Stupak Pushing for New Soo Lock
President-Elect Barack Obama has asked Congress to have an economic stimulus bill ready for him to sign the day he takes office 5 weeks from now.
It’s going to include billions of dollars for infrastructure.
Congressman Bart Stupak is pushing to have a new Soo Lock included in that.
Congress authorized a new lock at the Soo back in 1986.
The Army Corps of Engineers has done engineering studies on a new lock since the mid-’90s.
2/3rds of the Great Lakes shipping fleet is forced to use the Poe Lock at the Soo because ships are too large to fit through any of the other 3 locks.
Stupak has said repeatedly that if the Poe Lock were to become unusable for any reason, the economy would be badly damaged, especially the steel industry.
70% of the raw materials used in the steel business pass through the Soo Locks.