BREAKING THE ICE
Hoping to break up slow-moving chunks of ice causing trouble along the St. Clair River, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard dis patched three ice cutters this week.
The cutters — the Neah Bay, the Mobile Bay and the Mackinaw — were joined by the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley.
The vessels split up to attack both sides of the 9-mile ice jam that begins near Marysville in St.
Clair County. It’s causing high water levels to the north and dangerously low levels south of Harsens Island.
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River backed up with nowhere to go
Worst St. Clair ice jam since ’84 clogs 9 miles
By AMBER HUNT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Slow-moving chunks of ice in the St. Clair River have created dire con sequences along the waterway in re cent weeks, tearing apart docks, threatening Great Lakes shipping and leaving some wondering wheth er the start to boating season will be delayed.
“It’s literally like a plug in a bath tub,” U.S. Rep. Candice Miller said Sunday as she announced plans for U.S. and Canadian coast guard ice breakers to begin a joint mission today, chomping through the jam at both ends. The plug, which be gins near Marysville in St. Clair County and continues about 9 miles south, is causing unusually high water levels to the north and dangerously low levels south of Har sens Island, said Miller, a Republican from Harrison Township.
It’s the worst ice jam since 1984, when ice reduced normal river flow by as much as 65%, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Last year, a report by a commis sion on border waterways, made up of representatives from the U.S. and Canada, blamed 1984’s jam for caus ing long-lasting changes in water lev els in the Great Lakes.
That ice jam lasted 24 days and clogged about 20 miles of river, ac cording to the Army Corps. This jam is shorter and could be briefer, but Miller said the potential environ mental impact is unclear.
“It’s a unique set of circumstanc es, and it will be a laborious opera tion,” she said of the ships’ efforts. “But the muscle is coming.”
St. Clair River levels sink as ice piles up in waterway
U.S., Canadian icebreakers to join in attacking the mile
9- jam
By AMBER HUNT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
To visualize the conse quences of a 9-mile long ice jam in the St. Clair River, try a quick visit to the Mc Machen Boating Center along North River Road in Harrison Township: The building, which straddles the land and river, is visibly slanted toward the ab normally low water.
Turn the handle on the front door, and gravity quick ly takes over, slamming it open.
“Usually we’re sitting straight,” said Bill Mc Ma chen, whose son, Mark Mc Machen, owns the busi ness.
The jam is causing floods to the north and low water levels to the south.
The U.S. Coast Guard is ex pected to begin a joint mission today with the Canadian coast guard that should eliminate the ice jam this week, U.S. Rep. Candice Miller said Sun day.
The jam, considered the worst of its kind since 1984, can be traced to a single week of pleasant weather in late January.
That spell of mid-40-de gree delight softened the ice that had formed atop Lake Huron.
Then came some wind from the north, and the ice broke apart, headed south in chunks toward the river’s mouth, got carried away by the current, and bottlenecked in the narrower waterway of the river, said Bryan Tilley, a meteorologist with the Na tional Weather Service in White Lake Township.
“Once things loosened up in January, it wasn’t able to solidify back into ice,” said Tilley.
Along the river south of Al gonac, the water dips low enough to expose unpainted portions of seawalls. In some areas, the river bottom is vis ible through the ice.
And although swans swim ming upstream might be stealthy enough to dodge the problem, some boats haven’t been so lucky: Every day this month, the Coast Guard has had to rescue ships that ma neuvered into the thick of the ice, only to find they had no way out.
Don Chase, a controller with the U.S. Coast Guard Command Center in Detroit, said icebreaking cutters have helped free local lakers, freight ships and tankers ever since the first ice jam was re ported about three weeks ago. “It’s our job, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to keep that river moving for flood relief and commercial traffic,” Chase said.
The ice chunks are slam ming into docks along the way, wreaking havoc on mari nas such as Mac Ray Harbor in Harrison Township, where Gerry and Diane Prainito house their 33-foot Four Winns power boat.
Diane Prainito is worried that low water levels and dock repairs will delay the start of the boating season.
“You can see the ground, the water’s so low,” said Prai nito, who took pictures Sun day of the ice jam along M-29, just north of the Russell Is land ferry.
The U.S. cutters — the Neah Bay from Cleveland; the Mobile Bay from Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and the Mackinaw from Cheboygan — will be joined by the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley from Parry Sound, Ontario.
The ferry service to Har sens Island will be suspended until the icebreakers com plete their mission, Miller said.
■ CONTACT AMBER HUNT: 313-223-4526 OR ALHUNT@FREEPRESS.COM.
