Effort to close parts of key Midwest waterway could hurt the US economy

04-Jan-10

A multi state effort to close a Midwest waterway prevent the invasive species Asian carp from reaching Lake Michigan, could hurt the US Economy, as per a business-lobby group. Michigan's attorney general, backed by Ohio and Wisconsin, has filed a suit calling for the closure of two locks in a system that links the lake to the Mississippi River on rising concerns that if the Asian carp reach the lakes, the annual US$7.2 bln leisure and fishing sector could suffer likely damages. The state of Illinois has been caught off guard by this move that has also prompted a legal battle over the economic impact of a proposed ecological separation of the Great Lakes from the inland US waterway system around Chicago. However, this move will impede traffic between the lakes and the inland US waterway system that also happens to be a key route for agricultural, petrochemical and construction industry, leading to price hikes of agricultural commodities and other goods, including materials used in infrastructure projects tied to the federal stimulus package.