Can Fracking Waste be Carried on the Water?
The barging industry has the answer. It’s nowhere near as complicated as it seems. As shale gas production continues to ramp up across the United States, millions of gallons of wastewater is created through the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. That waste, referred to as shale gas extraction wastewater (SGEWW), or frack water, needs transport to storage and reprocessing facilities around the U.S., including disposal sites in Louisiana, Texas and Ohio. At the moment, the cargo is carried solely by rail and truck.
U.S. DOT Updates National Transportation Statistics
BTS’ National Transportation Statistics Updated - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), has updated National Transportation Statistics (NTS) – a web-only reference guide to national-level transportation data. NTS, updated quarterly, includes a wide range of national transportation information. NTS consists of more than 260 tables of national data on the transportation system, safety, the economy and energy and the environment, of which 37 were updated today. The next quarterly update is scheduled for April. NTS can be viewed on the BTS website. Contact: Dave Smallen (202) 366-5568.
By the Numbers: Boats, Cargo & the Environment
U.S. The latest statistical roundup of the U.S. flag fleet (2012) shows some interesting trends. We know that the U.S. blue water, deep draft fleet continues to dwindle in size and numbers – albeit some exciting recent orders for tankers and containerships. But virtually 99 percent of our commercial fleet is now represented by inland and coastal pushboats, barges and offshore service vessels. Or, in other words, the demographic represented by the readership of MarineNews magazine. What else do we know?
U.S. DOT Seeks Proposals to Address Challenges
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) announced the first of two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program solicitations for 2009. Through this competitive program, the Department encourages the nation's small, high-tech, innovative businesses to be a significant part of the federal government's research and development efforts. Small businesses are invited to submit innovative research proposals that address high priority national transportation goals during the solicitation period, which runs from Feb. 13 through April 15. The SBIR program is administered by RITA’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center on behalf of the U.S. DOT’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.
DOT Seeks Research Proposals to Solve Multimodal Transportation Challenges
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) announced the first of two Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program solicitations for 2008, inviting small businesses to submit innovative research proposals that address high priority national transportation goals. RITA has set a new strategic direction for the program this year, with a heightened emphasis on proposals that would provide cost-effective, multi-modal solutions to the nation’s most pressing transportation challenges in areas such as bridge condition monitoring technology and data collection, hazardous materials tracking and incident response, adaptive traffic signal control, and rail, motorcycle and pedestrian safety research.
U.S. Ranks Second in Maritime Container Traffic
The United States ranks second in world maritime container traffic with one in nine maritime containers in the world either bound for or coming from the United States, according to “America’s Container Ports: Delivering the Goods,” a new report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). BTS, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that U.S.-container trade in 2005 and 2006 was more than double the trade of a decade earlier. An estimated 46.3 million 20-ft. equivalent units (TEU’s – the standard measure for counting containers of various sizes) passed through U.S. ports in 2006, up from 22.6 million in 1996. Two-thirds of the containers are imported into the United States.
