08.26.2022

Sault Ste. Marie is now home to Coast Guard Center of Expertise

Research will focus on impacts of oil spills in freshwater

By: Brendan Wiesner

SAULT STE. MARIE — On Aug. 24, Senator Gary Peters officially opened the U.S. Coast Guard National Center of Expertise for the Great Lakes in Sault Ste. Marie.

Located at Lake Superior State University's Richard & Theresa Barch Center for Freshwater Research and Education, the Center of Expertise will conduct research examining the impacts of oil spills in freshwater environments to help develop effective responses.

Officials said this research is considered critical for the Great Lakes, because it is the largest source of surface freshwater in the world. The Great Lakes are also an important resource to the American and Canadian economies, but because they are freshwater there doesn't exist any reliable methods to clean up oil spills.

When oil is spilled into salt water there are various methods of cleaning the oil out of the water. Many of these methods include dispersing the oil and relying on salt water microbes to eat up the oil particles. These microbes do not exist in freshwater like the Great Lakes, meaning that some of the most effective methods of cleaning oil spill contaminations will not work in the Great Lakes.

The center will have several areas of focus, including:

Working with academic and the private sector to develop and standardize maritime oil spill response training
Identifying gaps in Great Lakes oil spill research, including providing assessments of major scientific or technological deficiencies in responses to past spills in the Great Lakes and other freshwater bodies
Monitoring and assessing the current state of knowledge regarding freshwater oil spill response technologies
Conducting research, development, testing and evaluation for freshwater oil spill response equipment, technologies and techniques to mitigate and respond to oil spills in the Great Lakes
Helping train first responders on the federal, state and local level on the incident command structure system and response technologies and strategies

The establishment of this center comes just a few months after an oil spill, originating in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, leaked over 5,300 gallons of morgoil oil into the St. Marys River. The Coast Guard and LSSU's Freshwater Research Center both participated in efforts to clean the river and surrounding Great Lakes areas. This is the same kind of response that will be expected from the Center of Expertise.

The Center of Expertise came to be after Peters was told by the U.S. Coast Guard during a hearing in 2017 that it was not prepared for an oil spill in the Great Lakes. At the time, the Coast Guard cited a lack of science and research in freshwater oil spills compared to saltwater oil spill research.

In 2018, Peters signed legislation into law to establish the Center of Expertise and secured $4 million in funding for the initiative. The pandemic delayed the establishment of a permanent location for the center until this year.

The Center for Freshwater Research and Education was chosen because of its unique placement being so close to multiple Great Lakes. Between its location and the fact that it was already conducting research into oil spills in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard made it the perfect location for this new center.

"We've got to understand how we can clean up oil spills, and we've got to figure out the science," Peters said during the ribbon cutting ceremony. "I want to make sure we can respond really quickly should there be a disaster in the Straits of Mackinac."

Lake Superior State University President Dr. Rodney S. Hanley, U.S. Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Response Policy Rear Admiral Jo-Ann Burdian and Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Don Gerrie all spoke at the ceremony to open the center.