Contractors Will Cut Baltimore Bridge Wreckage With Hydraulic Shears

Clearing the wreckage at the north side of the ship channel (center) will require cutting the remains of the truss in two (U.S. Navy SUPSALV / USACE)

PUBLISHED APR 10, 2024 11:43 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

In a press briefing Wednesday, the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Baltimore district gave fresh details on the plan to remove the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The steel through-truss bridge collapsed on March 26 after a container ship hit one of its piers, and the Navy Supervisor of Diving and Salvage is coordinating efforts to remove the resulting wreckage from the navigation channel.

According to Pinchasin, the next step for clearing the channel is to cut a 1,500-ton section of the center span into two pieces of about 750 tonnes each. These will be small enough to pick up with the largest crane available. (Some foreign-flag crane ships might be capable of a single-piece 1,500 tonne hoist, but the largest crane barge on the East Coast is limited to 1000 short tons.)

In order to cut the 1,500-ton section in half, a crane with a bucket dredge is working on digging a hole through the crumpled road surface of the span, she said. Once that's done, there will be enough access for divers to place hydraulic shears on the thick steel chords on the bottom of the bridge. When the divers are out of the way at a safe distance, the shears will be activated and the underwater section will be cut safely in two. 

The unified command still plans to reopen a 35-foot-deep channel by the end of April and the full 50-foot channel by the end of May, Col. Pinchasin confirmed, adding that the timeline is firm and is based on rigorous engineering analyses. 

In a statement Wednesday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) criticized the unified command's pace, comparing it unfavorably to the speed of America's primary competitor.   

“Given the importance of the port to the economy, one has to wonder - 'is our country treating this like an emergency?' I can’t help but think that China would have cleared the wreckage in days. I hope this episode doesn’t become another punchline about a nation in decline," Cruz said. 

Separately, the National Transportation Safety Board's investigative team still remains on site and working in Baltimore, chair Jennifer Homendy said in a reconfirmation hearing in the Senate on Wednesday. The NTSB's staff are still interviewing crewmembers and collecting information. Homendy pleaded with senators for more funding for her staff, noting that she has to choose between basic maintenance on the NTSB office building or hiring enough marine investigators. 

Investigators Suspect Electrical Fault Led to Baltimore Bridge Strike

PUBLISHED APR 10, 2024 1:55 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

As the National Transportation Safety Board hunts for the cause of the boxship Dali's disastrous allision, investigators are looking closely at the electrical system, chair Jennifer Homendy told a Senate panel on Wednesday.

In the early hours of March 26, the Dali lost all power and propulsion as she approached Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. Unable to stop, the Dali drifted into one of the bridge's piers, collapsing the entirety of the through-truss center section of the bridge. Six workers who were patching potholes on the center span died in the collapse, and one worker was injured. Removing the wreckage is expected to take months, and rebuilding will take years. 

NTSB investigators are looking at every possible factor in the incident. Tests of Dali's fuel have reportedly come back clean and on-spec, and officials have said that there are no signs of intentional wrongdoing; equipment faults are also on the list, and the OEM has sent experts to help NTSB comb through the Dali's systems for clues. Early signs point to the electrical system, Homendy said, and manufacturers' representatives have flown out to examine the vessel's circuit breakers in particular.

“That is where our focus is right now in this investigation,” Homendy told the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. “Of course, that’s preliminary. It could take different roads, different paths as we continue this investigation. It’s very early.”

Homendy has also said that investigators are looking at the bridge's design and its protection from ship traffic. The Key Bridge opened in the late 1970s, when most merchant ships were far smaller, and civil engineering experts have questioned whether the bridge was adequately updated to keep up with modern risks. 

“Are these bridges protected for the types of traffic that is going through now? . . . If I was a state and the Department of Transportation, that’s what I’d be looking at now," said Homendy. 

New Sonar Data Shows the Challenge of Clearing Baltimore Bridge's Wreckage

Contractors use a bucket dredge to lift wreckage of the Key Bridge, April 2024 (USACE)

PUBLISHED APR 9, 2024 8:46 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

The U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Diving and Salvage (SUPSALV) has released new sonar imagery of the wreckage of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, showing the full extent of the damage and the work that will be required to restore the main shipping channel.

Courtesy USACE / SUPSALV (click to enlarge)

The depiction shows that the tangled wreckage has significantly reduced the navigable depth of the center of the federal channel, including areas where no wreckage is visible above the surface. As USACE has warned before, the steel truss span disintegrated into a tangled mess when it hit the bottom, and its girders are visibly twisted together and embedded in the mud. 

The 3D sonar survey was created through painstaking work by Navy salvage divers, who operated in darkness and near-zero visibility to assess the contours of the wreckage. 

A panorama of Baltimore's ship channel (top) and a corresponding 3D sonar survey of the wreckage below water (bottom) (USACE / SUPSALV, click to enlarge)

The diagrams show two separate areas of focus for the Army Corps-led salvage team. The first is a "Limited Access Channel," a 35-foot-deep fairway that contractors will clear on the north side of the center span. This will be big enough to allow ro/ros, barges and government vessels to go through. Clearing that channel will resolve minor national-defense effects of the bridge collapse: Four Military Sealift Command cargo ships are currently on the landward side of the bridge and cannot get out; meanwhile, several larger Coast Guard cutters are due to call in Baltimore for repairs and cannot get in, according to USNI. 

The Limited Access Channel includes areas with significant underwater wreckage, which may be challenging to clear. However, it is also further away from the difficult operation to remove the container ship Dali, which is entangled with a section of the bridge truss. The delicate task of cutting Dali free is just beginning, and salvors are starting to hoist off intact containers from Dali's bow. 

When the channel is restored, thousands of stevedores and others who depend on the Port of Baltimore will be able to get back to work. While the primary focus has been on containerized and ro/ro cargoes, Baltimore is also home to America's second-largest coal terminal, which has been shuttered by the channel closure. In its April outlook, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that U.S. coal exports will drop by fully a third this month and by 20 percent in May. The impact will reduce U.S. coal exports by six percent for the full year. 

 

Green Energy's Rope-a-Dope

Is a rebound in the offing?

iStock

PUBLISHED APR 11, 2024 3:53 AM BY G. ALLEN BROOKS

 

(Article originally published in Jan/Feb 2024 edition.)

The 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” made rope-a-dope famous. The boxing technique whereby a fighter allows his opponent to beat him while he leans on the ring’s ropes so they absorb the energy of the blows enabled challenger Muhammed Ali to seize the world heavyweight crown from George Foreman. All the pummeling wore out the champion, leading to Ali’s unconventional victory. 

Based on green energy’s beatings in 2023 and early 2024, is the industry merely engaging in a rope-a-dope? 

Green energy appears to have lost its mojo. Grid operators struggle to avoid electricity blackouts. Electric vehicle owners can’t get them charged in super-cold weather. EV manufacturers scale back their production plans and lay off workers. Who wouldn’t question the Green Revolution?

In Europe, energy-intensive businesses are abandoning high energy-cost countries in favor of lower-cost ones. European households are straining under the weight of high utility bills. The mirage of cheap renewable energy is disappearing, but for many it can’t happen quickly enough. 

Stressed Power Grids

The polar vortex that swept across North America stressed power grids. Canada’s Alberta grid operator warned of blackouts without a power reduction. Customers responded by cutting power usage by 100 megawatts, saving the grid. 

Like many North American grids, Alberta’s renewable energy share is growing. The problem is renewable energy sources – solar and wind – are part-time power providers, which complicates keeping the system balanced. Alberta’s data illustrates the growing challenge of managing the grid.  

Alberta has 19,272 megawatts of electricity generation capacity of which a quarter is renewable – wind (19.4 percent) and solar (6.1 percent). On the first day of the three-day grid emergency, wind generated just 2.3 percent of its capacity while solar was better at 8.8 percent. It was a sunny day because the maximum solar utilization that day reached 37.4 percent, but wind failed to even double its output. Natural gas carried the load, generating 75.5 percent of its capacity, which is 64 percent of the grid’s total generating capacity. 

To highlight the part-time performance of renewable energy, on the same day of the prior week, solar delivered zero output while wind delivered 59.8 percent. Given wind’s strong performance, natural gas got a reprieve and only had to utilize 74.9 percent of its capacity. 

U.S. grid operators anxiously watched. The Texas grid, devastated by Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which claimed 800 lives, avoided a repeat as temperatures were not as cold and there was no ice storm.  However, during the 7 a.m. hour on the two days of the cold snap, the grid narrowly avoided crashing when wind generated only 7 percent and 12 percent of capacity. Solar was completely absent. Natural gas, coal and nuclear power kept the electrons flowing. 

The East Coast offshore wind disaster that began last year continued into the new year. Developer Eversource announced a $1.4-$1.6 billion write-down of the value of its interests in three joint-venture offshore wind projects as it seeks to sell them. Because the economics of these projects have deteriorated, their value must be reduced.  

Transition Fairy Tales

Joe Kaeser, Chairman of Siemens Energy, one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers, commented on the energy transition fairy tales that must be corrected before progress can be made. 

He was interviewed by The Telegraph after addressing the recent Davos World Economic Forum meeting. He told the paper, “Every transformation comes at a cost and every transformation is painful.  And that’s something which the energy industry and the public sector – governments – don’t really want to hear.”  

“I believe people need to become reasonable about the energy transition,” he added. “I believe that for a while [customers] need to accept higher pricing. And then there might be innovation – about the weight of the blades, other efficiency methods, technology – so the cost can then go down again.  But the point is, if there is no profit pool in an industry, why should that industry innovate?”

In effect, only higher prices will create the “profit pool” allowing the industry to innovate and hopefully bring down costs. 

“I think [the net zero targets] are realistic, but they come at a cost,” Kaeser continued. “You need to stick by the facts at some point even though facts sometimes may not be liked.” He went on to explain that consumers want “reliability, affordability and sustainability” from their energy system. However, as he points out, “sustainability and affordability may conflict.” 

As a result, the green energy movement faces a serious problem: “If you want to have cheap energy,” Kaeser concludes, “you need to be gas-fired. That’s the cheapest way, the most secure way if you calculate the whole thing, from the beginning to the end.” 

Natural gas over wind energy is not a message the green energy movement wants to hear, especially from a key industry player. But Kaeser is right. Transitions take time and are not costless. You need profitable industries to effect technological change, enabling the transition to continue. Compressing the transition timeline is proving to be more expensive than it would be otherwise, and therefore it’s alienating the public whose support it needs. 

Energiewende

A fast energy transition can lead to fundamental flaws that put economies and societies at risk of immense harm. Germany, the world’s fourth largest economy, experienced an economic contraction last year and is projected to barely grow this year.

The problem? High-cost energy. 

Germany’s energy transition – Energiewende – has been underway for over 20 years. The transition was energized following the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Germany’s carbon emissions reduction has been outstanding, but recent progress has come at the cost of industrial activity due to surging energy costs. 

The super-cold winter of 2021-2022 depleted gas storage just as the Russia/Ukraine conflict commenced and Germany lost its major source of gas. Energy prices soared as alternative gas supplies were secured at higher prices. German households pay the second highest electricity price in Europe –  three times the cost in the U.S. 

With Germany’s economy shrinking because manufacturers, especially high-energy-consuming companies, were ceasing operations and shifting production to low-energy-cost countries, the government had to act. Last November, it agreed to subsidize the industry’s energy costs to the tune of €28 billion ($30.5 billion) for 2024-2027 with €12 billion ($13 billion) allocated for 2024.

This may not be enough to keep the economy humming, suggesting the public may suffer even more in the future. 

EV Slowdown

Another struggling green energy industry is electric vehicles. Sales continue to grow but at a slower-than-anticipated rate. Production has outstripped demand, causing inventories to build on dealers’ lots. 

The share of Americans willing to consider EV purchases has fallen, causing America’s automakers to pull back EV investments, cut production and lay off workers. This is happening despite more states instituting bans on internal combustion engine vehicle sales. 

Pictures of charging stations in Chicago chock-full of EVs with dead batteries during the recent Arctic cold spell created bad press. The inability to charge EVs and a significant loss of range have alarmed potential buyers. 

The announcement by rental car giant Hertz that it’s selling a third of its global EV fleet – 20,000 vehicles – because of repair and insurance costs was another black eye for the industry. Hertz was pressured by the sharp drop in used EV values due to Tesla’s price cuts. Rental car company earnings are highly sensitive to fleet depreciation. Price cuts drive down used-car values, slamming earnings.

But the real problem was not as many people wanted to rent EVs as Hertz anticipated. 

Tesla has aggressively cut EV prices hoping to boost lagging sales. As a result, Detroit automakers are losing thousands of dollars per EV sold, an untenable situation.

Rope-a-Dope? 

It would seem the green energy movement is being derailed. However, it could just be a rope-a-dope move. Can the industry rally? 

As Siemens Energy’s Kaeser explained, the rush to transition has created the industry’s problems. For offshore wind, it rushed to build bigger and bigger turbines to boost project returns, but the technology could not mature at the same pace. With developers “flip-flopping on projects given their slow planning process, equipment suppliers were left with an uncertain business outlook.” Thus, they are reluctant to invest in research and development and the larger manufacturing plants necessary for bringing down turbine costs and improving project economics. 

“It’s up and down and up and down, and promise here and promise there and then, ‘Oh, well, renewables are too expensive.’  Well, the cost of energy doesn’t go down on renewables if you don’t innovate,” Kaeser explained. 

Who Pays?

It all comes down to money. If countries and developers are not prepared to spend, they should rethink their net zero plans. 

Such spending, however, is predicated on a return to a world with loads of cheap money. That world no longer exists. In today’s high-interest-rate world, the cheap renewable energy mirage has disappeared. The cost of the energy transition can’t be financed on the backs of the public alone.  

As they await a renewable energy rope-a-dope, many electricity customers are yelling, “No Más!” – MarEx 

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

 

On World Parkinson’s Day, a new theory emerges on the disease’s origins and spread

\UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER

 

IMAGE: 

A PROPOSAL ON HOW ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE TO TOXICANTS MAY CAUSE EITHER BODY-FIRST OR BRAIN-FIRST LEWY BODY DISEASE.  THE SIZE OF THE BROWN CIRCLES REFLECTS THE AMOUTH OF LEWY PATHOLOGY IN EACH REGION. 

view more 

CREDIT: AARHUS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL/UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER

The nose or the gut? For the past two decades, the scientific community has debated the wellspring of the toxic proteins at the source of Parkinson’s disease. In 2003, a German pathologist, Heiko Braak, MD, first proposed that the disease begins outside the brain. More recently, Per Borghammer, MD, with Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, and his colleagues argue that the disease is the result of processes that start in either the brain’s smell center (brain-first) or the body’s intestinal tract (body-first).    

A new hypothesis paper appearing in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease on World Parkinson’s Day unites the brain- and body-first models with some of the likely causes of the disease–environmental toxicants that are either inhaled or ingested. The authors of the new study, who include Borghammer, argue that inhalation of certain pesticides, common dry cleaning chemicals, and air pollution predispose to a brain-first model of the disease. Other ingested toxicants, such as tainted food and contaminated drinking water, lead to body-first model of the disease.

“In both the brain-first and body-first scenarios the pathology arises in structures in the body closely connected to the outside world,” said Ray Dorsey, MD, a professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and co-author of the piece. “Here we propose that Parkinson’s is a systemic disease and that its initial roots likely begin in the nose and in the gut and are tied to environmental factors increasingly recognized as major contributors, if not causes, of the disease. This further reinforces the idea that Parkinson’s, the world’s fastest growing brain disease, may be fueled by toxicants and is therefore largely preventable.”  

Different pathways to the brain, different forms of disease

A misfolded protein called alpha-synuclein has been in scientists’ sights for the last 25 years as one of the driving forces behind Parkinson’s. Over time, the protein accumulates in the brain in clumps, called Lewy bodies, and causes progressive dysfunction and death of many types of nerve cells, including those in the dopamine-producing regions of the brain that control motor function. When first proposed, Braak thought that an unidentified pathogen, such as a virus, may be responsible for the disease. 

The new piece argues that toxins encountered in the environment, specifically the dry cleaning and degreasing chemicals trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), the weed killer paraquat, and air pollution, could be common causes for the formation of toxic alpha-synuclein. TCE and PCE contaminates thousands of former industrial, commercial, and military sites, most notably the Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune, and paraquat is one of the most widely used herbicides in the US, despite being banned for safety concerns in more than 30 countries, including the European Union and China.  Air pollution was at toxic levels in nineteenth century London when James Parkinson, whose 269th birthday is celebrated today, first described the condition. 

The nose and the gut are lined with a soft permeable tissue, and both have well established connections to the brain. In the brain-first model, the chemicals are inhaled and may enter the brain via the nerve responsible for smell. From the brain’s smell center, alpha-synuclein spreads to other parts of the brain principally on one side, including regions with concentrations of dopamine-producing neurons.  The death of these cells is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. The disease may cause asymmetric tremor and slowness in movement and, a slower rate of progression after diagnosis, and only much later, significant cognitive impairment or dementia. 

When ingested, the chemicals pass through the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Initial alpha-synuclein pathology may begin in the gut’s own nervous system from where it can spread to both sides of the brain and spinal cord. This body-first pathway is often associated with Lewy body dementia, a disease in the same family as Parkinson’s, which is characterized by early constipation and sleep disturbance, followed by more symmetric slowing in movements and earlier dementia, as the disease spreads through both brain hemispheres.   

New models to understand and study brain diseases

“These environmental toxicants are widespread and not everyone has Parkinson’s disease,” said Dorsey. “The timing, dose, and duration of exposure and interactions with genetic and other environmental factors are probably key to determining who ultimately develops Parkinson’s. In most instances, these exposures likely occurred years or decades before symptoms develop.” 

Pointing to a growing body of research linking environmental exposure to Parkinson’s disease, the authors believe the new models may enable the scientific community to connect specific exposures to specific forms of the disease. This effort will be aided by increasing public awareness of the adverse health effects of many chemicals in our environment. The authors conclude that their hypothesis “may explain many of the mysteries of Parkinson’s disease and open the door toward the ultimate goal–prevention.”    

In addition to Parkinson’s, these models of environmental exposure may advance understanding of how toxicants contribute to other brain disorders, including autism in children, ALS in adults, and Alzheimer’s in seniors. Dorsey and his colleagues at the University of Rochester have organized a symposium on the Brain and the Environment in Washington, DC, on May 20 that will examine the role toxicants in our food, water, and air are playing in all these brain diseases.  

Additional authors of the hypothesis paper include Briana De Miranda, PhD, with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Jacob Horsager, MD, PhD, with Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.

---

JOURNAL

Journal of Parkinson s Disease

DOI

10.3233/JPD-240019 

ARTICLE TITLE

The Body, the Brain, the Environment, and Parkinson’s Disease

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

11-Apr-2024

Disclaimer: AAA

 

Pork labelling schemes ‘not helpful’ in making informed buying choices, say researchers

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Researchers have evaluated different types of pig farming – including woodland, organic, free range, RSPCA assured, and Red Tractor certified, to assess each systems’ impact across four areas: land use (representing biodiversity loss), greenhouse gas emissions, antibiotics use and animal welfare. Their study concludes that none of the farm types performed consistently well across all four areas – a finding that has important implications for increasingly climate conscious consumers, as well as farmers themselves.

However, there were individual farms that did perform well in all domains, including an indoor Red Tractor farm, an outdoor bred, indoor finished RSPCA assured farm and fully outdoor woodland farm. “Outliers like these show that trade-offs are not inevitable,” said lead author Dr Harriet Bartlett, Research Associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, who was formerly at the University of Cambridge.  

“Somewhat unexpectedly we found that a handful of farms perform far better than average across all four of our environmental and welfare measures,” added senior author Andrew Balmford, Professor of Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge. However, none of the current label or assurance schemes predicted which farms these would be.

“The way we classify farm types and label pork isn’t helpful for making informed decisions when it comes to buying more sustainable meat. Even more importantly, we aren’t rewarding and incentivising the best-performing farmers. Instead of focusing on farm types or practices, we need to focus on meaningful outcomes for people, the planet and the pigs – and assess, and reward farms based on these,” said Bartlett.

The findings also show that common assumptions around food labelling can be misplaced. For instance, Organic farming systems, which consumers might see as climate and environmentally friendly, have on average three times the CO2 output per kg of meat of more intensive Red Tractor or RSPCA assured systems and four times the land use. However, these same system on average use almost 90 fewer antibiotic medicines, and result in improved animal welfare compared with production from Red tractor or RSPCA assured systems.

The way we classify livestock farms must be improved, Bartlett says, because livestock production is growing rapidly, especially pork production, which has quadrupled in the past 50 years and already accounts for 9% of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. Pig farming also uses more antibiotics than any other livestock sector, and 8.5% of all arable land.

“Our findings show that mitigating the environmental impacts of livestock farming isn’t a case of saying which farm type is the best,” said Bartlett. “There is substantial scope for improvement within types, and our current means of classification is not identifying the best farms for the planet and animals overall. Instead, we need to identify farms that successfully limit their impacts across all areas of societal concern, and understand, promote and incentivise their practises.”

The study reached its conclusions using data from 74 UK and 17 Brazilian breed-to-finish systems, each made up of 1-3 farms and representing the annual production of over 1.2 million pigs. It is published today in the journal Nature Food.

“To the best of our knowledge, our dataset covers by far the largest and most diverse sample of pig production systems examined in any single study,” said Bartlett.

James Wood, Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science at the University of Cambridge, commented: “This important study identifies a key need to clarify what different farm labels should indicate to consumers; there is a pressing need to extend this work into other farming sectors. It also clearly demonstrates the critical importance that individual farmers play in promoting best practice across all farming systems.”

Trade-offs in the externalities of pig production are not inevitable was authored by academics at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and the University of São Paulo.

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JOURNAL

Nature Food

DOI

10.1038/s43016-024-00921-2 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Trade-offs in the externalities of pig production are not inevitable

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

11-Apr-2024

Disclaimer: AAAS and E

Why is the Dali ship crew still stuck on board in the Baltimore Harbor?

It's been two weeks since the Dali cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.



Katie Mather
·Internet Culture Reporter
Wed, April 10, 2024 

A view of the Patapsco River following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. (Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)

Two weeks after the Dali cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the 21-person crew still remains onboard. The Key Bridge collapsed early morning on March 26, killing six people who had been working on the bridge.

The group includes pilots, engineers, divers and other crew members who will remain on the ship until the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard finish their investigation.

Why is the crew still on the boat?

On April 1, BBC reported that authorities said there were no plans to disembark the Dali’s crew and it is unlikely any plan will be put in place unless the vessel is moved or taken out of the water. The Coast Guard said on March 29 that moving the ship is a second priority to reopening the Baltimore port and the shipping channel.

The BBC also reported that “even in normal circumstances, disembarking crews of foreign nationals from ships in U.S. ports requires significant paperwork.” Twenty of the crew are citizens of India and one is from Sri Lanka.

The crew members would need visas and valid shore passes to allow them off the ship and require escorts to take them from the ship to the terminal gate, according to the BBC. It is not clear whether the crew has this required paperwork.

A representative from the Maryland Port Authority’s Key Bridge response team told Futurism that the crew is also still “engaged in maintaining the current status of the ship” as the NTSB and Coast Guard continue their investigation.

“The crew is busy with their normal duties on the ship as well as assisting the NTSB and Coast Guard investigators on board,” Dali management spokesman, William Marks, told the Washington Post.

Andrew Middleton, the director of the Catholic ministry Apostleship of the Sea, a group that has been working to provide for the crewmembers, told NPR that the crew needs to continue monitoring the mechanical systems, electrical systems and pumps.

“All those kinds of things that make the vessel operate, you need humans to do that,” he explained.

When can crew members expect to leave the boat?

Chirag Bahri, a former sailor who now works as the international operations manager of the International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network, told the BBC that it might be months before the crew could return home.

"Maybe after a few weeks, some of the junior ranks may be repatriated home," he said. "But it may be that the senior ranks are still required to complete the formal investigation and are kept in the U.S."

Why can’t the ship leave the Baltimore Harbor?

The NTSB and the Coast Guard are still investigating whether it was a power outage on the cargo ship that caused it to crash into the Key Bridge. A deficiency in Dali’s system was recorded when the ship was last inspected in June — categorized as having to do with “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” with no other specifics — but a follow-up inspection concluded that the problem had been addressed.

The Baltimore Sun reported on April 4 that there were 11 cargo ships trapped behind the Key Bridge collapse, not including the Dali. The vessels can’t move until the debris from the bridge gets cleaned up.

The crew is covered by an International Transport Workers’ Federation contract through the Singapore Maritime Officers Union, the Washington Post reported. But it’s up to American authorities to determine when the crew will be allowed to leave Baltimore.

ITF inspector Steve Trowsdale told the Washington Post he anticipates that the crew, who come from developing countries with low employment, might be anxious about being held up in the port during the investigation.

“They are on very tight schedules,” he said. “They get in, they load or they unload, and they get out again.”

Is the Dali crew OK?

The crew was mostly uninjured following the bridge collapse. Synergy, the Singapore-based company that owns Dali, reported on March 27 that one crew member had to be taken off the ship to be treated for minor injuries following the crash, but has since returned.

A Key Bridge representative told Futurism that the crew was “prepared for a 35-day voyage” so they had “ample supplies on board to support them.” The spokesperson added that there was “an open line of communication with the crew” and “they appear in good spirits and health.”

Middleton told NPR that his organization put together a care package of SIM cards, Wi-Fi hotspots, DVDs and snacks to send to the crew. He said if the crew were to run out of food and water, the ship line would get more.

“We worry that the stress and the trauma of the incident and that, as time goes on, might start to weigh a little more heavily on them,” Middleton said. “They were mentally prepared for 28 days, you know, the only difference now being is they're within eyeshot of dry land, and they can't get to it.”

LINE 5
Biden Administration Wants Enbridge Pipeline Ruling Revisited

Robert Tuttle
Wed, April 10, 2024 


(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration has stepped into Enbridge Inc.’s fight over an oil pipeline in Wisconsin, arguing an earlier ruling did not consider the impact on US policy and did not adequately compensate indigenous landowners.

In June, a US District Court in Wisconsin ordered the Canadian pipeline company to relocate the Line 5 oil pipeline away from the Bad River Reservation within three years or halt its operation and pay the band $5.15 million for trespassing.

While the US argued the court was correct that Line 5 was trespassing, it did not consider “trade and diplomatic relationship with and treaty obligations to Canada,” the Department of Justice said in a brief filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The brief also suggested restitution be reconsidered, given Enbridge “earned well over $1 billion in net profit from Line 5” during the 10 years it used tribal land.

Enbridge has been enmeshed in multiple court battles over Line 5, a crucial conduit for delivering millions of gallons of oil from Western Canada to refineries in the US Midwest as well as in Ontario and Quebec.

A Line 5 shutdown is “not in the public interest as it would negatively impact businesses, communities and millions of individuals who depend on Line 5 for energy in both the US and Canada,” Enbridge said in a statement.

The battle has soured relations between the US and Canada. In addition to the Wisconsin case, Enbridge is fighting Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order that Line 5 be shut down because of the threat of a spill where the line crosses the Great Lakes at the Straits of Mackinac. The company has proposed to build a tunnel under the waterway to make the line safer.

Bloomberg Businessweek

Don't shut Line 5: Biden administration issues long-awaited position on Canada-U.S. pipeline


CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024 

Pipes at Enbridge's terminal in Superior, Wis. The Calgary company's Line 5 carries crude across Wisconsin and Michigan to refineries in Sarnia, Ont. The pipeline is the subject of a lawsuit between the company and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, through whose territory the pipeline runs. (Jim Mone/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The Biden administration has weighed in for the first time on a major cross-border legal dispute that could shut down portions of Enbridge's Line 5 Canada-U.S. oil pipeline.

The opinion came in an amicus brief that, although nuanced, argued against shutting down the pipeline, partly in order to preserve diplomatic relations with Canada.

The more than 1,000-kilometre long Line 5 carries 540,000 barrels of oil and natural gas liquids daily across Wisconsin and Michigan to refineries in Sarnia, Ont.

The legal dispute in question is one to which the U.S. government is not actually a party. It involves Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. and the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, through whose territory the pipeline runs.

In 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin ruled in favour of the Bad River Band and ordered Enbridge to shut down parts of the pipeline within three years and pay the band $5.2 million for trespassing on its land after easement rights expired.

Both Enbridge and the band, which had wanted an immediate shutdown, appealed the ruling.

The Canadian government, in its own brief last fall, argued that a shutdown of the line would violate a 1977 Canada-U.S. pipeline agreement in which the countries agreed not to block the flow of each other's hydrocarbons.

Wednesday's submission from the U.S. Department of Justice cited Ottawa's argument and urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to send the ruling back to the lower court.

A signpost marks the presence of high pressure petroleum pipelines including Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered shut down in May 2021, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada March 20, 2021. Picture taken March 20, 2021.

A signpost marks the presence of high pressure petroleum pipelines including Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, in Sarnia. Canada warned of serious economic damage if Line 5 gets closed. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)

Government brief urges more compensation for band

On the one hand, Wednesday's brief supported the financial penalty the lower court issued against Enbridge; in fact, it said the payment to the community should be increased.

On the other hand, it urged the appeals court to reverse the part of the ruling that would require a shutdown of several kilometres of the pipeline.

The reason? According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the lower court failed to take into account significant consequences, including the possibility of a costly dispute with Canada.

"The United States has a manifest interest in complying with its treaty obligations with all sovereigns," said the 70-page amicus brief, publicly released Wednesday.

"The district court … did not consider what it had described as the 'significant public policy implications' that a shutdown order would have on the United States's trade and diplomatic relationship with and treaty obligations to Canada."

General view of the Imperial Oil refinery, located near Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered shut down in May 2021, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada March 20, 2021. Picture taken March 20, 2021. Picture taken through a fence. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

A view of the Imperial Oil refinery near Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline in Sarnia. Supporters of the pipeline say it's a vital supply line for refineries in Ontario and Quebec and essential to the production of jet fuel for major airports on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)

Another dispute ongoing in Michigan

Canada has for years pressed the Biden administration to weigh in on the pipeline dispute especially in light of the fact that it was that same administration that has already cancelled one Canada-U.S. pipeline project, Keystone XL, on its first day in office in 2021.

In its filing, the U.S. federal government cited Canada's claim that a shutdown of the pipeline would have devastating economic consequences, particularly on parts of Central Canada. Supporters of Line 5 say it's a vital supply line for refineries in Ontario and Quebec and essential to the production of jet fuel for major airports on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

It said that Canada has already invoked the 1977 Canada-U.S. treaty and said a shutdown could lead to a dispute process, arbitration and significant penalties if the U.S. were found to be violating its treaty obligations.

This photo taken in October 2016 shows an aboveground section of Enbridge's Line 5 at the Mackinaw City, Mich., pump station.

An aboveground section of Enbridge's Line 5 at the Mackinaw City, Mich., pump station. Another court case against Line 5 is ongoing in the state that neighbours Wisconsin. (The Associated Press)

The appeal currently being considered is separate from another ongoing legal dispute between the state of Michigan and Enbridge over the same pipeline's path through the Great Lakes.

The state points to a past spill as evidence of the environmental threat from Line 5 and has fought to block the aging pipeline from crossing the vital waterways.

The company, meanwhile, wants to build a new tunnel through the Straits of Mackinac, which link lakes Michigan and Huron.

Band River chairman 'disappointed'

Reactions to the U.S. government filing in Wisconsin were, unsurprisingly, mixed.

A Canadian official briefed on the submission said the main assessment from government lawyers was that the submission is neutral to Canadian interests.

Bad River Chairman Robert Blanchard said in a statement that the tribe was grateful the U.S. agrees Enbridge is operating on tribal land unlawfully but was "disappointed that the U.S. has not unequivocally called for an immediate end to Enbridge's ongoing trespass."

This June 29, 2018 photo shows tanks at the Enbridge Energy terminal in Superior, Wis. For the second time in a year, the federal government is invoking a little-known 1977 energy treaty between Canada and the United States to defend the Line 5 pipeline. This time, it’s in Wisconsin, where Line 5 skirts the southwestern shores of Lake Superior before crossing into Michigan. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jim Mone 

An Enbridge terminal in Superior, Wis. The company appealed a lower court ruling that ordered it to shut parts of Line 5 in three years and pay compensation to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa for trespassing on its land. (Jim Mone/The Associated Press)

Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community, another Chippewa Great Lakes community along the pipeline route, said in a statement that the filing left the community with "more questions than answers."

"It also leaves Bad River, other Tribal Nations throughout the region, and the 40 million people that rely on the Great Lakes at risk of a catastrophic spill," Gravelle said. "We fear it will take Line 5 failing again and the disaster of an oil spill for our position to be taken seriously."

WAIT WHAT?!

Environmental group disappointed after wind-energy project gets go-ahead from N.L. government


CBC
Wed, April 10, 2024

Wind turbines in operation north of Shelburne, Ont. taken on July 23, 2016. (David Donnelly/CBC - image credit)

World Energy GH2 passed its environmental assessment and was granted the go-ahead by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador on Tuesday. 

As World Energy GH2 clears another hurdle in its plan to build Canada's first wind-to-hydrogen project on Newfoundland's west coast, a non-profit environmental group says they still have serious doubts about the proposal.

Nick Mercer, co-chair of Enviro Watch N.L., said his group was "gravely concerned" about the news on Tuesday, which saw the provincial government greenlight the project with some conditions.

"We're quite disappointed with the decision that was made yesterday. I mean, we don't have to look far back in Newfoundland and Labrador's history with how large-scale quote-unquote renewable energy projects can go deeply off the rails," Mercer said Wednesday.

Mercer said his group is concerned about the lasting impact of this and similar projects on areas like the Port au Port Peninsula, which he said is ecologically and socially rich while simultaneously vulnerable.

He also takes issue with the efficiency of the project. World Energy GH2 plans to harness wind power from over 300 turbines and turn it into hydrogen, which will then be transferred into ammonia and shipped across the ocean in container ships.

While the resulting energy is considered green by the company and governing bodies, Enviro Watch N.L. questions its sustainability.

"It's our position that these gargantuan wind-to-hydrogen projects that are being imposed on these communities do not meet that bar for true sustainability," he said.

The group is also calling for a change to the environmental assessment process, which Mercer said only maintains the status quo and doesn't push proponents to develop projects that are environmentally and socially responsible.

Nick Mercer works with the Nunatsiavut government, coordinating its renewable energy projects.
Nick Mercer, co-chair of Enviro Watch N.L., says his group is 'gravely concerned' about Tuesday's announcement. (Regan Burden/CBC)

The provincial government placed approximately 60 conditions on WEGH2 in its environmental assessment release, many of which stay attached to the project through its lifetime.

"These processes are meant to put Band-Aids on these impacts," Mercer said. "They're not meant to get rid of them. So what we would like to see is a shift away from this environmental assessment — this very low bar of a regulatory process — to a really progressive, proactive bar which privileges small-scale renewable energy development and above all else the consent, and support and social cohesion of affected communities."

Balancing act

But others remain optimistic about the project.

Benoit First Nation Chief Jasen Benwah says a project of this magnitude means stability for the region and promises of jobs means young adults can work at home instead of moving away, and people from the province living elsewhere can come back to work.

Benwah said he wasn't surprised by the outcome of the environmental assessment and insists the benefits must outweigh the impact of the project.

Jasen Benwah, the chief of the Benoit First Nation, says he supports the World Energy project. He says the opposition to the project is very vocal, but doesn't represent most residents. Jasen Benwah, chief of the Benoit First Nation, says he wasn't surprised by Tuesday's announcement but wants the benefits of the project to outweigh any impact it may have on the region. (Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada)

"I understand the concerns that people have, that some people have. It's all about getting this done, getting it running, having the smallest footprint, having community engagement and having benefits for the communities, creating jobs in the area," he said.

"I guess it's all a balancing act that we're looking for."

One of WEGH2's conditions is a requirement for a community liaison committee for public and government oversight.

Benwah said that's an important piece.

"Whether you support the project or don't support the project, all of those things are important to all of us," he said. "We need to have that connection and that voice that continually engages the project owners so that issues are mitigated, there's no concerns."

Next steps

Concerns aside, World Energy GH2 is pushing forward with its vision.

"We've done a great deal of work and made significant investment in the environmental studies and that's exactly what we need to do to launch this green energy industry in Canada," company CEO Sean Leet told reporters at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

World Energy GH2 CEO Sean Leet says there's work ahead as the company complies with provincial conditions. (Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada)

But there's still work to do before wind turbines begin to crop up around the Port au Port Peninsula.

Leet didn't give a timeline for when construction will start. He said the company is still digesting Tuesday's news and is working to meet the provincial government's conditions of release.

"The world is watching our province and watching our country. We're in a unique position on a global scale," he said.

"A lot of the conditions are specific to us complying with what's included in our environmental impact statement. So we don't see any challenges with respect to the comprehensive document we submitted, including the amendment."

NDP backs Tory motion, saying carbon price not 'be-all, end-all' of climate policy

The Canadian Press
Wed, April 10, 2024 



OTTAWA — The federal New Democrats backed Conservative demands Wednesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take part in a televised "emergency meeting" on carbon pricing with Canada's premiers.

The federal carbon price is not the "be-all, end-all" of climate policy, and New Democrats are open to alternative plans presented by premiers, NDP environment critic Laurel Collins said Wednesday.

Collins accused the Liberal government of using climate as a political wedge issue, and that a meeting would help unite Canadians and spark new ideas.

"We need to bring Canadians together to fight the climate emergency, to tackle the cost of living crisis, and we need a government that will support them," Collins said.

The New Democrats backed a non-binding Conservative motion demanding that Trudeau sit down with provincial and territorial leaders within five weeks.

The motion passed Wednesday in the House of Commons with the support of both the New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois. Liberal MPs opposed it.

"Trudeau has a responsibility to listen to Canada's premiers about the misery his carbon tax is causing Canadians," the Conservative party said in a statement on Wednesday following the vote.

"In this meeting, he must also allow provinces to opt out of the federal carbon tax and pursue other responsible ideas for lowering emissions without taxes."

The Conservatives insist that the carbon price is making life less affordable for Canadians, while the Liberals insist their carbon price rebates mean most Canadians actually end up with more money at the end of the day.

Trudeau has so far spurned requests for a face-to-face meeting from six different premiers, including in Ontario, Western Canada and the Atlantic provinces.

Trudeau has said he believes premiers would rather complain and "make political hay" out of his federal carbon pricing program than present an alternative to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2024.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press