Flooding Strands Region’s Barge Traffic Gasoline Supplies Threatened

Columbia River flooding has stranded 35 giant grain and cargo ships from Portland to Longview, Wash., and threatens to cut off gasoline supplies that power half the cars in Spokane County.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday reopened the swollen Willamette River and parts of the lower Columbia for daylight maneuvering.

But cargo vessels hauling everything from alumina to corn were ordered to remain at port for the fourth-consecutive day, with no escape to the Pacific Ocean.

“Just because you’re high and dry in Spokane doesn’t mean you won’t feel the effects of what’s happening to us here,” said Jonathan Schlueter, who represents grain exporters in Portland. “Distribution of everything coming through Portland and the Puget Sound has been held up.”

Upriver, Tidewater Barge Lines Inc. faces a different problem trying to deliver petroleum to the Tri-Cities Chevron pipeline that feeds Spokane and North Idaho.

Flooding has delayed Tidewater barges from loading fuel at Columbia terminals during a time when the company must beat a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deadline. On Wednesday, the Corps is scheduled to shut Columbia and Snake river navigational locks for a routine, two-week maintenance overhaul.

“We need to get liquid products into the interior,” said Tidewater spokesman R.K. “Skip” Hart, adding that it may be several days before officials know if gasoline supplies are adequate to keep Spokane gas pumps full.

The river closures are one of several logjams in the Pacific Northwest transportation network. Road closures and mudslides across railroad lines in recent days have backed up freight for miles, though many have been cleared.

Drivers for Albertson’s food distribution center in Portland detoured around flooded roads. As a result, it took up to 12 hours longer than usual to make deliveries to Spokane, said division vice president Bob Stachofsky. Their tenacity resulted in only a few bare shelves.

“They were free-lancing,” Stachofsky said.

Dave Cook, manager of Swift Transportation in Lewiston, predicted a temporary shortage of toilet paper, paper towels and other products because of closed paper mills in western Oregon and Washington.

“This is a difficult situation and it’s not going to improve overnight,” said Schlueter, who manages the Pacific Northwest Grain & Feed Association, a group of 270 grain elevators and exporters.

, DataTimes