The Northwest Indiana Forum (NIF) is opposing a lawsuit in which the State of Michigan is seeking the enforced closure of Chicago-area locks in an effort to stop the advance of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.

Instead, the Forum has expressed its preference “for a more comprehensive and long-term approach to eradicate the Asian carp in the Inland Waterway System and Great Lakes,” NIF said in a statement released last week. “While the Forum is sensitive to the environmental concerns Asian carp presents in the Great Lakes, the closure of the locks will have an immediate and profound impact on Northwest Indiana commerce without providing a permanent solution to the invasive species.”

“The Forum has asked the State of Indiana to support a multi-state initiative to protect the Great Lakes from the invasive Asian carp and to withdraw the support for the closure of the Chicago lock system,” the statement said. Meanwhile, NIF is working with Save the Dunes and other statewide environmental and economic stakeholder organizations.

“The Chicago-area locks provide a cost-effective means to transport raw materials and finished goods along the Mississippi Valley corridor used extensively by the steel industry, agricultural processors, oil refineries, construction product manufacturers, and fertilizer companies,” the statement said.

“Eliminating access to the Chicago-area waterways will negatively affect many large-scale regional projects, jobs, and operations, most notably the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor,” the statement added. “The Port, seventh largest in the nation and 15th in the world, sees more than 500,000 tons of cargo annually which travels through the locks/Calumet Waterway.”

“In addition, the closure of the locks would require a modal transfer from barge to rail and truck, significantly impacting air quality and environmental sustainability,” the statement said. “This represents literally hundreds of millions of dollars in efficiency loss and a substantial increase in fuel consumption and overall operational costs deeply affecting the state’s commerce.”

The Northwest Indiana Forum is a non-profit regional economic development organization with members in Porter, Lake, and LaPorte counties. It is funded by membership contributions and grants.