While one state lawmaker is urging the federal government to
take a look at the hydrogen shortage brought on after Hurricane
Katrina, a federal representative says he has been on the case
since the storm hit last month.

Both U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., and state Sen. Joe
Scarnati, R-Brockway, are concerned about the shortage of hydrogen
after the storm damaged plants in the South.

Scarnati introduced a resolution Monday urging the U.S. Congress
to address the hydrogen shortage. Hydrogen is a key component in
powdered metal production.

“At this point, the hydrogen capacity in this country is half of
where it should be,” Scarnati said. “This is a major problem
affecting the economy that needs to be dealt with quickly as the
lack of hydrogen is going to have a detrimental effect on many of
our manufacturing processes.”

A staff member in Peterson’s office said Tuesday that he has
been working on the problem since August.

“Congressman Peterson has been out front on this issue from the
beginning,” said Chris Tucker, Peterson’s communications
director.

Tucker said Peterson, along with U.S. senators Arlen Specter and
Rick Santorum, contacted Air Liquide and Air Products, two
suppliers to powdered metal plants in Elk and McKean counties,
after the hurricane hit.

Plants in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama were damaged by the
hurricane. Major powdered metal industries in Elk and McKean
counties are among the leading employers in those counties.

“St. Marys … is known as the powdered metal capital of the world
and we certainly want to keep it that way,” Scarnati said. “Many of
the towns throughout Pennsylvania and across the country have been
directly affected by this problem and it is simply not going to go
away.”

Todd Nyquist, Scarnati’s chief of staff, said the majority
deputy whip has received calls from officials in the powdered metal
industry from across the Commonwealth.

Calls seeking comment from the Keystone Powdered Metal plants in
Lewis Run and St. Marys were not returned Tuesday.

Peterson and his staff have made calls to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Department of Homeland Security to make sure that
Air Liquide and Air Products were put on a priority list for debris
clean up “allowing the plants to resume some of their operations,
albeit on a significantly reduced level,” Tucker said. Tucker added
that the one Air Products plant hopes to be up and running by
Christmas. Now, it’s at 5 percent capacity and some of the supplies
are coming from its Canadian facility.

Peterson also suggested that the plant call back some orders it
had sent to NASA, which did not need the supply immediately, that
slightly “mitigated the immediate effects of the shortage.”

Tucker added this plays into what Peterson has said all along –
the energy infrastructure is concentrated in a small area.

With all the industry concentrated in the southern part of the
country, a storm of Hurricane Katrina’s magnitude can wreak
havoc.

“We are holding our hats here,” Tucker said. “We have nothing to
show for it. Nothing else around.

“In the weeks ahead, we’ll continue to look for new and
efficient ways to get past these difficult circumstances and
address the current shortage. We’re certainly open to suggestions
on how we can help the situation further,” Tucker said.

Scarnati said it was important for lawmakers to address this
issue for the area’s future.

“Quite frankly this issue is about our businesses, our workers
and our communities,” Scarnati said. “Therefore, I am respectfully
requesting that Congress take the appropriate action in addressing
the hydrogen shortage across the country due to Hurricane
Katrina.”