Interlochen Public Radio
Many residents along the St. Marys River like Bruce Conely blame certain commercial freighters for erosion along the shoreline. “I just want them to go slow,” says one homeowner. “It’s physics. Lighten your load, lessen the speed. We can’t do anything about the water level.”
About twenty people turned out for the April town hall meeting in Bruce Township. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s a big crowd for the small community on the eastern edge of the Upper Peninsula, a few miles south of Sault Ste. Marie. The area has a lot of older people. It feels like everyone knows each other.
USCG ice breaking for 2021 commercial shipping season
The Sault News
SAULT STE. MARIE Earlier this week, ice breaking operations started by the United States Coast Guard in preparation for the 2021 commercial shipping season.
“Every year the Coast Guard coordinates with the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare the Soo Locks and the St. Marys River for the lock opening at the end of March,” said Lieutenant Barton Nanney, public affairs officer of USCG Sector Sault Ste. Marie. “Over the next few weeks, Coast Guard icebreakers will be operating in the locks and the river to break up the ice in advance of commercial traffic transiting the river.”
9 & 10 News
January 27, 2021
The Great Lakes have been experiencing a low amount of ice cover so far this season. It’s been affecting the shipping industry as well as the United States Coast Guard in a positive way.
Operation Taconite is the largest domestic ice breaking operation in the country. Since ice levels have been low so far this season, they’ve been able to reallocate resources from the operation to other areas. “We have other missions, other than just ice breaking,” said Lt. Barton Nanney. “It’s something to where we can help focus on maybe another mission area where we don’t have to use those resources for ice breaking, whether it’s law enforcement, search and rescue if we had to.”