The Milwaukee Harbor District, which includes the Port, Jones Island, and surrounding areas, creates a Water and Land Use Plan that details the vision for the Harbor District.
The City of Milwaukee and Harbor District are asking for public comments on the plan. Comments are being accepted until next Monday, December 18.
As you may be aware, U.S. Oil has a lease with the Port of Milwaukee. Luckily, the Milwaukee City Council ensured that crude oil could not be shipped from the Port. However, US Oil still plans to expand storage and transportation of ethanol and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). This raises serious concerns about the safety of shipping ethanol and transporting the ethanol to the Port. The lease also authorizes a tire pyrolysis facility that could incinerate old tires to turn them into fuel oil. To learn more about the concerns and the lease, visit saferails.org.
It’s important to raise these issues and concerns throughout the planning process. The Plan seeks to create a vision for the District and it’s important that what types of things that will hurt the prosperity of the area is considered as well. You can read the full plan or executive summary here (Spanish version here).
Send your comments by December 18 to comprehensiveplans@milwaukee.gov
Here is a sample comment from our friends at Citizens Acting for Rail Safety:
The Harbor District report’s central themes of sustainable economic development, safe and healthy communities and wise stewardship of our notable water resources are all threatened by the ill-advised plans of U.S. Oil for expanded storage and transportation of High Hazard Flammable cargo — ethanol and LPG.
What is missing from the draft Harbor District Plan is a similarly detailed Water and Land Use Plan for the Port of Milwaukee and similar widespread public discussion and reflection on what kind of cargo and development is appropriate for the Port.
As always, including a personal story or note about what the area, port, and Milwaukee mean to you makes it a lot more compelling!