The consequences of the recruitment shortfalls at the U.S. Coast Guard and ensuing operational cutbacks, already felt in cities across the country this year, have reached Pittsburgh’s Coast Guard Station (STA). The region’s bipartisan congressional delegation has sounded the alarm, urging USCG leadership to restore personnel and avoid removing their equipment and vessels — and rightly so.
Tug boats and barges may not be as glitzy as the new airport, or the self-driving trucks being developed at Strip District-based Aurora, but they contribute billions to the local and national economy, with nearly 20 million tons of freight flowing through the Port of Pittsburgh every year. The USCG’s Pittsburgh station helps to keep these vessels safe, and should be restored as soon as USCG staffing allows.
The Coast Guard’s presence in Pittsburgh spans three separate units: The Collier-based Marine Safety Unit (MSU), which monitors pollution from riverside facilities, inspects vessels and investigates marine casualties; the Sewickley-based cutter Osage, a large commissioned vessel which maintains and replaces navigational buoys; and the Coast Guard Station Pittsburgh, whose personnel operate small boats as the patrolling arm of the USCG along the three rivers.
While the MSU and the Osage continue to function normally, the USCG has reassigned personnel from STA Pittsburgh to other parts of the country, and their vessels and equipment may soon follow. This has spurred lawmakers, including ideologically disparate Reps. Summer Lee and Guy Reschenthaler, to write to Adm. Linda Fagan to oppose the cuts, citing the impact on the river economy.
They have a point: While it’s easy to forget about them as industrial thoroughfares, the three rivers continue to serve as essential conduits for supplying factories and manufacturers. Without safe, easily navigable waterways, facilities like the U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works or the Shell cracker plant in Monaca would be unable to function.
In other cities where Coast Guard Station staff have been cut, local law enforcement have had to fill the gap. In Saginaw Bay, Mich., where the USCG’s 24/7 staffing was reduced, a local ABC affiliate reported the fire department had to rely on charter boats to rescue two sinking mariners this August.
Happily, here in Pittsburgh the remaining USCG units — plus the City of Pittsburgh’s River Rescue, a special operation of the Department of Public Safety — will maintain search-and-rescue capabilities. But the law enforcement and safety-patrol operations of STA Pittsburgh will be missed, especially given the region’s aging infrastructure.
The Coast Guard, for its part, says its recruitment woes are easing, especially compared to earlier this year, when the agency had a personnel shortage of nearly 5,000 — or 10% of the entire force, according to Stars and Stripes, a media outlet focused on the military. The shortage was most acute in the most junior level ranks, reflecting four years of below-target recruiting following COVID-19.
By summer 2024, agency officials said they were meeting recruitment targets — though it will take time to train for and refill all positions. This could, and should, also mean an eventual return for Pittsburgh’s Coast Guard Station and their patrolling function.
What remains clear is the importance of Pittsburgh’s rivers, and the vital role that the Coast Guard continues to play in their management. Lawmakers have done their duty to raise the alarm: The Coast Guard should take heed, and restore STA Pittsburgh as soon as possible.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via TNS
