HJR 57: Requesting that the United States Coast Guard require licensed marine pilots on domestic tug boats when towing barges of less than 10,000 gross tons that are carrying petroleum products or hazardous cargoes on the inland water of the United States.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 57 01 Requesting that the United States Coast Guard require licensed marine pilots on 02 domestic tug boats when towing barges of less than 10,000 gross tons that are 03 carrying petroleum products or hazardous cargoes on the inland water of the 04 United States. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard does not require that licensed marine pilots 07 be on board domestic tug boats when they are towing barges of less than 10,000 gross tons 08 regardless of the cargo being carried; and 09 WHEREAS 1,400,000 gallons of petrochemicals were spilled into New York Harbor 10 and the Hudson River from 656 spills in 1990; and 11 WHEREAS, in September, 1993, the captain of a tug boat towing a barge became lost 12 at night in unfamiliar water near Mobile, Alabama, collided with a railroad bridge, and caused 13 three locomotives and four passenger cars to plunge into the river, killing 47 people; and 14 WHEREAS the recent spill of 600,000 gallons of oil onto the beaches of San Juan,
01 Puerto Rico, is just the latest in a series of serious accidents involving tug boats towing 02 barges; and 03 WHEREAS the Kuskokwim River of Alaska, unlike the other major rivers of the 04 nation, is primitive in terms of the navigational aids available to guide vessels; and 05 WHEREAS there are no dredged channels or government issued charts for the 06 Kuskokwim River system; and 07 WHEREAS tug boats towing barges containing petroleum products or hazardous cargo 08 often ply the Kuskokwim River system; and 09 WHEREAS the Kuskokwim River flows through one of the most important wildlife 10 refuges in North America; 11 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the United 12 States Coast Guard to require that domestic tug boats on the inland water of the United States, 13 and especially on the Kuskokwim River system in Alaska, have a licensed marine pilot on 14 board when they are towing barges of less than 10,000 gross tons containing petroleum 15 products or hazardous cargoes. 16 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 17 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President 18 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; 19 the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Admiral J. 20 William Kine, Commandant, United States Coast Guard; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens 21 and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 22 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.