Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that he has not spoken with the shipping company whose vessel knocked down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but the federal government is ready to foot the bill.
A complex network of insurance policies covers the collapse of the span and associated costs. The payouts, expected to top $1.2 billion, could take years.
“This is an extremely complicated disaster, involving many layers of insurance and reinsurance, so it’s difficult to say how long something like this will take,” said Loretta Worters, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute.
President Biden is preparing to fork over hundreds of millions of federal dollars to clear away the collapsed bridge and begin rebuilding.
Mr. Buttigieg said the administration is moving ahead with plans for a new bridge in Maryland, which leans heavily toward Democrats.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating why the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali lost power early Tuesday and struck a support column, causing most of the Key Bridge to buckle and collapse into the Patapsco River. The disaster killed six people and left the Port of Baltimore unable to operate. Debris from the Key Bridge remained in the water on Wednesday, part of it crushing the bow of the damaged Dali.
“Any private party that is found responsible and liable will be held accountable,” Mr. Buttigieg said Wednesday during a White House briefing on the disaster. “The president’s goal is to make sure that process is not something we have to wait for in order to support Maryland with funds that they need.”
Mr. Buttigieg said money for immediate needs in Maryland and its critical port will come from an emergency federal infrastructure fund, but Congress must approve a much larger package to pay for a new bridge, he said.
The price tag for taxpayers could be steep.
Built over five years, the four-lane, 1.6-mile Key Bridge opened on March 26, 1977, exactly 47 years before it was destroyed, according to an archived New York Times article.
The 1977 article reported that the cost was $141 million. Maryland Department of Transportation officials put the cost now at $60.3 million.
Engineers say a replacement could top $600 million and take at least two years to build.
“Rebuilding will not be quick or easy or cheap,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “Bottom line, as President Biden has made clear, the federal government will provide all of the support that Maryland and Baltimore need for as long as it takes, and we will work with Congress to deliver on that.”
Mr. Buttigieg said he expects both parties to support a supplemental request for the money to rebuild the bridge.
“Infrastructure is, or at least ought to be, a bipartisan priority,” Mr. Buttigieg said.
Republicans have fought government spending requests as the nation’s debt approaches $35 trillion. They have rejected multiple government funding bills and emergency money for wars in Ukraine and Israel.
Republicans quickly questioned Mr. Biden’s commitment to taxpayer funding for a costly disaster caused by private companies.
The 948-foot Dali is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., based in Singapore, and was chartered by the Denmark-based shipping company Maersk.
According to the Coast Guard, the 22-member Dali crew is from India.
“How about we ask the shipping company and their insurance company to chip in before we ask the taxpayer?” said Rep. Richard McCormick, Georgia Republican.
The Biden administration quickly held Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern Railway accountable for a February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that caused a toxic plume of smoke and spilled hazardous chemicals into streams and rivers. The Biden administration did not send emergency funding to East Palestine. Instead, Norfolk Southern pledged more than $20 million to help clean up the mess and provided millions more in direct payments to more than 8,400 people impacted.
Mr. Biden did not declare a federal disaster there and was criticized for not visiting the area until more than a year later.
Administration officials pointed out that they provided East Palestine with various resources from the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department.
The scale and impact of the Key Bridge collapse, Biden administration officials said, requires immediate and significant federal funding that can’t wait for insurance payouts from the ship and other insured entities.
The now-inoperable Port of Baltimore handled $80 billion worth of cargo in 2023, and port activity is directly tied to 8,000 jobs.
The bridge was a critical link to Interstate 95 for trucks carrying hazardous materials that must now take longer, slower alternative routes.
It was also a source of revenue, collecting $57 million in tolls in 2023.
The port remains closed until the bridge debris is cleared, halting $15 million in economic activity per day and jeopardizing thousands of jobs and the supply chain.
On Tuesday, Mr. Biden said he directed his administration “to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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