Maryland Governor Moore Updates on Baltimore Bridge Collapse: March 29

Every morning, we have a unified command briefing, which includes State Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, our federal delegation, and other leaders who are central to this mission. Now, during that briefing, Colonel Butler, the superintendent of the Maryland State Police, discussed that conditions in the water makes it unsafe for divers. But as soon as those conditions change, his divers will go back in the water. Second, on clearing the federal channel and opening vessel traffic to the port. As of this morning, I've been briefed by the Maryland Department of Transportation on clearing wreckage and moving forward. Our team went out with the Coast Guard just a few hours ago, including the Coast Guard Commandant, to survey the damage. To see the wreckage up close. To see a freight that is nearly the size of the Eiffel Tower. And to see that same freight with a key bridge resting on top of it. To see shipping containers that were ripped in half as if they were papier-mâché. To know that out there you have to navigate high winds and electric wires. To go out there and to see it up close, you realize just how daunting a task this is. You realize how difficult the work is ahead of us. With a salvage operation this complex and, frankly, with a salvage operation this unprecedented, you need to plan for every single moment. And every time you take action to move a piece of wreckage, you understand that that requires you to reassess the situation. So when I led soldiers in combat, I knew that preparation was everything. You do not go into the field of battle without getting the intelligence that you need first. So as the mission continues, you need to stay frosty, you need to reassess, and you need to adapt. That's the mindset the Army Corps is applying with their partners in Unified Command. We have the best inspectors, the best surveyors, and the best engineers in the world working and setting up and executing a plan of action right here in Maryland. And I've been informed by the U.S. Navy that they are supplying us with four heavy-lift cranes. Two have already arrived, one arrives tonight, and the fourth is arriving on Monday. One of the cranes is called the Chesapeake 1000, and it can lift about 1,000 tons. But the big part and one of the challenges is that the key bridge, which sits on top of the vessel right now, that that weight is somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 tons. So our team needs to cut that truss into sections in a safe, in a responsible, and in an efficient way before it can lift those pieces out of the water. This crane that we're looking at is massive. The thing we also know is this, so is the challenge ahead of us. So in the coming weeks, we expect to have the following entities inside of the water. Seven floating cranes, ten tugs, nine barges, eight salvage vessels, and five Coast Guard boats. I've said it before, I will say it again, and I will keep on saying it. This is not just about Maryland. This mission is not just about Maryland. And what we're talking about today is not just about Maryland's economy. This is about the nation's economy. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in this country. At least 8,000 workers on the docks have jobs that have been directly impacted by this collapse. Our economy depends on the Port of Baltimore, and the Port of Baltimore depends on vessel traffic. Maryland's economy and Maryland's workers rely on us to move quickly. But that's not just Maryland. The nation's economy and the nation's workers are requiring us to move quickly. Third, on taking care of our people. I want to talk a little bit about the work that we're doing with the Maryland Legislature. I want to thank Speaker Adrienne Jones, Senate President Bill Ferguson, and Minority Leader Steve Hershey. They have been in touch with our team since day one. I also want to thank Delegate Luke Klippinger, Senator Johnny Ray Saling, and other members of the District 6 and District 46 teams. And I want to thank all of the Maryland legislators who have reached out and offered their support. Legislators, frankly, on both sides of the aisle. And I want to thank our federal delegation, too, to include Jamie Raskin, who was here earlier, but unfortunately will not be here now. But to the members of the Maryland General Assembly, we know this. We are 10 days away from the conclusion of this legislative session, and there is a lot of work to do. The top priority in that work is going to be finalizing our budget. My administration proposed a responsible budget that makes important investments in housing and childcare and environmental protection and transportation. Now, it is vital that the House and the Senate find compromise as soon as possible, pass the budget, and provide certainty at this challenging and uncertain time. We also need to ensure that we pass legislation to support the families and the victims of the bridge collapse and everyone else who has been affected by this emergency. I will be proposing the creation of a permanent state scholarship for the children of surviving spouses of transportation workers who lost their lives on this job. We will continue to push for legislation that seeks to protect workers like the six victims of the Key Bridge collapse. I've also asked the General Assembly to ensure that any legislation we work on provides the flexibility our administration needs to support port workers, businesses, and our transportation network. We cannot possibly find every answer to every problem in the next few days before session ends, but we can give the state the ability to respond over the coming months. Fourth, on rebuilding. As I said yesterday, we cannot rebuild the bridge until we have cleared the wreckage. I've always believed that you never learn anything about anybody when times are easy. If you really want to understand someone's mettle, watch them when it's hard. Watch them when it's difficult. Watch them when the stakes are high. Well, that time is now, and we are going to rise to meet this moment. Because we are Maryland Tough, and because we are Baltimore Strong. So, in this moment, I'm going to hand it off to the U.S. Coast Guard, over to Admiral Gilreath. And then after that, we'll be briefed by Colonel Pinkerton from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Department of Transportation, EPA Administrator Ortiz, Congressman Kweisi Mfume, and County Executive Johnny Olszewski. Admiral Gilreath. Thank you, Governor. Good afternoon. I'm Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath, speaking on behalf of the Unified Command. As I mentioned last night, our number one priority of the Unified Command is to reopen the Port of Baltimore. And to do that, we've broken that into three phases. Number one phase is reopen the shipping channel. Number two is remove the ship. And number three is remove the debris from the bridge from the rest of the waterway. We're beginning to make progress on those phases. In the phase one, we talked about that we need to do the assessments of the bridge, both above the waterline and beneath the water. Those assessments continue. As the governor said, we were out there today, and we could see the engineers and the divers and the survey boats out there on the water in these difficult wind conditions, doing their job, doing their work to assess that bridge, to figure out how we can cut it up into the pieces we need to be able to lift. And back at the Unified Command, the governor, the commandant, all the elected officials, they could see those engineers working on those very plans. Engineers from the Army Corps of Engineers, Navy Supervisor of Salvage. We had state engineers there. There were some private engineers helping us. And we had some Coast Guard engineers there. And they're all working diligently to figure out that right plan to be able to break that bridge up into the right size pieces that we can lift. And the second part of that is we need to get the heavy lift equipment here. And we've been telling you that those cranes are on their way, and that equipment's on their way. And behind us, you can see the first of those things that are arriving. They're arriving, and they're going to continue to arrive for the next several days. And we're going to continue that planning so that we will be ready. We'll take advantage of that as soon as possible and do it safely. I'll turn it over to Colonel Pinchasen. Our elected officials, thank you so much for having us here. As we just transition to the most critical mission that we have to open and restore the channel, to clear the shipping channel and open the Port of Baltimore, we've now begun surveying and conducting engineer analysis and assessing in order for us to conduct the integrated salvage operations within the channel and also to refloat the vessel as well as remove the wreckage of the bridge. However, the top priority for all the equipment that we're marshaling right here is going to be focused on clearing the channel. Now, that doesn't happen overnight, and the work that our team is doing is just phenomenal. I can't say enough about the team that we've assembled here. Kind of had a little bit of a dress rehearsal when we did the Ever Forward, and that's the same team that we have on the ground. That industry muscle memory, that incredible wealth of knowledge, expertise, skills, experience, all those lessons are being applied here, and it's a really powerful partnership. I can't say enough about what those folks are doing. We should all be super proud to see state, federal partners, DOD partners coming together to give the Baltimore, the Port of Baltimore, the people of Baltimore, the state of Maryland, and our nation so much confidence to know that they have the right people here to execute this mission. We're going to be doing that safely and as quickly as possible. So with that, I'll turn it over to you. Good afternoon. I'm Colonel Roland Butler, Secretary of the Maryland Department of State Police. To build on what Colonel Pinchasen just told you, there's an incredible synergy going on with everyone working together, working hard towards a common goal. You heard the governor's objectives. We're working hard to accomplish those objectives. The MSP has a team of divers on standby, waiting for the first word that it is safe and it is clear to go in and examine what's beneath the wreckage and recover any of these individuals that perished in this unfortunate incident. In addition to that, the MSP Aviation Command is providing aerial support to all the parties involved, be it surveying, photographs, whatever. We're all looking forward to doing whatever we can to help this come to a conclusion. The Aviation Command has also reached out to the FAA to establish a tactical flight restriction area. That area begins three nautical miles from every direction from the center span of the bridge and goes up 1,500 feet. We cannot impress upon the public enough. Please stay away from that area with drones or any other type of equipment like that. If there are any violations of that airspace, law enforcement remains poised, federal, state, and local partners to act upon any of those violations, locate those individuals, and bring them to justice. The most important thing is that you exercise patience, understanding, compassion for the people lost in this, and allow the workers to do their jobs safely and effectively. Thank you. Good afternoon. Paul Wiedefeld, Secretary of Transportation. Thanks to the $60 million that approved yesterday by the Federal Highway Administration, the Department is working closely with the Coast Guard and the Corps of Engineers on salvage operations. In fact, a team is currently out at the site and doing surveys so that we can begin this salvage work. As the Governor mentioned, additional support resources will be arriving over the weekend. Our focus continues to be in three areas. The impact of traffic on our communities and moving traffic throughout the region, addressing the economic impacts to the Port of Baltimore, and work with our federal partners to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. In terms of traffic, our department's dedicated team is working on a number of traffic issues. The State Highway Administration and the Maryland Transit Authority have deployed additional traffic resources throughout the region. This includes the deployment of additional emergency response vehicles to quickly assist motorists in need of assistance in clear crashes. We are also looking at making any changes to the system to help improve the traffic flow, such as making adjustments to the timing of traffic signals. In addition, we are looking at all the ongoing work projects we have along the region and any detours we may need to do to support smooth traffic. Our efforts include coordinating with our partners in the trucking community to inform them about alternative routes. I'm pleased to say that our transportation system is working well. In fact, there's been a 10% increase in daily ridership on the Maryland Transit Administration's Core East Bus Service. In terms of port operation and our support for the workers, as I mentioned last night, we are just concluding a meeting that we had with the port community, businesses, and labor to see what assistance we can provide them. I'd like to thank the Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce for being part of this as we move forward. In terms of building the bridge, our team is actively working on that front as well. We are considering innovative design, engineering, and building methods so that we can quickly deliver this project. In closing, I appreciate everyone's continued patience as we deal with the significant impacts this may have. And also, please drive safely and respect the speed limits around all of our workers. Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Adam Ortiz. I'm the Administrator for EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region. Governor, thank you for convening us here today, and it's great to be up here with our co-regulators at the Maryland Department of the Environment as well as members of our federal family. First, our thoughts and prayers are with the families who are feeling the impacts of this tragedy. Saludos a todos, especialmente a las familias que se afectan. I want to thank our EPA Response Team, our Water Division and Emergency Response Team, for the work that you are doing in support of the U.S. Coast Guard in response to this terrible tragedy. We have been here since day one, and today we have Laura Castillas, who is our on-scene coordinator, who is in coordination and part of the Unified Command. I want to provide a little bit of background on the structure of the response and EPA's participation and how we're looking out together for environmental protection. For the Federal National Contingency Plan, which oversees and guides on how environmental responses are carried out, the Coast Guard, in this case, is the lead agency for incidents related to potential and actual spills or discharges in navigable waterways. This means that the Coast Guard, under the Admiral's leadership, oversees the priorities, operations, and strategies in the protection of human health and the environment of that response. EPA, as many of you know, is known as a regulatory agency, and that's an important role that we have, but we're much more than that. We're also a partner. EPA has been here, as I said, since day one, providing support and guidance to the Coast Guard and all the other partners. We play a key role in supporting and leading responses and cleanups involving oil into waterways, as well as inland areas. And we've been doing it for decades, thousands and thousands of incidents. We've been on the ground working with local leaders, state governments, and our sister agencies at the federal level. In this response, EPA's role is that of an advisor. We're here to use science and our experience to carry forth the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maryland Department of Environment Unified Command's objectives for managing this event. In our various roles here, EPA evaluates information provided by the Coast Guard on dangerous goods on the vessel and provides recommendations on developing plans and strategies as needed. At this time, there's no indication of active releases from the vessel, nor of the presence of materials that are hazardous to human health in the water. However, monitoring is ongoing, and we will work through the Unified Command to report and review and be transparent of any results from this monitoring as they become available. I will defer to the Admiral, who's captain of this ship, for more details. Most importantly, as the Governor said, the Unified Command will evolve and adapt as necessary, and we are on the team. The work that we do together helps heal the land and our waters, the economy and our social fabric. And we never, ever do anything alone on team environment. So thank you to everybody here, in whatever capacity you have. It matters, and we're honored to be on the field with you. Waiisi Mfume, Member of Congress, 7th District of Maryland. My thanks to all of you, particularly who are here in the press. I know you don't hear it often enough, but thanks for telling this story. It's an American story that so many people are depending on you to convey to them. As I thanked the Governor yesterday, I want to thank him again for making this such a very open and transparent process so that people understand what's going on here and that it's more than we can even comprehend sometimes. Now, Senator Ben Cardin and Senator Chris Van Hollen were with us most of the day. They've both been called away on official duties, and Congressman Jamie Raskin from the western side of the state left just a few moments ago. But they are, and we are together, the team that's working in a bipartisan way here in Maryland. All of us, all members of the House and both members of the Senate, find a way to get the resources in that the Governor so desperately needs and that all of us need, quite frankly, to be able to accomplish the three priorities that the Rear Admiral laid out to us. We had a great briefing this morning with the Commandant of the Coast Guard. I want to thank the Coast Guard in particular, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers, for doing what they have done. They are really running a unified command. And when you look over our shoulders at the bridge and what's left of it, you'll understand why this city, this state, and indeed our nation cries at this moment because we can never replace what was there, and we mourn the people who were lost there. And that will forever be a reminder to all of us. Now, I want to just say to the 8,000 dock workers out there, we know you're there. We're going to find a way to get you back to work. And we want to find a way also to increase the ability for people to realize that this affects supply chains all over the country. As the Governor said, it is happening here, but it is an American story. I spoke just a little while ago with the Administrator of the SBA so that we can start expediting a way to help small businesses who rely on import-export items to be able to survive. And I just want to thank, as everybody has, all of those many people who are nameless and faceless who have given so much to this effort now and going forward. Thank you, Governor, for the opportunity to be here, and your Congressional delegation is on it. I've spoken twice today with Speaker Johnson's office. We've been missing each other, but I'd have to say that he has, in my opinion, a real desire to want to try to assist in any way that we can. So thank you all for being here. Again, I'm going to yield back to the Governor, I guess, at this point, and all you. Good afternoon. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. Again, I want to thank Governor Moore and his incredible team for their efforts in partnership. I want to thank and acknowledge Mayor Brandon Scott and County Executive Stuart Pittman, who have been local colleagues and partners in this work. And I also want to thank our federal partners, especially the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers, as we plan to reopen our shipping lanes and to rebuild the Key Bridge. I also want to thank the President and Secretary Buttigieg for their tremendous outpouring of support in our time of need in the greater Baltimore area. And today, I especially want to thank our partners here at Tradepoint Atlantic, especially Carrie, Mark, and Erin. For those of you who don't know, this is home to me, as it is for so many others. And as I read this morning, residents have said the Key Bridge is us. And for those of us who grew up in the shadow of that bridge, it has truly been a lifetime of connection. Those of us here at home, we mourn the loss of our neighbors, the workers on the bridge. We worry about the future of other neighbors who work at the Port of Baltimore and beyond. And we're even grieving the loss of the structure itself, a strange emptiness in the sky that's hard to explain to people who aren't from here. But we are a town that literally was built on steel at this site. And coming together and persevering is what we do. We are a community that honors our first responders. We are a community that rallies around our impacted neighbors. This tragedy will not define us, and the wreckage will not divide us. I think it's fitting that over 200 years ago, the anthem of our country was written where the structure of the bridge once stood. And in that moment in our nation's history, we were being bombarded day and night, relentlessly. And in this moment, it feels like we're being bombarded relentlessly, day and night. But with the partners we have here, just then, as now, we are coming together, in the same way that in recent years we came together at this site as we lost and said goodbye to our steel plant. But we were able to transform this site through ingenuity, partnership, and the kinds of collaboration we're seeing now. We know this will take time, as the governor has said. But we will also be bold in insisting that we work as quickly as possible, and also as safely as possible. Because it is who we are, and because the stakes are beyond just Baltimore. It's beyond just Maryland, as Governor Moore said. This has global implications. So, we stand ready to continue working with you, Governor. We thank our partners again, and we look forward to showing that steel resolve, as we always do. I'm sorry. I can't say what was done after 9-11. I know that the evaluation of all of our critical infrastructure is something that has been consistent and thorough and ongoing. So, I can't speak to exactly what happened after 9-11. But we know that the infrastructure protection is something that has been a priority. It's something that will continue to be a priority. And as the investigation continues to endure about what happened specifically with this incident, that we will continue to make sure that we are keeping the people of our state safe. And trust me, Brad, I really appreciate the question. You know, when we went out there today to go take a look at the wreckage, and we got a chance to get up close to this massive vessel that had 2,000 to 3,000 tons of steel sitting on it, going in a place where the Key Bridge once proudly was erected, and to be able to go under where it was and look up and see the blue sky and not see the bridge, it underscored the long road that we have ahead of us. So, I can't say right now if this is going to be – what's the time period. I can tell you it is not going to be days or weeks or months. This is going to take time. Every single phase, we have to focus on safety of the people who are doing the work. We have to make sure that we're doing it in cooperation and collaboration with all the parties that are going to be involved inside this work. We have to make sure that we're doing it in an environmentally sound way. And we have to make sure we're focusing on completion. So, I can tell you, we are focusing on moving speedily and getting it done quickly. I want this done quickly. I want it done right. We are committed to getting it done, and you can bet on it, we are going to get this done. But, this is going to be a long road. So, why don't I bring up Colonel Pinchasen if you want to speak to this. So, as I mentioned, right now we're in the stage of assessing it. It's still too early, especially for the time. It's entirely too early to give you a schedule. And also to determine whether or not we're going to use that option. There are so many assets that are being brought and marshaled here. And the work that's happening now, I know you're looking at all this equipment that's sitting here, but you have to know that behind the scenes, what was described as the engineering analysis that's taking place, the divers in the water, all the survey work that's going on, all this information that has to be compiled to make sure we get the engineering right, so that every lift that's happening is happening correctly. And it's going to be this iterative process of lifting and reassessing, making sure that it's stable, making sure that what we're going to send folks down to observe and confirm is safe for them to handle. And then we're going to take it very methodically, and that's going to allow us to go faster. By investing this time now in the engineering, we're going to be able to move faster later. And I know right now everyone wants to see things moving. You need to know, you need to trust that behind the scenes it's moving. And that speaks a lot to what we've got with our salvage community. They have come together just incredibly. I keep saying it's like this brotherhood. You can see it. They are bringing all the experiences, not just from here in the Chesapeake, but from around the world, wherever they've been, and they're applying it here. Together with the salvage community and the Unified Command, I think we're on the right course to be able to do this as quickly as possible. And as far as movement of equipment, I don't know. Did I answer your question? Oh, yeah, you got it. Thank you. And so right now we're going through the assessment of how we can use Tradepoint to be able to assist with all these efforts. We know that the priority is we've got to get not just the channel cleared, but we've got to get the Port of Baltimore reopened, that it is such a unique asset, not just in the region, but, frankly, it's a unique asset to this country. So getting it reopened is a priority, but we also know that we are going to look to and explore leveraging elements such as Tradepoint to be able to get this flow of commerce going. I'd say, first, the investigation is still ongoing. The thing that we know is that the work that the first responders did, the work that the MTA officers did in terms of being able to move quickly as soon as they heard the information about the mayday, it undoubtedly saved lives. The ability to stop flow of traffic, to make sure that there were no additional cars that were going to end up on the bridge. And in addition to that, it did not just support those and save those who did not make it on the bridge, but also anyone who would have come after it even after the collapse. The investigation is still ongoing as to the communication flow that was taking place with the people working on the ground, who were working on the bridge. But again, our debt of gratitude to these first responders is boundless. To the families, I would continue to say that you have an entire state and country and world who are lifting you up in prayer. We know, and I indicated that our first priority was making sure that we can help to bring a sense of closure to these families, that they are living a nightmare right now. One that sits with me, one that sits with each and every one of us. And we know that the priority that we have is making sure that those families feel supported and that they can have a sense of closure. The fact that we're here at Tradepoint and we're able to look up and see these cranes, it's showing that we're already moving and putting things in place to make this happen. I think it is important to recognize that ever since the wee hours of the morning when this first happened, this work has not stopped. People have been working in multiple different ways in order to get us to the point that we're having momentum and progress, and that is going to continue to be the case. We are not going to stop. We are not going to stop working. This team is not going to stop working together in order to get to our final completion. So the thing I would say is that the work pace and the fact that people have worked consistently on creating progress results and getting us to a sense of completion and accomplishing our four goals, that has not stopped and it's not going to. I'm Peter with Politico. In the 1980s, a similar kind of bridge collapse happened in Florida. After that, federal researchers recommended that a warning system for bridges in case of collapse was urgently needed. I'm wondering if MDOT has ever considered a railroad-style warning system for bridges in case of collapse, or is that something you would consider moving forward? Well, I can tell you that we are and will explore any and all options because there's nothing that I will not do to make sure the people of my state are safe. When you think about what's happening here, there is an unprecedented measure of unprecedented nature of what we're talking about. We were actually speaking when we were out with the Coast Guard earlier, speaking with the Coast Guard Commandant and saying that we have Tampa and Minneapolis and the bridge collapse in Minnesota. The uniqueness of what we're seeing here, where you not only have a massive vessel that is then stuck, but then you also have a bridge that has collapsed on top of it and all the other factors makes this a remarkably complicated situation. So we know there are lessons learned that we've seen from other tragedies that we will incorporate into our thinking going forward. There will be lessons learned that we'll take from what happened here with the Key Bridge that we know will incorporate how we're talking about our work going forward. Our ability to be able to continue to assess and make better is going to be something that's going to be consistent. Do you want to speak about that? That was 45 years ago, so we're actually researching to see what was done at that time and as we get to that information, we'll share it. I'm wondering what percentage of port cargo shuttered from the bridge collapse can be handled here at Tradeport Atlantic, and do you have any plans to expand the capacity here? And if so, how soon will these public resources be deployed to expand capacity? Well, so I think part of the thing we're doing right now is assessing what percentage and capacity. There is a uniqueness about the Port of Baltimore, both size, capacity of vehicles. I think you can just look simply at the dolly to get an example of the size and the enormity of the kind of vessels that we can take on in the Port of Baltimore. So I think what we're doing right now is doing a continued assessment of what type of cargo can be taken in places like Tradepoint and how can that serve as not just a stopgap, but potentially an additional supplemental. And so we are consistently looking at different options of continuing to increase capacity for here and other locations as well. In terms of what's happening here right now with materials, we're working with a group here, and they will do some paving and things like that to support that. In terms of the overall business model, we're looking at things, for instance, we do a lot of the processing of vehicles that come to this port. So right now, we're getting cars in other ports and bringing them here for processing. So again, we're going to keep working the model, the business model, to see how we can keep business here and keep labor employed. Chris Peterson, ABC News. There's been media reports that crews may have detected a large vehicle underwater in the wreckage. Is that the case? And additionally, you have the Chesapeake 1000 behind you. Can you confirm that it's the largest crane on the East Coast, and is it currently in use? And if not, when will it be in use, and how will it be used? In terms of anything that's been discovered, it's way too early. I mean, we have divers down there, as has been talked about, they're maybe seeing a foot to two feet in front of them. So as we start the removal of some of those materials, that will become clearer to us, and we'll deal with that issue, and we'll deal with those souls that are down there as we find them. In terms of—I'm sorry, the second part of your question. There's been different things detected, but until you get down there and start removing things to see what you really have, that's a different exercise. My understanding is it's the largest that was available, that we could get down here as quickly as we could get it down here, and it will be made available as soon as the engineering and the safety aspects of starting that process begin. That is when it will begin.