The largest port authority in the Province of Ontario’s golden horseshoe — the region that links trade from the U.S. to Canada’s largest city, Toronto, and beyond — is preparing to propose the creation of a new Lake Ontario port on the shores of the decommissioned Somerset Generation Station in Niagara County.
The announcement of the project is expected to come sometime next week from the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA). Calls seeking comment from HOPA representatives were not immediately returned on Friday.
Sources with knowledge of the plans tell the Gazette that HOPA representatives have “reached out to government and business leaders in Niagara County” to brief them on the proposed Somerset lake port, which would occupy a portion of the 1,800 acres that make up the site of the former coal-powered Somerset Generation Station. The site is also under consideration for the development of a proposed 125-megawatt solar power project.
A Niagara County spokesman declined to comment on the port proposal.
Kory Schuler, executive director of the Niagara USA Chamber of Commerce, confirmed that he has spoken with the port project proponents and called the proposal “intriguing.”
“I am familiar with (the proposal),” he said. “We have had a conversation with the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority and the (owner) of the Somerset property.”
Schuler said HOPA representatives did not go into detail on the types of vessels — barges or freighters — that might make use of the proposed new port.
“I think it’s an intriguing project,” Schuler said. “It will certainly take some time to (put it together).”
The chamber chief said there will have to be an extensive review of environmental regulations involved in constructing a port and consultations with U.S. Homeland Security officials. He said there will also need to be consideration of the impact that additional commercial shipping traffic would have on the sport fishing industry that operates on Lake Ontario.
“There also needs to be a consideration of the impact on the local communities (near the proposed new port),” Schuler said, noting that roadways in the area may not currently be able to support the amount of heavy truck traffic that would accompany a port development. “That said, the job creation would be a boon to the local economy.”