Schumer, Engel Reveal: Lack of Maintenance of Eastchester Creek at Risk of Causing Dramatic Rise in Heating Costs Across Lower Hudson Valley

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer was joined by Congressman Eliot Engel at Sprague Fuel Terminal in Mount Vernon to announce a push to dredge the Eastchester Creek Canal to keep the terminal open and prevent a dramatic rise in homeowners' heating bills. Schumer and Engel urged the Army Corps of Engineers to explore every possibility to ensure that the entire creek is dredged, and the lawmakers announced their plan to introduce legislation allowing both segments to be dredged at once. Without dredging, the northern portion of Eastchester Creek, a local fuel terminal could very well go under resulting in greater home heating oil costs, as a result of local suppliers having to travel further for shipments. Schumer and Engel said that sediment is clogging up the creek to the point that ships are getting stuck and it will soon be impassible. Furthermore, the Army Corps of Engineers is already dredging a portion of the creek and would simply need to extend the dredging process by several hundred yards. Schumer and Engel said that such a move is just common sense.

"The currently scheduled dredging plan comes so close to what we need -- there has to be a way to make this work, and we're going to find it," said Schumer. "If it takes legislation, that's what we'll do, but first we must explore every possibility for the fastest solution possible."

"The dredging of the Y portion of Eastchester Creek this year is vital to the local Westchester economy -- it will not only save jobs, but it will also enable dozens of businesses from New Rochelle to Mount Vernon to continue operating at affordable costs," said Rep. Engel, a senior member of the Energy & Commerce Committee. "In addition, Westchester residents will avoid inevitable increases in fuel costs that would result if the creek is not dredged and the fuel shipping routes become impeded. I am proud to be working hard to save jobs and keep fuel costs low for the people of Westchester County, and all of New York State."

The New York State canal system is 626 miles long and includes the Eastchester Creek, which runs through portions of the Bronx and into Mt. Vernon. Certain parts of the canal are navigable and Sprague Fuel Terminal uses a portion of the navigable waters. Sprague services more than 15 local suppliers of home heating oil in Westchester. The northern part of the creek that leads up to the Mt Vernon terminus has not been dredged in over 20 years, and so much sediment has built up that ships are having trouble navigating it. Local business owners say that creek could be impassable by the end of the year. Such a situation could force the last fuel terminal in Westchester County to shut down forcing local home heating oil supplied to utilize terminals much further away.

The Sprague terminal off-loads heating oil from ships and sells it to distributers, such as Robison Oil and Wilco Energy. These fuel oil distributors then deliver it to homes. A closure of the Sprague Terminal would force local suppliers to travel to the Bronx and perhaps New Jersey for their supplies which would dramatically increase costs for local customers and could result in not only the loss of jobs at Sprague, but at local distributors as well.

What makes this situation even more frustrating is that the Army Crops is about to embark on a $4 million dredging of the Eastchester Creek that stops only 1000 feet short of the Mt. Vernon Terminal, where Sprague Fuel is located. In preliminary talks, the ACOE has told Schumer and Engel's office that they are prohibited from dredging the final portion of the Creek. Today, Schumer and Engel announced that they would be urging the Army Corps, to examine every possibility that would allow them to dredge the final portion of the creek. In addition, the lawmakers announced legislation that would allow and require the ACOE to do so, if no acceptable solution is found in the interim.

The lawmakers said that closing the terminal would have a significant impact on consumers across the region. The annual volume of fuel that goes through the terminal is more than 40 million gallons of heating oil and diesel fuel serving 50,000 homes and multiple strategic vehicle fleets critical to providing services to the people of New York. Additionally, it would add an additional 600 trucks on already congested roads and cost an additional $1million in delivery costs per year. The terminal supplies fuel to nearly 300 key accounts including:

* New York City Transit Authority
* New York City Housing Authority
* County of Westchester
* Multiple Municipalities in the greater Westchester County region
* Essential commercial transportation include airlines and buses
* Local schools and hospitals
* Police, Fire and emergency response vehicles including ambulance services
* Local energy and power providers
* Local retail distributors

A total of 918,000 tons of cargo is transported through this channel annually. Petroleum, sand and gravel, and scrap metal are transported to thirteen docks located on the channel. Eastchester Creek supports combined petroleum storage facilities of 39 steel storage tanks with the capacity to store 217,550 barrels of petroleum. The last full dredge of the creek took place over 20 years ago, but the creek has been in continuous use since 1930.

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