feet, which provided a navigation route through the Intracoastal Canal to the Sabine River and Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

With the authorization of the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District in 1924, a Board of Commissioners was appointed by the governor, and the process of building a terminal facility \u2014 and raising the requisite funding \u2014 began.<\/p>\n

The board acquired the Walnut Grove site: a plot of land bounded by the Calcasieu River and Contraband Bayou. A Port director was hired, and transit sheds were completed and space leased.<\/p>\n

On April 2, 1926, the S.S. Sewalls Point was the first oceangoing vessel to bring cargo to the newly authorized Port.<\/p>\n

With local industry booming, the need for a wider, deeper channel grew. Congress ultimately appropriated $9.2 million for channel dredging and construction of the Calcasieu jetties in 1938. As a result, the Calcasieu Ship Channel was dredged from Lake Charles to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of 34 miles, to a depth of 33 feet and to a bottom width of 250 feet.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until the 1960s that the channel was expanded to 40 feet deep and 400 feet wide, as it remains today.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu to the latest chapter in the Port\u2019s storied history. Business is booming in Southwest Louisiana, and the Port of Lake Charles is expanding its facilities \u2014and maintaining the channel \u2014 to meet the demand.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s the Port of Lake Charles and the Calcasieu Ship Channel that make Southwest Louisiana a serious player in the game of global trade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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