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October 3, 2005 -- Vol. 5 Issue 40 Written by Jack R. Simpson (unless otherwise noted), owner of J.R. Simpson & Associates, Inc. and contributing editor to The Waterways Journal.
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 In This Newsletter:
Ever Wonder
Why you don’t ever see the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery”? A Personal Note From Jack
 I suppose that everyone and his brother have seen reports about proposals to revise the Environmental Protection Act. Nevertheless, since I have been hammering away on the subject for decades, I will not blush at presenting it again.
Passage of the EPA came about in the early 1970s, not long after Rachel Carson wrote her book “Silent Spring.” For those of you have not read it, it is about the environmental destruction the author believed that we wreaked on wildlife. Popular at that time were complaints about how bird numbers were decreasing because their eggs were breaking because of being thin or weak. DDT was blamed for it. I must confess that I am still not certain what the truth is. The reason for that is that the longer I live the more ways I discover that advocates can present pseudo science or any other bit of misinformation they wish to spread. They certainly used a lot of pseudo science when criticizing DDT. To be fair, let me say that this is a practice used by almost everyone. It is not peculiar to environmentalists. What it really amounts to is reporting only that information the writer wants the reader to have, and omitting pertinent information that might call the writer’s conclusions into question. This practice probably should not be labeled as scandalous — although it really is. When it is used by public relations firms, lobbyists and advocates, we should be smart enough to know which position they are taking and how they will approach it. In other words, if the writer or spokesperson is with the Sierra Club or Izaak Walton League, you know right off what to expect. And when you know what to expect, that means that you understand that the presentation may be, probably will be, totally slanted to support the presenter’s viewpoint. When this practice is utilized by the secular press, we in the trade say the writer (or photographer even) is guilty of sins of omission. And that is scandalous, in my way of thinking. For example. It is, at the present time with Katrina and Rita still getting volumes of press coverage, not unusual to read that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed New Orleans. If the writer is fair, he/she would say, “Some people believe that the Corps failed New Orleans, but history shows that the Congress has never adequately funded the Corps’ civil works program to the degree that it could complete the necessary levee improvements.” They might also add that the Corps presented plans years ago for improving the levees to a degree that would have prevented much of the damage from Katrina. (See Web Site News for an URL that will show you how pictures can be used to show exactly what the photographer or publication wants and still not be illegal.) Somewhere along the line, they might even take the tack that lawsuits by Save Our Wetlands prevented the Corps from constructing structures that would have prevented much, if not all, of the damage from water that entered Lake Pontchartrain. And that would be true. But we will never know to what degree, will we? Back To Revising The EPA It may seem that I have wandered quite a distance from the proposal to revise the EPA, but not so. It was during the first years of the existence of EPA that we began to realize that enforcement was going to seriously impede progress. I remember, while writing editorials for “The Waterways Journal” in the 1970s, that a company called Hutson Chemical (something like that anyway) proposed to build a terminal on the shores of Kentucky Lake. Immediately, environmentalists swooped in and began proposing conditions. I can’t recall all of the demands, but I know they wanted Hutson to implant fish attractors on the lake. What I do recall is that the environmental demands placed on Hutson were not acceptable to the company, and they simply cancelled the project. Was this an example environmentalists flexing their muscles after they discovered they had a new law and multitudes of officials eager to enforce it? Who knows. But that was the result. And we know they have flexed their muscles mightily ever since. I have no idea how many other riverbank projects have by stymied totally (and eventually cancelled) because of what we soon learned to call “mitigation” demands. The idea was that the company planning to build a new facility must provide “mitigation” to make up for the environmental damage critics said would result from the project. If a terminal was built in an area where muscles inhabited the streambed, then the company might be required to pay the high cost of moving the muscles to another location. This was not an uncommon occurrence. In other situations, companies bought riverbank land elsewhere and donated it to wildlife causes. I have no broad knowledge of all the things businesses had to do to make up for the “damage” they were about to wreak on the environment. But I know businesses soon reported that some 30 percent of their projects budgets were being eaten up by costs related to environmental demands. Even everyday channel maintenance came under fire. I remember so well that during a dredging project near Read’s Landing (below St. Paul on the Upper Mississippi), the spoil revealed half a clam shell. The environmental cop on the beat halted the project immediately, at quite an expense to the operation, I might add. They called in a specialist from Wisconsin, Marilyn Havlik, who, roughly speaking, knew clams and how to spend them as well. She was flown to St. Paul, where she delved into the discovery of the shell. Having read in a newspaper about what I considered utter nonsense, I fired up an editorial and in it referred to the workers having found a “piece of” shell. Shortly thereafter, Havlik read my editorial, contacted me and sent an audio tape. It was pointed out to me that I was entirely wrong when I said they had found a piece of clamshell. “It was a whole half,” she said. That tape was almost smoking. The end result was that the project was held up, at the cost of an estimated $5,000 a day, until environmentalists were satisfied that their concerns had been addressed. I have heard no more of problems like this on the Upper Miss, but I do know that around the nation, environmentalists and government wildlife officials have busted their butts trying to declare this or that stream as habitat for endangered species of what I shall intentionally and unfeelingly call “clams.” And we’re all familiar with the problems on the Missouri River as they relate to the least terns, plovers and pallid sturgeon. We all know that once an area is declared official habitat, it marks the beginning of the end for any operation. This is what happened to the California residents whose homes burned because they were not allowed to clear brush around them to protect them from wild fires. The area had been designated habitat for the kangaroo rat. What Is Attractive About Environmental Laws? Shift gears with me and think once again about DDT. Among the birds whose populations were falling rapidly, and whose demise was attributed to DDT, were hawks and our beloved eagles. Doesn’t that touch you? It does me. I like eagles. I think hawks are beautiful, and they serve a purpose. I learned as a child in the forties that hawks and foxes preyed on rabbits when the rabbit population soared and they began causing damage. Hawks preyed on gophers and other critters that became nuisances when there were too many of them. And chicken hawks were not popular at a time when food was scarce and farmers raised a few chickens to put meat on the table. Because we could see eagles and hawks soar gracefully up in the sky, and then Rachel Carson told us how bad DDT was, it is perhaps an easy leap to believe her. There is much information, however, in books written by Dr. Dixie Lee Ray (“Environmental Overkill” and “Trashing The Planet”) the purpose of which is to debunk this theory about DDT. Dr. Lee was a scientist. She was once Gov. of the state of Washington. She once was head of the Atomic Energy Commission and was also a longtime member of the zoology faculty of the University of Washington and assistant secretary of state in the U.S. Bureau of Oceans. She co-authored her books with Lou Guzzo. About the battle to prevent the ban of DDT, Dr. Ray wrote, “During the discussions that took place in the early 1970s about the banning of DDT, one of the cogent arguments put forward to retain and control the use of this remarkable insecticide was the number of human lives that had been saved. During the less than 30 years of its use (1944-1972), DDT prevented more human death and disease than any other man-made chemical in all of recorded history. Without any adverse effects on human health, then or since, DDT prevented thousands of Allied soldiers from contracting typhus (borne by body lice) during World War II and millions of people in the Third World were protected from mosquito-borne malaria in the decades of the 1950s and 1960s.” According to Dr. Ray, before DDT came along, some 200 million people were stricken by malaria annually. About two million a year died. In Sri Lanka, for example, before spraying with DDT, there were 2.8 million cases of malaria in 1948. By 1967 there were only 17. But back to birds. Dr. Ray admitted that in cases where DDT was overused, some sub-lethal traces of the insecticide were found in birds. Environmentalists charged that this caused the birds to lay eggs with weakened shells, a charge Dr. Ray disputes. Critics warned that the continued use of insecticides could lead to the extinction of some bird populations. Dr. Ray said this criticism about DDT has never been substantiated (at least not up until she wrote her books). Interestingly, the Audubon Society used to count bird populations around Christmastime (and probably still does.) Their actual counts revealed that the bird populations were increasing throughout the heaviest years of DDT spraying. Between 1941 and 1971, she writes, there was a 12 percent increase in robins, 21 times more cowbirds, eight times more blackbirds, and 131 times more grackles. Birds of prey, osprey and peregrine falcons, attracted the most attention. However, at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, she wrote, annual surveys showed 191 ospreys in 1946, compared to 600 in 1970. Each year showed some population increase. She said the peregrine falcon numbers fluctuated from a low of 14 in 1965 to 32 in 1969. Another scientist, an authority of peregrine falcons, said that the birds had been on the decline since 1890, due mostly to the lack of prey and nesting sites. So What Is True And What Isn’t? Dr. Ray stood not alone in her opinions. Dozens of other scientists agreed with her conclusions. Records, we’re told, substantiated her claims. Yet, sweet, attractive Rachel Carson, the lovely lady who frequently graced our television screens while appearing as a guest with Freddie The Freeloader (a character portrayed by Red Skelton), won the day with her book. “How could sweet, loveable Rachel ever tell a lie,” many probably wondered. And so they believed her. She might even have believed it herself. Even the government testified against DDT during hearings in 1971. And so, America bought the ban, much to the dismay of many worldwide, since malaria once again began to run rampant. Well, this is the kind of challenge we have when we face off against critics who do not want to see the EPA revised. Yet, history, we believe, has shown that nonsensical enforcement of overly rigid environmental laws has caused deep chasms between our people and much damage to economic progress in our nation. For years, through WJ editorials, I have urged Congress to revisit environmental law and eliminate the conflicting roles of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Most of this advocacy came about during recent years while water wars were being waged (and still are) on the Missouri River. In short, the Flood Control Act of 1944 assigns responsibility to the Corps to maintain flood control and lower Missouri River navigation. All other water uses are secondary. The EPA gives the USFWS the responsibility of protecting all endangered species. On the Missouri River is where the conflict arises. We have now fought this insane battle for several decades, wasting money and accomplishing nothing. Now the Missouri River is an endangered specie itself as far as navigation is concerned. As one who likes animals and birds, I was pleased to see the eagles increasing in number. It is not displeasing to me to see bison herds getting larger (mainly because, like cattle, they can be fenced in and fed), and bears and wolves on the increase. Kept within reason, the latter are okay. However, we have drawn no line of demarcation to determine which species are profitable and worth aiding and which are not. And so, millions of dollars have been spent in efforts that halted progress to preserve, for example, the Houston toad, which was virtually extinct 20 years before the EPA was blocking industrial projects in Texas. We tried to hobble the Tellico Dam, a $95 million project on the Little Tennessee River in eastern Tennessee, over the snail darter, a tiny fish that existed in untold numbers in untold numbers of streams. The project finally was completed, but not before millions of dollars had gone up needlessly in smoke. The EPA should be revised. (That is my main pitch here.) It should be revised to make it more sensible so as not to impede sensible economic growth. And it should be revised to eliminate legal battles resulting from the roles assigned wildlife officials and the Corps. The latest court ruling, which restated the Corps obligations to provide navigation and flood control, added a footnote that said when environmental demands interfere with the Corps’ responsibility to carry out its role, the EPA is not applicable. Technically that should do it. But the battle wages on. We have no idea what the Senate will do with this. If the time is ripe for change, perhaps it is now, when it is so apparent that the acts of environmentalists played a major role in the degree of damage Katrina caused at New Orleans. Stay tuned! Newsletter News
There is no escaping news about Katrina and Rita. As investigations are made and recovery plans put into play, we will be reading more and more about how to maintain financial control. So B&B will have to participate. Web Site News
Click on the following address, and you will see a true-life example of how pictures were cropped in a manner that kept them legal but could still be categorized as “a sin of omission.” http://www.zombietime.com/sf_rally_september_24_2005/anatomy_of_a_photograph/ Keep in mind that as photographers we often crop pictures with our viewfinders or later crop them when we print them to illustrate stories. It is done quite innocently and legally. But cropping is also often used to present only one side of a story. Journalistically, that is questionable. For Those Inclined To Pray
 We have modified the steps for joining our Prayer Circle. If you visit the Prayer Circle link on at www.littleriverbooks.com, you will find that those who sign up are completely anonymous. We do not ask for first names nor states of residence. Joining is as simple as providing an email address to which we can send future prayer requests. Each prayer request list includes a link for including requests.
By joining our Prayer Circle, you can tap into the prayerful support of circle members wherever they are. Membership and prayer requests are open to everyone. Advertising
Your classified ad can go in this space for $10 for one week, $20 for two weeks, $25 for three weeks, and $30 for four weeks. For details click here. On The Waterfront
Louisiana Officials Submit Proposal To Gain Federal Money (Our Money) For Rebuilding It has been reported that Louisiana officials have submitted proposals to obtain upwards of $40 billion dollars for the building of New Orleans, and, included are stipulations that the state and city totally control the spending. Proponents of the measure, apparently sending up a trial balloon, admit that the idea has little chance but it gives people some idea as to what they really want. (Editor’s note: The first paragraph says all that needs to be said from a straight news standpoint. However, the B&B view is that we have had a very revealing demonstration of the ability of Louisiana officials to prepare for disasters and to fail to respond properly to Katrina. If the U.S. Congress does anything at all — we know Louisiana and other states need tons of financial assistance — it must not give Louisiana officials the authority to pass out the dollars on their own terms. If they do, we can only say that a whole bunch of congressmen and senators will need to be fired. We must also get over this idea that New Orleans is the only place along the Gulf that needs help. See following story.) FBI Agents Investigate New Orleans Police Department All Headlines News has reported that the FBI is busy investigating the New Orleans Police Department, looking into massive corruption. The department’s number of employees (originally said to number 1,500-1,700) are actually are more like 900 to 1,000. The question they are asking is, “Where is all that salary money going?” It is said that when the military arrived, Mayor Ray Nagin let a large number of police officers go to Las Vegas for rest and relaxation, but when asked by the FBI about names and how they could be contacted, he could not provide any. The FBI began an investigation into the police officers who reportedly abandoned their post. Of the 500 screened so far, one report said, 84 percent (roughly 420) don’t exist. (Editor’s note: Here I will just ask you to reread my editor’s note for the preceding story.) River Tragedy Revisited (an update) Last week we provided just snippets of a story about a pleasure craft crashing into barges near Mile 73 on the Monongahela River on September 25. Today we have a wrap-up. The “Pittsburgh Post-Gazette” reports that the recreational craft, a 15 or 16-foot cuddy cab-style craft, collided with two of nine barges being pushed upbound by the towboat Elizabeth D, operated by John’s Towing Service, Inc., Shippingport, Pa. Reportedly at the helm was Capt. Arthur Harmon, Jr., of Salem, Ohio. The pleasure craft was not lighted. The barges were. At impact, the towboat captain reversed engines and pulled into the bank so the wreckage and victims would not be sucked under the tow, officials said. One official at the scene said the captain knew exactly what he was doing. The Rev. Arthur B. Mace, who we previously reported was crossing the river in his own boat at the time, heard yells for help and located two women, Nanette Bodnar, 38, and Kim Guseman, 45, who were clinging to wreckage. Neither wore lifejackets. Rev. Mace took them to shore in his boat and they were immediately taken to area medical facilities. In the meantime, all kinds of search crews swung into action (including officials from various communities and individuals). The emergency crews remained out on the water until 3:30 a.m. Monday (the 26th). At dawn the search resumed again. Using underwater cameras and side-scanning sonar equipment, searchers finally found the wreckage of the boat. About 20 minutes later a team of six divers located the bodies of John Bodnar, 39, manager of a family owned butcher shop and grocery store in the area; and Thomas E. Starkey, 45, a partner with his brother in a home construction business. Both men were from Hillsboro, Pa. The men and their wives had been returning home after watching the Steelers-New England Patriots football game on television at Mario’s on the Mon, a riverfront establishment in Masontown, Pa. (Editor’s note: We have not seen reports resulting from the autopsies and toxicology tests that were to have been done on September 27. Rev. Mace indicated that he had been blinded by the tow’s searchlights and he had to change course and go along the riverbank. It occurs to us that by that time, the incident had already taken place, and searchlights might have been in use to see what it was that struck the barges. It does not necessarily hold true that the operator of the speedboat was blinded by lights and swerved into the barges. Just a thought.) Amazon Passenger Ship Crashes Into Barges, Leaving 8 Dead, 12 Missing After the Mon River accident, this may be a change of pace of sorts. It is reported by the Associated Press out of Sao Paulo, Brazil, that on September 30 an Amazon River passenger ship crashed into two barges, leaving eight people dead and 12 missing. Forty people were rescued. The ship was en route to the jungle city of Manaus, 1,700 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. The barges were carrying commercial trucks. The Brazilian Navy is investigating the cause. The report out of Sao Paul said, “The river serves as a highway for goods and people because most roads in the region are unpaved and frequently turn into impassable muddy tracks because of near-constant rain. advertisement
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Author Offers Book of Stories of River Pilots
"Stories Of River Pilots On The Great Western Rivers" is a book written by a river pilot, Captain Charles F. Burdick. It also includes other stories by other river pilots. It has pictures and river information. This book gives good insight as to happenings and events that make a river pilot’s job challenging. It is comb-bound with clear plastic covers and is written in language suitable for schools, etc. The price is $8 plus $4 shipping and handling. Please allow two weeks for delivery. Order from, and send checks or money orders to: Charles F. Burdick, P.O. Box 205, 600 Second St., Grand Tower, IL 62942. You can email him at mastermariner@juno.com. Boat Photo Center
 I really got a good bunch of pictures this week, so many, in fact, that I limited each photographer to two and held the total number to 10. Contributions came from John Miller, who sent in the Tom Talbert and Jennie K; Jim Currens, who posted the Bruce R. Birmingham and Joseph Patrick Eckstein; Barry Griffith, whose pictures included the Lloyd Dunning and Mike Bird; Leon Puckett, who sent the Shirley Mahone and Jimmy P. Lafont; and Jeffrey Yates, whose sunset pictures included the Tommy Ross and the John C. Byrd.
Click here for the Boat Photo Center. Book Beat
 Steamboat Legacy - by Dorothy Heckmann Shrader
276 pages. Illustrated. Soft cover. Nonfiction - The book is based on the diaries of Mary Louise Miller Heckmann, the author’s grandmother. Steamboat Legacy is a faithful record of 43 years of the life and times of a steamboat family. It is a tale told by those who were there, recorded by the granddaughter Mary Miller Heckmann never knew. The diaries begin in 1866. The reader will step back a century to the rowdy port of Hermann, Missouri, and the shining heyday of the steamers that once plied the beautiful Gasconade, Osage and wild Missouri rivers. John Hartford said it best, “...For river buffs, historians, folklorists, and readers in general-Steamboat Legacy is a keeper.” Usually same-day shipping! Our price: $11.50  Steamboat Treasures - by Dorothy Heckmann Shrader
252 pages. Illustrated. Soft cover. Nonfiction - In the critically acclaimed Steamboat Legacy - the first book of her Missouri River Trilogy-Dorothy Heckmann Shrader told the poignant tale of her grandparent’s generation. In Steamboat Treasures, she traces the writings and career of her wonderfully outspoken uncle, Steamboat Bill Heckmann, the Mark Twain of the Missouri River. Usually same-day shipping! Our price: $11.50 (A special deal on the hard back edition is $15.00.)  Steamboat Kid - by Dorothy Heckmann Shrader
182 pages. Illustrated. Soft cover. Nonfiction - In her 87th year in 2,000, Dorothy Heckmann Shrader brings us Steamboat Kid, the third and final volume of her Steamboat Trilogy. This remarkable achievement is built on a lifetime of memories, careful research, and a superb archive of rare river photos. The trilogy encompasses 150 years of steamboating on the Missouri River. These are tales told by those who were there. Those melodious steamboat whistles are silent now, but their memory lives on. In this volume, the author reveals her memories of Missouri River childhood. The saga comes full circle as Dorothy tells her own remarkable story of life aboard the steamer John Heckmann, the big excursion boat that was her father’s dream and obsession. Usually same-day shipping! Our price: $11.50 Tow Talkin'
October 3, 2005 By Kathy Flippo  River traffic seems to be picking up, although there aren’t near as many boats working the Upper as there usually are. The Mv. Jack D. Wofford spent almost two weeks sitting in the Beaver Island fleet waiting on a southbound tow. She and the Mv. Dell Butcher (that went up Sunday noon) are now sporting the beautiful two-tone blue color scheme of Inland Marine Service. They were both ACBL boats, twins actually, built in 1966 by Jeffboat, Inc. Both are 170 feet by 40 feet with 5,000 hp. Alco’s in them.
We had company from up by Lansing, Michigan, last week, and for cheap Entertainment we took them up to Lock and Dam 13. The Mv. Virginia Ingram was locking down with her second cut already in the pit when we arrived. As soon a she shoved out and faced up to her first cut, the Corps of Engineers boats, the Mvs. Rock Island and Moline were ready and waiting on the upper wall with…to continue reading this column click here. See you on the Web, Jack Little River Books jacksimpson@littleriverbooks.com Don't forget to visit our website! |
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