Coast Guard Pauses Decision on Missouri River ATONs
The U.S. Coast Guard may be reconsidering its previously announced decision to remove 36 aids to navigation (ATON) from the upper Missouri River north of Blencoe, Iowa.
The pause comes as South Sioux City, Neb., recently won approval as an Inland Port Authority. That makes the port one of only five designated inland ports in the state, joining North Platte, Omaha, Bellevue and Fremont in that group of five. The approval for an Inland Port Authority took a year to achieve. Port staff are planning to develop nearly 700 acres of land for growth.
The new inland port authority is located north of where the Coast Guard was planning to remove the ATONs. On December 4, several members of Congress from Iowa and Nebraska sent a letter to Capt. Andrew Bender, sector commander of the Upper Mississippi River Sector, requesting that the Coast Guard reconsider its decision. The letter was signed by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa),Pete Ricketts, (R-Neb.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), as well as by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Marianette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa).
“Navigation on the Missouri River is an integral part of moving our inputs, manufactured products and agricultural goods domestically and worldwide,” the members wrote. “In recent years, navigation on the Missouri River up to Sioux City, Iowa, has increased when conditions allow, and there are projects and developments in progress to increase traffic even more. The Missouri River Waterways Analysis and Management System Review 2021 does not capture this recent increase in economic activity, and the disestablishment of ATONs north of Blencoe would negatively impact the navigability of the river for all users and significantly stunt economic growth in the region.”
The members attached letters from affected communities and drew attention to the new barge terminal project in Sioux City, Iowa.
“This terminal could be completed as soon as the summer of 2025 and will bolster the already robust manufacturing and agriculture sectors in the area,” the letter stated.
Adding its voice to the request to keep the ATONs is a brand-new group in the process of formation, the Iowa Port Association, whose executive director, Anshu Singh, sent the group’s own letter to Bender supporting the retention of the ATONs. Until now, Iowa has been the only state in the Upper Mississippi River basin without its own port association. Iowa is the country’s largest corn producer and second-largest soybean producer.
Robert Sinkler, executive director of the Corn Belt Ports, told The Waterways Journal that the Coast Guard study that led to the proposal to remove the ATONs was several years old.
“Obviously, conditions have changed,” he said.
