Troubled waters could affect salt supplies

December 09, 2011|By John Paul (jpaul@wsbt.com), Click here to follow John on Twitter | By John Paul (jpaul@wsbt.com), Click here to follow John on Twitter

ST. JOSEPH – A ship carrying limestone had trouble reaching a St. Joseph River’s dock in Benton Harbor because of all the sand and sediment build-up underwater.

"We're all on the verge," said Pete Berghoff who owns Dock 63.

It’s easy to see why Berghoff is concerned. There is a lot of empty space on his dock, and that is a problem. He says ships are having trouble getting into St. Joseph’s inner harbor because of sand and sediment underwater. The most recent case happened on Wednesday.

"She approached the channel and touched the bottom," he said. "I was watching. This boat was so important to us."

Last year there was 48,000 to 50,000 tons of road salt and right now there is only 8,000 tons. There was 65,000 tons of limestone last year but today there are only 3,000.

Jack Kinney put Benton Harbor on the map when he opened Central Dock 75 years ago. He called on the Army Corp of Engineers for help but the federal government said the inner harbor has not reached the million ton minimum to qualify for aid since 2001.

"While this isn't as big as the ports on the oceans, the reality is it's incredibly important to the economy of northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan," said State Senator John Proos.

That is one of the reasons Proos is putting the pressure on the federal government to help as these docks continue to struggle.

"Sooner or later you start running out of money,” said Berghoff. “When you run out of money, you run out of will and you run out of hope.”

Sadly, Berghoff admits he is running out of time, but he will fight to the end to save his business. There are three docks in the inner harbor in St. Joe that are affected by this and the owners do have options.

The Army Corps of Engineers told the owners they can close the business and sell the land or find the money for dredging on their own. Berghoff said dredging is expensive and could cost around $25,000 just for the permit.

Berghoff said in the end, we could all pay in the form of reduced supplies and higher prices, especially if ships cannot deliver goods

|

|

|