Indiana governor protests closing locks to block Asian carp

INDIANA Governor Mitch Daniels has protested to the White House over the US Army Corps of Engineers' closure of the shipping locks to block the entrance into the Lake Michigan of Asian carp which have made their way upstream from the Gulf of Mexico.

Environmentalists say Asian carp threaten the region's fishing and tourism industries, since it's known to disrupt the food chain wherever they go, reports WSJM radio of Brenton Harbor, Michigan.

But Indiana Governor Daniels in a letter to the White House said that closing the lock system would be an "extreme action'" that would worsen flooding in Northwestern Indiana.

Mr Daniels said he favours a more comprehensive approach to dealing with the carp. Indiana joins Illinois and the Obama administration in opposing closure of the Chicago locks. Michigan and five other Great Lakes states favour closure.

The Detroit News reports that closing off Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River basin to block the carp would have a minimal impact on Chicago's shipping industry, according to a Wayne State University study.

The study by associate professor of supply chain management John Taylor, at the request of Michigan to support the closure said seven million tons of cargo move through the locks, which is less than one per cent of the freight handled by "Chicago-area firms" but as much as 30 per cent of the Port of Chicago's volume.

"The effect would diminish each year, as freight being transported through Chicago has been halved from 1994 to 2008," said the report.

The affected freight, said the report, could be carried by rail or by truck, resulting in an increase of shipping costs of US$70 million a year.

But at a packed public hearing Friday in Chicago, cargo and passenger vessel operators begged federal officials not to close the locks. Dozens said interrupting passage would kill jobs and hammer the city's economy.

"It's our livelihood at stake," said Chip Collopy, owner of Shoreline Sightseeing.

(Source: www.schednet.com)