Elaborate plan develops to save grounded freighter

6/1/2016

From Duluth to Philadelphia and parts farther yet came a plan Tuesday to rescue the freighter Roger Blough from its grounding in the far eastern edge of Lake Superior.

A pair of other Great Lakes Fleet freighters — the Arthur M. Anderson and Philip R. Clarke — will converge on the site of the Blough in Whitefish Bay beginning Thursday, said Mitch Koslow, vice president of engineering for Keystone Shipping Co. in Philadelphia, the central office for the ship’s operator.

Simply, the plan will be to offload iron ore onto the other vessels from the Blough at its currently grounded state near the Gros Cap Reefs, about 10 miles west of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and the Soo Locks.

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Coast Guard to lead oil spill exercise in St. Clair River

5/26/2016

Boats and oil-containment booms will fill a portion of the St. Clair River in Marysville Wednesday — but there's no cause for concern.

The U.S. Coast Guard is leading a training exercise in response to a simulated 200,000-gallon leak from an Enbridge pipeline.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Ben Chamberlain said the exercise will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The exercise will include creation of a unified command; establishing incident planning, finance, logistics and public information components; multi-agency coordination; and oil recovery strategies.

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Coast Guard continues to work on grounded freighter

Senators want higher liability for Great Lakes oil spills

5/24/2016

Michigan's senators are asking the Department of Transportation to make sure oil pipelines crossing underneath the Great Lakes are classified as "offshore" so that owners would have to pay the full costs of cleaning a spill

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s U.S. senators want the Department of Transportation to make sure oil pipelines crossing underneath the Great Lakes are treated as “offshore” and not “onshore” to ensure the owners will have to pay the full cost of a cleanup if there is a spill.

Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, sent U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx a letter on Tuesday urging him to make sure underwater pipeline segments in and around the Great Lakes are classified as separate “offshore” facilities.
 
The senators wrote the finding has “significant consequence,” because under the Oil Pollution Act the liability for cleanup costs for owners or operators of onshore facilities are capped at $634 million, “whereas companies operating pipelines classified as offshore facilities are required to demonstrate they have sufficient resources to pay for all cleanup costs.”

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