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OPINIONS
Jim Ross: Corps not showing where it leans on barge dock
What are the interests of the United States of America when it comes to whether a company based in South Point, Ohio, should be allowed to park and clean up to 200 barges along the Ohio River at Huntington's Westmoreland neighborhood?
This project has had several starts and stops through the years. The most recent start came on May 30 when the corps issued a public notice stating Huntington Marine Services had again applied for a permit to build the dock. The dock would take up about a mile of river bank (4,800 feet, actually), from near the mouth of Fourpole Creek to the mouth of Twelvepole Creek.
Last week, I went to the Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to learn what its approach will be on deciding whether to issue a permit to Huntington Marine Services to build the dock. I talked with Susan A. Fields, the regulatory specialist who is in charge of processing the company's permit application.
Fields said the corps must look at 21 factors in deciding whether to issue the permit. Those factors are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historic properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.
"Each factor might carry a different weight for a particular project," Fields said. The corps has not weighted these factors yet because the project is still early in the evaluation process, she said.
The corps is not in the business of zoning the Ohio River shoreline, but it does look at the cumulative impacts a project such as this barge dock is likely to have, she said.
The public comment period for the Westmoreland barge facility officially ended Monday, but Fields said the corps will accept comments after that date. If there are enough comments raising questions that would best be answered at a public hearing, the corps will schedule a hearing, she said.
Ultimately, the decision will come down to what is best for the USA, Fields said. Not necessarily for the people of Westmoreland or the people in Ohio or the federal treasury, but what is in the best interest of the nation as a whole.
The people of Westmoreland make a good case that the barge dock should not be allowed in their area. On the other hand, there's not a lot of undeveloped shoreline left for growth of businesses dealing with the busy barge traffic needs in the area around the Big Sandy River.
Jim Ritter, the city councilman representing Westmoreland, says the river bank in that part of town is a recreation area. People use it for fishing and camping, he says. Ritter does not want the river bank along Westmoreland to become like that in Ceredo and Kenova, where public use is hindered by all the barge docks.
The corps will have to evaluate economics vs. recreation and quality of life.
So far, the people who will make the decision have given no hints which way they are leaning.
Jim Ross is editorial page editor of The Herald-Dispatch. He can be contacted at 304-526-2803 or jimross@herald-disaptch.com. This column is adapted from several entries in his Hot Topics blog at www.herald-dispatch.com.
