R. D. WALLACE, WORKS MANAGER, HENDERSON WORKS, SPENCER CHEMICAL CO., HENDERSON, KY.

JOHN W. WOODS, JR., PRESIDENT, THIRD NATIONAL BANK OF ASHLAND, ASHLAND, KY.

HON. CECIL H. UNDERWOOD, GOVERNOR OF WEST VIRGINIA, HARRISBURG, W. Va.

JOHN HANCOCK, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO SENATOR CAPEHART, OF INDIANA

Mr. CANNON. The gentleman from West Virginia, Congressman Bailey. Will you please come to the table, Congressman Bailey. Mr. BAILEY. Chairman Cannon and members of the subcommittee dealing with the pending legislation: It is a pleasure for me to have this opportunity to appear for even a few minutes to associate myself with the recommendations being offered today by Ohio Valley Improvement Association.

I looked over carefully their presentation, and I am wholeheartedly in support of their position. Mr. Chairman, I would like to call attention to one or two of the projects contained in this Ohio Valley program. I note that there are no starts for any of the larger projects in the Ohio Valley. I would like to call attention to the fact that we should have immediate action on the lock known as Belleville lock near Parkersburg, W.Va. I would also like to speak in behalf of one of my colleagues who may get in before the hearing is over. There is a lock on the Monongahela River between Pittsburgh and the West Virginia State line, Opekiska. It should have construction money made available to it this year.

There is one other project that comes to my mind, particularly, and that is one on the headwaters of the west fork of the Monongahela River in my district, the Stonewall Jackson Reservoir. While there nothing in the appropriation for it this year, it is time that we get hat body of water that flows northward to Pittsburgh under control we can utilize the water we impound behind the dams to carry on ur improved and enlarged system of navigation in the Ohio River. Again, let me say it is a pleasure to be here. I am sure you are going to hear all the details from the large number of representatives here from the Ohio Valley Association. We have a problem over there and we are working together trying to solve it. We will appreiate your acceding, insofar as the committee can, to the requests of the association. Thank you very much.

Mr. CANNON. Congressman Bailey, would you care to introduce your colleagues at this time who might wish to speak or might wish file a statement?

Mr. BAILEY. Here is my colleague from West Virginia, the Fourth District at Huntington, Congressman Hechler.

Mr. CANNON. Congressman Hechler, would you care to file a statement at this time or would you rather be heard later?

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE KEN HECHLER, WEST VIRGINIA

Mr. HECHLER. I would like to file a statement at this time. I subscribe to everything my colleague, Mr. Bailey, has said, with particular emphasis on Belleville.

Mr. CANNON. Thank you, Congressman Hechler. Your statement will be made a part of the record at this point.

(The statement follows:)

STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN KEN HECHLER

The future of the Ohio Valley, center of the coal, steel, electric power, aluminum, and chemical industries, is dependent upon the rapid modernization of the Ohio River.

The record before this subcommittee conclusively shows that the inadequacies of Ohio River navigation facilities are already a serious impediment to river movements which in 1957 reached the astounding total of 81.5 million tons. The record shows, also, the increasing trend toward longer shipments on the Ohio, resulting in ever more intensive use of locking facilities; currently, transportation of the average Ohio River cargo requires 10 lockages, as compared with 3, 30 years ago. Thus, while Ohio River tonnage has increased slightly less than fourfold since 1930, ton-miles have increased elevenfold. The burden upon existing locks has been intensified also by the long tows, often more than 1,000 feet in length, made possible by diesel power and other technological improvements since World War II. These large tows must be split and locked through in two segments.

Inevitably, the old locks-most of which were completed more than 40 years ago-have reached a serious state of deterioration. Not only is traffic congestion causing increasingly costly delays, the entire system is in jeopardy by reason of the danger of major breakdowns of facilities which might tie up massive shipments of coal, oil, steel, and other basic commodities for weeks. Absolute limits of capacity are rapidly being approached through long reaches of the river. This great central highway must be expanded to accommodate existing and future needs.

Even in their limited and antiquated state, the Ohio River navigation facilities have been responsible for one of the most dramatic industrial revivals of modern times. Stimulated by the two indispensables of modern industrylow-cost transportation and ample processing water-a $15 billion industrial expansion has taken place since 1950 along the Ohio and its navigable tributaries. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this vast development to the national welfare, measured not only in major additions to industrial and military potential but in job opportunities, rising revenues for national and local government and new hope for communities long neglected and depressed.

For West Virginia and especially for the coal industry on which its economy depends, the industrial expansion made possible by the Ohio River has been a salvation.

Approximately half of all Ohio River coal tonnage originates in West Vir ginia and West Virginia coal, due to small local consumption, must find its markets at long distances from the point of production. In these circumstances, low-cost transportation is an imperative. The developing market for river coal. especially for the rising electric power industry along the banks of the Ohio, has been one of the principal offsets to declining national coal consumption. The importance of the river to the coal industry may be noted from the fact that as nationwide coal consumption declined 12 percent from 1945 to 1956, coal shipments on the Ohio increased during the same period by 224 percent.

My own district in West Virginia includes the city of Huntington, which is the river port for coal shipments originating in the Big Sandy Valley and southern West Virginia. In 1957, some 12 million tons, or nearly 30 percent of all Ohio River coal, originated at the port of Huntington. These movements fan out in both directions-upriver to the Pittsburgh steel area and downriver to Cincinnati and beyond as far as ports on the Tennessee and the upper Mississippi. In 1957, the Huntington-Ashland Harbor area included the heaviest traffic volumes on the Ohio.

The old river, with its low dams and short locks has served the people well. Indeed, the old system, completed in 1929, has succeeded far beyond the expectations of its builders. But it can no longer serve the rapidly rising transport requirements of the industrial empire which it helped to bring to life. If growth is to continue. if the valley is to be permitted to reach its true potential of value to the Nation, expansion of the river's capacity and improvement of its efficiency must go forward. The benefits of the old system are rapidly being eroded by delays, congestion, excessive maintenance costs, and a mounting accident rate.

Continued economic progress in the valley and especially the reemployment of the thousands of unemployed coal miners demands removal of the limitations imposed by the outmoded inadequate Ohio River locks and dams.

I deeply appreciate what this distinguished committee and the Congress have already done to initiate and continue the Ohio River modernization program. The six great locks and dams under construction at Greenup, New Cumberland, New Richmond, Markland, Louisville, and Pike Island will be a tremendous Boon to all our people. Clearly, funds should be provided to continue construction of these facilities at the maximum efficient rate. But the work cannot stop there. After there projects are built, great reaches will remain unimproved, retarding essential traffic and preventing realization of the full values of the completed works.

I urge the committee to consider the critical importance of replacement works in the upper Ohio, where existing facilities are the oldest and in serious danger of failure. The time is already late. A major failure of these facilities would be a national disaster. I consider it imperative that funds in the amount # $750,000 be provided to complete preconstruction planning and start construction of the Belleville locks and dam, West Virginia and Ohio, in fiscal 1961. I believe it to be equally important to provide funds to initiate advance Engineering and design work on the Racine locks and dam, West Virginia and Otio. Both are essential elements in the overall moderization program, which Bust go forward at maximum efficient rates if the Ohio River is to continue its historic role as a major stimulus to economic development.

I wish especially to emphasize to the committee my profound interest in the grovision of adequate funds for the authorized Twelvepole Creek survey, West Virginia. The Twelvepole Creek is a tributary of the Ohio River. Agriculture, goal mining and related businesses are the principal sources of income, but many of the persons living in the basin are employed outside the basin in nearby ndustrial areas. A flood problem exists along the creek, particularly at and the vicinity of the town of Wayne. Over the past few years, considerable development has taken place within the basin and the general welfare of the people is impaired by the existing and potential flood hazards. It is my coniction that a restudy of the East Lynne Reservoir project and further study et other means of flood protection for the basin is necessary for the health and welfare of the residents in the Twelvepole Creek Basin and the Ohio Valley as a whole. The budget provides $10,200 for this survey, and I urgently recomend that the budgeted amount be retained.

Finally, I invite your attention to the need for accelerating the survey now progress of the Big Sandy River, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. The budgeted amount for this survey is $10,000; the Army Engineers advise that $35,000 can be efficiently utilized. The total remaining cost of this survey I estimated by the Engineers at about $60,000. If $35,000 is appropriated for seal 1961 and $25,000 for fiscal 1962, the study can be completed in 2 years. The budgeted amount appears to contemplate deferral of completion until fiscal Under the authorized Big Sandy survey, interim reports pertaining to local flood protection at Williamson, W. Va., and a basinwide study for flood control, ydroelectric power, and water supply have been submitted. To complete the authorized survey report, there remain studies yet to be made relative to replacing and extending the obsolete and inoperative navigation facilities on the Big Sandy River and Tug and Levisa Forks with a modern lock and dam system reaching into the principal coalfields. Also further studies relative to water supply are to be made.

The early need for a modern navigation system and adequate water supply is evidenced by the industrial development occurring along the lower reaches Big Sandy River as a result of construction of the Greenup locks and dam the Ohio River. The Greenup project, located on the Ohio River about 24 ales below the mouth of the Big Sandy River will have a normal pool which extends about 22 miles up the Big Sandy River. Largely on the basis that the Greenup project will be completed at an early date, two $10 million chemical plants are under construction and one $8 million natural gas extraction plant, one $4 million chemical plant and a $39 million steam electric generating plant have been announced for construction along Big Sandy River within the limits of the Greenup pool. This trend toward industrialization would be expected to continue up Big Sandy River and along the forks if a modern navigation system is provided and adequate water supplies are assured.

The economy of the Big Sandy Basin is dependent on the coal mining industry. Mechanization of mines has progressively increased the output of coal per man, resulting in an oversupply of labor. New and diversified industries such as would be attracted by the addition of adequate water supplies and navigation would enhance the economy of the basin, providing a better balance than now exists in an economy which fluctuates with the cycles of demands for coal.

A modern navigation system reaching into the heart of the coalfields having large reserves of high grade bituminous coals suitable for all types of uses would reduce shipping costs and result in greater markets for the coals.

Further delay in completion of the Big Sandy River survey report would only postpone the possibility of obtaining the much needed improvements and the recovery of an area where the economy has suffered because of an oversupply of labor, lack of water supply, and cheap transportation.

Mr. BAILEY. Congressman Moeller.

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE WALTER H. MOELLER, OHIO

Mr. MOELLER. Mr. Chairman, I am Congressman Walter H. Moeller from the 10th District of Ohio. I should like to subscribe to everything said by my good colleague here and Mr. Hechler from West Virginia, and I earnestly hope the committee will give serious consideration to the proposal. I would like to file with you my statement rather than take the time to read it.

Mr. CANNON. Your statement will be made part of the record at this time.

(The statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN WALTER H. MOELLER, 10TH DISTRICT, OHIO

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I appreciate your allotment of time to me to supplement the testimony of the Ohio Valley Improvement Association earlier this afternoon.

I am sure that Mr. Hull and the other witnesses have given you an able presentation of the need for speeding up modernization of existing facilities along the Ohio and its tributaries, and for the provision of new locks and dams and flood control structures in the basin. In the 5 minutes at my disposal I want to emphasize the problems as they relate to my own district, the 10th Ohio. Our river frontage extends from the new Greenup locks and dam, which is scheduled for completion in fiscal 1961, to above the proposed Belleville locks and dam below Parkersburg, W. Va.

We encompass almost 150 miles of the river. That stretch of the river has enjoyed phenomenal growth in traffic, particularly in the postwar years, in common with the rest of the Ohio. The Greenup project will insure uninterrupted increases in capacity to handle the anticipated growth in river traffic for many years to come along its 62-mile pool. Together with existing structures at Gallipolis we will be assured of adequate capacity as far upstream as the proposed Racine locks and dam. At this point, unless this subcommittee takes action this year to supply funds needed for advance planning of the Racine project, we will have a 33-mile bottleneck in future years which will seriously hamper the eco nomic usage of the whole vast Ohio River network. The existing structures in the Racine area are now between 39 and 42 years old and are rapidly outliving their usefulness. The Corps of Engineers preliminary report on this project was submitted in June of 1959. I am reliably informed that the corps urged that $50,000 be included in the 1961 budget for advance planning at Racine to maintain the continuity of progress on the entire Ohio River modernization project. The Budget Bureau has shortsightedly refused to approve this request. In fact, they have refused to approve any new construction or new planning starts along the Ohio for fiscal 1961, despite the fact that 2 projects, those at Greenup and New Cumberland, will be completed in the coming year.

It does not take much foresight to see that this policy will bring the whole program to a grinding halt for an extended period in the future. From this subcommittee's past record, I know that you possess the foresight lacking in the Budget Bureau, and I urge you to reinstate in this appropriation the $50,000 needed to begin advance planning at Racine, particularly, and at the other points recommended by the Corps of Engineers and the Ohio Valley Improvement Association.

The proposed Racine pool will extend upriver to the second of the major projects in my district, the proposed Belleville locks and dam. At Belleville, also designed to replace existing antiquated facilities, the budget this year contains $250,000 to complete advance planning. However, we are assured by the Corps of Engineers that construction on this project should also begin in fiscal 1961 in order to maintain orderly progress and prevent a future bottleneck. This construction has already been authorized; $500,000 has been recommended as the additional amount necessary to permit beginning of construction at Belleville, an amount the Budget Bureau refused to allow. I urge the subcommittee to reinstate the full appropriation of $750,000 at Belleville.

I know that Mr. Hull and the others in his group have also called attention to our needs with respect to flood control, as well as the navigational facilities we have discussed. The need in this area is also acute. Were it not for the grace of God, Ohio might this year have again been subjected to a repetition of the disastrous experiences of other recent years. Indeed, the danger is not yet past, as we were at or above flood stages at a number of our major cities along the river just yesterday, and the Corps of Engineers tells me that just a few inches of rain could still bring serious consequences similar to those along the Mississippi and its tributaries and in New England.

I am deeply concerned regarding the deficiencies in flood-control works along the Hocking River, the major Ohio tributary in my district. Existing works would be completely inadequate in the event of a major flood. Just last year we had a taste of what might happen when relatively minor flooding inundated large areas along the Hocking and caused many thousands of dollars of damage and endangered lives. The exposure is especially serious in the more heavily populated areas at and above Athens, Ohio, the site of the University of Ohio. The Corps of Engineers has suggested that $10,000 be appropriated to initiate survey of the Hocking in order to develop a plan of satisfactory protection. This small amount has been chopped from the budget. I ask you to reinstate it. My emphasis on projects in my own district does not mean that I am not Seriously concerned that the entire Ohio River program, which has been outlined to you, be completed according to present careful planning and not according to the haphazard whims of the Budget Bureau. You have been presented with facts which demonstrate the vital relationship between the vast Ohio River Valley industrial expansion and transportation along the river. The tremendous Reservoirs of water for industrial and commercial use which will be created by the proposed new works cannot be ignored in its contribution to the overall expansion of our area. Likewise, it is important to remember that no reach f the river can be separated from the others in considering the broad flow of Benefits arising from each river improvement. It follows that no one of the improvements under consideration can generate its full benefits until the entire modernization program is complete.

Mr. CANNON. Are there any others you wish to introduce at this time?

Mr. BAILEY. Congressman Spence of Kentucky.

Mr. CANNON. We are always glad to hear from Congressman Spence.

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE BRENT SPENCE, KENTUCKY

Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Chairman, I appear before the committee to ask for adequate appropriations for the construction of the Markland, New Richmond, and Greenup Dams. Markland and New Richmond projects are in my district and Greenup Dam was in the same district few years ago before the redistricting of the State. I hope that the committee will recommend and the House will pass an appropriation of $9,959,000 for the Greenup Dam, $13,900,000 for the Markland Dam, and $18 million for the New Richmond Dam, which is the recommendation of the Corps of Engineers of the U.S. Army.

This program is now getting underway with the completion of Greenup in prospect in 1961, Markland facilities in 1962, and New Richmond in 1963. These facilities are of utmost importance to the economic development of the Ohio River Valley providing improved navigational facilities and more abundant water supply. To these