The following is a list of the organizations, their president, and membership: Organizations Membership 63 78 51 160 72 98 94 62 400 500 550 Pikeville Merchants' Association, Rich Wells, president__ Kentucky Petroleum Marketers' Association, J. Heber Lewis, president__ CHARLES F. TRIVETTE. MEMORANDUM OF SALIENT POINTS OF EVIDENCE SUBMITTED IN SUPPORT OF THE BIG SANDY RIVER AND TUG AND LEVISA FORKS, KY., W. Va., AND Va. 1. The natural resources of the Big Sandy Valley are enormous and only await low-cost water transportation for their development. (a) United States Geological Survey Bulleton 876, Coal Deposits for Pike County, Ky., published 1937, on page 1 states, "The county contains an estimated reserve of about 8,000,000,000 tons of coal, in beds 12 inches or more thick, that are mineable by drift mines. In addition, probably several times this quantity is available to shaft mining in the lower Pennsylvanian rocks below the level of the streams." In the introduction on page 1 the bulletin further states, "Pike County, the easternmost and largest county in Kentucky, includes nearly 800 square miles of mountainous land lying within and forming a substantial part of the eastern Kentucky coal field." (b) The Corps of Engineers' report, House Document No. 264, Eightieth Congress, first session, Big Sandy River and Tug and Levisa Forks, Ky., W. Va., and Va., May 21, 1947, on page 87, resources, states, "Investigations undertaken in connection with this report have shown that the Big Sandy Basin contains the greatest deposits of high-quality, high-volatile coals in the United States, as well as extensive beds of the finest low-volatile or smokeless coals yet discovered. Of these deposits, an estimated 2,307,000,000 tons of high-volatile coal (all recoverable by ordinary drift-mining methods) lie within 10 miles of the waterway, and are economically available for water transportation. At greater distance but still potentially accessible to the waterway, lie enormously productive low-volatile fields with a normal annual output of about 30,000,000 tons. Outside of this area, but within 15 miles of the waterway, are about 500,000,000 tons of high-grade byproduct coals, and still further away, beyond practical accessibility to the waterway there are several billion tons of high-volatile coals, which should be sufficient to maintain a great tonnage of north-south rail movements for many years." (c) In addition to the coal reserves, the proponents testified to other natural resources in the Big Sandy Valley, such as iron ore, limestone, petroleum products, and clay which will contribute to traffic on the waterway. 2. Coal-mining operations.—(a) In addition to the billions of tons of proven recoverable commercial coal in the Big Sandy Valley, present coal-mining operations are being carried on by two principal groups of coal operators, the large nonresident ownership operators and the locally owned independent mine operators. (b) There are eight large nonresident ownership coal operators in the Big Sandy Valley as compared with 1,325 locally owned independent mine operators. (c) The annual report, Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals, Lexing ton, Ky., 1947, A. D. Sisk, chief, listed the following tonnages and men employed on the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy: Thus we see that in normal times, as proponent testimony has shown, the number of miners employed by the locally owned mine operators far exceeds those working for the large nonresident group. During periods of depressed prices, the locally owned mine operators have to shut down or go in the red, whereas the large nonresident operators, by virtue of their river fleets on the Ohio River, can take advantage of low-cost water transportation and stay out of the red. The Big Sandy improvement would enable many small operators to do a good business in their community, employing from 25 to 100 men. This would be multiplied many times throughout the valley. Big Sandy's vast storehouse of undeveloped natural resources would move to the Midwest where it is so badly needed, again placing into production the labor of many more men. (e) A number of the nonresident ownership operators are supporting the Big Sandy project. It is suggested that the committee ask the Corps of Engineers to place at their disposal for analysis, the confidential letters of assurances on coal that the operators stated they would ship if the Big Sandy were improved. 3. Coal market areas.-The Corps of Engineers' report listed in 1 above, on page 91 states, "Coal market areas-the principal markets indicated by sales agencies and other organizations interviewed, were at ports downstream on the Ohio River, on the upper Mississippi River, in the Chicago area, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and other ports of the so-called Central Freight Association Territory. The prospective coal tonnages thus obtained are shown in appendix C to be 34,700,000 tons of high-volatile and 11,300,000 tons of low-volatile; in all, 46,000,000 tons. The annual prospective movement as used for computing was reduced to only 15,000,000 tons; a tonnage which would neither overtax the waterway nor exceed the average annual tonnage capable of being maintained for 50 years by the reserves directly accessible to the waterway." * On page 8 of the same report the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors stated, "This is well below the lowest estimate of reserves within 10 miles of the waterway and after careful examination of both estimates on it, including a review of the methods used by the district engineer in determining the reserves, the Board concludes that the mineable reserves within the 10-mile zone exceed the district engineer's estimate of prospective water-borne coal commerce by well over 100 percent. Mine operators outside the 10-mile zone, where the reserves of both high-volatile and smokeless coal are large, have stated that they also expect to make shipments on the proposed waterway." 4. The revised estimated first cost brought up-to-date (1949) and the economic ratio of costs to benefits more than justify the Big Sandy project. (a) In 1945 the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors gave the estimated cost to the United States of $82,300,000. In its testimony before the committee the Corps of Engineers stated that it used the Engineering News Index in bring ing costs of projects up-to-date. Further, that the Engineering News Index is made very, very carefully and is relied upon by the engineering and construction fraternities to a high degree. The Engineering News Index in 1945 was 307.75 and in May 1949 was 472.10. Applying this ratio we get the current estimated first cost for May 1949. This is in line with Corps of Engineers' testimony when they stated that the current estimated first cost would run somewhere between 120 and 140 million dollars. (b) The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors in 1945 estimated the prospective coal commerce at 8,300,000 tons annually at an average saving of 80 cents per ton, making an annual savings in transportation charges, source to consumer, of $6,640,000. The proponents submitted testimony showing that, because of increased freight rates, the saving in 1949 now amounted to $1.50 per ton. Actually the testimony showed an average savings of $2.16 per ton and allowed the conservative estimate of 66 cents per ton for terminal charges, that is, $2.16 66 cents=$1.50. Thus the current annual saving in transportation charges in 1949 would amount to 8,300,000 tons $1.50 or $12,450,000. The 1945 estimate of the annual cost of the waterway was $4,187,000. Again applying the Engineering News Index figure— 472.10 $4,187,000-$6,406,875 which is the current 1949 average annual cost for the Big Sandy project. Applying the ratio of benefits to costs— 12,450,000-1.94 Thus the new 1949 economic ratio of costs to benefits is 1.0 to 1.94. (c) A comparison with navigation projects approved last month by the House Committee on Public Works will show that the economic ratio for the Big Sandy project is much higher than those already approved. For example, one of the projects approved by the House Committee on Public Works was the Arkansas River and its tributaries, which, according to the Corps of Engineers testimony has an economic ratio of 1.00 to 1.08. 5. The dollar value of benefits would be greater than that shown by the Corps of Engineers. (a) The Corps of Engineers estimate of value, even though sufficient to justify the project, is based on the tonnage of a single product, coal. (b) As shown in 1 above there are many other natural resource bulk commodities in the Big Sandy Valley that would move to the Ohio River. (c) In addition, back-haul freight would reduce the cost of river operations and add considerable tonnages to the totals. (Corps of Engineers' estimate figures one-way traffic only.) For example, a proponent from Minneapolis, Minn., testified that his company would ship one-half million tons of grain per year into the Big Sandy area for distribution in the Shenandoah Valley and the Carolinas. He further testified that grain dealers as a whole would ship about a million and a half tons a year. 6. Navigation is feasible on the Big Sandy River and its two main tributaries the Tug and the Levisa. (a) Proponent testimony showed that these rivers were once an economical transportation artery before the advent of the railroads, even though only operative 6 months of the year. (b) The engineers have shown that with modern navigation facilities, with 200 feet on the Big Sandy and 150 feet on the two forks, a 9-foot channel and all-year-round operation, these rivers could be made a profitable enterprise and an economic asset of national importance. Attempt was made by one witness of the opponents to show that under the proposed Corps of Engineers' design the project would not be navigable, that the width was too narrow and the course too circuitous. Attention is invited to the fact that this witness, the business manager of the Masters, Mates, and Pilots Union at Pittsburgh, Pa., is neither a licensed pilot nor too familiar with the river. Proponents introduced into the records resolutions endorsing the project by both the Huntington (W. Va.) Pilots Association and the port of Huntington, Propeller Club of the United States. The members of these associations are composed primarily of master pilots and river operators who are familiar not only with the Ohio and the Kanawha, but who are intimately familiar with the Big Sandy and its tributaries. (c) Photographs introduced by the proponents were air photographs and should be carefully compared with those introduced by the opponents which are oblique photographs usually taken from behind a bank. (d) The proponents felt that it was rather absurd for the opponents to criticize the workability of the navigation designs of the Big Sandy. The Corps of Engineers, who made the design study, is an organization which has been primarily responsible over a period of 150 years for the development of the natural rivers and harbors of the United States into an outstanding series of inland waterways and harbors. 7. The use of pumps for low water regulation during stream droughts is not only feasible but its first cost and cost of operation is more economical than storage reservoirs. (a) The Corps of Engineers showed that the first cost of the pumping system would be less than 3 percent of the project cost. This shows that the opponents attempted to confuse by making a mountain out of a molehill. (b) They also attempted to show that it would be necessary to lift the water from the Ohio River to the head of navigation, a lift of 165 feet. The engineers testified that water would be pumped from one lower to the adjoining upper pool if and when neded in any particular pool, a height varying from 17% to 33 feet. (c) Testimony was introduced to show that pumping during the rare periods needed, is not only economical and feasible, but involved a principle that has been in operation on other projects for many years. 8. The State of Kentucky is wholeheartedly in favor of the Big Sandy project. (a) The Governor of Kentucky, the State administration, and the United States Senators and Representatives from Kentucky all support the project. The Governor of Kentucky sent a special representative, Henry Ward, Commissioner of Conservation, to indicate his active support of the project. (b) Resolutions of support were submitted by the proponents from every town and every county in the Big Sandy Valley, as well as civic organizations, chambers of commerce, business groups, bar associations, veterans' organizations and local labor unions. (a) Mingo County, W. Va., is the only part of West Virginia having an economic stake in the Big Sandy Valley. The United States Representatives from the West Virginia portion of the Big Sandy Valley raised no objection to the Big Sandy project. (d) The State of Virginia has no economic stake in the Big Sandy Valley, its coal is above the head water of potential navigation and now goes to the Atlantic seaboard. (e) The majority of opponent witnesses were paid lawyers or engineers, who do not live in the Big Sandy Valley or even in the State of Kentucky. 9. The great inland waterway system with its main stem, the Mississippi River, its branch lines, the Ohio, the Missouri, and the upper Mississippi Rivers, and the spurs or branch line feeders like the Allegheny, the Monongahela, the Kanawha, the Kentucky, etc., may be likened to a great railroad such as the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad with its main trunk line and its branches such as the Greenbrier and the Island Creek and their branch feeder lines. (a) The Corps of Engineers testimony definitely showed that a water movement of coal by use of an improved Big Sandy River would constitute an entirely new waterway movement with respect to the Ohio and Mississippi River systems which could develop only by reason of improvement of the Big Sandy. Therefore, the entire average origin to destination unit saving properly is creditable to the Big Sandy River. This line of reasoning is no different from that of the Interstate Commerce Commission in its decision with reference to feeder lines of our railroads. (See 19 I. C. C. 71 and 76 I. C. C. 455 as examples.) 10. The Big Sandy improvement is in the interest of our national security. (a) General Arnold, former Chief of the Air Force, in his report at the close of World War II advised the location of production plants at interior parts of the United States to avoid destruction from atomic bombing operations. A start was made in this direction during World War II with the result that sites along the inland waterways of the United States became our national citadel of defense. Your committee is familiar with the many advantages that would accrue to the Nation by the development of an area such as the Big Sandy Valley so rich in natural resources. (b) Proponent testimony by witnesses from the upper Mississippi Basin showed their great need for both domestic and steam coal. The Big Sandy could further the interests of the national security as well as of a sound economy by supplying its raw materials for the vast area of the Mississippi Valley. 11. The Big Sandy improvement would stop the decline in production which has already set in due to the high cost of transportation. Low-cost water rates would provide more reasonable rates and would place the valley in a position to compete fairly with neighboring areas. (a) Labor groups in the valley are strong supporters of the improvement because ghost towns and unemployment are all too vivid in their memory to be taken lightly. The small-business man also has a large stake in the welfare of the valley. Whatever effects the welfare of the people in the valley has a like and immediate effect on the merchant, small-business man and the professional man. (b) Not only would the Big Sandy improvement remove the serious and growing decline that now menaces the valley, but it would open the vast potentialities of the valley to greater development. The quest for lower transportation costs would induce many industries to locate at points on the waterway where they can have the advantage of the economies of inland waterway transportation. Other regions on the island waterways system would obtain the advantages of reciprocal commerce benefits. (c) It is in the interest of a sound economy as well as a national security that the Big Sandy improvement be authorized. This improved waterway would benefit consumers, producers and manufacturers. The improvement is an investment in the public interest. It is an investment in the prosperity and expansion of one of the important natural resource valleys of our Nation. It is an investment in the expanding industrial development of our great midwestern area. The improvement is self-liquidating. It will enhance our national wealth and increase the annual income greatly broadening our tax base, thus contributing to a higher national income and standard of living for the individual citizen and for increased tax revenues for the Nation and the municipal, county, and State governments. WALTER E. LORENCE. KENTUCKY PETROLEUM MARKETERS ASSOCIATION RESOLUTION-CANALIZATION BIG SANDY RIVER The members of the Kentucky Petroleum Marketers Association at their twenty-third annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., February 8 and 9, 1949, do unanimously approve the following resolution: Whereas its members, being sincerely interested in the economic welfare of all sections of Kentucky, do deplore any unfair discrimination by anyone against any section of Kentucky or any group of its citizens; Whereas it has been conclusively demonstrated by facts and figures that the section of Kentucky along the Big Sandy River and the Tug and Levisa Forks has suffered severely in the past and is now suffering from a business recession in coal mining due to inability to reach available markets at a reasonable transportation rate, which recession is causing substantial financial losses to its businessmen and hardships to its residents; Whereas this condition can be eliminated and the general prosperity of the Big Sandy Valley greatly improved by the construction of locks and dams on the Big Sandy River and its two tributaries by the Government. Whereas this canalization project has been exhaustively studied by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, found to be practical, and accordingly has been approved and recommended by them; Whereas the only opposition to this major improvement comes from the railroads, who now charge unfairly high rates, but whose attitude, we believe, is a mistaken one, because experience with similar waterway projects has shown that the railroads actually benefit, not suffer, from the increased movement of goods caused by increased prosperity; Whereas the Big Sandy canalization project has been endorsed by the Mississippi Valley Association, Ohio Valley Association, and numerous other organizations: We do hereby Resolve, That individually and collectively we urge that the Government commence this Big Sandy Lock and Dam project at the earliest possible date, and that copies of this resolution be forwarded at once at all Kentucky Representa |