WASHINGTON: Here’s some possible good news for prospects of adding Indiana’s fourth shipping port in Lawrenceburg. Ports of Indiana says more than 8.1 million tons of cargo moved through Indiana’s three existing ports through the first nine months of 2017. The figure is a 10 percent increase over the same period last year. It is also the second-highest volume through three quarters for any year in Ports of Indiana’s 56-year history. The higher numbers are due mainly to increased coal, steel, fertilizer and ethanol shipments.
The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon had the highest volume of shipments with 4.5 million tons, up 15 percent when compared to the same period in 2016. The port at Jeffersonville reached over 1.6 million tons, up nine percent. The only Indiana port on Lake Michigan, Burns Harbor, took on two million tons of goods, up 11 percent. Last month, Ports of Indiana announced an $8 million purchase agreement for the former American Electric Power Tanners Creek coal power plant in Lawrenceburg. The agreement will allow the agency to conduct environmental and economic impact studies as it continues to evaluate the viability of a port here. Indiana has not opened a new port in more than 30 years.
