The Port Authority of Cleveland is taking a more active role in making sure lawmakers – and the bills they’re working on -- take into account the Port’s importance.
Since being hired last summer, the Port’s Vice-President of External Affairs, Jade Davis, had already been taking an active role in advocating at the state and national level. Now, it’s being made an official part of his duties, with several pieces of pending legislation which could affect where the Army Corps of Engineers must dump sediment dredged from the Cuyahoga River.
Davis says he’ll also be focusing on other issues related to the health of the river and the economic health of the Port.
“[We can do] more things with the Canadian government in order to usher trade up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes. And with the Port of Cleveland being the largest port on the Great Lakes, we see ourselves as a leader in that.
“Hopefully, we can get Congress and the administration around the idea of having the [St. Lawrence] Seaway open year-round rather than having the annual closures.”
Davis says increased funding for maintenance and upgrades of locks will help with that goal, which could also possibly allow lager ships to travel through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
