New International Trade Crossing

Like a bad neighbor, the Moroun family is there: Stephen Henderson

Admin — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:15:57 +0000

Detroit Free Press

By Stephen Henderson
Editorial Page Editor

If you were to try to come up with the most unsavory combination imaginable of people, product and problems, you’d be hard-pressed to beat the Koch brothers; the Moroun family and petroleum coke along the Detroit riverfront.

Somewhere, Dante is giggling.

And here, Detroiters should be crying.

If you live or work anywhere along the west riverfront in Detroit, by now you’ve noticed the growing piles of what looks like soot on property that’s just east of Manuel (Matty) Moroun’s Ambassador Bridge.

Turns out, the stuff is worse than soot, though it’s unclear how much worse. It’s petroleum coke, a byproduct of an oil-refining process. The Environmental Protection Agency says it’s fine to store and safe so long as it’s not “disturbed.” It’s clearly waste, though, with a high carbon and sulfur content. And piling it along the river wouldn’t seem to prevent disturbing it.

Rain could wash it into the river, or perhaps make it airborne. And how secure is the site where it’s being stored?

It also turns out this particular pile of coke is owned by Koch Carbon, one of the many companies associated with right-wing activists David and Charles Koch. They’re storing it on land owned by Moroun, supposedly before shipping it overseas for sale.

The mountains look horrible, like big, dirty mounds of ash or some other waste product. They’re visible from just about anywhere along the Detroit side of the river west of downtown; from Canada, pictures suggest it looks even worse.

And even if they pose no environmental hazard (hard to believe, but possible) they’re an awful eyesore. This is dumping, along the riverfront, in close proximity to places where lots of people live and work.

This is one of the biggest problems the Morouns, who are the city’s largest private landholders, have. If you tried, you might be able to excuse their greed over their bridge and the unbelievable obstinance they’ve shown over a rival, publicly owned bridge taking shape further down river.

But they’re just bad neighbors. Maybe the worst in metro Detroit.

The trucks they own trundled down residential streets for years while they stalled and fought over the Gateway project to re-route traffic.

Their abandoned buildings — Michigan Central Station has become an iconic representation of Detroit decay — haunt neighborhoods all over southwest Detroit in particular.

Now they’re letting the Koch brothers dump along a riverfront that the city and other private interests have spent tens of millions trying to revitalize and make accessible and clean for people to enjoy. You know, like they do in just about any other city.

I’m sure this is worth a good buck or two to the Morouns. And it seems unlikely anyone will do much about it, at least in the short-term. Our best hope may be for the state to coerce a change in the way the petroleum coke is being stored. Like, maybe, put it in something, rather than just piling it along the riverfront.

Meanwhile, for the rest of us, this is just another circle of Moroun hell, with the Koch brothers and a filthy pile of soot as a stage prop.

What a joy.

Does Anyone Trust Moroun?

Admin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:39:27 +0000

Ambassador Bridge wants to improve west Windsor
Bridge company president Dan Stamper says he wants to discuss improvements to west end

CBC News

The Ambassador Bridge company wants a meeting with Windsor mayor Eddie Francis and city council.

The bridge company owns more than 150 properties in the city’s west end and it says it wants to discuss improvements to the neighbourhood.

Bridge president Dan Stamper said in a letter that he’s tired of fighting and thinks it’s possible to put down “the swords” and accomplish good things for Windsor.

Francis said the only way a meeting will happen is if the bridge executive agrees not to talk about building a second span.

“It’s the Ambassador Bridge doing what the Ambassador Bridge does. It says one thing and does and acts completely opposite of what they say their intentions are,” Francis alleges. “The ball is in their court. We got a number of other priorities on out list that keep us busy and focused but we are going to continue to protect the interests of this community and we are going to continue to ensure that the public interest is maintained.”

Francis said he will not formally respond to the letter.

He and Stamper did meet earlier in the year, but there was no agreement.

Coun. Ron Jones, who represents the west end, doesn’t believe the bridge will ever get the necessary permits to build a second span.

He said any type of meeting would have to involve the community in a public forum.

“I want to discuss the boarded up houses in west Windsor. I want to talk about routes, about hazardous materials, there’s a pile of things we can talk about at that meeting,” Jones said. “But the public has a right to know.”

Editorial: State must continue fight for bridge

Admin — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 08:00:22 +0000

Detroit-Windsor crossing vital to economy

Now that Michigan has received a needed federal permit to proceed with the New International Trade Crossing, one point cannot be more clear: Those who care about the state’s economic future must fight valiantly to assure this project is successfully completed.

The NITC is the name for the proposed new bridge between Detroit and Windsor — a new bridge that many analysts consider essential to the state’s future prosperity.

Gov. Rick Snyder has worked tirelessly on advancing the new bridge, carving a deal with Canadian authorities that will allow the much-needed project to proceed despite objections from Manuel Moroun, owner of the Detroit International Bridge Co. which operates the existing Ambassador Bridge.

The Ambassador has been a privately owned bridge since its construction in the 1920s. Moroun, like any good business man, is defending his interests as he fights to block a competing crossing. But the interests of one billionaire and his family are not the interests of Michigan’s people — no matter how many millions he spends trying to thwart the effort with advertising campaigns and constitutional amendments. (A ballot proposal he sponsored in an effort to block the bridge was wisely and soundly defeated by Michigan voters last November.)

Recall, the bridge is considered so vital by Canada that it has signed on to lend Michigan the $550 million share of the construction costs, to be paid back by future tolls.

Taxpayers will not be on the hook for construction costs, except to the extent that some federal money will be spent as the bridge is, after all, a vital international trade crossing.

Canadian officials say that one-quarter of all trade between the two nations passes through Detroit and Windsor, which is the busiest crossing between the two nations.

Snyder predicts bridge construction could create 12,000 direct jobs and 31,000 indirect jobs. Southeast Michigan economic development officials project the new bridge could help add 66,000 additional jobs to the state and increase its prominence as a logistics hub.

The Morouns will keep fighting; they already have one federal lawsuit filed. Snyder, the state’s congressional delegation and its business leaders must keep their eye on the prize. To have a thriving future, Michigan needs the new bridge.

An LSJ editorial

A Bridge to Somewhere

Admin — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:00:21 +0000

metrotimes

By Jack Lessenberry

The other hero is a retired Free Press investigative reporter and blogger, Joel Thurtell, who first brought this story to my attention in 2008, after he discovered Moroun had seized portions of a city park and posted phony “Homeland Security” no trespassing signs.

When Thurtell went there, a shotgun-toting Moroun goon drove him away. The reporter posted pictures and a story. Soon after, I wrote about this. Eventually, the “mainstream media” started to.

It isn’t over until it’s over. Expect more dirty tricks till, someday, they close the lid on Matty.

But there really will be a new bridge.

Southwest Detroit contractor pipeline for New International Trade Crossing being established

Admin — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:00:46 +0000

By David Muller | MLive.com

DETROIT, MI – The Southwest Detroit Congress of Communities has announced that it will be assessing which local contractors can qualify for Michigan Department of Transportation contracts for work on the New International Trade Crossing.

On Friday, Gov. Rick Snyder and federal officials announced the U.S. State Department has issued a permit for construction of the NITC, a $3.5 billion bridge that will connect Detroit to Windsor, Ontario.

The Congress of Communities said that it is looking for pre-qualified contractors to do road and bridge construction and repair, concrete or hot asphalt mixing and paving, pavement marking, concrete curb and sidewalk work, street lighting, sewer installation, signing and landscaping.

At the same time, the Southwest Detroit Business Association and Pure Michigan are partnering to hire a full-time staff member to help local contractors get pre-qualified with MDOT and then to assist them with the bidding process.

“This is simply an assessment of contractors in a our community, not a guarantee of pre-qualification,” Congress of Communities said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the program could not immediately be reached Tuesday morning.

In the past, SDBA president Kathleen Wendler has said the organization was working to ensure that work on the new bridge would come from the area that it is impacting the most, namely the Del Ray neighborhood and Southwest Detroit – where the foot of the structure will land in the U.S. – rather than from out-of-state contractors.

The Congress of Communities said it will later pass local contractors’ information on to the SDBA and Pure Michigan. The process is expected to begin in about six months.