The new president of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, effective Wednesday, Reagan has been bouncing all week, from sit-downs with elected officials to soirees with the business community, where one person after another wants to say hi and bend his ear.

He also has got a lot to take in. Reagan said he began his first day on the job with Mass at the Old Cathedral downtown, looking at the paintings of the people who built this city. He ended it at the awards ceremony for Washington University’s Olin Cup, which honors companies of the future. And he is getting started on a six-week “listening tour,” to get a feel for what people all over this region want to see from RCGA.

There has been no time to decorate his office, which at some point will surely fill up with the photos and ceremonial shovels owned by chamber bosses nationwide, but which for now just has hooks on bare walls. But Reagan did find a few minutes on Thursday to sit down with the Post-Dispatch to talk about the job, the region and what he thinks it might take to grow our economy.

So, what do you think of the place?

There is a great deal of opportunity here. I think what the world needs, St. Louis offers. It’s a great inland port. It is a city that offers a very creative atmosphere. The buzz I’d heard about St. Louis was great music, wonderful restaurants, this mosaic of neighborhoods. I’m starting to see those things to be true.

There seems to be a deep hunger here for something better in our economy, and a lot of new ideas being thrown out there. How does the RCGA contribute to that effort?

That’s not a question I can answer today. It’s a question we’re asking. We’re talking to people and listening to their ideas. On the question of how to develop an economy, the answer is to build on strengths. There really is no other way.

And there’s momentum here. We’ve got to nurture it and feed it, and I think we can start to gain traction. This recession, as everybody knows, has been deep and painful. It’s still a very difficult time. But that’ll change, and the question is, will St. Louis be positioned and ready when it does. I believe we will.

One thing you’ve talked about a lot already is education. What’s RCGA’s role in developing a more educated workforce?

If you look at economic development today, it’s not about location, location, location - though we have that in St. Louis - it’s about people, people, people. We’re in a knowledge economy. What drives value in the market is about educated people pursuing their dreams. If you look at one factor that will really move the needle for a region, that businesses are most looking for, it is an abundant supply of educated people at all levels of the spectrum. This has to be lifted up as a priority.

In recent years, our spending on business incentives have tilted heavily toward location-based, real estate programs (TIF, historic tax credits). Do we need a different balance?

States always have to look and say “Are we getting results from incentives?” Incentives don’t make a bad deal good, so the primary focus has to be about being a great quality place. Then, if you’re a great quality place, you have less reliance on business incentives over the long term.

But incentives are a fact of life. I think the policy question to ask is: Is this driving net new growth to the region? Is this creating a bigger economic pie? What are you trying to achieve and do you use the best tools to get there?

Lots of people say exports and manufacturing are essential to grow St. Louis’ economy. How does St. Louis become a bigger player in the export world?

I think every individual and every business needs to have their own globalization strategy. We’re all living in this global economy now. Are we educating ourselves? Do we understand the dynamics of the world today? It starts with insight and awareness.

And exporting is not just for large businesses. Small and medium size businesses need to think about how to go global as well. There’s a lot of know-how (about exporting) in St. Louis. How do we connect the know-how with the small and medium sized businesses?

How much importance should I attach to the fact that you ended your first day at an entrepreneurship event? And is that something the RCGA is going to work more on?

You can attach a lot of importance to it. Time is very precious right now, and that event was a great intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship and education.

There are two ways to manage an economy. One is taking care of business today. The other is creating for tomorrow. St. Louis has a storied business history and some tremendous business success stories that are growing right now. But we have to keep our eye on the future, too. When we talk about economic development, we’re talking about growing the economy of the future. Innovation and entrepreneurship are the best way to do that.

There are loads of entities working on economic development around here, and sometimes hard feelings over who does what. How do you ease those feelings and get everyone pulling together?

Certainly there are a number of organizations dedicated to growing the economy, but I don’t see much overlap. I think there are opportunities for better coordination, for unifying our voice around what’s important. But I also think there’s a lot of expertise in different areas that can be brought together to drive the economy.

It’s a team sport. No single organization can accomplish this task alone. 

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Fearful of reversing decades of hard-fought civil rights gains, Democrats held the Senate floor for hours Wednesday and into early Thursday morning, vowing to block a preliminary Senate vote on the bill.

That bill would require workers who bring wrongful termination lawsuits to prove discrimination was a “motivating factor” — not simply a contributing factor — in the employer’s action. The legislation also would apply to other wrongful discrimination actions, such as the denial of promotions.

In cases where employers were found to have wrongfully discriminated, the legislation would tie punitive damages to a company’s number of employees, with a maximum award of $300,000. Political subdivisions, such as city governments, would not be liable for any punitive damages.

At about 1:20 a.m. Thursday, senators endorsed by a voice vote a version of the legislation that would keep those provisions but removes parts of the original bill that tell courts how to handle motions of summary judgment. The bill must be approved once more before it goes to the House.

The original bill told courts plainly how to handle motions for summary judgment, stating “it is the duty of the judicial branch to reduce the cost of litigation and end disputes timely.”

The legislation said that if an employee provides “direct evidence” of discrimination, then the employer must prove it would have taken the same action regardless of the plaintiff’s evidence. If the court finds the employer would have taken the action regardless of the employee’s evidence, the court was instructed to rule in favor of the employer.

Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a member of the Legislative Black Caucus who led the filibuster effort by speaking against the original bill for 10 hours Wednesday, moved to have the summary judgment language taken out of the final bill. She said that language would unfairly allow judges to decide a majority of cases rather than juries.

“I truly believe that individuals who have been harassed and who have been wronged in their employment should have an avenue to go through where they do have a trial by jury,” she said after the Senate vote. “I do not believe that one individual should make a determination based on the facts and have the ability to throw out a case.”

The sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Brad Lager, said before the vote that he supported the removal of the language after negotiations with Democrats.

“I think she’s identified an area here where, clearly, there was confusion. I think we are moving in the right direction,” he said. “What is happening right now is the public policy process. This is how the Senate works.”

But speaking with reporters moments after the Senate adjourned, Chappelle-Nadal struck a more combative tone, saying she intends to delay the bill’s passage if it comes before the Senate again with changes from the House because she opposes the punitive damage caps and the motivating factor standard.

“That is something that I will continue to fight,” said Chappelle-Nadal, D-St. Louis County. “I plan to do whatever I need to do to make sure that motivating and contributing factor is dealt with. We’re not OK with the bill, even with the changes that I made today. We’re not OK with it at all.”

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a similar bill last year, which Republicans managed to pass despite similar Democratic opposition. Republicans hold a veto-proof majority in the Senate but not the House.

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The $2 billion nonprofit that focuses on fostering U.S. entrepreneurship is running its first ever TV ad, and it’s doing it during the Super Bowl.

So, sandwiched between commercials featuring scantily clad models and costumed dogs will be a plug for starting a business.

The animated 30-second commercial, which the foundation said cost it less than $400,000, is part of its campaign to inspire everyday Americans to launch their own businesses.

"The next great entrepreneur is out there. Will it be you?" a narrator asks, as a wide-eyed cartoon character with a lightbulb over his head becomes a successful business owner making the front page of a newspaper.

The commercial, which was uploaded to YouTube Jan. 25, will run in four major cities.

Super Bowl ad sneak peek

It directs viewers to WillItBeYou.com, a microsite that links to resources for aspiring and existing small business owners.

"We want people to understand anyone can have a great idea. And if you have great commitment and passion, you can try that idea out," said Wendy Guillies, a spokeswoman for the foundation. "The end goal is that we have more people who start businesses and succeed in them."

Directing a call to entrepreneurial arms toward nacho-munching Average Joes during a football game might sound strange, but Guillies said that’s exactly who the foundation is targeting with its campaign guaranteed personal loan approval.

Many successful entrepreneurs started off as Average Joes or Average Josephines.

Kauffman paid to run the commercial in four unique markets. New York City is the country’s most populous. San Francisco is a tech hub. Washington D.C. is the workplace of legislators who Kauffman wants paying attention to small business. And Kansas City is the group’s headquarters.

A considerable portion of the 172 million watching the game Feb. 5 will be in those cities. A quarter of that 172 million will be tuning in for the commercials, according to the Retail Advertising & Marketing Association’s survey this month.

NBC’s Super Bowl ads sell out at record prices

However, convincing people to become their own bosses will still be difficult. The economy continues to crawl at a snail’s pace and access to credit is limited for small business owners.

But the message will likely receive much attention if it follows Volkswagen’s () barking Star Wars dogs or the sexually suggestive commercials of web provider Go Daddy — a successful company Guillies noted was once a tiny startup.

"All those commercials came from a company that likely started with one person," she said. 

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The budget deficit, which would be down from last year

The mood at the end of the five-day meeting in Davos was somber, and more than 2,500 VIPs headed home Sunday concerned about what lies ahead in 2012. Plenty of champagne flowed in this alpine ski resort _ but the atmosphere was flat and the bubbling enthusiasm of some past World Economic Forums was noticeably absent.

Despite some guarded optimism about Europe’s latest attempts to stem the eurozone crisis, fears remain that turmoil could return and spill over to the rest of the world. And there were no answers to the widening inequality gap, but a mounting realization that economic growth must include the poor, that job creation is critical, and that affordable food, housing, health care and education need to part of any solution.

Just before the forum began, the International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for global growth in 2012 to 3.3 percent from the 4 percent pace it projected in September. Many other economic forecasters also predict a slowing economy, including New York University’s Nouriel Roubini, who is widely acknowledged to have predicted the crash of 2008 and who said he might be “even slightly more bearish” on the new IMF forecast.

Asia is expected to remain the engine for global growth though at a slower rate, with China leading the way at more than 8 percent, followed by India and Indonesia.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned that the eurozone crisis is not the region’s problem alone.

“It’s a crisis that could have collateral effects, spillover effects, around the world,” she said. “What I have seen, and what the IMF has seen in numbers and forecasts, is that no country is immune and everybody has an interest in making sure that this crisis is resolved adequately.”

The IMF is the world’s traditional lender-of-last-resort and Lagarde is trying to increase its resources by $500 billion so it can help if more lending is needed in Europe or elsewhere. European countries have said they’re prepared to give the IMF $150 billion, but that means the rest of the world will have to come up with $350 billion.

At a closing panel Sunday, Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said a readjustment in Europe is essential “because, if you want to really simplify it, we’ve lived above our means, and we’ve done that for too long, and the moment of truth has arrived.”

Vikran Pandit, CEO of the global bank Citi, said the euro crisis “is costing us about 1 percent in GDP around the world. You do the math. You do the math and say: ‘How many jobs is that? How many people are not working because of that? What can we do to go after the biggest question we’ve got for this decade which is jobs?’”

The world needs 400 million new jobs between now and the end of the decade, not counting the 200 million needed just to get back to full employment, so “that should be our number one priority,” he said.

To keep the spotlight on jobs and poverty at the forum, the Occupy movement that began on Wall Street and spread to dozens of cities around the world set up a protest camp in igloos in Davos. They demonstrated in front of City Hall.

In a separate protest, three Ukrainian women were arrested when they stripped off their tops _ despite temperatures around freezing _ and tried to climb a fence surrounding the invitation-only gathering holding banners saying: “Poor, because of you” and “Gangsters party in Davos.”

Citi’s Pandit said to create the conditions for growth, economic uncertainty must end and that means quickly resolving the eurozone crisis, ending regulatory uncertainty, and getting the public and private sector together to build infrastructure that can create jobs.

Unilever’s Polman said it’s unacceptable that more than 1 billion people are hungry every day while another billion are obese.

“How do we pull up the people that are excluded from the work force, at the bottom of the pyramid?” he asked. “That we haven’t quite figured out yet.”

Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, said the Internet sector has been creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and to keep up innovations in technology “great scientists” need to be educated all over the world, investment in infrastructure is critical, and regulations must not stifle growth or access.

Nobel economics laureate Peter Diamond, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an Associated Press interview that in the U.S. there is “an unemployment crisis,” especially among young people who aren’t accumulating experience. He said the government should fix the Social Security system, fix aging infrastructure, spend on research, and start fixing the education system.

When the forum opened, its normally upbeat founder Klaus Schwab said he remained a deep believer in free markets but that capitalism is out of whack and needs to be fixed “to serve society.” He welcomed critics’ ideas of how to fix it _ including from the Occupy protesters, though they walked out of a side event where a representative had been invited to talk.

This year for the first time, the forum invited about 60 “Global Shapers” _ young leaders under 30 _ to the forum to try to address issues confronting the generation that will be running the world in decades to come.

Among the younger generation also at Davos were Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the former U.S. president and present secretary of state, who moderated a panel on philanthropy and philanthropist Howard Buffett, son of Warren Buffett, whose foundation focuses on promoting agriculture and fighting hunger, especially in Africa.

The possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons was among top concerns at Davos this year. There were also several follow-up panels on the Arab Spring and a session moderated by Schwab with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, which demonstrated the deep divisions over getting peace negotiations back on track.

But although the conflict in Syria _ where the U.N. estimates a crackdown on anti-government protesters has killed some 5,400 people over the past year _ came up in the Arab Spring panels, it wasn’t a hot issue.

Julia Marton-Lefevre, director general of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said that this year for the first time at Davos “the environment is not treated so much as separate topic, which I think is a good thing.”

“We are moving towards a more integrated approach to the world’s challenges,” she said. “Environment is not a side issue, it’s really a part of everything. For me, of course, nature is a life support system _ and finally it is being recognized as being a part of the solution.”

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The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment rose to 75.0 from 69.9 the month before. It was the highest level since February 2011.

That was better than the preliminary January reading of 74.0 and topped the median forecast of 74.1 among economists polled by Reuters.

“The recent gains in confidence are now critically dependent on continued gains in employment,” survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

“As long as modest employment gains are forthcoming, the data suggest real consumer spending will post a gain of 2.1 percent in 2012.”

The survey’s barometer of current economic conditions gained to 84.2 from 79.6, while the gauge of consumer expectations climbed to its highest level since May 2011 at 69.1 from 63.6.

A record 31 percent of consumers spontaneously reported hearing about recent employment gains this month. However, respondents were not as optimistic about the unemployment rate, with half expecting it to remain unchanged.

Americans also remained gloomy on their own financial situation, and most were skeptical about the prospective strength of the economy. Confidence in government policies was also stuck near an all-time low.

The survey’s one-year inflation expectation rose to 3.3 percent from 3.1 percent, while the survey’s five-to-10-year inflation outlook held steady at 2.7 percent.

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Other reports on Thursday showed new claims for jobless benefits rose moderately last week, suggesting the labor market was healing only slowly, while new U.S. single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in December.

The Commerce Department said orders for durable goods climbed 3.0 percent last month, boosted by a surge in aircraft orders. Economists had forecast orders rising 2.0 percent.

“There’s some momentum here,” said Jacob Oubina, an economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York. “Heading into the first quarter, the momentum is going to be pretty decent.”

Durable goods range from toasters to big-ticket items like aircraft which are meant to last three years and more.

The data suggested U.S. companies could be growing more willing to invest the $2 trillion pile of cash they amassed in recent years. The U.S. Federal Reserve warned on Wednesday that business investment had cooled.

Orders for capital goods outside defense and excluding aircraft, which are a proxy for business spending plans, climbed a steeper-than-expected 2.9 percent. They had declined the previous two months.

Also, shipments of orders within that category, which go into the calculation of gross domestic product, rose 2.9 percent after declining 1.0 percent in November.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Graphic on jobless claims:

link.reuters.com/xah36s

Graphic on durable goods:

link.reuters.com/heh36s

Graphic on new home sales:

link.reuters.com/juh36s

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SLOW HEALING

The overall increase in orders was buoyed by an 18.9 percent jump in orders for civilian aircraft. Boeing received 287 orders for aircraft during the month, according to the plane maker’s website, up from 96 in November.

Investors in U.S. stocks appeared to take little notice of the data, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index .SPX off slightly in early afternoon. U.S. Treasury debt prices rose as fears grew that the European debt crisis was heating up again.

In a separate report, the Conference Board said its index of future U.S. economic activity rose to a five-month high in December as labor market conditions improved.

The Labor Department data showed new U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose last week but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor market conditions.

Initial claims for state unemployment aid increased 21,000 to 377,000. The four-week moving average for initial claims, which provides a better view of trends, fell 2,500 to 377,500.

“We’re still very much established below 400,000, continuing to suggest that there is modest improvement in the labor market,” said Lindsey Piegza, an economist at FTN Financial in New York.

On Wednesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank could do more to help growth if the economy falters, and the Fed indicated interest rates would likely remain near zero until late 2014.

Among the darker clouds looming over the U.S. economy is a sovereign debt crisis in Europe that is widely seen triggering a recession in the euro zone.

Greece was due to resume tortuous negotiations on a debt swap with private creditors in Athens on Thursday, with the European Central Bank thrown into the mix after IMF chief Christine Lagarde said public sector holders of Greek debt may need to take losses too.

Increased consumer spending and efforts by companies to restock their shelves likely led the U.S. economy to accelerate at the end of 2011 although many economists expect some of that strength to wane early this year.

A report due Friday is expected to show the economy grew at a 3.0 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, up from 1.8 percent in the previous period.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing new U.S. single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in December for the first time in four months, while the median home price dropped, dampening some of the hopes the housing sector will boost the economy this year.

The housing market remains constrained by high unemployment, falling prices and an oversupply of unsold homes following a bust that triggered the 2007-09 recession.

Still, there were a record low 157,000 new homes on the market last month. That could fuel additional speculation the housing sector was on the cusp of a recovery.

Read more

]]> http://creditherald.com/posen-says-boe-to-expand-qe-again-if-forecasts-justify-it-bloomberg/feed/ http://creditherald.com/world-stocks-muted-as-greece-debt-talks-drag-on/ http://creditherald.com/world-stocks-muted-as-greece-debt-talks-drag-on/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:24:03 +0000 Stone http://creditherald.com/world-stocks-muted-as-greece-debt-talks-drag-on/ World stocks hovered between gains and losses as talks on a debt agreement for Greece dragged on.

Only a handful of markets were open for business in Asia. Trading is closed in mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines for Chinese New Year.

As markets opened in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4 percent at 5,748.90 while Germany’s DAX was flat at 6,405.74. Wall Street was set to lose ground with Dow futures down 0.1 percent at 12,645.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed little changed at 8,765.90 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3 percent to 4,225.10. New Zealand’s benchmark added 0.6 percent to 3,295.02 and India’s Sensex was up 0.1 percent to 16,760.56. Thailand’s SET index rose 0.7 percent to 1,065.55.

On Friday, stocks in Europe mostly held their gains for the week, waiting for the outcome of Greece’s negotiations with its creditors on a deal to cut the face value of up to euro200 billion ($258 billion) in debt by 50 percent.

Over the weekend, the representative of Greece’s private creditors said the talks are continuing even after his unexpected departure from the country no fax needed payday loans.

A deal in Athens would allow the country to receive a second bailout package from other European governments and the International Monetary Fund, and cut Greece’s debt from an estimated 160 percent of its annual economic output to 120 percent by 2020.

That is still painfully high, but without the help, Greece will not be able to pay euro14.5 billion in debt due March 20. A Greek default would send borrowing costs higher across Europe and could trigger chaos in the global financial system.

On Wall Street on Friday the Dow rose 96.50 points to close at 12,720.48. The S&P 500 index inched up 0.88 to 1,315.38 and the Nasdaq gained 1.63 points to 2,786.70.

In energy trading, benchmark crude was down 59 cents at $97.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.2935. The dollar was up 0.1 percent to 77.04 yen.

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Hoping for a miracle _ or at least for the recovery of bodies from the ship that has become an underwater tomb _ relatives of some of the 20 missing appealed to survivors of the Jan. 13 shipwreck to offer details that could help divers reach loved ones while it is still possible to search the luxury liner. The clock is ticking because the craft is perched precariously on a rocky ledge of seabed near Giglio island.

“We are asking the 4,000 persons who were on board to give any information they can about any of the persons still missing,” said Alain Litzler, a Frenchman who is the father of missing passenger Mylene Litzler. “We need precise information to help the search and rescue teams find them.”

The death toll rose to at least 12 Saturday after a water-logged body was extracted from a passageway near a gathering point for evacuation by lifeboats in the rear of the vessel, Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini said. It was not immediately clear if the woman was a passenger or crew member. A female Peruvian bartender and several adult female passengers were among the 21 people listed as missing before the latest corpse was found.

Relatives of the bartender and of an Indian crewman, along with two children of an elderly couple from Minnesota who are among the missing, boarded a boat Saturday to view the wrecked Concordia Saturday, said a maritime official, Fabrizio Palombo.

Family members tossed flowers near the site while islanders standing on the rocky edge of the island also strew bouquets on the water in a tribute to the victims.

Another Coast Guard official, Cosimo Nicastro, said the woman’s body was found during a particularly risky inspection.

“The corridor was very narrow, and the divers’ lines risked snagging” on furniture and objects floating in the passageway, Nicastro said. To help the coast guard divers reach the area, Italian navy divers had preceded them, setting off charges to blast holes for easier entrance and exit.

Meanwhile, police divers, carrying out orders from prosecutors investigating Captain Francesco Schettino for suspected manslaughter and abandoning the ship, swam through the cold, dark waters to reach his cabin. State TV and the Italian news agency ANSA reported that the divers located and remove his safe and two suitcases. His passport and several documents were also pulled out, state media said.

Searchers inspecting the bridge Saturday also found a hard disk containing data of the voyage, Sky TG24 TV reported.

Three bodies were found in waters around the ship in the first hours after the accident. Since then, divers have gone inside the Concordia to recover all the reamining victims, who were apparently unable to escape the lurching ship during a chaotic evacuation launched almost an hour after the liner hit a reef.

Some survivors who couldn’t board lifeboats waited for hours aboard the capsizing craft for rescue by helicopters while others jumped into the water and swam to safety.

The last survivor, found aboard 36 hours after the crash, was an Italian crewman who broke his leg in the confusion and couldn’t leave the ship Low fee payday loans.

The Concordia hit the reef, well-marked on maritime and even tourist maps, while most of the passengers sat down to dinner in the main restaurant, about two hours after the ship had set sail from the port of Civitavecchia on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Costa Crociere, the ship’s operator and subsidiary of U.S.-based Carnival Cruise Lines, has said the captain had deviated without permission from the vessel’s route in an apparent maneuver to sail close to the island of Giglio and impress passengers.

Schettino, despite audiotapes of his defying Coast Guard orders to scramble back aboard, has denied he abandoned ship while hundreds of passengers were desperately trying to get off the capsizing vessel. He hs said he coordinated the rescue from aboard a lifeboat and then from the shore.

The effort to find survivors and bodies has postponed an operation to remove heavy fuel in the Concordia’s tanks; specialized equipment has been standing by for days.

Light fuel, apparently from machinery aboard the capsized ship, was spotted in nearby waters, authorities said Saturday.

But Nicastro said there was no indication that any of the nearly 500,000 gallons (2,200 metric tons) of heavy fuel oil has leaked from the ship’s double-bottomed tanks, seen as a risk if the ship’s position changes. He said the leaked substance appears to be diesel, which is used to fuel rescue boats and dinghies and as a lubricant for ship machinery.

There are 185 tons of diesel and lubricants on board the crippled vessel, which is lying on its side just outside Giglio’s port. Nicastro described the fuel in the sea as “very light, very superficial” and appearing to be under control.

But an official leading rescue, search and anti-pollution efforts for the ship suggested that the luxury liner would have leaked contaminants on board when it tipped over.

“We must not forget that on that ship there are oils, solvents, detergents, everything that a city of 4,000 people needs,” Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy’s civil protection agency, told reporters in Giglio.

Gabrielli was referring to the roughly 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew who were aboard the cruise liner when it ran into the reef and, with seawater rushing into a 230-foot (70-meter) gash in its hull, listed and fell onto its side. “Contamination of the environment, ladies and gentlemen, already occurred” when the liner capsized, Gabrelli said.

Vessels equipped with machinery to suck out the light fuel oil were in the area. Earlier on Saturday, crews removed oil-absorbing booms used to prevent environmental damage in case of a leak. Originally white, the booms were grayish.

Schettino, is under house arrest for investigation of alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all were evacuated.

The search had been suspended Friday after the Concordia shifted, prompting fears the ship could roll off a rocky ledge of sea bed and plunge deeper into the pristine waters around Giglio, part of a seven-island Tuscan archipelago.

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