Related Webpage: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/174420/.

Superior, Wis. and Duluth, Minn. (July 20, 2010)

The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute (GLMRI) has been awarded a $750,000 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative Grant to help reduce air emissions from a 1,000-foot Great Lakes ore carrier. 

Dr. Richard Stewart, GLMRI co-director, said the grant enables Key Lakes I, Inc., a major Great Lakes vessel operator to repower the M/V Edwin H. Gott during the year-long project.The main engine installation will take place at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin concurrent with the vessel's winter layup and drydocking.  

GLMRI and Key Lakes I, Inc., are partners in the project that will significantly reduce the air emissions for the M/V Edwin H. Gott and help improve the air quality in the Great Lakes region particularly in non-attainment areas where the vessel operates.The EPA grant willleverage more than $14 million of private investment supporting employment in Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

Dr. Stewart stated "GLMRI believes this is a great opportunity to continue to improve the environmental footprint of the Great Lakes marine transportation system.  The grant would not have been possible without the support of the EPA, Key Lakes I, Inc., Congressman David Obey, Congressman James Oberstar, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources."

A press conference involving the principal parties is scheduled for July 30, 2010, at 1:30 PM at the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin.

The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute is a consortium of the University of Wisconsin-Superior and the University of Minnesota Duluth with eleven affiliate universities in the Great Lakes region. GLMRI is dedicated to developing and improving economically and environmentally sustainable maritime commerce on the Great Lakes through applied research.  Key Lakes I, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chas. Kurz & Co., Inc., and an affiliate of Keystone Shipping Co.