Price tag of closing locks to Asian carp: $4.7 billion, new study says

Source: Chicago Tribune

A study released Wednesday by a DePaul University professor projects a $4.7 billion economic blow to the Chicago region over the next 20 years if navigational shipping locks close to prevent movement of Asian carp, a figure far exceeding an earlier study that minimized the financial impact.

The six-week study, commissioned by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, attempted to examine the "true cost" to the Chicago-area cargo shipping industry, recreational boaters, river tourism, storm water management and other businesses directly and indirectly tied to the river system.

"You start looking at the combined effects of tourism and economic development and you start to understand why the city is concerned about the prospects of closing the locks," said Joseph Schwieterman, a public policy analyst at DePaul University.

The study contradicts a report commissioned by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox that estimated the economic impact to the Chicago region of about $70 million a year — roughly $1.4 billion over 20 years — if the locks were permanently closed. That study is central to Cox's claim that closing the locks would not destroy Chicago's economy.


Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-0408-asian-carp-study-20100407,0,1465884.story

Schwieterman called the earlier study "a very useful piece of research," but said it was too limited because it focused primarily on the amount of barge traffic passing through locks at the mouth of the Chicago River and the Calumet-Sag Channel.

Schwieterman said the real economic loss would be broader than that, saying it would affect recreational boaters who no longer would have access between the Great Lakes and the Chicago river system; popular tour boats through downtown; the construction of new infrastructure to alleviate flooding; the cost of transferring barge cargo to truck or rail; and roads and public safety.

The combined economic loss would be about $580 million in the first year, Schwieterman said, and roughly $530 million annually over the next seven years. >>>

At least in the long term.

Try prevention and prohibition, but rarely work for various reasons.

it's a win-win - except for the kids who are forced to eat gefelte fish.

True cost my ass. Dollars are all that matters.

The long term consequences for letting this fish take over the great lakes - environmental and financial, are staggering. But when capitalism rules the economy and the politicians, what can we do?

Of course dollars are what matters: How Much will it really cost the City and State to lose the use of the facility. So?

If the carp gets into the Lakes, the Lakes will never be the same.

St Lawrence River, Erie Canal/Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Connecticut River etc would dwarf that pricetag..And that doesn't even include the watersheds in Ontario and Quebec that drain south....

JHC :grr: shut down the locks!!

First note that the DePaul-Schwieterman study was on the cost to the greater Chicagoland economy of shutting down the locks and included not one thin dime of the costs of introducing Asian carp to the Great Lakes.

A second point, Chicago’s recreational boaters have access to the world’s largest and one of the most scenic freshwater lake systems, the Great Lakes. That they no longer can cruise up and down some grimy assed cannels largely through Chicago’s industrial zones does not strike me as a multibillion dollar financial loss.

And a third point is that the Chamber of Commerce has lost all credibility with their shift toward supporting rabid predatory capitalism. An “economic study” that looks at the costs of only one side of an economic issue is propaganda, not a product of the study of economics. Professor Schwieterman should be ashamed to sign his name to such a farce.

if it's held that the locks stay open, charge the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago to clean up the carp from every lake and stream, plus punitive damages for lost wages for fisherman, etc. They created the problem, they should pay for fouling our water supply intentionally and destroying the value of the lakes for others.


There's a simple solution to this that would likely cost less than cutting off the route. Close the canal and separate the bodies of water, then unload the ships that come up through the canal and reload them onto Great Lakes freighters (and vice versa). That would create jobs that then plow the money back into the community.

:puke:

dead ones have been found in almost every planned fish kill in the chicago area for several years, also.