The soonest the Port of Green Bay could reopen to cargo ship traffic will likely be May 15, extending the economic hardship and challenges key industries have encountered since the port unexpectedly closed on April 18.
Water velocities are expected to remain at levels unsafe for ships to safely navigate the Fox River until May 15 under the best of circumstances, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told port stakeholders during an early May meeting.
The corps in mid-April opened the dam gates on Lake Winnebago to relieve high water levels after major storms dumped record rainfalls across the Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh areas. The outflows increased the water velocity on the Fox River to speeds that since April 18 have made it unsafe for ships to navigate the port.
On May 1, Port Director Dean Haen told the Press-Gazette that without an alternative solution the soonest the port might re-open was 10-14 days, or right about when the corps expects the Fox River to return to velocities safe for ships to navigate.
Brown County, which operates the port, had pressed the Army Corps of Engineers and federal legislators to find an alternate solution that would provide necessary flood relief and allow ships to deliver raw materials into the port and to major industries in the region.
One ship, the Edenborg, remains docked out in Green Bay where it’s been stranded since shortly after the port became inaccessible.
In a news release, Brown County said the unexpected port closure “could not come at a worst time as stockpiles of goods are typically low in the spring and require replenishing.”
The conditions left port terminal operators to scramble for alternate ways to take delivery of raw materials like wood pulp, petroleum products and cement that are vital to key northeastern Wisconsin industries like paper, construction and agriculture. Companies have had to re-route ships to other ports and then ship products up to their Green Bay area facilities. Other ships have simply turned around.
Contact business reporter Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @JeffBollier.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Earliest Port of Green Bay could reopen is May 15, says Army Corps
Reporting by Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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