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Tag: Baltimore
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says “we don’t fully know” conditions for Baltimore bridge repair
Washington — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that as officials eye rebuilding efforts, it’s not fully known the condition of what remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it collapsed days ago when it was hit by a cargo ship.
“A lot goes into how that reconstruction will be designed, how the process is going to work,” Buttigieg said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. He noted that he didn’t have an estimate on the rebuilding timeline, but the bridge itself took five years to initially construct. “Right now we don’t fully know everything we need to know about the condition of the portions of the bridge that did not collapse.”
First, as officials are working to clear debris and reopen the channel. Buttigieg said it remains unclear how long that process will take, but the work is “underway.” He said that it’s going to be a “very complex process,” noting the process for dismantling what remains of the bridge safely.
“It has to be done because that is the only way to get into most of the Port of Baltimore,” Buttigieg said, making clear its importance not only to Maryland but also for national supply chains.
Then there’s the process of rebuilding the bridge, which is expected to take longer. Buttigieg noted that work is already underway there as well, after the federal government released $60 million in emergency relief funding. Additional emergency funds are expected to follow.
“This is not going to happen overnight, but we’re going to help Maryland do it as quickly as they responsibly can,” Buttigieg said.
The administration is expected to turn to Congress to approve additional funding to rebuild the bridge. Last week, President Biden outlined that he wants the federal government to pay for the entire cost of the bridge’s reconstruction, adding that he expects Congress to support the effort. But they may face opposition from some Republicans.
Buttigieg said the pitch to lawmakers is that “your district could be next.”
“This has historically been bipartisan,” he said, noting support for bridge rebuilding funds in a 2007 collapse along with support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure package in 2021. “If there’s anything left in this country that is more bipartisan than infrastructure, it should be emergency response. This is both, and I hope that Congress will be willing if and when we turn to them.”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who also appeared on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said he has the “best congressional delegation in the United States Congress,” and Maryland lawmakers have been on the ground in Baltimore and “are going to do everything in their power to bring back resources for this tragedy.”
The mayor said that “no party conversation should be involved at all” in the discussion of how aid will be sent to Baltimore.
Transcript: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on “Face the Nation,” March 31, 2024
The following is a transcript of an interview with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott that aired on March 31, 2024.
ED O’KEEFE: We turn now to the Mayor of Baltimore Brandon Scott. Mr. Mayor, thank you for spending part of Easter with us. We appreciate it. After this bridge collapse, this past week in your city, what is the most urgent need right now in Baltimore?
MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT: Well the most urgent need, because our focus will always be on those families. I’m talking focus on the total impact on humans, right. And that begins with the loss of life. That then goes to what’s going to happen for those families, and then the economic realities following this. And that’s where our focus is going to continue to be. We have the salvage operation underway as of yesterday, with one crane and one barge working to start to cut some of the bridge out, that work is happening through the unified command. But we are and always will be focused on the human impact of this tragedy.
ED O’KEEFE: Well, let’s talk a little bit about that. What more can you as a city be doing for those four families, and then more broadly, for the roughly 15,000 workers whose jobs are tied in one way or another, to the Port of Baltimore?
MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT: Well, listen, I said from day one, that my office would be there to support the families in every way possible. And it’s not just me, our partners and Governor Moore and his administration, my partners in Baltimore County Executive Olszewski and County Executive Pittman and their administration, my Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, has work with nonprofit groups that work with immigrants to set up case management for these individuals, we already set up a fund that now has over $300,000 into it for those families, and we will support them throughout this. That could mean that they need ongoing trauma care, that can mean in the future, they need help with different jobs and things like that. But we also have to focus on the impact of the workers and the businesses at the port. I first have to be thankful to President Biden for having the SBA allow us now to have these businesses apply for grants through SBA to be able to keep their business open, keep those folks employed. We’ve been working alongside- and thankful for Governor Moore for making that ask, that’s a strong sign of leadership for these workers in these businesses. We don’t want these small businesses to go away. We don’t want these jobs and my residents and everyone’s residents depend on, to go away. We’re actually opening up a center at 1501 South Clinton Street tomorrow morning, where the folks can come at afternoon at 1pm to come see the SBA. We’ll have our office on- on their on standby, it will be open every single day this week. Very gracious and grateful to the folks that care for us for allowing us to have it there. So that we can be able to help these individuals that are impacted in every way. But as I always say, in situations like this, we have to start with those most directly impacted. And that is, of course, those families.
ED O’KEEFE: You’re talking, when you say SBA, about the Small Business Administration that’s offering now loans of up to about $2 million to the affected companies. You know, ultimately, Congress is likely going to have to get involved in some of this to provide federal relief. What if any kind of direct outreach have you done to lawmakers in both parties to try to make the case for what Baltimore needs?
MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT: Well, listen, I have the best congressional delegation in the United States Congress. And Senator Cardin, Senator Van Hollen, Congressman Mfume, even Congressman Raskin, Congressman Trone, they have all been there on the ground. I don’t have to reach out to them because they’ve been there on site, talking with us, talking with the impacted individuals. And we know that they are going to do everything in their power to bring back resources for this tragedy that doesn’t just impact the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland. This port is the number one port for cars and farm equipment. So this matters to folks in rural North Carolina, in Kansas, and Iowa, this matters to the global economy. And it does not, this should not be something that has anything or any conversation around party. We are talking about an American tragedy to an American city, American port city, that means so much to this country in the world, and no party conversation should be involved at all.
ED O’KEEFE: Secretary Buttigieg told us a little while ago that there’s still no sense of how quickly this cleanup will happen, or how quickly the bridge will get rebuilt. What happens to the economy of Baltimore in the meantime?
MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT: Well, right now, that’s the things that we’re looking at, right? We’re looking at how we’re going to offload some of the stuff that is in the port and maybe use our partners at Tradepoint Atlantic to help with some of that. We obviously have some stuff on trains that can go out,. This is why it’s so important for the SBA and what they’re doing. We be told- I’ll be meeting with labor leaders in the actual workers myself tomorrow to talk about what kind of other support that they need, while we all wrap our heads around and figure out how we can support them and keep as much commerce flowing as possible. This is going to be a long road. This is not going to be a sprint. This is a marathon and as I said yesterday, with you know anything about long distance running, the folks who get out quickly, never win. We are going to win, because we’re going to make every single step have the right pace, the focus and attention on every detail that we need to to make sure that we not only build back this bridge. That we focus on those humans impacted, and every single detail of that.
ED O’KEEFE: This was a tragic accident. But it seems these days when something like this happens in this country, there are always conspiracy theories and a lot of misinformation thrown around. And in the case of this accident, some downright nasty things said about you online this week. I’ve got to ask you one of the wilder things is some conservative critics blamed the bridge collapse on diversity, equity and inclusion policies in Maryland. Diversity, equity inclusion, better known as DEI to a lot of people. They called you, some critics, “the DEI mayor.” What did you make of that when you heard it?
MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT: Well, as I’ve said, already this week, we know. Listen, I am a young black man and young black mayor in this country. We know that there are a lot of racism, folks who don’t think I should be in this job. I know that, I’ve been Black my whole life. I know how racism- racism goes in this country. But my focus is always going to be on those people. I didn’t want to be out there that night asking- answering questions about DEI. I’m worried about the loss of life. We know how ridiculous that is. Those folks are afraid as I said this week, to use the N-word. This should not be even in conversation. We have to remain focused on the mission at hand and continue from my vantage point to prove those people wrong about people that look like me by doing my job in the best way that I can. And ignoring the noise of folks who simply want to be devices and are afraid that their way of life where people that don’t look like them and think like them can be in control can be in power and actually be better at the job.
ED O’KEEFE: Well, we thank you for spending some time on this Easter talking to us about the situation. As you said, it’s a marathon. We’ll likely be with you through some of the other miles of this and for now, happy Easter and thank you again.
MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT: Thank you. Happy Easter.
Pete Buttigieg says “we don’t fully know” conditions for Baltimore bridge repair
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Open: This is “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” March 31, 2024
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Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott: “No party conversation should be involved” in bridge recovery
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Crews start removing first piece of twisted steel from collapsed Baltimore bridge
BALTIMORE — Teams of engineers worked Saturday on the intricate process of cutting and lifting the first section of twisted steel from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which crumpled into the Patapsco River this week after a massive cargo ship crashed into one of its supports.
Sparks could be seen flying from a section of bent and crumpled steel in the afternoon, and video released by officials in the evening showed demolition crews using a cutting torch to slice through the thick beams. The joint incident command said in a statement that the work was being done on the top of the north side of the collapsed structure.
Crews were carefully measuring and cutting the steel from the broken bridge before attaching straps so it can be lifted onto a barge and floated away, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said.
Seven floating cranes — including a massive one capable of lifting 1,000 tons — 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats were on site in the water southeast of Baltimore.
Each movement affects what happens next and ultimately how long it will take to remove all the debris and reopen the ship channel and the blocked Port of Baltimore, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.
“I cannot stress enough how important today and the first movement of this bridge and of the wreckage is. This is going to be a remarkably complicated process,” Moore said.
Undeterred by the chilly morning weather, longtime Baltimore resident Randy Lichtenberg and others took cellphone photos or just quietly looked at the broken pieces of the bridge, which including its steel trusses weigh as much as 4,000 tons.
“I wouldn’t want to be in that water. It’s got to be cold. It’s a tough job,” Lichtenberg said from a spot on the river called Sparrows Point.
The shock of waking up Tuesday morning to video of what he called an iconic part of the Baltimore skyline falling into the water has given way to sadness.
“It never hits you that quickly. It’s just unbelievable,” Lichtenberg said.
What happens next
One of the first goals for crews on the water is to get a smaller auxiliary ship channel open so tugboats and other small barges can move freely. Crews also want to stabilize the site so divers can resume searching for four missing workers who are presumed dead.
Two other workers were rescued from the water in the hours following the bridge collapse, and the bodies of two more were recovered from a pickup truck that fell and was submerged in the river. They had been filling potholes on the bridge and while police were able to stop vehicle traffic after the ship called in a mayday, they could not get to the construction workers, who were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The crew of the cargo ship Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, remained on board with the debris from the bridge around it, and were safe and were being interviewed. They are keeping the ship running as they will be needed to get it out of the channel once more debris has been removed.
The vessel is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk.
The collision and collapse appeared to be an accident that came after the ship lost power. Federal and state investigators are still trying to determine why.
Assuaging concern about possible pollution from the crash, Adam Ortiz, the Environmental Protection Agency’s mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator, said there was no indication in the water of active releases from the ship or materials hazardous to human health.
Rebuilding
Officials are also trying to figure out how to handle the economic impact of a closed port and the severing of a major highway link. The bridge was completed in 1977 and carried Interstate 695 around southeast Baltimore.
Maryland transportation officials are planning to rebuild the bridge, promising to consider innovative designs or building materials to hopefully shorten a project that could take years.
President Joe Biden’s administration has approved $60 million in immediate aid and promised the federal government will pay the full cost to rebuild.
Ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore remains suspended, but the Maryland Port Administration said trucks were still being processed at marine terminals.
The loss of a road that carried 30,000 vehicles a day and the port disruption will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters, but also U.S. consumers, who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other U.S. facility.
Biden visiting Baltimore next week to jumpstart federal assistance
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Port of Baltimore workers were bracing for a busy summer season. Now thousands face an uncertain future.
DUNDALK, Md. — The livelihoods of thousands of workers who process goods passing through the Port of Baltimore hang in the balance as cargo shipments grind to a halt after a container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge this week.
“These longshore workers, if goods aren’t moving, they’re not working,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said following Tuesday’s crash, which killed six construction workers on the bridge when it collapsed into the Patapsco River. “They’re likely working right now, but that work won’t last long, and that’s one of our main areas of concern.”
Buttigieg noted the port produces $2 million in wages each day for the workers who make a living there, like crane technician Steve Rehak and his two sons.
“It’s pretty devastating,” said Rehak, 61, who added that he has worked at the port for 14 years. “When the ships aren’t here, you’re not making any money.”
Rehak says he will still work for the foreseeable future conducting preventive maintenance and repairs, but his hours have been cut to 40 hours per week — eliminating lucrative overtime.
“This is gonna be tough on them,” he said about his sons’ financial stability.
While crane technicians typically work around the clock regardless of cargo traffic, longshoremen work only when ships are present.
For Shawn Jackson, a longshoreman daily hire, the uncertainty is the hardest part.
“It’s the stress of not knowing,” he said of the lack of a timeline for the port’s reopening.
“The workers are worried,” said Tim Krajewski, secretary-treasurer for the International Longshoremen’s Association’s Local 333 chapter. “It’s a family-sustaining job, and them losing all that income — you’re not just talking severances, you’re talking flat cut when ships don’t come in, period.” Most workers take shifts day by day.
The Port of Baltimore, which comprises publicly and privately owned marine terminals, said Friday that despite speculation, “the fact of the matter is we do not know” when the channel will reopen. The state of Maryland estimates that roughly 15,300 direct jobs are generated by the critical shipping hub and 140,000 jobs are linked to it.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has repeatedly said that re-opening the port is one of the main priorities — a point he reiterated at a news conference on Saturday.
Moore said the Small Business Administration accepted a request to approve a disaster declaration, granting small businesses affected by the tragedy the opportunity to apply for low-interest loans of up to $2 million.
“They’re gonna help us ensure that our small businesses get the cash that they need to pay their bills and to keep people employed,” he said Saturday.
Applications need to be submitted online by Dec. 30, 2024.
The local chapters of the ILA are set to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss a path forward. In the meantime, union officials are advising members to call their mortgage, car and credit card lenders to ask for deferred payments.
State lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill to provide temporary financial relief for workers and businesses affected by the port’s closure.
The proposed Protecting Opportunities and Regional Trade Act — or PORT Act — includes support for regularly paid port workers who don’t qualify for unemployment, assistance for businesses that need help retaining their local workforce, and incentives for companies to keep their work in Baltimore long term, instead of permanently relocating to another port where ships are being diverted, such as Wilmington, Delaware, or Norfolk, Virginia.
The legislation is led by state Senate President Bill Ferguson (D), who represents the district where the port is located. He hopes to take lessons learned from the pandemic — during which the port remained open — and apply them to Maryland’s current economic emergency.
“If we could help support small businesses and keep people employed in those positions, that was more efficient and a better way to help stabilize the small businesses, rather than having them lay off their entire team and then just hope for a time in the future that they can re-employ them back into those positions when the channel’s back open,” Ferguson told NBC News.
If passed, the measures would immediately go into effect upon Gov. Moore’s signature. The state’s General Assembly adjourns just after midnight on April 9.
Until then, it’s a waiting game.
“Summertime is our busy time,” Krajewski said. “The next couple of months was supposed to ramp up into a very busy season, so we really want that channel to be open as quickly as possible.”
Last year was record-shattering for the Port of Baltimore — its more than 8,000 workers processed 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth more than $80 billion.