March 27, 2024 - Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reiterated Wednesday that they still do not know the full condition of the portions of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that did not collapse and emphasized that the rebuild process will be complex and potentially expensive. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday said he hopes Congress won't let partisan politics get in the way of the recovery and rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key bridge.

But Buttigieg left some room for optimism that lawmakers will work together and overcome their political differences.

"I would also remind any members who might find themselves on the fence ... that today this is happening in Baltimore, tomorrow it could be your district. And we really need to stand together – red, blue and purple – to get these things done."

Teams of officials are working on a plan to re-float the ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge and move it out of the way as the investigation into what happened continues on Wednesday.

The Coast Guard will work with the Army Corps of Engineers to remove the parts of the bridge that are sitting on the bow of the ship, according to Vice Adm. Peter Gautier, the deputy commandant for operations for the US Coast Guard.

Then, they will work to re-float the ship. The front of the vessel is sitting at the bottom of the Patapsco River because of the weight of the bridge debris, Gautier said. The first step in all of this is to use remote-operated vehicles and divers to survey what is happening under the surface, Gautier said.

One rescue diving expert said that is a dangerous task: Butch Hendrick, a rescue diver and the founder of Lifeguard Systems, a company that trains public safety personnel on rescue diving, said the wreckage under the surface of the Patapsco River is likely “interactive.”

“Right now every piece is twisted, mangled and turned in another format and something as simple as moving one piece can move multiples,” he told CNN on Wednesday.

To make things more complicated, because of the depth of the river, divers have little visibility at the bottom, officials said previously. Hendrick said divers would need to feel around the debris while being careful not to knock anything loose, describing it as "everything is in braille."

Any private company that is found liable for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge "will be held accountable," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said — but he emphasized the government will not wait for that determination to start the rebuilding process.

"I think our emphasis and the president's goal is to make sure that that process is not something we have to wait for in order to support Maryland with the funds that they need," he said at a White House briefing.

Buttigieg declined to specify what that accountability might look like.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said officials are still working to come up with a cost estimate for damages due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday. President Joe Biden vowed the federal government would foot the bill in the hours after the bridge's collapse.

Buttigieg said at the White House on Wednesday it is "likely" that the administration would turn to Congress to seek funding, "but that shouldn't be a barrier" for immediate funding relief.

It's also too soon to say how long it will take to rebuild the bridge, Buttigieg said, also noting that it took 5 years to build. "It is going to be some time," he said.

Dozens of containers with hazardous materials are among the more than 4,700 cargo containers that remain on the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Peter Gautier said at the White House on Wednesday.

Of the 4,700 containers on the ship, 56 contained hazardous materials, he said. But Gautier said the containers pose no threat to the public. They were in an area of the ship largely unaffected by damage, he said.

Two containers are missing overboard. Those containers do not contain hazardous material, he said.

The US State Department will reach out to any country whose citizens were impacted by the Baltimore bridge collapse, according to a spokesperson.

Miller also offered condolences for the families of those affected by the tragedy. The official said he was aware of reports that some of the victims were from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. Six construction workers who were on the bridge when it was struck remain unaccounted for. The crew of the ship that crashed into the bridge was from India.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials have determined there are no drinking water intakes near the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collision that could compromise drinking water quality, according to a statement from EPA spokesperson Shaun Eagan.

At least two regional EPA officials are in the field with the US Coast Guard (USCG), offering support to USCG by “identifying possible discharges of oil” and helping to “determine the contents of the shipping containers,” according to Eagan.

More context: The USCG is currently the lead for any discharge cleanup efforts, but EPA staff are on-site to provide more personnel and equipment if USCG or the state of Maryland requests it to help address any sources of potential discharges of oil or hazardous material from the containers.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was not designed to withstand the massive impact from a container ship that caused it to collapse early Tuesday morning, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttgieg said Wednesday.

"A bridge like this one, completed in the 1970s, was simply not made to withstand a direct impact on a critical support pier from a vessel that weighs about 200 million pounds —orders of magnitude bigger than cargo ships that were in service in that region at the time that the bridge was first built," Buttigieg said at a White House briefing on Wednesday.

Buttigieg added the federal government is "committed to delivering every federal resource needed to help Maryland get back to normal" following the bridge's collapse early Tuesday.