Collateral damage from our energy stock profits -
(My advice to Texan pleasure crafts - leave those fenders hanging out)
03:56 AM ET 05/29/00
Costly Fuel Forces Coast Guard Cuts
By MARY LEE GRANT=
Associated Press Writer=
SEABROOK, Texas (AP) _ Drunken boaters speeding across waterways. Damaged buoys that leave dangerous channels unmarked. Drug smugglers moving unseen along deserted stretches of coastline. Those are possible scenarios because rising fuel costs have forced the Coast Guard to cut back nearly every type of patrol but search-and-rescue missions by about 25 percent along the Texas coast and into the Midwest, officials said.
``I had no other recourse,'' said Rear Adm. Paul Pluta, whose Eighth Coast Guard District covers 26 states and includes 1,200 miles of Gulf Coast and 10,300 miles of navigable rivers.
Oil prices have increased dramatically in recent months, reaching $34 a barrel in March, almost $10 higher than in January. Prices were down to about $28 a barrel this month, but the Coast Guard still needs more money to make up for higher costs, Pluta said.
Covering the cost of the higher fuel prices for the Eighth District would take between $700,000 and $1.3 million, Pluta said.
It's just the latest funding problem for a Coast Guard that's still using boats and planes dating back to the Vietnam era and before, he said.
Congress is discussing the possibility of appropriating more money to make up for the shortfall, but it could takes weeks, Pluta said.
The cutbacks will mean fewer patrols for boating safety violations, less frequent maintenance of channel markers and less time spent enforcing environmental regulations for fishing and shrimping boats, officials said.
The highest priority, Pluta said, will be placed on search and rescue operations, which won't be cut back.
But Peter Davidson, director of the Corpus Christi Marina, said it's already difficult to reach the Coast Guard in times of emergency.
``They will only come for what they consider to be a life or death situation. That means if someone runs their mast into a bridge or an old man runs aground, they just say to call a salvage company. They don't come to a lot of situations that could result in serious injury or death,'' Davidson said.
``The Coast Guard needs to be doing more, not less,'' Davidson said.
In Galveston, the marine safety unit has reduced offshore flights and consolidated harbor patrols from three days a week to one, Lt. Marie Byrd said. In general, Coast Guard units have stopped routine safety patrols, but are responding to any reports of wrongdoing, Byrd said.
The effects stretch beyond the Texas coast.
``If the buoys aren't maintained, it could cause us problems,'' said Dave Harms of Lake City, Minn., who boats on the upper Mississippi River. ``The barges are having enough trouble with low waters.''
In some areas, other safety patrols and police organization will be able to make up for the cutbacks. In New Orleans, Benton Brown, harbormaster for the Southern Yacht Club, said his yacht club can rely on the sheriff's department patrolling the northern half Lake Pontchartrain and local police patrolling the southern half.
In the Pacific Northwest, Chief Warrant Officer Chris Haley said Sunday that the shortage is theoretical _ so far. But he said his 13th District was fortunate that it had some financial cushion built in.
``They've told us to be prepared for operational cuts, and right now we're looking at our budget to see where we can cut, what we can cut, and still provide the best service to the public,'' Haley said.
The Coast Guard is feeling the pinch from funding shortages, and that could mean more cutbacks in some nonessential services, Jack O'Dell, a Coast Guard spokesman in Washington, said Sunday.
``People don't realize we have 34,000 people patrolling 144,000 miles of shoreline,'' O'Dell said. ``If it's not a life-threatening situation, we have to ask how much involvement from the Coast Guard there should be.''
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On the Net:
U.S. Coast Guard: uscg.mil
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