Project of retrofitting military tankers with double hulls is suggested
Louisiana congressional members are asking President Barack Obama and members of his administration to intervene and block the planned closing of Northrop Grumman's Avondale Shipyard.
View full sizeThe Avondale Shipyard, which will close by 2013, was photographed Wednesday. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., wrote Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Thursday, asking him to order that Avondale remain open on the grounds that leaving only one major Gulf Coast ship building facility endangers the nation's security.
After Hurricane Katrina, Landrieu said, Northrop Grumman's shipyard in Pascagoula, which would survive under the company's planned consolidation, remained shuttered 18 months longer than Avondale.
"Avondale's productivity during this difficult period highlights the importance of maintaining some degree of redundancy in our manufacturing capacity," Landrieu said in her letter to Mabus.
Landrieu said that one way to keep Avondale operating past 2013, the closing date set this week by Northrop Grumman, would be to move up the date when U.S. military tankers must comply with International Maritime Organization rules requiring double hulls to guard against oil spills. Navy plans now call for retrofitting its fleet of oil tankers in 2017.
The work of retrofitting the current single hulled fleet of oilers could be done at Avondale, she said.
"The recent oil spill in the Gulf highlights the damage that can occur from oil pollution," Landrieu said. Double hull tankers were required in the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident.
Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, said Thursday that Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan assured him that he would bring the congressman's concerns about the terrible economic impact of Avondale's closing directly to the president. The yard employs 5,000 workers and Louisiana officials estimate that another 7,000 jobs are dependent on the shipyard's continued operation.
"I spoke with Secretary Donovan about (Avondale's announced closing)," Cao said. "He gets it, which is why he told me he would relay to President Barack Obama the urgency and significance of the situation."
Meanwhile, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., asked for a meeting with Mabus, who is also coordinating efforts by the Obama administration to develop a coastal restoration plan in the aftermath of the BP spill. Vitter said Mabus' staff has said he can only meet with congressional members regarding his Navy duties.
Vitter said that it is directly related to his duties, both as Navy secretary and the administration's new coastal restoration point man, to meet with congressional leaders to discuss Avondale, likely job losses at the Michoud assembly facility in eastern New Orleans, and the ongoing economic problems caused by the BP oil spill and the administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling.
"Unless the administration is prepared to discuss and address these three issues, your Gulf Coast recovery appointment is meaningless," Vitter wrote Mabus.
Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.383.7861.