They just get into a mode where they are making money in midsummer, just when this would happen. The parade of empty barges from the gulf would have to happen twice now. It's like a trucker driving only the cab, with no load attached. Brescia said the change would kill barging on the Missouri, a blow to farmers and others who rely on shipping. Some environmental groups, including American Rivers, have said recreation and other river activities are worth much more to the economy than barging on the Missouri.
Shipping is a far bigger business on the Mississippi River.
Barging on the Missouri never rose to projected levels. Barges using the Big Soo Terminal, an independent warehouse, ship fertilizer, grain, cotton seed, steel coils, salt and molasses. The terminal relies heavily on rail, and it would use that more if barging is limited, Knepper said. The changes will be heavily debated in the next few months. Broad changes in the river's management would come in 2004, the corps said.