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Wind turbine shipments through Port of Ogdensburg make for $1 million in local pay, OBPA says

Posted 5/5/13

By CRAIG FREILICH OGDENSBURG – Use of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority for wind turbine shipments has been responsible for more than $1 million wages and other significant effects on the …

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Wind turbine shipments through Port of Ogdensburg make for $1 million in local pay, OBPA says

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

OGDENSBURG – Use of the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority for wind turbine shipments has been responsible for more than $1 million wages and other significant effects on the local economy, according to a recent review.

Among the claimed effects of the project were:

· Over $1 million in direct wages paid to local labor, with an assumed 4:1 multiplier inclusive of up to 70 local jobs.

· Regional employment of individuals on the project from as far away as Newton Falls, Oswego, Plattsburgh, and Syracuse, New and Albany.

· Over $250,000 in port improvements including over $140,000 in stone purchases from the local Ogdensburg quarry. This does not include the additional impact of the quarry workers and truckers. The port also improved rail operations through $56,000 in improvements, and installed a new port access road.

· The largest wind turbine blade movement by rail in the U.S. The U.S.-made blades originated in Colorado and terminated in the port via the CSX and NYOG railroads.

· Involvement of over 1,000 outbound trucks and over 210 inbound railcars

· Over $850,000 in payments to New York State Police for providing escorts on over 1,000 outbound trucks.

· Payment in excess of $54,000 in state permitting fees.

· Equipment rental from regional firms in excess of $65,000.

· Over $80,000 for professional service providers.

· In excess of $30,000 spent locally to obtain supplies.

· Over $29,000 for local health care service providers including the local hospital.

· The sale of 27,000 gallons of city water to ships while at port.

· Significant impacts to local restaurants and motels due to the project.

· Two additional outbound ships which resulted in over 2,000 man-hours and two additional cargoes.

Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority Executive Director Wade A. Davis credited Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s efforts to secure funding for the port access road project, “as without the road the jobs at the Port of Ogdensburg would not have been possible and the cargo project would have gone elsewhere.”

The road project cost $2.9 million.

Davis said the effort “directly generated significant jobs and economic activity for the North Country.”