Media Advisory

What/Where/When

Harbor Corrosion Panel News Conference, 3 p.m. Thursday, September 9

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Fourth Floor Conference Room, Palucci Building, Canal Park (525 South Lake Avenue), Duluth

Why
Something is eating away at steel docks and loading facilities in the Twin Ports. An expert panel is convening in Duluth to discuss what might be causing the corrosion. At the request of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and other sponsors, five experts in the fields of corrosion, microbiology, and chemistry will address the accelerated corrosion of sheet piling and other steel structures in the Duluth-Superior Harbor. The panelists will consider the extent of the Twin Ports' corrosion, how it differs from corrosion in other freshwater ports, and what might be done to mitigate the problem. The experts will meet privately then field questions from the steering committee and an invited audience; a facilitator and the panelists will summarize the outcomes of their two-day discussion at 3 p.m. on September 9.

Who/How
The panelists include: Charles Marsh (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Great Lakes corrosion expert), Alfred Beitelman (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; protective coatings expert), James Bushman (Bushman and Assoc.; electrical induced corrosion expert), Brenda Little (Naval Research Laboratory; Microbial induced corrosion expert), and Rudy Buchheit (Ohio State University; metallurgy and corrosion expert).

The Duluth-Superior Harbor Accelerated Corrosion Expert Panel Meeting is sponsored by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Minnesota and Wisconsin Sea Grant Programs, and the University of Minnesota Duluth and its Natural Resource Research Institute.

--30--

Contact: Marie Zhuikov, Communications Coordinator
University of MN Duluth Sea Grant Program
Phone: (218) 726-7677, Fax: (218) 726-6556

More Press Releases, 2004