Detroit Free Press: Funds for Great Lakes icebreaker authorized by Congress

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Congress has sent President Barack Obama legislation authorizing funds for design and construction of a new icebreaker for the Great Lakes, though it is far from clear when — or if — such a vessel will be built.

The measure was included in Coast Guard reauthorization legislation approved on a unanimous voice vote by the U.S. House on Monday evening. The U.S. Senate previously approved the legislation, which Obama is expected to sign.

While the measure doesn’t spell out a specific amount for a new icebreaker for the Great Lakes, it allows the Coast Guard to spend amounts authorized elsewhere on the bill on the vessel. Specific amounts would have to be designated by congressional appropriators and the Coast Guard this year and next.

That time limitation and the uncertainty of funding, however, continue to make the icebreaker’s future somewhat doubtful in the near term, but it is still a step toward getting it built eventually.

As the Free Press has reported, Great Lakes shippers had been seeking authorization for years to design and build a new heavy icebreaker because just one vessel, the 240-foot Mackinaw, operating on the Lakes currently is capable of cruising through fresh water ice up to 32 inches thick.

Record ice the last two winters has raised even more concerns on the Lakes about the need for a new icebreaker to keep shipping lanes open.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who pushed for the authorization for funding for a new icebreaker called it “a much-needed addition” to the Coast Guard’s fleet, and one that “will help ensure that Michigan businesses can continue to rely on shipping to move their goods year-round.”

In the U.S. House, Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, was among the Great Lakes area-legislators also calling for funding for a new icebreaker, which previous estimates have put at costing about $200 million.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard authorization, which the Senate passed late last year, also included a provision authored by Peters requiring the Coast Guard and other federal agencies to assess capabilities for responding to potential oil spills in fresh water, especially if they were to occur under ice cover.

Peters proposed the measure amid concerns about twin 60-year-old pipelines running at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac in northern Michigan and the effects of a potential spill there.

Peters' office has said the Coast Guard acknowledged it lacks the technology and equipment to react to a worst-case oil spill under solid ice and that its response could be severely hampered in waters blocked by icy conditions.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/02/02/funds-great-lakes-icebreaker-authorized-congress/79709420/