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48 Obstacles and Challenges The obstacles and challenges facing attempts to increase the quantities of hazardous materials moved by water are daunting. Probably the most severe obstacle is the geograph- ical dispersion of producers and users, followed closely by the fact that the markets for both anhydrous ammonia and chlorine are mature markets and are not inherent growth areas. An increase in marine highway services must neces- sarily be offset by a decrease in another mode (pipeline, rail, or truck). Another very important concern is the condition of the current system of locks and dams and the failure to fund its maintenance and improvements. This goes hand-in-hand with concerns over the commitment to maintain navigable channels by dredging in a timely fashion. It is difficult to attract capital to a system where there is concern over its continued viability. Marine carriers, absent any action to restructure the risk allocation system in place today, will also face the same risk of catastrophic accidents currently faced by rail carriers. There are significant capital costs and time involved in set- ting up new terminals, and new terminals will be required if a significant expansion of marine services is to be realized. The permitting process is a significant obstacle because of the time and expense it imposes on developers. There is a lack of Jones Act vessel capacity available with which to augment existing services. Fortunately, there do not seem to be any externalities that would impede the expansion of marine highway hazardous material transportation. If anything, they seem to work in favor of such an expansion, especially with regard to public safety and congestion mitigation. Alternatives Without a new risk paradigm, there will be little incen- tive for marine carriers to attract cargo from the other modes (which are already dealing with the risks). Several possible schemes for limiting risk and funding potential liabilities are discussed in the previous chapter. Provision of seed money and expediting the permit process could allow new marine highway ventures to develop more rapidly. The possibility of establishing a marine pipeline to move ammonia out of the western Canadian provinces to U.S. West Coast destinations is such a project that surfaced during this research. Another possibility would be to identify and assist potential new points of importation of anhydrous ammonia and chlorine into the United States, especially when these locations might tie into transportation networks that are more desirable than current surface transportation corridors. This assistance could target both terminal develop- ment and surface transportation issues. There would also need to be a willingness and commit- ment to at least maintain the current inland waterway sys- tem, even if improvements are postponed. Capital will not flow into a market that depends on a transportation system that could fail at any moment. A transportation system that offers resiliency and afford- able systems redundancy can assist in incident recovery and deter those who seek to do harm. This rationale is the basis of existing programs such as the MSP (91). C H A P T E R 9 Conclusions
