Ousted IRS acting commissioner, Steven Miller, has received such threats, according to a source familiar with his situation. The source declined to elaborate on the nature or the source of the threats.

And the head of the tax-exempt unit at the agency, Lois Lerner, who has been put on administrative leave as investigations into the controversy continue, has had telephone and email messages from unknown sources that “threaten physical violence,” according to her attorney William Taylor.

Lerner first disclosed the targeting of conservative groups last month, at a tax conference.

The threats have been referred to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which is charged with IRS personnel protection, Taylor said.

A TIGTA spokeswoman declined to comment. Miller and Lerner could not be reached for comment.

The scandal has spawned multiple congressional probes and a Justice Department investigation. It is still not clear exactly who specifically within the IRS was responsible for targeting Tea Party groups for intense scrutiny as they applied for tax-exempt status from 2010 through 2012, and whether there was a political motivation.

Miller and Lerner live in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. On May 15, the day Miller was fired by President Barack Obama, local police stepped up patrols around Miller’s home when TV news crews had gathered outside, a law enforcement spokeswoman told Reuters.

Miller, at the time, was getting security protection from federal agents, the spokeswoman said. It is unclear if he is still getting protection. Security has not been added for Lerner’s neighborhood, the spokeswoman said.

Police in the area where Miller and Lerner live said they were not investigating any personal threat cases involving IRS employees.

The IRS declined to comment on security procedures.

THREAT DATA

Threats are nothing new for IRS workers. In their unpopular line of work, IRS agents face hundreds of threats annually, including death threats, TIGTA data shows.

But it is unusual for senior IRS executives to get personal threats, said Steve Walsh, a former agent with TIGTA who worked on security for some former commissioners. He is now a licensed private investigator in Los Angeles.

TIGTA provided armed escorts for IRS employees on 74 occasions in fiscal 2012 ended September 30. In the six months from October 2012 through March 2013, TIGTA provided 36 armed escorts to IRS agents.

IRS commissioners have historically had minimal security protection, said Mark Everson, a former IRS commissioner, who retired in 2007.

Everson said a distraught taxpayer once rang his doorbell at home on a Sunday evening, but the incident ended uneventfully. He said he also got phone calls at home from people hoping to vent their tax troubles to the agency’s top official.

The recent scandal may force the IRS to reevaluate its security protocol for IRS commissioners, he said. “I am concerned … there could be increased threats,” he said.

‘UNDER SIEGE’

In Cincinnati, where a handful of IRS agents primarily handled tax-exempt applications, IRS employees told Reuters they have been nervous and afraid.

IRS workers, who did not want their names published, said that some employees have been working from home to avoid any confrontations with the media or protesters.

On May 21, at least 200 demonstrators representing Tea Party groups rallied outside the Cincinnati IRS building’s front entrance, making employees feel uncomfortable, they said.

On the Internet and talk radio, crude and insulting comments have been made about individual IRS workers, calling them “traitors,” “un-American” and worse.

Keith Fogg, a former IRS lawyer who is now a professor at Villanova University, said, “The people in Cincinnati must be feeling under siege … The job stress level must be through the roof in that place at this point.”

(Reporting by Patrick Temple-West and Karl Plume; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Karey Van Hall and Tim Dobbyn)

The dispute arose after a 60,000-tonne cargo of Canadian
soft red winter wheat sold by CHS was rejected by Egyptian
quarantine authorities in April for containing a
higher-than-allowed amount of ambrosia seeds.

CHS offered to replace the shipment with a 58,000-tonne
cargo of U.S.-grown SRW wheat, but the GASC insisted on a $30
per tonne discount from the original sales price to reflect a
drop in global wheat prices and a 100 percent performance bond,
which CHS was unwilling to risk.

The incident highlighted some of the growing difficulties at
the GASC following the departure in February of vice chairman
Nomani Nomani and nearly all of the group’s senior leadership.

Traders have complained that the GASC’s new leadership is
inexperienced, inflexible and ill equipped to handle the
country’s roughly 10-million-tonne annual wheat import program.

The GASC has not made a purchase on the international wheat
market since February. Two years of political turmoil and
economic crisis have eroded Egypt’s hard currency reserves,
making it difficult for the country to finance essential food
and fuel imports.

The GASC threatened legal action against CHS before staff at
the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service office in Cairo, their
Egyptian counterparts and U.S. State Department officials
intervened. The two parties ultimately struck a discounted deal
for U.S. SRW wheat valued as over $17 million.

A CHS spokesperson contacted by Reuters declined to comment.

(Reuters) – Barge traffic on a flooded stretch of the Mississippi River remained at a standstill on Tuesday, but relatively few vessels stood waiting at the channel’s system of locks as shippers had received ample warning of the rising water.

The Port of St. Louis and eight locks on the major shipping artery from northern Iowa to St. Louis have been closed by the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers following record rains around the U.S. Midwest.

It was the third major hindrance to river shipping this year after record flooding on the Illinois River in April and the threat of a low-water closure of the Mississippi in January, events that further solidified communication between the industry and government officials that manage the river system.

“We have a very close working relationship with the river industry, so when we have an anticipated river closure, they know well before we close. It doesn’t help if they’re parked on the river,” Army Corps spokesman Michael Petersen said.

The closures were expected to keep commercial navigation shuttered until at least the weekend or early next week, but shipping traffic will likely accelerate ahead of the anticipated reopening.

“Right now, you’re probably not seeing a long queue because a lot of folks saw the flood coming. The lock queues will spike as soon as it looks like we’re going to reopen because everybody’s going to want to get through,” Petersen said.

Two upbound vessels towing a total of 30 barges were delayed at a railroad drawbridge in Hannibal, Missouri, a Coast Guard spokesman said. Another two vessels hauling a total of 14 barges were also delayed by the lock closures.

Eight locks between Lock 17 at New Boston, Illinois, and Lock 27 in Granite City, Illinois, were closed and a ninth, Lock 16 at Muscatine, Iowa, was forecast to shut later on Tuesday.

Locks on the Illinois River remain open, but since the waterway flows into the Mississippi north of St. Louis and above the southernmost lock closure, barges are unable to navigate to the Gulf Coast.

The latest river forecasts from the National Weather Service suggest Lock 16 could reopen on Saturday and the locks further downriver could reopen over following days as the river’s crest moves southward toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The Coast Guard officially closed the busy port of St. Louis on Monday from mile markers 179 to 184 due to high water and warned mariners about increased debris in the river.

Barge shippers will be allowed to tend to vessels parked along the shoreline and remove debris around barges that could increase the risk of vessels breaking free, but all other traffic is restricted.

Some 60 percent of all U.S. grain exports is transported via the Mississippi River and its tributaries from farm areas in the Midwest to export terminals at the Gulf Coast. Shippers also rely on the inland waterway system to transport numerous other commodities, including fertilizer, coal, crude oil and steel.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Dale Hudson)

(Reuters) – The Mississippi River was effectively closed to barge traffic from northern Iowa to St. Louis as flooding shuttered several locks on the major shipping waterway and stranded at least 70 barges, the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers said.

The Coast Guard officially closed the busy Port of St. Louis from mile markers 179 to 184 due to high water and warned mariners about increased debris in the river.

The second wave of spring flooding to hit the Midwest comes just five months after near record low water on the Mississippi River threatened to halt barge shipping earlier this year.

The latest lock closures, some of which could remain in place until next week, choked off the flow of grain barges from Midwest farm areas to export terminals on the Gulf Coast, where about 60 percent of all U.S. grain exports exit the country.

Numerous grain elevators along the rivers were also unable to load barges as the vessels could not fit below loading spouts due to the river’s higher level.

Seven locks, from Lock 17 at New Boston, Illinois, to Lock 25 at Winfield, Missouri, were currently closed and an eighth, Lock 16 at Muscatine, Iowa, was likely to close by Tuesday, the Army Corps said.

The latest river forecast suggests the locks could reopen by the middle of next week, although the timeline may change as more rain was expected in the region.

“These estimates are based on the latest river forecast and the amount of time it takes them to clean up any of the debris, especially at some of the lower locks,” said Hilary Markin of the Army Corps Rock Island District.

The Illinois River was above flood stage at many locations but its locks remained open and crests were expected around midweek.

Eight vessels towing a total of 70 barges were waiting at locks between Mississippi River mile markers 273 and 325 as of midday Monday, the Coast Guard said.

Still, cash premiums for grain delivered by barge to Gulf Coast export terminals were largely unchanged as pressure from a slumping pace of corn and soybean exports offset support from the temporary supply disruption, grain traders said.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

At least four more locks were likely to be closed by early
next week, disrupting the flow of grain barge shipments from the
Midwest farm belt to export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico.

This second wave of flood-related lock closures so far this
spring comes just five months after near-record low water had
threatened to close the river to commercial vessels.

Locks 20 through 22, between Canton, Missouri, near the Iowa
border and Saverton, Missouri, about 40 miles downriver, were
shut down on Wednesday as floodwaters breached the lock gates,
said Hilary Markin of the Army Corps.

The latest river forecasts from the National Weather Service
suggest lock 17 near New-Boston, Illinois, could be closed by
Sunday and locks 16 and 18, at Muscatine, Iowa, and Gladstone,
Illinois, may close by Monday, she added.

Further downriver, lock 24 at Clarksville, Missouri, was
likely to close on Friday, said Michael Petersen, spokesman for
the Corps’ St. Louis District.

It was unclear how long the locks would remain closed as
more rain was expected in the Midwest over the next several
days, Corps said.

Cash premiums for grain delivered by barge to Gulf Coast
export terminals eased modestly on Thursday as pressure from a
slumping pace of corn and soybean exports more than offset
support from the temporary supply disruption, grain traders
said.

U.S. grain exporters rely on the Mississippi River and its
tributaries to transport corn, soybeans, wheat and other farm
products from production areas such as Iowa and Illinois to
terminals near the Gulf of Mexico. Some 60 percent of all U.S.
grain exports exit the country via the Gulf.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

“We have taken some off of our yield potential,” said
Emerson Nafziger, extension agronomist at the University of
Illinois. “Our preference is to have it in the ground by May 1.”

Nafziger said that based on the last six years of the
university’s lab results for Illinois, the No. 2 U.S. corn
state, corn planted after May 10 in the state could see a yield
loss of 6 percent, after May 20 a 12 percent loss, and after May
31 a 20 percent loss.

Corn grown in the U.S. Midwest grain belt typically starts
pollinating in July. Plant growth and yield potential can be
reduced if plants are forced to devote energy to staying cool
during the hottest days of summer.

Farmers had planted only 28 percent of their intended acres
as of Sunday in the United States, the world’s largest producer
and exporter. The planting progress was the lowest in records
that go back to 1980, according to the U.S. Agriculture
Department.

“Most farmers would plant corn in the first few days of June
if they had a good chance to get it in in good shape. The yield
potential is high enough that you can give up 15 to 20 percent
and have a good yield on corn, and good income,” Nafziger said.

Last week USDA forecast this season’s U.S. corn yield at
158.0 bushels per acre, below a projection for 163.6 bpa in
February, but sharply higher than the last year’s
drought-reduced yield of 123.4 bpa.

Grain processors, livestock feeders, ethanol makers and
exporters are all crossing their fingers that U.S. farmers will
produce a bumper crop after last year’s devastating drought
slashed yields, with supplies forecast as the smallest in 16
years by the end of the summer.

Portions of the U.S. Corn Belt, mostly east of the
Mississippi River, saw record rainfall in April that recharged
soils depleted of moisture following last summer’s worst drought
since 1934. But cooler-than-normal temperatures left fields too
wet for planting and also slowed crop emergence in planted
fields.

“The new stuff going in now, it will be up in a week or 10
days,” said Roger Elmore, extension agronomist at Iowa State
University in the country’s top corn producing state. “It will
be very competitive and probably be higher yielding than the
stuff that was put in earlier.”

However, farmers risk yield loss if they plant in fields
that are not fully dry. Soils can become compacted, slowing root
growth.

“People are going to be pushing soil conditions more than
they should just to get things done quickly,” Elmore said.
“If a lot of guys are mudding it in, that’ll reduce yield.”

Farmers in southern Indiana are eager to begin seeding corn
to put last summer’s devastating drought behind them, but many
have been sidelined for weeks as on-and-off rains have kept
their fields too soggy for heavy planting machinery, industry
sources said.

Producers there are not yet switching their corn acres to
soybeans, which can be planted later in the spring, as this
week’s window of warm, clear weather was expected to remain open
until Thursday. But another rain system was expected to arrive
late this week.

“They’re calling for another half inch or inch of rain later
this week so, if they don’t get corn in by Thursday, I’m sure
some guys will be seriously thinking about switching,” a dealer
at a southern Indiana elevator said.

(Additional reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by
Peter Galloway)

Marseilles Lock and Dam near Seneca, Illinois, was
critically damaged when seven barges broke loose from a tow on
April 18, tearing 20-foot (6-meter) holes in two of the dam’s
gates.

The Army Corps plans to draw down the pool of water above
the lock by four feet so crews can construct a rock dike below
the dam, the first step in a repair process that could take
months to complete.

“The river will be way below the nine-foot navigation
requirement once we start the drawdown,” said Allen Marshall,
spokesman for the Army Corps Rock Island district, referring to
the minimum depth most commercial boats need.

“Right now the Coast Guard is coordinating getting barges
and recreational boats out of the area,” he said.

The rock dike, expected to be completed by May 20, is aimed
at reducing the flow of water through the damaged gates during
repairs and may also help hold water in the Marseilles pool. The
pool refers to the 27-mile (43-km) section of the river between
the damaged lock and the next lock upriver, Dresden Island near
Morris, Illinois.

The rest of the repair project could take several months,
although the Corps had no exact estimate yet. The area should
reopen to navigation, possibly with some restrictions, as long
as the dam can maintain a deep enough upriver pool.

Grain shippers and barge operators have been scrambling this
week to move vessels upriver or downriver from the lock and out
of the Marseilles pool.

“They told the industry that, basically, nobody will be able
to go in and out of that pool with any loads so the river will
effectively only be open from Marseilles south all next week,” a
barge broker said.

“There’s probably some people that won’t get everything
moved south of there but the majority will,” he said.

The Illinois River bisects the country’s No. 2 corn- and
soybean-producing state from Chicago to its confluence with the
Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois. Both rivers are critical
shipping arteries linking grain producers in the Midwest with
export terminals at the Gulf, the exit point for about 60
percent of all U.S. grain exports.

There are only five grain elevators upriver from Marseilles,
one each in Seneca and Morris and the rest in Chicago, so the
impact on grain shipments was minimal, traders said.

Receding floodwaters on the rest of the river prompted the
CME Group to lift its force majeure declaration on Illinois
River cargoes.

(Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Dale Hudson)

(Reuters) – The Coast Guard reopened a stretch of the Mississippi River near Hartford, Illinois early on Friday as the waterway was deemed safe for navigation following a vessel accident and oil spill near the confluence with the Missouri River.

The river had been closed from mile marker 194 to 198 after a towboat struck an area where barges were tied up along the shore at 12:57 a.m. CDT (0557 GMT) and several barges broke loose, colliding with other facilities and docks, the Coast Guard said.

They also struck a barge that was being loaded with crude oil, and about 300 gallons (1,100 liters) were spilled into the river.

All of the breakaway vessels were secured and the river reopened at 2:13 a.m., although the Coast Guard may need to restrict navigation again for any cleanup effort.

“Our environmental assessment team has completed about 10 percent of our shoreline assessment and we haven’t seen any environmental impacts,” Coast Guard spokesman Colin Fogarty said.

“If we do discover that there are environmental impacts, it is likely the Coast Guard would shut down a section of the river to facilitate safe removal of the oil and rehabilitation of the area,” he said.

Finding 300 gallons of crude oil in the flood-swollen river may prove difficult as currents in the area are about twice as strong as normal.

Cleanup crews are on standby, Fogarty said.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Dale Hudson)

The river had been closed from mile marker 194 to 198 after
a towboat struck an area where barges were tied up along the
shore at 12:57 a.m. CDT (0557 GMT) and several barges broke
loose, colliding with other facilities and docks, the Coast
Guard said.

They also struck a barge that was being loaded with crude
oil, and about 300 gallons (1,100 liters) were spilled into the
river.

All of the breakaway vessels were secured and the river
reopened at 2:13 a.m., although the Coast Guard may need to
restrict navigation again for any cleanup effort.

“Our environmental assessment team has completed about 10
percent of our shoreline assessment and we haven’t seen any
environmental impacts,” Coast Guard spokesman Colin Fogarty
said.

“If we do discover that there are environmental impacts, it
is likely the Coast Guard would shut down a section of the river
to facilitate safe removal of the oil and rehabilitation of the
area,” he said.

Finding 300 gallons of crude oil in the flood-swollen river
may prove difficult as currents in the area are about twice as
strong as normal.

Cleanup crews are on standby, Fogarty said.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Gerald E.
McCormick and Dale Hudson)

Severe flooding on the waterway has also halted the loading
of corn and soybean barges at terminals along the waterway and
delivery points for CME grain futures contracts, with the
exchange declaring force majeure on Thursday at all terminals it
uses on the river.

Barge owners also pulled their Illinois freight offers for
the remainder of this week and next as shipping is halted, given
the record flooding that occurred last week when torrential
rains moved through the upper Midwest.

“The Coast Guard has declared it unnavigable so even if you
wanted to move something you’d need to get clearance from the
Coast Guard right now,” an Illinois River barge broker said.

“People might be able to start loading next week on the
northern half of the river if they have a barge on station, but
the crest on the southern half is expected to linger a bit
longer and that might bring you to the end of next week,” he
said.

About 60 percent of U.S. grain exports are transported via
the Mississippi River and its tributaries, including the
Illinois, from farm areas in the Midwest to export facilities at
the Gulf of Mexico. The Illinois River disruptions considerably
restrict the flow of grain from much of the No. 2 corn and
soybean producing state.

Grain export premiums at Gulf of Mexico terminals climbed
this week to the highest level in at least a month as the
closures severed the supply pipeline upon which exporters rely.
If corn and soybean exports were not currently struggling to
compete with massive South American shipments, prices would
likely have rallied even higher, grain traders said.

LOCK DAMAGE

The damage to the Marseilles Lock and Dam in northern
Illinois suggests a portion of the waterway may remain closed
well after flood waters recede.

“As soon as conditions permit, the Corps will perform
engineering analyses for use in developing repair and recovery
plans, ensuring that the dam can be returned to an operational
status as soon as possible,” said Tom Heinold, deputy chief of
the Operations Division for the Corps’ Rock Island district.

Five of the lock’s eight gates, damaged last week when seven
barges broke free from a tow in flood-swollen currents and
struck the dam, are not able to close fully and maintain the
pool of water above the dam. Two of the gates have 15- to
20-foot holes.

As a result, the section of the river from Marseilles to the
Dresden Island lock upriver was expected to drain and become too
shallow for barges and boats as soon as this weekend, the Army
Corps said.

“Probably beginning next week we’re going to start emergency
repair work to get a rock dike out there and get work started on
those gates to get them functioning to at least maintain the
pool,” said Army Corps spokesman Ron Fournier.

“How much of the pool we’re going to lose is not determined
yet, but we’re not going to be able to maintain the nine-foot
depth pool,” he said.

A 144-mile stretch of the waterway from mile marker 43.2
south of Florence, Illinois, to mile marker 187.3 near Lacon,
Illinois, remains closed to all traffic due to record flooding,
the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday.

Eight locks on the Mississippi River from central Iowa just
north of St. Louis remain closed due to high water, but the
river has largely crested and all locks were likely to reopen by
early next week.

The shipping disruptions come just three months after
record- or near-record-low water on the Mississippi River
threatened to halt navigation along a key stretch between St.
Louis and the confluence of the Ohio River.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Dan Grebler)