Seaway Island Fire

Thanks to Melanie Most for these photos of the fire yesterday:


Seaway Island is on fire and is blowing smoke and ash all over the flats.

Ice Jam in the News

Cutters break ice jam Windsor Star, Canada,  Tuesday, March 30, 2010

WINDSOR, Ont. —Massive ice jams that caused shipping traffic bottlenecks over the weekend have finally been cleared from the St. Clair River after round-the-clock work by the Canadian and U.S. coast guards.

"This winter was a very strange event," said Andy Maillet, the superintendent of operations at the Canadian Coast Guard regional operations centre in Sarnia.

"This particular winter has been an anomaly along the whole Eastern Seaboard. The Gulf of St. Lawrence saw record low amounts of ice. I certainly have never seen this in my 34 years."

Maillet said that while Lake St. Clair had the least amount of ice since 1984, it still saw three instances where ice bridges were formed at the mouth of the St. Clair River in January, February and last week.

"They sort of had the perfect storm type of situation where the winds, the temperatures, everything was in proper sync, the planets were aligned, and the ice just pummelled down the river, as it did a couple of months ago," said Maillet of the trouble that began early last week.

"The ice sealed up the river again, the only ice that remained out there was the heavy, thick ice that survived the melt, so it all piled up at the bottom of the St. Clair River and caused an ice jam whereby there was an ice jam both at the top end and the bottom end initially."

Seven ice breakers, the Samuel Risley and Griffon from Canada and five from the U.S., worked 24 hours straight on Thursday and Friday to clear the jam while shipping traffic was brought to a standstill.

"It's probably the first time we've ever had seven icebreakers working at one place on the Great Lakes ever," said Maillet.

There were about 20 commercial vessels waiting to proceed through the river while the icebreaking took place.

Such jams actually impede the flow of water and cause the level of Lake St. Clair to drop and Lake Huron to rise, Maillet said.

Canadian, U.S. coast guards break ice jam Windsor Star, BY CHRIS THOMPsonMARCH 29, 2010 Massive ice jams that caused shipping traffic bottlenecks over the weekend have finally been cleared from the St. Clair River after round-the-clock work by the Canadian and U.S. coast guards. “This winter was a very strange event,” said Andy Maillet, the superintendent of operations at the Canadian Coast Guard regional operations centre in Sarnia. “This particular winter has been an anomaly along the whole Eastern Seaboard. The Gulf of St. Lawrence saw record low amounts of ice. I certainly have never seen this in my 34 years.” Maillet said that while Lake St. Clair had the least amount of ice since 1984, it still saw three instances where ice bridges were formed at the mouth of the St. Clair River in January, February and last week. “They sort of had the perfect storm type of situation where the winds, the temperatures, everything was in proper sync, the planets were aligned, and the ice just pummelled down the river, as it did a couple of months ago,” said Maillet of the trouble that began early last week. “The ice sealed up the river again, the only ice that remained out there was the heavy, thick ice that survived the melt, so it all piled up at the bottom of the St. Clair River and caused an ice jam whereby there was an ice jam both at the top end and the bottom end initially.” Coast Guard clears ice from St. Clair River Toledo On The Move (AP) -- The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard have wrapped up an effort to clear ice jams on the St. Clair River. Chief Warrant Officer Mark Stauffer says in a statement that a significant amount of ice was flushed out of the St. Clair River during the past week. He says it's the most ice in the river in decades. Delayed traffic also has cleared the river as of Monday. The Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw, Neah Bay, Bristol Bay and Biscyane Bay and the Canadian Coast Guard ships Griffon and Same Risley conducted icebreaking operations between the St. Clair River and southern Lake Huron. The ice this month forced crews to free freighters that got stuck.

Ice News

Don't forget to click on the above tabs "Area News" & "Harsens Island in  the News" for more stories!! St. Clair River jammed again - The Sarnia Observer - Ontario, CA Ice icebreakers were busy Monday clearing thick Lake Huron ice blown into the St. Clair River by north winds. Freighters approaching the river were asked to hold off for 24 hours to allow the U.S. and Canadian icebreakers to do their work, said Andy Maillet, regional supervisor of operations with the Canadian Coast Guard. "It did flush down all night long so the river is basically full of ice again," Maillet said. "The only good thing about that is Lake St. Clair is not frozen, so there's nothing hard that's going to stop the ice from flowing down." That in turn is reducing the risk of flooding, he added. Ice stopped Cross-river service at Sombra's Bluewater Ferry was halted by ice Sunday for the third time this winter. "It's bad today," owner Lowell Dalgety said Monday. "We're jammed up . . . we've got an awful lot of ice coming at us." Recent warm weather has released "some pretty impressive thick ice" that's proving difficult to move down through the river, Maillet said Several freighters became stuck Sunday but were able to move again with the help of icebreakers and a pair of tugboats. "It was a tough slog over the weekend," Maillet said. The latest river troubles coincided with Sunday's opening of the Sault Ste. Marie locks, which marked the official start of the new Great Lakes shipping season. Maillet said Monday it was hard to say when ship traffic on the St. Clair River would return to normal. Ice, extending from 2.5 to seven miles out, stretches 13 miles up the shoreline north of the Blue Water Bridge, he said. "So even if we were able to get an open-water route through that ice it doesn't mean that is going to stay." Nevertheless, the north winds driving the ice into the river are welcome, he added. "Once it flows through we're done with it."

Satellite View

Click on phtos for larger image:

Today's image...thanks to Kathy Engelhart for this Email:

This satellite view is from Friday, more recent images are cloud covered.

Ice Watch in Effect for Harsen's Island

I just heard on the scanner that the Canadian Ice Office told Sarnia Coast Guard that there was a "significant" amount of ice coming into the river from Lake Huron. As I write this Sarnia is contacting the various ferry operators to alert them.

I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH ICE AND I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER IT WILL CAUSE OUR FERRY ANY TROUBLE. However, it is enough to have Sarnia Traffic Control sending out warnings to the downstream ferries.


Charles Miller
President
Harsens Island St. Clair Flats Association
cmiller79@comcast.net

Harsen's Island in the News

Coast Guard, ferry service clash after five ferry shutdowns
The Voice News
By Jeri Packer, Voice Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, March 4, 2010

Friction between the U.S. Coast Guard and Clay Township was more abrasive than ever this year, as the Harsen's Island ferry experienced one interruption in service after another as ice cutters busted through the North Channel.

The first ice jam of the season occurred early, on Jan. 8, said Champions Auto Ferry owner Bob Bryson.

"There's been ice in river ever since," he said. "We've been shut down five different times by the coast guard, sometimes for one day, other times two to three days."

According to the Coast Guard, unless Mother Nature throws another curve ball, it looks like water levels are settling along the nine-mile stretch of the St. Clair River Coast Guard cutters must keep clear. Water levels north of Clay Township were rising, causing some flooding and to the south, levels were dropping by at least two feet. The Coast Guard cutters also assisted many freighters across the waterway after getting stalled in frozen waters.

Pictures of the Action on Gull Island

Many thanks to Jan Zboril for these pictures of the construction of aerial towers carrying video surveillance cameras on Gull Island:

Islands get surveillance cams - Harsen's Island & Gull Island

The Macomb Daily News

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is working on plans to erect three aerial towers carrying video surveillance cameras on two islands in Lake St. Clair, according to state and local officials.

Federal officials want to place the towers on Harsens Island and Gull Island, both located in St. Clair County waters to focus on the Canadian shoreline for drug smuggling, illegal immigration and human trafficking.

"That's definitely one of our security issues," said Russell Gullett, chief of staff for the Michigan Department of Homeland Security.

Today's Satellite Photo

Big thank you to Chuck Miller for staying on top of things....it's like having another blogger here for Harsen's Island News!!!!

Coast Guard has been busy!

River is open, AND they've opened up tracks in the lake!

Click on photo for larger image!