Water Resource Programs: (continued)
Importance to America's Petroleum Industry

FACT: The port that handles the largest volume of petroleum products is Valdez, Alaska, moving more than 70 million barrels annually.  Much of this volume is shipped to the West Coast ports of Anacortes, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Portland, Richmond, Seattle, and Tacoma.
FACT: Outside of Alaska, the Gulf Coast region handles the largest volume of petroleum products in the country, including vast tonnages on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Lower Mississippi River.  This activity took place because of the many petrochemical facilities  located along the Texas coast and the Baton Rouge-New Orleans corridor on the Mississippi River. 
FACT: Oil itself provides 40% of the energy that  Americans use and 97% of our transportation fuels.
FACT: The ports of Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Boston, Baltimore, and Norfolk are all key to the supply of petroleum products throughout the northeast.  Much of the volume that is transported in the region comes from refineries in the Ohio River Valley area as well as Louisiana and Texas.

     Navigation, flood protection, environmental restoration, water supply, and other civil works programs serve the country in countless ways, providing benefits far beyond their actual cost to the taxpayer.  These programs deserve funding that meets the Nation's growing water resources needs.  Consider the following:
     PORTS AND WATERWAYS provide an efficient transportation system moving 2.3 billion tons of domestic and foreign commerce annually.  For every $1 spent to improve the navigation infrastructure, the Gross Domestic Product is increased by more than $3.
     FLOOD PROTECTION PROGRAMS prevent an average of $21 billion in flood damages per year, saving $6 for every $1 that is spent.
     ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION PROJECTS work to protect and restore 165,000 acres of natural habitat.  Also, coastal projects protect hundreds of miles of eroding shoreline.
     HYDROELECTRIC POWER generated by dams produces enough electricity to supply 4.64 million homes with power and $553 million to the U.S. Treasury.
     And barge transportation is less threatening to the environment.  Moving goods by barge provides environmental benefits over surface modes of transportation in terms of air quality. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection estimates that towboat emissions per ton-mile are 35% to 60% less than truck emissions.

Sources:  "The Importance of the Navigable River System to State Economies," Mercer Management Consulting, 1995; "The Importance of Waterborne Navigation to the Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Industry," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1999; "Strategies for Today's Environmental Partnership," American Petroleum Institute, 1995. "United States Crude Oil Production," American Petroleum Institute, 1998.

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