Illinois Weighs In on Asian Carp Case

The state of Illinois returned fire Jan. 5 in the escalating legal battle over closure of locks on the waterways linking Lake Michigan to the Mississippi-Illinois river system.

According to the Illinois attorney general’s office, the petition Michigan filed on Dec. 22 was incorrectly based on a 1966 high court proceeding.

Michigan asked the Supreme Court to issue an emergency order to close locks on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and its branches to block the spread of the Asian carp to Lake Michigan.

An Illinois attorney general spokeswoman also said that the state was the wrong target for Michigan because the locks are owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Illinois also has been a participant in aggressive state-federal efforts to block the destructive non-native fish from entering the Great Lakes ecosystem, the spokeswoman said.

In addition, she said that closing the locks will cause severe economic harm to the Chicago area by forcing waterborne freight onto highway or rail.

The American Waterways Operators supported the state’s petition. In its affidavit, the organization said a Supreme Court grant of Michigan’s petition “would be catastrophic to the tug, towboat and barge industry in the Great Lakes – Midwest region, and the customers who depend on it.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to discuss the case Jan. 15.

Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.