SS Badger Loses Legislative Battle

[XLFD]

Mlive reports:  The Senate removed the Huizenga-Petri special language approved by the GOP-controlled House in the face of opposition from Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 member of the Democratically-controlled Senate.  The Badger's fate now lies squarely in the hands of the EPA, who can issue or deny them a permit for operating under the status quo.  If that fails, the only thing that can save them is  the determination of Lake Michigan Carferry to weather the roughest storm it has yet seen.

 

LUDINGTON, MI – Media outlets covering Congress are reporting Wednesday that the U.S. House of Representatives has adopted the Senate version of a Coast Guard re-authorization bill leaving out a special provision for the S.S. Badger.

The Ludington-based S.S. Badger is hoping to resume operations in the spring of 2013, sailing from Ludington to Manitowoc, Wis.File photo

According to congressional reports, the House move will send the $7 billion bill on to President Barack Obama for his signature. The final version does not include special language designed to provide a lifelong exemption for the historic S.S. Badger to allow the Lake Michigan ferry to continue dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan.

Congressmen Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland and Tom Petri, R-Wisconsin, put the special language in the House bill that was stripped out by the Senate and did not survive the conference committee between the two chambers, according to The Hill – the capital news outlet.

New York Times congressional correspondent Jonathan Wiesman, in a blog posting Wednesday noon, summed up the Lake Michigan Carferry’s options for operating next s... as two-fold: Receive a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discharge permit allowing the coal ash dumping to continue or quickly retrofit the Badger with a new engine system or coal-storage technology.

Without either the EPA permit or changes to the Badger, the Ludington-to-Manitowoc ferry would be left at the dock next May when the 2013 sailing season is scheduled to begin. The Badger’s current discharge permit expires Dec. 19.

The Senate removed the Huizenga-Petri special language approved by the GOP-controlled House in the face of opposition from Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 member of the Democratically-controlled Senate. Durbin has said he opposes continued Badger dumping of coal ash due into Lake Michigan considering the Lake Michigan Carferry owners had several years to address their environmental problem.

Lake Michigan Carferry President Robert Manglitz told MLive and The Muskegon Chronicle last month that he remains optimistic that the Badger will receive the needed EPA p... and will begin its 2013 season next spring.

courtesy: http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2012/12/reports_specia...

 

[Willy]

It seems to me that converting the Badger will be extremely expensive and the ship will in essence become a floating bomb because of the necessity for LNG storage tanks located on the ship. Another expensive problem is the storage area and facilities needed at LMC's terminal and how will the LNG be transported to Ludington? On ships, railway, truck. Unlike coal which can be stockpiled and stored cheaply out in the open, the larger the amount of LGN stored the higher the cost for that storage facility so there will be a limited amount of storage that can make it cost effective to store it on site. I haven't even mentioned the actual conversion cost to the boilers and engines. If for some miracle this does happen I'm sure the price of passengers, cars and freight is going to go up. [I can hear Lake Express cheering]

And because, to my knowledge, this type of conversion has not been tried on a coal operated system there is no guarantee it will work.

[Progressive Tiger]

I have the perfect solution to the Badger problem and I'm surprised no one here has suggested it. Forget about clean coal, nuclear power, natural gas or wind turbines powering the ship. The most economical and environmentally safe approach would be to convert the vessel into a slave galley with rowers to power the Badger across the lake. 

Shiftless, layabout liberals could be indentured as rowers thus teaching them the meaning of real work and giving them the opportunity to stop being takers and give something back to the makers. In terms of tourism, it would be a bigger draw than a wind farm.

[XLFD]

Tiger, actually dragging enough of those "shiftless layabout liberals" next to water or to work would take a lot more energy than the SS Badger uses up in a month.  Plus you know the rascals will go on strike at the worse possible time and raid the ship's galleys.   

[AQUAMAN]

When outlanders from other states not familiar with our "boat, the Badger", comment on it negatively, I feel they have "missed the boat". For you tree huggers out there, mostly pro EPA/liberal types, hey, we have a vital industry here that has lasted over 150 years. It has sustained our weak and feeble economy through thick and thin times. They only employ about 75 people nowadays with one ship, but used to employ over 800 people, in a town with a population of 7,000, that was over 10% in the old days. We still need the Badger, and like I said before, I believe she will continue to sail and find other ways to dispose of the ash that are more in keeping with todays' environmentally sensitive society. Long live the Badger, and the economic dollars that she brings to our small berg on Lk. Michigan.

[XLFD]

This was just put out by Steve Begnoche of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews): 

"The Badger will be running in 2013,” according to an LMC statement issued Wednesday evening in response to a Ludington Daily News question. “We continue to work with EPA so that it can issue the draft permit as soon as possible. Under EPA regulations, and the current VGP (vessel general permit), even if the permit is not issued before next season, the current permit is automatically extended until a final decision on a draft permit is made.  The EPA has not replied to requests to confirm this scenario.  http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news/68535-lmc-ss-badger-will-sai...=

 

It is Wednesday morning, Steve.  This statement mirrors the comments made by the LMC Veep, and just adds that they may use a procedural method to get around the EPA's denial, which unfortunately looks imminent.

[Willy]

I would be wondering why the deadline for the permit has been allowed to pass without a response from the EPA. Something fishy is going on. Either this is a way to allow LMC more time to complete the changeover process or it's a trap set by LMC's apponents. Either way, I hope LMC's lawyers are correct about the continuation of their permit. I would hate to see the Badger fined huge sums of money for non compliance. If I were LMC's officers I would want to personally read the continuation clause. I wonder just how much money LMC has paid attorneys to help see the company thru this mess. I hope they read all of the fine print.

[XLFD]

The Milwaukee Sentinel, which has been even worse than Muskegon papers about the SS Badger, had a little more clarification tonight: 

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman declined to comment on the company's assertion.

The agency said it planned to make a preliminary decision on whether to grant a new permit to the Badger by March 1. A final decision will come later, the agency said.

The EPA declined to say when it would make the final decision.

Whether the EPA's timetable will bump up against the start of the 2013 season isn't clear.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/ss-badgers-owner-says-ferry-...

[Willy]

X, thanks for posting that article. I've said all along that Lake Express was behind this and in my opinion this article proves it. Imagine Lake Express's owner going to the Governor and whining about the Badger. Kudos to Wisconsin's  Governor Walker for seeing thru this back stabbing vulture's effort to get rid of his competition. what a slimeball.  At least somebody in Wisconsin has some common sense. 

[XLFD]

If you're right, Willy, they probably consider it as payback for the SS Badger coming out against their initial federal loans that started the Lake Express. 

Supporting that claim is Lake Express expressing (a little word play) that the Badger has an unfair economic advantage due to its current system.  I can just see those weasels thinking something like this up to badger the Badger (look, more word play), since the Expressionists are already tight with the Feds.

[AQUAMAN]

On a side note, did those Federal loans get paid back by Lake Express, anyone know for sure? And how much were they? Just curious.

[masonco]

I understood those were not loans but grants (gifts) from our tax dollars. I see he spoke before congress about how bad the Badger is for them. Strange how he "forgets" he pushed grants for his beloved Lake Express and his personal interest in removing the competition over here in Ludington...a private company without federal funding.

[Willy]

What Lake Express received were Government guaranteed  loans, in other words the Government backed up the loans in case Lake Express fails. This was necessary because of the risky nature of the type of business involved. No bank would loan money without some sort of guarantee given by the Feds. The City of Muskegan did receive a $650,000 grant to build a docking facility for Lake Express. There's a lot of bad blood between the two ferry services.

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/wisconsin/ss-badger-and-lake-ex...

 http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2012/03/letter_ferr...