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The West Calcasieu Port ‘engine’ is Designed to Promote Economic Growth in the Western Portion of Calcasieu Parish

BY LAURA HELLER
AMERICAN PRESS

If Lynn E. Hohensee, West Calcasieu Port director, had three wishes, he knows what at least
one of them would be.

“If I rub the bottle hard enough and the genie is of a kind nature, I would like to see the West Cal
Port continue to make a strong, positive impact on our regional economic growth,” he said. “I
think the port will continue to serve as a catalyst for the expansion of business, commerce and
industry along La. 27 from Sulphur south into Cameron Parish.”

The 190-acre West Calcasieu Port, located 12 miles south of Interstate 10 on La. 27 in Sulphur,
has been an integral part of west Calcasieu’s growth and expansion.

Hohensee spoke with the American Press about the port, its recent accomplishments and its
future goals.

As port director, what is a typical day like for you?
A typical day can encompass an array of activities and functions, like attending to the needs of
our West Calcasieu Port tenants; contacting companies that could become new tenants at the
port; keeping the port board of commissioners apprised of activities; working hand-in-hand with
our CPA, engineer and attorney and coordinating with a variety of external groups — political,
maritime, regulatory and security.

What are your responsibilities as port director?
I am employed on a part-time, contract basis. Because the port is quite small compared to the
Port of Lake Charles or the Port of New Orleans, the West Cal Port does not have a full-time
staff. It is a public entity that was formed by the Louisiana Legislature in 1964 and first and
foremost, is an economic development “engine” designed to foster and promote economic
growth in the western portion of Calcasieu Parish — recruit businesses to the port and create
jobs. My primary responsibilities include marketing the port to the maritime community, working
with state and regional economic development professionals, tending to the needs of our port
tenants and serving as a steward of the public taxpayers’ port investment. It is very important
that the West Cal Port is operated with the highest standard of ethics and in an environmentally
sensitive manner.

What do you like most about your job?
The ability to work with a vast number of people, all of whom help me champion the growth/
development of the West Cal Port. This is includes a very supportive and guiding board of
commissioners under President Brent Clement, our Calcasieu Parish Police Jury
representatives, our Southwest Louisiana legislative delegation, local representatives of our
federal delegation, our tenants, members of the Southwest Louisiana Port Network and the
membership of the Ports Association of Louisiana. Overseeing the operations of a maritime
port, regardless of its size, is an incredible task and opportunity. It cannot be done in a vacuum.

Since you came aboard at the West Cal Port in 2006, what have been the most significant
“successes” for the port?
The most positive impact for the port came this year when we successfully completed the
maintenance dredging of the port’s west barge basin. The basin was in bad need of repair prior
to 2005, but it was in even more disrepair following Hurricane Rita and then three years later,
Hurricane Ike. It took a tremendous team effort by our port team to secure a $1.5 million grant
from the Department of Transportation and Development’s Port Priority Fund. These funds,
combined with recovery funding by FEMA and the public funding provided by the city of Sulphur
and the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, made the improvements possible. The West Cal Port
again serves as a critical operations center in Southwest Louisiana for “brown water” maritime
transportation — that means shallow-water barging operations. Having a quality barge basin
already is spurring new growth opportunities as prospective new tenants continue to show
interest in the port.

Another success for the port has been the addition of Orion Marine Group’s F. Miller
Construction to our tenant list this fall. This brings a dozen or more critical jobs to the port.

How does the West Cal Port fit into the maritime picture of Southwest Louisiana?
Our corner of the state is blessed with a strong line up of progressive ports. Most folks are well
aware of the Port of Lake Charles, which is the country’s 11th largest port. But, we also have
the West and East Cameron ports, the Port of Vinton and the Mermentau Port. For the past two
years, all six ports have worked closely together within the Southwest Louisiana Port Network.
Each port really has its own niche. Our strength at the West Cal Port is our location on the Gulf
Intracoastal Waterway, just two miles west of the Calcasieu River Waterway.

While we continue to grow and develop as a servicesoriented port, our long-term mission also
encompasses a strategy to recruit industrial tenants that have a strategic need for shallow water
transportation to bring in feedstock and barge out finished products. We anticipate that these
clients have the potential to have a tremendous impact on the growth of capital investment, jobs
and tax revenue for the parish and the state.

Since Sept. 11, how has security been stepped up at the port?
As is the situation with all ports across the country, we are precluded from going into detail
regarding our specific security operations. What I can say, though, is that we work very closely
with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office to make sure that our
operations are safe for our tenants and their clients.

What have you done at the port to offset the decrease in state funding?
State funding in Louisiana — like other states — is being forced to undergo tremendous
change. For our state’s ports, this means that we will have to continue to work hard to secure
state funding for the growth/development of our ports. In Louisiana, records show that for every
state dollar invested in the ports, the state receives $6 in return. That is an impressive return on
investment. Our 30-plus ports in Louisiana have played and will continue to play a critical role in
the growth of our state’s economy.

What would you like to see happen at the port in the coming years?
I see the West Cal Port working in concert with our other ports and the Alliance/Southwest
Louisiana to support multiparish growth opportunities — from the development of Monkey Island
at the mouth of the Calcasieu River as the state’s next Port Fourchon of the West to the
attraction of industries that can reap the benefits of our vast infrastructure of navigable
waterways, which is critical to making Southwest Louisiana a gateway to the world.

How are the port operations funded?
Our port operations are totally funded by our tenant revenue stream which is augmented by
local, state and federal grants, when we can qualify for them. The port receives no millage
funding from our taxing district.

Who are the port’s current tenants?
Anchoring the port’s list of tenants is Devall Enterprises, which includes Devall Towing and
Devall Diesel Services. The Devall family has been a vital part of the port dating back to the
port’s early years in the 1960s. We are also proud to welcome this fall F. Miller Construction to
the port. In 2006, F. Miller became a subsidiary of Orion Marine Group, the nation’s third largest
marine construction/ engineering firm. We currently are in discussions with three other
companies that are interested in locating operations at our port. The largest limitation to our
physical growth at the port is that we have only 190 acres within our property line and a sizable
segment of that are wetlands that are unusable, unless mitigated, which is very expensive.

Who are the members or the port’s board of commissioners?
Brent Clement, Matt Vincent, Tim Dougherty, Wilmer Dugas and Dick Kennison. Our port CPA
is Darla Perry; port engineer, Chuck Stutes (with Meyer & Associates) and port attorney, Glen
James. This is the team that makes the operational successes at the West Cal Port possible.

Download the story here.

F. Miller Construction Becomes the Newest West Calcasieu Port Tenant

SULPHUR, La, Nov. 20, 2009 – West Calcasieu Port officials have announced that F. Miller
Construction, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Orion Marine Group, Inc. (NYSE: ORN),
has become the port’s newest tenant.

F. Miller Construction recently completed the relocation of its equipment yard from Highway 90
East in Lake Charles to its new facility on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) waterfront at
the port located 12 miles south of I-10 on Highway 27. The relocation enables the company to
expand its operations in the Louisiana market.

A formal event co-hosted by the Chamber/Southwest Louisiana and the West Calcasieu
Association of Commerce marked the corporate sign unveiling at the port today.

“Bringing an internationally recognized marine construction company into our family of tenants
with the stature of Orion Marine Group truly underscores the efforts being taken by the West
Calcasieu Port board of commissioners to grow and expand maritime commerce and industry
along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Calcasieu Parish,” said Brent Clement, president of the
WCP board.

“F. Miller Construction has played an important role in the evolution of Southwest Louisiana’s
maritime business community for a long time,” Clement explained. “The potential for our
regional economic development to grow and prosper comes into play when you have a
45-year-old public entity entering into a working partnership with a quality publicly traded marine
construction company that has decades of successful operations and work history.”

In 2006, Orion Marine Group purchased F. Miller Construction, a 75-year-old Louisiana-based
company in order to expand its operations in Louisiana.

Orion Marine Group provides a broad range of marine construction and specialty services on,
over and under the water along the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Seaboard and the Caribbean Basin
and acts as a single source turn-key solution for its customers’ marine contracting needs.

Its heavy civil marine construction services include marine transportation facility construction,
marine pipeline construction, marine environmental structures, dredging, and specialty services.
Its specialty services include salvage, demolition, diving, surveying, towing and underwater
inspection, excavation and repair.

“Orion owns and operates a fleet of nearly 400 vessels and specialized pieces of marine
equipment to meet even the most challenging projects or situations,” said Mike Pearson, Orion
Marine Group’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our relocation to the West Calcasieu
Port gives our marine construction teams the GIWW waterfront access needed to support our
continued growth in the Louisiana market as well as along the entire Gulf Coast.

“By locating F. Miller’s equipment yard to the shore of the GIWW, we are afforded the luxury of
having strategically located equipment more readily available to water access in order to
support our Lake Charles and New Orleans offices,” he added. “An additional benefit of the
relocations will be our ability to self-maintain our marine equipment at our own facility.

“We are very pleased with this new facility and look forward to a long-term partnership with the
West Calcasieu Port,” Pearson concluded.

The WCP offers 2,500 feet of waterfront property on the GIWW. Other tenants include Devall
Towing and Devall Diesel. Current tenant activity includes barge operations, maritime fueling
service, diesel repair, heavy equipment contracting and maritime supply operations.

Download the story here.

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Maintenance Dredging Project at West Calcasieu Port Complete

The West Calcasieu Port has completed the maintenance dredging project for its west barge
basin.

State and federal monies covered most of the costs associated with this $2.31 million project.

Grants worth $50,000 were received from the city of Sulphur and Calcasieu Parish.

Mike Hooks Inc. of Westlake performed the dredging operations.

Predredging work — levy construction at the spoils reception area and the installation of
concrete revetment along the west barge basin shoreline — began in May and was completed
in July.

Once those steps were completed, the Mike Hooks team positioned its dredging barge at the
port and began moving about 180,000 cubic yards of spoil material to a 40-acre spoils receiving
site just to the northwest on port property. That site that has been approved by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to receive the spoils.

Returning the basin to full operation is critical to the port’s barge services along the Gulf
Intracoastal Waterway and plays a vital role to the Southwest Louisiana maritime industry
hurricane response planning.

Because of the port’s location on the waterway — two miles west of the Calcasieu River — the
port’s west barge basin serves as a ‘‘safe haven’’ for shallow-water marine vessels and barges
in the event the area is struck by a hurricane.

The port’s largest tenant, Devall Towing, operates one of the most expansive barge fleeting
operations along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and that demand for quality barge docking
space is essential if the company is to meet growing demand for shallow-water maritime
transportation in Southwest Louisiana.

The port, 12 miles south of Interstate 10 and just west of La. 27, offers 2,500 feet of waterfront
property on the Intracoastal Waterway. Current tenant activity includes barge operations,
maritime fueling service, diesel repair, heavy-equipment contracting and maritime supply
operations.

Download the story here.

Dredging Project Enters Final Phase

SULPHUR — The final phase of a maintenance dredging project is under way at the West
Calcasieu Port’s west barge basin.

Lynn Hohensee, port director, said the $2.31 million project should be complete at the end of
September, weeks ahead of schedule. “The first two phases focused on preparing the
spoils-reception area and the installation of concrete revetment along the west basin shoreline,”
he said.

Mike Hooks Inc. has moved onto the site and has begun dredging operations to return the basin
to its original 12-foot depth. This will require moving 180,000 cubic yards of spoil material to a
40-acre site northwest of the basin.

The project is being funded by money from the state, federal, parish and Sulphur city
governments.

Download the story here.

West Calcasieu Port Barge Basin Dredging Project Ahead of Schedule

SULPHUR, La, August 18, 2009 – The third and final phase of the maintenance dredging
project at the West Calcasieu Port’s west barge basin is underway.

“The $2.31 million maintenance dredging project should be completed during the last half of
September, weeks ahead of schedule,” said Lynn Hohensee, WCP director. “The first two
phases focused on preparing the spoils reception area and the installation of concrete
revetment along the west barge basin shoreline.

“The Mike Hooks, Inc. dredge barge – named the ‘Mike Hooks’ – moved on site last week, and
dredging operations began over the weekend,” he continued. State and federal monies are
covering the larger portion of the expenses associated with this project which is essential to
returning the West Cal Port’s west barge basin to its original 12-foot depth. The port also
received critical financial support from the City of Sulphur and Calcasieu Parish. “The Mike
Hooks team is working around the clock to move approximately 180,000 cubic yards of spoil
material to a 40-acre spoils-reception site a short distance to the northwest on the port property
that has been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” Hohensee said.

“Returning the basin to full operation capability is not only critical to our port’s barge services for
the towing industry along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, but it also plays a vital role to the
Southwest Louisiana maritime industry hurricane response planning,” he further explained.
“Because of the port’s strategic location on the GIWW two miles west of the Calcasieu River
Waterway, the port’s expansive west barge basin serves as a ‘safe haven’ of sorts for
shallow-water marine vessels and barges in the event that our corner of Louisiana is struck by
another hurricane.”

Hohensee also noted that the port’s largest tenant, Devall Towing, currently operates one of the
most expansive barge fleeting operations along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and that
demand for quality barge docking space is essential if the company is to meet growing demand
for shallow-water maritime transportation in Southwest Louisiana. Located 12 miles south of
Interstate 10 and just west of Highway 27, the WCP offers 2,500 feet of waterfront property on
the GIWW.

Download the story here.

Dredging Project Under Way at West Calcasieu Port Basin

SULPHUR — The much anticipated dredging of the West Calcasieu Port’s west barge basin
should be complete by August, the port’s top official recently told the Sulphur Kiwanis Club.

Director Lynn Hohensee said the $2.31 million project is being funded primarily through state
and federal monies with $50,000 each from the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and the city of
Sulphur.

Mike Hooks, Inc. of Westlake, lowest bidder for the project, has started preparing the area for
dredging. The company is building a levy at the area selected to receive the dredge material
and the installation of a concrete revetment along the west basin’s shoreline began last month.

“The dry weather we’ve been having is very critical to preparing the spoils reception area,” he
said.

Hohensee said the dredging is necessary for the continuation of port operations.

“If barges are pushed any farther out (away from the shoreline as the result of silting), they’ll be
in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway,” he said.

Hohensee said the West Cal Port is in a prime location equidistant from Houston and New
Orleans.

“We’re strategically located for what we call brownwater port activity,” he said. Brownwater
ports are shallow and bluewater ports are deep water.

The Port of Lake Charles is the 11th largest bluewater port in the United States.

There are five ports in the southwest corner of Louisiana — the Port of Mermentau, Port of Lake
Charles, West Cameron Port, West Calcasieu and the Port of Vinton.

Hohensee said that the five ports have joined to form the Southwest Louisiana Port Network.
Over the past years, representatives from each the five ports have met every few months to
share information and find ways to lobby for the good of the whole.

The network is a smaller version of the Ports Association of Louisiana, which lists 31 ports as
members.

“The association helps carry the collective voice and is working with the Legislature and the
Department of Transportation and Development,” Hohensee said.

He said the influx of money is badly needed for all ports in Louisiana.

“There has been a lot of talk about widening the Panama Canal to accommodate containerized
vessels,” Hohensee said.

This would allow for cargo to be moved directly to market without having to be brought in on the
East Coast and then sent by truck or train to the central portion of the United States.

He said Louisiana ports could benefit from this move if funding was available. According to
Hohensee, Louisiana ports need an infusion of $850 million in state monies to address
infrastructure needs and channel improvements.

“And the till is about empty now,” he said.

The Calcasieu River Channel is at 38 feet. Hohense said it needs to be at 42 feet to
accommodate ships’ entire loads. “They’re bringing in about 80 percent of their loads now,” he
said.

Hohensee noted that Texas has just injected $1 billion into its ports.

“We’re losing $47 million in tax revenue because of that investment,” he said. “We don’t have
funding from Baton Rouge that puts us on par with Texas.”

Hohensee said that according to an economic study done recently, for every $1 the state
invests in ports, there is a $6 return in taxes jobs and benefits.

“It’s a proven value. It’s not a risk,” he said.

Download the story here.

Ports Finding Themselves in Dire Straits

By Marilyn Monroe
Southwest Daily News
Thu Jun 11, 2009, 06:26 AM CDT

(Sulphur, La.) Ports all around Louisiana are in dire straits. Funding in many ports is exhausted.
“The till is about empty in the ports right now,” said Lynn Hohensee, director of the West
Calcasieu Port, at Wednesday’s meeting of the Sulphur Kiwanis Club.

Currently, the total amount of funding available from the state is around $23 million but that
represents a shortfall of around $55 million from the projected financial need, according to
Hohensee. And monies from the state do not even represent a majority of the funds for
Louisiana’s ports.

“Seventy percent of the funding in our ports is generated internally from the ports themselves,”
said Hohensee, “Thirty percent comes from Baton Rouge.”

That is in stark contrast to neighboring states with port operations in the Gulf. In comparison,
Hohensee pointed out that ports in this state do not have the level of funding support to put
them on par with Texas, Alabama, or Mississippi. Texas alone has spent over $1 billion in the
last five years for their ports as compared to the $450 million Louisiana has spent.

“The state coffers at the state capitals in Texas, Mississippi, [and] Alabama are much more
open to developing their ports.”

And this low level of funding is also not on par with the contributions made by the industry to the
state. A study conducted by Tim Ryan, Ph.D., at the University of New Orleans, found that ports
have contributed five and half million dollars in job revenue, $467 million in tax revenue, and
demonstrated a total impact of $33 billion in the state.

“We represent almost one out of every four dollars of gross state product in the state of
Louisiana,” said Hohensee.

And for every one dollar invested by the state, six dollars are returned.

“This isn’t a risk,” he continued, “We’ve already demonstrated the value we have. All we need is
the support to help grow this and increase that return of investment back into the state of
Louisiana.”

And for a state like Louisiana, the maritime industry is extremely important.

“A lot of states would like to have the geographic blessing that we have received from nature,”
said Hohensee. “We’re where the oil and gas are, and we have tremendous waterway
resources to help support it.”

The widening of the Panama Canal will also open up more business prospects from Asia, and
Louisiana ports cannot afford to falter in the competition for accommodating those containerized
vessels. Support from the state could be the difference in such a competitive market.

As well, Louisiana’s waterways, unlike in most of country, require a lot of maintenance and
dredging attention, putting a further strain on individual port finances. Southwest Louisiana ports
are especially in need considering that there is a lot of silting in from the river off the shoreline
and from Gulf of Mexico ‘fluff’ sediment that comes in with the tides.

“Our dredging needs are critical,” he said.

“We’ve been having problems for a long time with our facility and our west barge basin,” said
Hohensee in specific regard to his port, “We’re really in bad shape and needing this [dredging
work].”

The West Calcasieu Port is currently conducting preparations for dredging work to be completed
by October. The total cost will be $2.31 million. The port has received $1.5 million from the
state, $400,000 from FEMA, $50,000 from the parish, $50,000 from the City of Sulphur, and the
remainder will come from the port’s coffers.

“We have funding of our own in some reserves. It’s not a lot of funding,” said Hohensee, “We’re
a port that has no millage. We have no tax income coming in. All of our income comes in from
tenants of the port.”

“We’re in a financial bind,” he continued. “This is the first time we’ve ever come to the City of
Sulphur for any funding support.”

He also expressed his gratitude to the city for the assistance.

The five current members of the port’s Board of Commissioners are all residents of the
Sulphur/Carlyss area, and the City of Sulphur, through the Council and the mayor, appoints two
of the five members. The remaining three members are appointed by the West Calcasieu
Association of Commerce, local trade unions, and by the Calcasieu Parish Police Jurors
representing Ward 4.

“The City of Sulphur really has 40 percent of our board and the relationship is a close one,” said
Hohensee.

He is confident that Sulphur will see a positive return on its ‘investment’.

“We think [that] we have an edge on shallow water transportation support and barging activities
are tremendously growing all along the Gulf coast,” said Hohensee.

“In the long run, the City of Sulphur is going to see a tremendous benefit if we carry off our long
range plan of what we want to do with the West Cal Port, attracting business and industry.”

Download the story here.

Municipal/Parish Funds Critical to West Calcasieu Port Barge Dredging Project

SULPHUR, La, June 9, 2009 – With the recent approval of municipal and parish funding support
by the City of Sulphur and the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, premaintenance dredging work
continues at a fevered pitch at the West Calcasieu Port.

“State and federal monies are covering the larger portion of the expenses associated with this
$2.31 million project essential to returning the West Cal Port’s west barge basin to its original
12foot depth,” said Brent Clement, president of the WCP board of commissioners. “But, we
needed the help of the City of Sulphur and Calcasieu Parish to make the project a reality, and
we are very appreciative for that level of local taxpayer ‘investment’ in our port operations.”

On May 11, the Sulphur City Council unanimously approved a request by Mayor Ron LeLeux for
a $50,000 grant for the West Calcasieu Port’s $2.31 million maintenance dredging project.Last
week, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury approved similar funding support, passing a
resolution approving a $50,000 grant from the Economic Development Allocation of the Gaming
Fund for the WCP project. The CPPJ also approved a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement that
allows for temporary project financing in the form of a line of credit for the port, if needed.
State funding support in the form of a $1.5 million Port Priority Fund grant came from the
Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development. Additional hurricanerecovery
funding was approved by the Federal Emergency Response Administration as a result of the
destructive impact that Hurricanes Rita and Ike had on the port’s barge basin.

Mike Hooks, Inc. of Westlake, La., was the lowest among six bids received by the port during its
competitive public bid process conducted in March. Predredging work – levy construction at the
spoils reception area and the installation of concrete revetment along the west barge basin
shoreline – began in May.

“Once these steps are completed, the Mike Hooks team will position one of the company’s
dredging barges at the port and begin moving approximately 180,000 cubic yards of spoil
material to a 40acre spoils receiving site a short distance to the northwest on the port property
that has been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” said Lynn Hohensee, WCP
director. “Once underway, the actual dredging operation will take about three to four weeks to
be completed, pending favorable weather conditions.

“Returning the basin to full operation capability is not only critical to our port’s barge services for
the towing industry along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, but it also plays a vital role to the
Southwest Louisiana maritime industry hurricane response planning,” he further explained.
“Because of the port’s strategic location on the GIWW two miles west of the Calcasieu River
Waterway, the port’s expansive west barge basin serves as a ‘safe haven’ of sorts for shallowwater
marine vessels and barges in the event that our corner of Louisiana is struck by
another hurricane.”

Hohensee also noted that the port’s largest tenant, Devall Towing, currently operates one of the
most expansive barge fleeting operations along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and that
demand for quality barge docking space is essential if the company is to meet growing demand
for shallow-water maritime transportation in Southwest Louisiana.

Located 12 miles south of Interstate 10 and just west of Highway 27, the WCP offers 2,500 feet
of waterfront property on the GIWW.

Current tenant activity includes barge operations, maritime fueling service, dry cargo barge
cleaning, diesel repair, heavyequipment contracting and maritime supply operations.

Mike Devall, Jr. (foreground) coordinates with his father, Mike Devall (onboard the barge) as
Devall Towing crews and fleet vessels reposition a barge along the West Calcasieu Port’s west
barge basin. Barge relocation is needed to facilitate the maintenance dredging project for the
port’s barge basin. Mike Hooks, Inc. of Westlake has the dredging contract.

Download the story here.