Tagged: port huron

PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) - A $145 million expansion of the Blue Water Bridge customs plaza in Port Huron has been halted due to a lack of federal funding.

The Times-Herald reports that Port Huron city leaders have been told the federal government isn't interested in continuing the project.

The update was given Friday by federal and state officials. U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Dennis Counihan says the project is not part of the agency's current five-year plan.

PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) - A U.S. Coast Guard ship that participated in early tests of the atomic bomb has been sold by the Port Huron Museum.

The museum said it couldn't afford to keep the Bramble and had to sell it, despite protests by a Detroit-area man who tried to rally the public to the ship's defense.

With the tumult of the Vietnam War, the War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement came the feeling that something momentous was happening.

For Tom Hayden and his peers, there truly was.

It has been 50 years since members of Students for a Democratic Society gathered in Port Huron to produce the Port Huron Statement.

The Statement defined their vision of "participatory democracy, a calling for students to take place in liberal causes across the country."

Activist Tom Hayden will be in Port Huron tonight to commemorate the Port Huron Statement.

A group of university students wrote the statement fifty years ago at a UAW retreat center north of Port Huron.

Hayden was one of the main participants, who was in his early twenties at the time.

The 25,000 word document addressed racism, poverty, the Cold War, and the nuclear arms race.

It was one of the first times there'd been a formal call-to-action for students to be part of a movement pushing for social change.

A group of university students wrote the Port Huron Statement fifty years ago at a UAW retreat center, north of Port Huron. They called themselves “Students for a Democratic Society.” One of the main participants was political activist Tom Hayden, who was in his early twenties at the time.

The statement begins with these words: "We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit."

Friday, July 20, 9:06 a.m.

The U.S. Coast Guard released a statement this morning declaring that the diesel fuel tanks onboard the sunken dredge, the Arthur J, have been secured and that no more diesel fuel is spilling into Lake Huron:

All the fuel valves and vents on the Arthur J have been plugged. 

The Arthur J has ten vents to its fuel tank and responders where able to plug four of them early Thursday afternoon, but six remained open until responders were able to plug them late Thursday night.

The impact to the shoreline has been minimal; however there is visible sheening along the shores of Lakeport, but there has been no report of a thick product wash ashore. However, there is still a strong diesel odor in the air, so residents and visitors of the lower Lake Huron area are encouraged to avoid areas where there is an odor in the air.

Thursday, July 19, 12:26 p.m.

Mlive.com reports that if storms do not let up, all 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel will get into Lake Huron.

The Michigan Department of Enviromental Quality is monitoring the situation from the periphery, and spokesman Brad Wurfel said ongoing storms may limit the effectiveness of the containment boom.

"We're hoping to recover all we can," he said. "But it's anticipated that if the storms do not let up, it's best to plan on the idea that all 1,500 gallons will get into the lake."

The weather, the weight of the fuel, wind direction and underwater currents make it difficult to predict where the fuel may head. Some local beaches may see a sheen, Wurfel said, but the "environmental impact is not expected to be catastrophic."

"The upside is, it's a big lake. A lot of this will dissipate."

St. Clair County officials have closed all public beaches on Lake Huron as a precautionary measure, according to health education and planning director Jennifer Michalul.

A local hazmat team and fire crew are aiding the Coast Guard, which has established 100-yard safety zone around the periphery of the oil sheen.