Funding for new Soo Lock wins support of key Senate committee

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted to provide the Army Corps of Engineers the full $235 million it had asked for to continue construction on a new supersize navigation lock at Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula as part of its annual energy and water development budget.

While the federal appropriations process is far from complete, the vote Thursday, along with earlier passage of $257.4 million for the new Soo Lock in the House Appropriations Committee, makes it likely that Corps will receive at least the amount it requested to set aside for the project.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and helped secure the funding, noted that when President Joe Biden’s budget first came in it did not specifically earmark money for the new Soo Lock. He and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, also D-Mich., had to go to the administration and urge it to dedicate specific funding for the project, he said.

“The Soo Locks are critical to Michigan’s economy and to our entire country,” Peters said Thursday. “There’s no question that continuing to modernize the Soo Locks is long overdue — and even a temporary shutdown of one lock would have incredibly harmful impacts on Great Lakes commerce, jobs, national supply chains and our national security.”

The new lock under construction will be the same size as the 55-year-old Poe Lock, the only one at Sault Ste. Marie capable of handling the biggest lake vessels that carry the majority of cargo — including iron ore pellets used to make steel for autos and appliances — between Lake Superior ports and those in the lower Great Lakes. Reports have indicated if the Poe Lock were to suffer a long closure for any reason it could lead to a national recession.

In recent years, however, the estimated cost of the new lock has ballooned from what had been expected to be $922 million to more than $3 billion. While much of that was due to inflation, a Free Press investigation found that there also were design changes and incorrect initial assumptions about the project that drove up the cost.

In the House Appropriations Committee, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, helped secure the $235 million requested for the project, while U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, and John James, R-Shelby Township, won approval of an additional $22.4 million for the new lock. Ultimately, both chambers will compromise on the final funding amount for the year, but Thursday’s vote means it should be at least the $235 million requested.