Coast Guard assists ailing 67-year-old engineer aboard Joseph L. Block

5/16 - Cleveland, Ohio — A Coast Guard rescue boat crew medically evacuated an ailing 67-year-old man from aboard a bulk carrier in Lake Superior Monday evening. The man's name and hometown are not being released.

Radio watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Marquette, Mich., received a call from local 911 central dispatch just before 7 p.m. EST. The 911 call relayed contact from the crew of the motor vessel Joseph L. Block. The crew of the vessel were reporting a crewmember suffering from stomach pains and severe dizziness.

After conferring with an on-call flight surgeon, it was determined the man needed to be evacuated. Search and rescue controllers at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., determined that, given the ship's location, a rescue boat from Station Marquette could get on scene faster than a rescue helicopter.

A rescue boat crew launched from the station aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium at 7:13 p.m. They arrived on scene, 38 miles northeast of Marquette, at 8:10 p.m. and transferred the man onto the RB-M. During the transit to shore, the man was treated by a local EMT, who was already aboard the RB-M. The man was transported to Station Marquette, where a waiting ambulance crew took him to Marquette General Hospital.

The Joseph L. Block is a 714-foot bulk carrier and was en route to Indiana Harbor with a cargo of taconite.

Whenever possible, the Coast Guard uses local EMTs and other first responders who have more extensive training to treat injured mariners. The Response Boat-Medium is one of the Coast Guard's newest response assets, capable of a top speed in excess of 40 knots.

Grand Haven, Mich. - Dick Fox
Wilfred Sykes came in as expected early Tuesday morning with a load for Verplank's Dock in Ferrysburg. It backed in, unloaded, and blew a salute to boatwatchers on the piers as it headed out at 10:30 a.m.

Alpena, Mich. - Ben & Chanda McClain
The tug Samuel de Champlain and barge Innovation were at Lafarge on Tuesday loading cement for Whitefish, Ont. Also visiting on Tuesday was the Calumet. It arrived in the river around 6:30 p.m. to unload 10,500 tons of coal for the Decorative Panels International Plant.

Marblehead, Ohio - Jim Spencer
The tug Dorothy Ann and barge Pathfinder loaded Tuesday at the LaFarge stone dock at Marblehead. The pair were discharging the cargo in Cleveland Tuesday evening.

Hamilton, Ont. - Eric Holmes
Algoma Discovery departed winter layup in Hamilton on May 15.

Rochester, N.Y. - Tom Brewer
The tug Evans McKeil with the barge Metis arrived at Essroc's Rochester Terminal Tuesday morning.

Grand Haven Pier deteriorating, public warned of risk

5/16 - Grand Haven, Mich. – The pier along Lake Michigan in Grand Haven is deteriorating and the US Army Corps of Engineers is urging people to be extra cautious. The problem stems from a lack of funding and is expected to get worse.

The entrance to the pier has warning signs and a memorial with the faces of two young men, Dan Reiss and Andy Fox.

"I just went through Mother[s Day yesterday without my son. It has been 8 years, but it still hurts. I don't want anyone else to lose a loved one unnecessarily," says Vicki Cech, Andy's mother.

The US Army Corps of Engineers says the tale of caution has never been more important because much of the pier is deteriorating. "There's a lot of slipping or tripping hazards, cracks, little holes in the concrete," says Tom O'Bryan with the Lake Michigan Army Corp of Engineers.

There are additional safety measures on the pier. Every 100 feet is a life ring that is connected to the 911 Center. However, O'Bryan says the pier itself hasn't had a major repair since the 1950s because of a lack of funding.

"Obviously it’s hard to put a value on lives but we have so many priorities across the nation for our federal tax dollars," says O'Bryan. "I live it everyday. I want people to be safe and enjoy this beautiful pier and the water," says Cech.

City officials say if the pier is safely improved, they'd like to open tours to the lighthouse someday.

O'Bryan says at this point, there have been no serious injuries because of the poor condition of the pier. He says fixing it would cost $1.5 million.

WZZM

Reservations deadline this Saturday for Badger Boatnerd cruise

Reservations received after May 19, 2011 will be handled on an if-available basis. Click here to print your reservation form. Get yours in the mail today.

Annual Boatnerd Freighter Chasing Cruise planned for June 29
This year's St. Marys River cruise will again be aboard one of the American Soo Locks Tours boats departing from Dock #2 (next to the Valley Camp) at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 29. Boarding begins at 5:30 p.m. The cruise will be three hours and we will travel through both the U.S. and Canadian Locks, and will do our best to find photo opportunities for any traffic in the river.

A buffet dinner is included in the $35 per person cost. Dinner will consist of pasta with meatballs, baked chicken, cheesy potatoes, mixed veggies, tossed salad and dessert. There will be a cash bar on board.

Reservations are a must as we are limiting the group to 100 persons. This will afford everyone enough space to take photos and enjoy themselves. Mail-in reservations must be received no later than Friday, June 22. If any space is available, reservations will be taken by Dave Wobser Wednesday evening in the Soo, or at the Soo Boatnerd Picnic before noon on Thursday, June 28. Call 419-722-5507 to locate. Click here for reservation form.

Updates -  May 16

News Photo Gallery

On 16 May 1894, the SHENANDOAH (wooden propeller freighter, 308 foot, 2,251 gross tons) was launched by J. Davidson (Hull #60) in West Bay City, Michigan. She lasted until 1924, when she was abandoned.

The CANADIAN PROSPECTOR passed upbound in the Welland Canal May 16, 1979, with Labrador ore bound for Ashtabula, Ohio. This was her first trip after being reconstructed.

W. R. WOODFORD (Hull#626) was launched May 16, 1908, at West Bay City, Michigan by West Bay City Ship Building Co. for W. A. & M.A. Hawgood. Renamed b.) N F LEOPOLD 1911, and c.) E. J. BLOCK in 1943. She was scrapped at Port Colborne, Ontario, arriving in 1998.

IRVIN L. CLYMER departed Superior, Wisconsin, on May 15, 1981, and went to Duluth, Minnesota, to load 11,154 tons of taconite ore for Lorain. On May 16, 1981, having departed Duluth in 35 mph winds and 10-foot seas, the CLYMER began taking on water in her ballast tanks. She returned to Duluth, and was quickly repaired.

On May 16, 1972, in dense fog, the ROBERT HOBSON struck the Peerless Cement dock at Port Huron, Michigan when her bow was caught by the strong current at the mouth of the St. Clair River. Damage to the hull was estimated at to $100,000.

In 1985, the steamer PONTIAC was towed down the Welland Canal by the Mc Keil tugs GLENEVIS, ARGUE MARTIN and STORMONT bound for Quebec City. She would later be scrapped in Spain.

The tug B. W. ALDRICH burned at Ludington, Michigan, on 16 May 1874. The damage was estimated at $5,000 and she was rebuilt.

May 16, 1997 - The BADGER's planned first voyage of 1997 was delayed for one day because of a faulty boiler tube.

E. W. OGLEBAY (steel propeller bulk freighter, 375 foot. 3,666 gross tons) was launched at F. W. Wheeler's yard (Hull #114) at West Bay City, Michigan, on 16 May 1896. She lasted until she stranded on Shot Point, 10 miles east of Marquette, Michigan, on Lake Superior, during a heavy northeast gale and blizzard, on December 8, 1927. Shortly afterwards the hull was gutted by fire and declared a constructive total loss. The hull was removed, partially scrapped, and used as dock at Drummond Island, Michigan.

1905 – The second THOMAS W. PALMER, a composite bulk carrier, collided with HARVARD of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company off Stannard Rock, Lake Superior in dense fog and was nearly cut in two. The crew were able to walk to safety aboard HARVARD before their ship sank.

1919 – D.R. HANNA sank in Lake Huron 6 miles off Thunder Bay Light after a collision with the QUINCY A. SHAW. All hands were saved but the sinking of the grain laden 552 foot freighter was the largest insurance loss on the lakes to that time. The hull has been located upside down in 90 feet of water.

1941 – The Norwegian freighter REINUNGA began Great Lakes visits in 1926 and was forced to spend the winter of 1932-1933 at Dain City along the Welland Canal. The vessel, which dated from 1902, was bombed and sunk by German aircraft as d) KYTHERA at Suda Bay, Crete, on this date in 1941.

1962 – ARGENTEUIL, a former Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender, was rebuilt as a coastal freighter in 1961. It sank in the St. Lawrence near Lauzon, QC with the loss of 3 lives on this date in 1962.

1975 – MANCHESTER RAPIDO provided a container shuttle service in the Seaway beginning in 1971, went aground off Pasajes, Spain, on March 15, 1975, and then sank. The hull was refloated May 16, 1975, for repairs and a return to service.

1987 – MARIA ANNA SCHULTE first came inland in 1958. It ran aground as e) LUCKY VIRGIN off San Andras Island, Colombia, while en route from Colon, Panama, to Aruba in 1974 and had to be abandoned as a total loss.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.

Temporary layoff of 14 workers at dry docks

5/15 - Port Weller, Ont. – A destroyer undergoing a retrofit at Seaway Marine Industrial was found to need relatively little structural repair, resulting in the temporary layoff of 14 workers there. “It has reduced our need for steel fitters in the short-term,” said Charlie Payne, director of operations at the dry docks. “These will be temporary layoffs for a about two weeks.”

Of those positions, some are steel fitters and others “C” class painters. Earlier this year, the Port Weller facility was awarded a $21.7-million federal contract to refit the 39-year-old Iroquois-class destroyer based in Halifax.

Payne said overall work is about 20 percent complete, with physical work on the vessel about 1/10 finished.

Factoring in the temporary layoffs, there are 170 people now working on the job. The refit will include underwater work, as well as comprehensive maintenance and repairs on ship systems, such as firefighting and electrical systems, as well as deck equipment. The project will be completed in early November.

St. Catharines Standard

Participatory ‘experience' planned for Great Lakes museum in Toledo

5/15 - Toledo, Ohio – To Chris Gillcrist, the National Museum of the Great Lakes that is scheduled to open next year on Toledo's riverfront should be more than just a collection of photographs and artifacts, more than just information and education.

And certainly more than just the museum ship Col. James M. Schoonmaker, although the century-old freighter surely will be a focal point of the museum planned for the Toledo Maritime Center, off Front Street near the Craig Memorial Bridge.

Mr. Gillcrist, executive director of the Great Lakes Historical Society, said the design development phase of the museum's planning, now complete, has produced what he explains as a participatory "experience" for patrons, not just a static exhibit.

"Over the past 10 months, though it seems like forever, we've created what we feel like is a one of a kind," he said Friday. "There's going to be nothing like it in the Great Lakes."

The museum's 9,000 square feet of space is to include more than 50 interactive features — some of them audio-visual, other mechanical — that will offer visitors realistic opportunities to do and observe things Great Lakes mariners have done and observed during the several centuries since European explorers and settlers entered the region.

"It will be the most educational, interactive, and fulfilling maritime experience on the Great Lakes," said Paul Lamarre III, executive director of the Schoonmaker, who characterized the museum's goal as to become "the Smithsonian of the Great Lakes" with the ship as an "appropriate" centerpiece.

One mechanical exhibit is to feature a working bilge pump that participants can set to simulate different levels of water flow into a sailing schooner's hull: normal splash and spray, heavy weather, or hull damage.

"One of the most common experiences of a schooner back in the day was that someone worked the bilge pump pretty much 24/7," Mr. Gillcrist said, calling the demonstration "an actual sweat experience."

Visitors also will have the chance to work together in simulations of an early 20th-century freighter bridge and engine room to run a ship. The simulated engine will emit heat and light like the real thing and require stoking with simulated coal.

"They will have to communicate back and forth using the ship's telegraph," just as was done in the days before radios, Mr. Gillcrist said.

The overall idea, he said, is to have things to do for visitors of all ages, so that younger children won't be bored, visitors more familiar with Great Lakes maritime history will be entertained as well as enlightened, and everyone will come away with an appreciation for the Lakes' vital role in the broader scope of United States history.

America's first millionaire, Mr. Gillcrist said, was Jacob Astor, who made his fortune in the Great Lakes fur trade. White pine from the Great Lakes region "built this country" during the 19th century, and in 1842, Huron, Ohio, was the second-largest grain port in the world, he said.

And during the age when the United States gained electricity and the telegraph became a primary form of communication, copper from Michigan's Upper Peninsula was a vital resource for stringing all the necessary wires.

"Great Lakes history is not just about boats. Great Lakes history is about the nation's history," Mr. Gillcrist said.

"He's really doing some fantastic things," said Robin Whitney, who as Toledo's commissioner of engineering services has been on the museum planning committee and is charged with overseeing the use of a $6,075,000 Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission grant that will pay for the bulk of the project.

The museum, Ms. Whitney said, will be "a great asset for our waterfront and for our community."

Besides the indoor exhibits and the Schoonmaker, she noted, the museum grounds are to have outdoor memorabilia and to function as a park.

Among the outdoor artifacts is to be a 22-ton propeller from the freighter John Sherwin, cast in Toledo as a single piece and big enough to dwarf anyone who might pose before it for photographs, Mr. Gillcrist said.

The museum is to welcome visitors with a "theatrical experience" four to six minutes long "that will basically tell everybody why the Great Lakes are so important," he said, followed by a "tech ring" that will outline the evolution of Great Lakes vessels from early cargo canoes to 1,000-foot bulk freighters.

Exhibits will be divided into four basic, sequential sections: Early Exploration and Settlement, Expansion and Industry, Safeguard and Support, and Shipwrecks and Survival.

Although no plan is in place to have an exhibit dedicated to Toledo's maritime history, Mr. Gillcrist said, displays with Toledo connections are to be highlighted in some way still to be determined.

"Toledo's port has played a major role in the Great Lakes', and the nation's, history," he said.

The museum's plans to incorporate Toledo-specific elements in its exhibits are to be the subject of a lecture Mr. Gillcrist is to give May 27 at the Maritime Center, 1701 Front St. It is to be the first of four lectures Mr. Gillcrist and nautical archaeologist Carrie Sowden are to give this year in Toledo, in part to establish the museum as a city institution.

Museum officials expect to begin exhibit construction in the Maritime Center by autumn.

Between now and then, Mr. Gillcrist said, is the drafting of construction plans.

The Schoonmaker, rechristened last year during a centennial celebration to its original name from Willis B. Boyer — the name it held when first moored in International Park in 1986 as a museum ship — is to be fitted out as it appeared during the 1950s, Mr. Gillcrist said.

He conceded that a few "purists" who would prefer an older-era restoration probably won't be happy about that decision but said certain elements from the earlier eras would be prohibitively expensive to re-create — most notably, the vessel's original steam engines.

There will be some exhibits on board, such as photo galleries in some of the cabins, Mr. Gillcrist said. There also are future possibilities that won't happen right away, he said, citing the potential for placing iron ore pellets and the clamshell bucket from a Hulett ore unloader in one of the ship's holds to give visitors a feel for how a staple cargo of Great Lakes shipping was unloaded in the days before automated handling.

To become a part of the new museum, the Schoonmaker is to be towed from its current berth to a freshly dredged slip next to the Maritime Center.

Preparatory work for the slip's bulkheads is under way, and sheet-pile driving for the bulkheads could start "within the next week or so," the port authority's Mr. LaMarre said.

Ordinarily, Mr. LaMarre said, the dredging would be done first, but in Toledo it has to wait until after July 1 because of the walleye spawning run in the Maumee River. Plans call for 78,000 cubic yards of sediment to be dug out of the slip and dumped into a long-idle city-owned disposal site on the river's opposite bank near Jamie Farr Park, he said.

The Schoonmaker is to reopen for public tours May 25, Mr. LaMarre said. It was closed for most of last year during a repainting project that is expected to be finished by then, he said, but if the painting stretches into June, admission will be discounted until the entire ship is accessible.

The target date for moving the ship to its new home is Oct. 15, he and Mr. Gillcrist said, but that is subject to the weather and other complications.

"The project has a great number of moving parts," Mr. LaMarre said, citing the recent discovery in the slip area of buried concrete-capped sheet piling.

Besides the state grant, the Great Lakes Historical Society is in the midst of a $2.5 million capital fund-raising campaign for the museum, including $400,000 that society board members have donated to the project. The fund-raising canvass involves a mix of private foundations, individuals, and corporations in Toledo and across the Great Lakes, Mr. Gillcrist said.

Toledo Blade

Updates -  May 15

News Photo Gallery
Historical Perspectives Gallery updated - Wyandotte 2 gallery

On 15 May, 1901, the GILCHRIST (Hull #603) (steel propeller freighter, 356 foot. 3,871 gross tons) was launched at the West Bay City Ship Building Co. in West Bay City, Michigan, for the Gilchrist Transportation Company of Cleveland, Ohio. She lasted until 1943, when she was sunk in a collision on Lake Superior.

On May 15, 1997, the "This Day in History" feature started on this web site.

The PHILIP R. CLARKE, first of the AAA class of vessel, began her maiden voyage from Lorain, Ohio on this date in 1952.

After extensive renovation at Fraser Shipyard, the IRVIN L. CLYMER departed Superior, Wisconsin on May 15, 1981, and went to Duluth, Minnesota, to load 11,154 tons of taconite ore for Lorain, Ohio.

On May 15, 1971, the STONEFAX was sold and was scrapped at Santander, Spain.

On 15 May 1854, GARDEN CITY (wooden passenger/package side-wheeler, 218 foot, 657 tons, built in 1853, at Buffalo, New York) was sailing from Chicago to the Soo in a storm when she went on Martin Reef, west of Detour, Michigan, and was wrecked. Her passengers were picked up by the steamer QUEEN CITY.

May 15, 1992 -- The BADGER was rededicated and began a new career as a non-railroad carferry.

At 3:30 a.m., 15 May 1874, the tug TAWAS came along side of the schooner ZACH CHANDLER several miles off shore from Sand Beach, Michigan on Lake Huron. The boiler of the TAWAS exploded and she sank. Capt. Robinson, 2nd Engineer Dyson, Firemen Thomas Conners and James McIntyre, and Lookout Dennis Burrow were all on the tug and died in the explosion. The blast tore the CHANDLER's sails and rigging, and caused the death of one of her officers when he was struck on the head by a flying piece of debris. The CHANDLER drifted away in the heavy seas, but returned to pick up five survivors from the water. The TAWAS was built at Vicksburg, Michigan by Myron Williams in 1864. Her dimensions were 95-foot x 18-foot, 6-inches x 8-foot, 6-inches. She carried the two old engines from the tug BLISH, which when new were 11-1/2 inches x 20 inches, but having been bored out several times, were 15 inches x 20 inches at the time of the explosion. Her boiler was built by Mr. Turnbull of Corunna, Ontario.

1907 – SAXON ran aground near Caribou Island, Lake Superior, and dumped about 1,000 tons of ore overboard before being released. The ship went to the Atlantic in 1918 and was scrapped at Copenhagen, Denmark, as c) ANNE JENSEN in 1927.

1923 – PERE MARQUETTE 4 and PERE MARQUETTE 17 collided in fog off Milwaukee and the former sustained severe damage above the waterline and was laid up.

1929 – RALPH BUDD stranded at Saltese Point, near Eagle Harbor, MI and was abandoned to the underwriters. The grain laden vessel was released by Reid and sold to Canadian interests. It was scrapped at Hamilton as b) L.A. McCORQUODALE of the Upper Lakes Shipping fleet in 1966.

1963 – LOBIVIA, WESTMOUNT and ROGERS CITY were in a three-way collision in the St. Clair River at Port Huron but there was only minor damage.

1967 – GOLDEN HIND was loaded with grain when it stranded off Cassidy Point, Lake Erie, and was holed in the forward compartment.

1968 – The stern cabins of HOMER D. WILLIAMS were damaged from a collision with WHEAT KING in the St. Mary's River and this ship was repaired at Lorain. The latter vessel received bow damage that was repaired at Port Weller.

1972 – The Dutch freighter COLYTTO first came through the Seaway in 1963 and made 8 trips to the end of 1966. It was swept ashore by a typhoon near the mouth of the Limpopo River off the coast of Mozambique as b) CAPE NERITA on this date in 1972. All on board were rescued but the ship was abandoned on the beach as it was not feasible to dig the ship out by a canal. The nearest road was 25 miles away so the hull was not scrapped either.

1999 – The former sandsucker NIAGARA II was scuttled as an attraction to divers off Tobermory, ON.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Jody Aho, Max Hanley, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.

Saginaw River – Todd Shorkey
After an eight day stretch with no commercial traffic on the Saginaw River, the tug Karen Andrie, and her tank barge Endeavour, arrived early Sunday morning, unloading at the Bit-Mat Dock in Bay City. The pair were back outbound for the lake during the early evening. Inbound on the Saginaw Bay, headed for the Saginaw River Sunday night, was the Olive L. Moore - Lewis J. Kuber. The pair should arrive very early Monday morning.

Marblehead, Ohio – Mike Garrarie
The tug Bradshaw McKee and barge Cleveland Rocks were loading for Cleveland Sunday. The pair was on their first trip together. They departed the Donjon yard in Erie, Pa. on Saturday.

Cleveland, Ohio – Dan Simpson
The new tug Ken Booth Sr. and barge Great Lakes Contender remained in Cleveland Sunday. The pair arrived on their first trip carrying a load of taconite early Friday morning. It is unknown why they have remained in port for an extended stay.

Buffalo, N.Y. – Brian W.
Saturday the American Mariner arrived for General Mills about 2p.m. with a load of grain.

Toronto, Ont. – Andre Blanchard
Whistler docked at the Redpath Sugar pier in Toronto on Friday. Manitoba is also in port.

Coal power plants under cost, environmental pressure

5/14 - Schroeder, Minn. - Inside the Taconite Harbor Energy Center along Lake Superior's North Shore, three turbines the size of train engines crank out 225 megawatts of electricity. That's enough for all of Duluth and Superior, Wis.

The plant has helped power taconite operations since the 1950s. But it also produced unwanted substances. In 2007, Minnesota Power spent nearly $50 million dollars to capture some of the mercury and other pollutants here, Plant Manager Dave Rannetsberger said.

"Now we have a whole new building that was added just for the emission control technologies," he said.

This week a state agency took the unusual step of recommending that five of Minnesota Power's aging coal fired generators in northern Minnesota shut down by 2016, including one of the three turbines at Taconite Harbor.

The Department of Commerce contends it would be cheaper to switch to other sources of electricity — a stance that would have been unheard of just a decade ago. But strict new environmental regulations, combined with cheap natural gas, are forcing utilities and regulators throughout the Midwest to take a new look at their aging coal plants.

The cost of making the plants cleaner is clear at the energy center. Every day workers make their way along a narrow walkway four stories up, past two huge silos full of lime that is injected into the boilers to help remove sulfur dioxide from the plant's emissions.

Minnesota Power installed pollution controls only on two of the three generating units at Taconite Harbor. Officials say they're waiting to see final EPA regulations before they decide whether to install the expensive equipment on the third generator.

State officials aren't waiting. They're now siding with some environmental groups, and calling on Minnesota Power to shut down a total of five coal-fired generators at three plants in the next decade.

"It's a very expensive proposition to continue to maintain plants that were built in the 50s and 60s," Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman said.

Rothman and other state commerce officials say closing Minnesota Power's oldest coal generators would save ratepayers as much as $450 million. That's a scenario likely to play out at many coal plants.

"It's maintenance costs and federal clean air requirements that are at play, and the expense just outweighs keeping them in the fleet," Rothman said.

Minnesota Power officials say more analysis is needed. The company's assessment should be ready in the summer of next year, said Al Redeck, vice president for strategy, planning and asset optimization.

"At that time we'll be more poised to maybe make some more decisions about those plants and where we're going," he said.

The Commerce Department and groups like the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy want the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to force Minnesota Power to move faster. Beth Goodpaster, an attorney for the environmental group, said the utility generates over 90 percent of its electricity from coal.

"Minnesota Power is so heavily dependent on coal in its generation system, and has been for so long, that they have a bigger job to do," she said. "So they should get started earlier, is our opinion."

The utility is planning to cut its coal-based production nearly in half by 2025 by buying hydropower from Manitoba, Canada, and adding wind power. Rudeck, the company vice president, said natural gas will also be in the mix.

"We don't have any gas in our system today, so we think adding some gas is very good to be prudent and more balanced," he said. That's a move utilities across the country are already making. Xcel Energy has converted two of its coal plants near the Twin Cities to natural gas.

Natural gas plants are a lot more energy efficient and cleaner than coal plants. Technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have helped make natural gas cheaper or more abundant than ever before. Fracking remains highly controversial because some say it damages the environment, but over the past two decades, 80 percent of additions to the power sector have been natural gas plants, Bloomberg Energy analyst Rob Barnett said.

"So already the industry has been choosing natural gas as kind of the default fuel of choice," Barnett said. "And right now, especially where gas prices are, coal is way out of the money."

Even so, most utilities are spending huge sums upgrading their newer and larger coal plants to meet EPA guidelines, rather than shutting them down. Just this week Minnesota Power announced it will spend nearly $400 million on new environmental controls at its Boswell power plant in Cohasset.

Minnesota Public Radio Lake Ontario water levels close to average Oswego, N.Y. – Water levels in Lake Ontario are now close to average, said officials with The International St. Lawrence River Board of Control. The board recently reviewed conditions in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system and found that water received by Lake Ontario from its basin and inflow from Lake Erie were close to average in March and below average in April. Monthly precipitation also was below normal.

Board officials state the board's plan to moderately decrease Lake Ontario outflows has slowed the recent decline in levels. Water levels are now close to average; although they had been as much as 16 inches above average in early February. Board officials said the risk of Lake Ontario levels exceeding the upper monthly average limit has decreased to almost zero this year.

And because of the increasing risk of low levels later this year, the board has decided to continue restoring the water that was removed from Lake Ontario during the winter. The water is expected to be completely restored by June 22, board officials said.

Should Lake Ontario rise to a level of 246.39 feet, the restoration will stop. Board officials said they may vary outflows to adjust water levels downstream, or to meet critical hydropower, navigational or other needs. The level on Lake Ontario as of April 24 was 245.73 feet, 18.5 inches below the upper limit and 0.8 of an inch below the long-term average for that time of year.

Water levels on Lake St. Lawrence are above average. The level at the Port of Montreal on April 25 was 25.7 feet, a full 34.6 inches below average.

The Post-Standard

New SAR station to be occupied by summer

5/14 - Goderich, Ont. – The Canadian Coast Guard Search and Rescue Station is coming along well, according to project manager for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dwayne Jordan. The $1.7 million project includes a four-bedroom residence for the Coast Guard crew, as well as a new wharf for the Cape Discovery and the high speed Zodiac rescue craft.

"There is a dock associated with the job so there is a little bit of reshaping the shore there," Jordan said. "(The boats) will be right out in front of the building on a new wharf there. It's all part of the project." Construction is coming along on schedule, he said, and occupancy is expected for late June. Inside the building, things are getting down to finishing touches like paint and flooring, he said. The outside of the building will be a mix of block wall and anodized aluminum paneling.

Massena mayor sees tourism potential in Seaway

5/14 - Massena, N.Y. - Mayor James F. Hidy sees potential for Massena as the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. transitions into a new administration.

Seaway Development Corp. Administrator Collister W. “Terry” Johnson Jr. was fired by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week. Seaway Deputy Administrator Craig H. Middlebrook will fill in as acting administrator until Mr. Johnson’s successor is named, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The change in administrations could provide the Seaway with a new opportunity to reinvest in its Massena facilities, Mr. Hidy said. He said he would like to see Massena expand and improve its tourist offerings, and sees a reinvestment in the Seaway grounds as an important step.

When he was growing up, the grounds surrounding the Dwight D. Eisenhower Lock were well-manicured, Mr. Hidy said. The grass was green and frequently cut, and a St. Lawrence Seaway logo was sculpted into a nearby lawn with flowers.

At some point, the grass surrounding the locks became brown and overgrown, Mr. Hidy said. He said he would like to see the grounds surrounding the locks restored to their original condition.

“We’re hoping they can also take a look at the overall appearance of the facility,” he said. “We’ve got to better enhance them and make them more appealing.”

In addition, Mr. Hidy would like the Seaway to expand its offerings to tourists. The viewing area at the Eisenhower Lock doesn’t offer tourists the full experience of a Seaway freighter, he said.

“Once it gets in that box you can’t really see it,” he said of the ships in the locks.

Instead, the Seaway should consider a parking lot and viewing area in between the Eisenhower and Snell locks, where visitors could get much closer to the ships and look up at them, he said.

Mr. Hidy once drove down a back road in Robert Moses State Park with his son, Robert, and said he found a much better spot to watch the ships than where tourists usually go. He said his son’s eyes were “as big as saucers” when he saw the ship up close.

“You could see everything just perfectly,” Mr. Hidy said. “It’s a small effort to construct something. ... We’ve got to get a little more creative out there.”

The Seaway’s Massena facility was better maintained when its policy administrators actually lived in the region and not in Washington, D.C., Mr. Hidy said.

“When they were here, this was one of the best-kept facilities in the system,” he said.

Mr. Hidy said he looked forward to working with Seaway Deputy Associate Administrator Carol Fenton, who so far has been “outstanding” on cooperating with him. He said the maintenance of the grounds surrounding Massena’s locks should be on par with the appearance of national monuments in Washington.

“That’s the way we should look at the locks, as a national monument,” he said.

Spokeswoman Nancy Alcalde said Seaway officials will be speaking with Mr. Hidy about his ideas. “We are taking it under advisement and plan to discuss it with Mr. Hidy in the near future,” she said.

Watertown Daily News

Updates -  May 14

News Photo Gallery

On 14 May 1881, CITY OF ROME (wooden propeller freighter, 268 foot, 1,908 gross tons) was launched by Thomas Quayle & Sons in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the largest vessel on the Lakes when she was launched. She lasted until 1914, when she burned near Ripley, New York on Lake Erie.

On May 14, 1959, the SHENANGO II and the HERBERT C. JACKSON both entered service. While the vessels have been fleet mates since 1967, the SHENANGO II was built by the Shenango Furnace Company. She operates today as the c.) HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR, renamed last spring.

On May 14, 1943, the THOMAS WILSON entered service as the first of the sixteen vessels in the "Maritime" class.

The HOCHELAGA's self-unloading boom was installed on the RICHARD REISS, which had lost her boom April 13, 1994, when it collapsed at Fairport, Ohio. The REISS’ replacement boom was installed on May 14, 1994 by Port Weller Drydocks Ltd.

BLACK HAWK (wooden schooner, 98 foot, 178 gross tons) was launched in East Saginaw, Michigan on 14 May 1861. Thomas A. Estes was her builder. She was active until abandoned in the Kinnickinnic River at Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1908. On 13 October 1913, she was filled with flammable material and burned off Milwaukee as a public spectacle for the Perry Centennial Celebration.

On May 14, 1905, the new Anchor Line passenger steamer JUNIATA made her maiden voyage from the yards of the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio to Detroit, Michigan. Sailing under the command of Capt. Edward J. Martin she left Cleveland at 7:05 in the morning and arrived at Detroit shortly before 4. On board, in addition to several officials of the line was her designer, Frank E. Kirby. Detroiters were treated to the sight of seeing both the JUNIATA and TIONESTA together for the first time as TIONESTA was loading for Duluth, Minnesota when the JUNIATA arrived from Cleveland and tied up alongside her older sister. The JUNIATA later departed for Chicago where her furnishings were installed.

On 14 May 1861, COMET (wooden side-wheeler, 174 foot. 337 gross tons, built in 1848, at Portsmouth, Ontario) collided with the 2-mast wooden schooner EXCHANGE, ten miles off Nine-Mile Point on Lake Ontario. Then an explosion rocked the COMET and she was destroyed by fire 2 or 3 lives were lost, but the survivors reached Simcoe Island in a lifeboat.

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., May 14, 1900. - The tug W.A. ROOTH of the Great Lakes Towing company fleet was caught between the barge JOHN A. ROEBLING and the steamer HENRY C FRICK in the American canal last night and sunk. The crew escaped without injury. The tug was towing the barge ROEBLING out of the canal and in some manner got between the ROEBLING and the big steamer FRICK. Her sides were crushed in and she went down immediately in twenty feet of water.

1917 – SAXONA and PENTECOST MITCHELL collided head-on in the St. Marys River near Detour and both ships sank with their bows locked together. The former was refloated and repaired as LAKETON while the latter was also salvaged and remained in the U.S. Steel fleet.

1921 – The barge MIZTEC broke loose of the steamer ZILLAH in a storm and sank with all hands in Lake Superior northeast of Vermilion Point.

1952 – The JAMES NORRIS began her sailing career, loading a cargo of grain at Fort William.

1991 – The Yugoslavian bulk carrier MALINSKA ran aground off Main Duck Island, Lake Ontario, while outbound from the Great Lakes with a cargo of steel coils. It was lightered and released. The ship had been a Seaway trader since 1987 and now sails in the Algoma fleet as c) ALGOMA DISCOVERY.

Data from: Skip Gillham, Chuck Truscott, Jody Aho, Joe Barr, Dave Swayze, Father Dowling Collection, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Ahoy & Farewell II and the Great Lakes Ships We Remember series.