SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE TO STUDY TRANSPORTATION ON THE GREAT LAKES-ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY PHILIP HART, Michigan VANCE HARTKE, Indiana, Chairman RUSSELL LONG, Louisiana ROBERT GRIFFIN, Michigan CHARLES GOODELL, New York (II) Beggs, Hon. James M., Under Secretary, Department of Transportation, accompanied by David W. Oberlin, Administrator, St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation_--- Goodsell, Leonard J., executive director, Great Lakes Commission; accom- panied by John McWilliams, general manager of Toledo-Lucas Port Au- thority; and Curtis G. Beck, representing the attorney general of the State of Michigan and the Department of Commerce for the State of Hart, Hon. Philip A., U.S. Senator from Michigan__ Mondale, Hon. Walter F., U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Daley, Hon. Richard J., mayor, city of Chicago, Ill.; accompanied by Capt. 74 Dickerson, Ray C., director of the Department of Business and Economic 69 McCarty, Donald J., president, Great Lakes Terminals Association___. Miller, George E., representing the U.S. Great Lakes Shipping Association__ Neff, R. Wilson, president, Council of Lake Erie Ports, and executive secre- Purdey, Louis C., executive director, Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Schenker, Eric, professor of economics and associate director, Center Sullivan, Patrick J., secretary-treasurer of Great Lakes District Interna- Babich, Robert, executive vice president, Northeastern Minnesota Develop- 166 Boo, Hon. Ben, mayor, city of Duluth, Minn---- 136 142 Higgins, Hon. Raymond J., State senator, State of Minnesota_. 171 (III) Hubner, Sven, past president, Marine Association__ Hyland, Irving M., assistant vice president, Cargill, Inc.. McGrath, J. F., president of the port authority-. Mondale Hon, Walter F., U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Rico, Capt. A. F., president, Upper Great Lakes Pilots, Inc.; accompanied Sauter, James, port director, Superior Harbor Commission, Superior, Wis__ ADDITIONAL ARTICLES, LETTERS, AND STATEMENTS Blatnik, Hon. John A., U.S. Representative from Minnesota, state- Camu, Pierre, President, St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, Administra- "Discriminatory Tolls on the Seaway," article from the Minneapolis "Fair Break for Seaway," article from the Duluth News-Tribune_ 173 145 148 216 125 153 212 Halpin, W. Gregory, president, North Atlantic Ports Association, Inc., 208 Hazard, Dr. John L., Michigan State University, "The Next Decade of the 55 Hull, William J., secretary, National Waterways Conference, Inc., Wash- 214 Oberlin, D. A., Administrator, St. Lawrence Seaway Development Cor- 124 Proxmire, Hon. William, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, letter of March Polom, Frank E. executive director of transportation, Chicago Board of Trade, statement.. 30 Springrose, B. A., freight traffic consultant, St. Louis, Mo., letter of April, 129 ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION INDEBTEDNESS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1970 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE TO STUDY TRANSPORTATION ON THE GREAT LAKES-ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY. The special subcommittee met at 10:30 a.m. in room 5110, New Senate Office Building, Hon. Vance Hartke (chairman of the special subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Hartke, Hart, Pastore, and Tydings. OPENING STATEMENT OF THE CHAIRMAN Senator HARTKE. This morning we begin the first of a series of hearings on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. A decade ago the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway provided this Nation with a valuable resource: a fourth major seacoast. Since then, that resource has contributed heavily to the prosperity and well-being of the American heartland and the Nation as a whole. However, the seaway and Great Lakes shipping are also experiencing a number of problems. The purpose of these hearings will be to review the accomplishments in this area, to examine the current problems, and to determine what solutions to those problems can be provided by Congress. The opening up of our fourth seacoast has resulted in many favorable achievements. For example, the St. Lawrence Seaway has permitted the import of certain bulk commodities, such as iron ore to the steel mills, at a reasonable rate. Second, it has provided a less expensive rate for the farmer's produce, thus benefiting both farmers and consumers. Third, it has stimulated the export of cargo from this industrial heartland, which is America's greatest producer, and thus had a beneficial impact on our balance of trade. Fourth, it has helped to create an expansion in jobs and trade. Fifth, it has strengthened our Nation's military posture by helping to reduce the cost of military goods and by providing an additional thousand miles of protected coast. However, there are also a number of serious problems. Because of a method of financing and accounting that is unique among American waterways, and because the seaway has not generated tolls adequate to pay both the interest and principal on its debt to the Treasury, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation is in serious financial trouble. In that connection this special subcommittee has before it Staff member assigned to this hearing: Emanuel Rouvelas. (1) S. 3137, a bill, sponsored by 15 Senators, to cancel the indebtedness of the Corporation to the United States. Second, a number of impediments have hindered Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway shipping from realizing its full potential. These impediments include discriminatory railroad rates, an unpredictable and short shipping season, the operation of the cargo preference laws, and a shortage of American-flag bottoms on the lakes. Third is a problem that has become increasingly pressing in the public mind during recent months the problem of pollution. The future of the Great Lakes, which seemed so bright at the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway only 11 years ago, today may exist only in the minds of men. For the Great Lakes, although young, are dying. Every single one of them faces extinction. Man, no longer content to maim and slaughter his own, has waged a relentless war against nature itself-perhaps in an unconscious desire to hasten his own end. It is a dismal fact that we now have contaminated almost every creek, river, lake, and bay in the entire United States. Fortunately, man is now trying to save or revive what he previously so carelessly destroyed. Local, State, and Federal authorities are uniting against the pollution of the Great Lakes. It has been reported by the Interior Department there is now reasonable expectation that the end of pollution of Lake Michigan can be achieved by 1972. If, however, all the Great Lakes are to be saved, a great deal more must be done, a great many more questions must be answered. It is our intention in future hearings to try to answer some of these questions. For example, is greater cooperation and coordination needed between Canada and the United States? Should new water-quality objectives appropriate to the area be established? Should there be controls in the input of phosphate and should phosphate be eliminated from household detergents? Should the laws and regulations relating to the reporting and control of spills and disposal of oil and toxic or deleterious substances, including transportation of these materials, be strengthened? Should there be an international contingency plan to deal with pollution incidents? Should there be legislation for water-quality management authorities to prevent or abate pollution where a number of waste sources in more than one jurisdiction collectively cause pollution or deteriorate water quality? These and other questions will be asked and, hopefully, answered in future hearings. I now submit the bill and agency comments for the record. (The bill and agency comments follow :) [S. 3137, 91st Cong., first sess.] A BILL To amend the Act creating the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation in order to cancel the indebtedness of the Corporation to the United States Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Saint Lawrence Seaway Amendments of 1969". SEC. 2. Section 5 of the Act of May 13, 1954, creating the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (33 U.S.C. 985) is amended to read as follows: |