The Economics Working Group (EWG) met June 22. Attending were John Snedeker, Patty McIntosh, Trip Tollison, Morgan Rees, Larry Keegan, Teri Leffek, and Judy Jennings. Please direct any questions about this summary to Judy.

Discussion topics:

I. Discussion of GPA's response to ASA (CW) Dr. Westphal's letter.

A. Discussion of dissolved oxygen impacts and the costs and feasibility of proposed aeration systems.

1. Are the proposed aeration systems feasible?

2. Has there been a similar system in a 40 something deep river, which is tidal and brackish, that works?

B. Discussion of costs that might be associated with shifting shoaling patterns and spoil disposal.

C. Discussion of the occurrence of ships larger than the design vessel Regina Maersk.

1. Shouldn't we address the fact that there is a new generation of even bigger ships?

2. There was concern that the report only considers competition from regional ports, when Savannah probably faces competition from other ports, including those on the west coast.

3. How can we achieve a comprehensive analysis of the maritime industry?

4. Will larger ships ever call the east coast?

II. In depth discussion of the review and approval process.

Shared materials and associated discussion:

I. Morgan's compilation of "Economic Assumptions Affecting the National Economic Development Benefit Analysis for Savannah Harbor."

A. Has there been a comparison made between building bigger ships and running ships into and out of ports more frequently?

B. There was a suggestion to focus on the Tier 11 and what we need to do for it, rather than revisit the Tier 1.

II. John's letter of suggested tasks for the EWG included ideas for interviews and surveys, a summary of a MARITIME REPORTER article discussing "Container Ship Design Evolution" and a summary of an article on "Columbia River Deepening Moves Forward."

III. Judy's reprints from AMERICAN SHIPPER and JOURNAL OF COMMERCE on articles about new ship orders/deployments.

A. Questions about the world fleet mix, distribution of the world fleet, and deployment of the fleet.

B. There was a request that the Tier 11 use the most current projections and current predictions.

Action items:

1. John volunteered to explore the possibility of a speaker for the SEG possibly from MARAD.

2. Judy will compile questions for such a speaker. So, please send your questions to her.