The Mississippi River should soon be safer for those who ply its waters on Jefferson County’s eastern edge.
The Herculaneum Fire Department, which has a 25-foot “safe boat” for responding to emergencies on the river, has been accepted for a $300,000 federal Department of Homeland Security Port Security Grant.
Chief Kevin Baker said the grant will be used to build a boathouse on the river to house the “safe boat.”
“We’ve had the boat since 2013 or 2014,” Baker said. “We’ve used it to respond to barge fires, drownings, other water emergencies. One time, we responded to an incident where a boat hit a fleeting barge. Almost anything that can happen on a highway can happen on a river. Really, if you want to think of it that way, the Mississippi is just a different roadway.”
Baker said the department’s boat services the stretch of the Mississippi River from the Meramec River in the north part of the county to the Isle du Bois creek in the south.
“We basically cover the entire Mississippi the length of Jefferson County,” he said.
Having a boathouse on the Mississippi River, Baker said, drastically cuts the response time.
“We’ll be able to just launch it from there,” he said.
The department’s boat currently is housed atop a trailer in the firehouse, 151 Riverview Plaza Drive, near the Buchheit store.
“On a typical call, it will take us 45 minutes or so to respond to a scene,” Baker said. “We have to gather at the station, drive the boat to Hug’s Landing in Crystal City, which is the nearest place to put a boat in, and then unstrap it from the trailer.”
Baker said the boat is employed about once a month on average.
“Sometimes a little more in the summer, usually a little less in the winter,” he said.
In order to get the grant, the Fire Department had to overcome one hurdle, coming up with the $150,000 local match required to receive the $300,000 from the federal government.
“The city doesn’t have that kind of money,” Baker said, noting that the Board of Aldermen has in the past approved enhancements and additional equipment for the boat.
Enter the Jefferson County Port Authority.
The Port Authority received a $25 million line item in the current state budget to make infrastructure improvements at Herculaneum in anticipation of a container-on-vessel port with American Patriot Holdings (APH) to be built there.
APH has announced plans to develop a port on the site of the former Doe Run Co. in Herculaneum to accommodate the company’s specialized barges that will carry large metal shipping containers from Plaquemines, La., up the Mississippi River.
“Chief Baker asked us whether we could help,” said Jim McNichols, executive director of the Port Authority. “He said he didn’t have a big pot of money, and asked whether the state money for the port might be used for that. I told him I would check with (the Missouri Department of Transportation, which administers the money).”
McNichol said the expenditure would help make the port more attractive, both to APH and to other prospective barge companies.
“Public safety is a big concern for us, especially with these new barges, which carry a lot of cargo on each vessel,” McNichols said.
He said committing the $150,000 isn’t necessarily taking something else off the table.
“There may be something we may not be able to fund this year, but that’s the good thing about having the line item. The General Assembly could decide to put more money toward the port in next year’s budget. And this is something that enhances the safety of the port, so it’s important.”
Baker said he’d like to see the boathouse in operation late in 2023.