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New lock supported

Members of the Marquette County Board of Commissioners discuss issues Tuesday. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — A resolution supporting the development of an additional lock at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie was unanimously passed by the Marquette County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night.

The resolution indicates Marquette County’s support of the “development and the funding of the twinning of the Poe Lock as soon as possible,” due to the age of the lock and the major significance of the Soo Locks to local, state and national economies.

“The reason this appears on the board (agenda) is it’s in consideration at the federal level and it’s important to Marquette County — for the mining we have in Marquette County, for the shipping of ore out of here for the last 100-some years,” said board Chairman Gerald Corkin.

The addition of a second Poe-sized lock is needed, commissioners said, as the 1,200-foot Poe Lock is currently the only one at the Soo Locks that can accept 1,000-foot vessels.

“The 49-year-old Poe Lock is in need of repair and the MacArthur Lock’s size is not suitable for modern freighters to pass through,” the resolution states.

If the Poe Lock were to shut down for repairs, the impacts on industry in Marquette County, the state of Michigan and the nation could be substantial, commissioners said. The resolution states the closure of the Poe Lock would cause “a negative impact of $160 million within a 30-day span.”

A 2015 analysis by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security states “an unprecedented supply shock could affect North America” if the Poe Lock were to unexpectedly close.

“The United States has historical knowledge of how to respond to shocks caused by financial crises, oil prices or availability, or falling aggregate demand,” the analysis states. “There is no similar guide for responding to a supply shock that incapacitates a large set of industries.”

The Soo Locks are “ranked No. 1 in its significance to the economy” out of 196 locks and save roughly $3.5 billion in costs for transportation each year, the resolution states. A single 1,000-foot freighter can haul 70,000 tons of cargo, which would otherwise take 584 train cars to move, according to the city of Sault Ste. Marie.

An estimated 7,000 vessels pass through the Soo Locks each year, bringing about 86 million tons of cargo through the locks annually, according to the city. Furthermore, 90 percent of the world’s iron ore supply travels through the Soo Locks.

“The locks are a critical pathway to ship national resources such as iron ore and agriculture products critical to the economic vitality of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that are exported nationally and internationally,” the resolution states.

If the Soo Locks were to close for even six months, 11 million jobs would be lost, according to the resolution.

“A shutdown of the locks would result in the halt of the North American automotive production within a matter of weeks,” the document states.

Commissioner John DePetro said it’s also a matter of homeland security.

“Because of any type of terrorism or any type of disabling that lock, that would shut down everything for the steel industry and mining and everything else through the country,” he said. “It would have a tremendous trickle effect.”

The addition of a second Poe-sized lock has been in the works for years, and was initially authorized in 1986 by Congress.

Congress then reauthorized the project in 2007, and a post-authorization change report with updated construction costs was completed and approved this year, making the project eligible for reauthorization at the new estimated project cost in the next Water Resources Development Act, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The newly approved updated construction costs are an estimated $1 billion and construction could take seven to 10 years if uninterrupted, according to the Corps.

While the project is “currently authorized to be 100 percent federally funded” — and the Corps will be requesting funding consideration beginning with the president’s budget for fiscal year 2020 — the state of Michigan is in the process of contributing up to $52 million to the project, according to the Corps.

“The agency will now follow the budgeting process for implementation of the project and will compete for federal funding with other projects across the country,” the Corps’ website states.

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