Our tax dollars hard at work....

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From my local station WCSH Channel 6, Portland, ME


FEMA Offers Explanation For Storing Ice In Maine

The federal government is spending thousands of dollars every day by bringing and storing ice in Maine.

The government originally ordered the ice for hurricane Katrina relief efforts. They ordered 169.4 million pounds of ice. Now, thousands of pounds of that is sitting in Portland.
Some of the drivers who are now waiting to unload their trucks have been on the road for the relief efforts since the day before the storm hit. They're in Maine because FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, realized they had too much ice on their hands in the gulf and decided to store it in case of another disaster.

The agency admits that the ice is worth millions of dollars, and the truckers are getting paid by the day to haul it around even though it hasn't been delivered anywhere useful.

However, a spokesperson for FEMA says the ice is in Portland so it will be readily available in case of another hurricane - like Rita.

The agency says making more ice takes time -- and it would rather have too much ice available for disasters than not enough.

The ice cost 26 cents a pound, bringing the total to 44 million dollars to buy the ice. The Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of this project and does not have an estimate of how much it will cost to transport all this ice, but the public information officer says they will hold on to it and store it here in Maine at least until the end of the hurricane season.

Truck drivers coming into town Tuesday were told it will be about three days until they can unload their truck, as only four trucks can unload at a time.

While they wait they are being paid 800 dollars a day. Once they unload, they are able to pick up other contracts and leave Maine.