Coast Guard seeks comment on closure of North Superior Station in Grand Marais and three other locations
Jul 30, 2021 06:50AM ● By Editor
Photo: pinterst.com
From Boreal Community Media - July 30, 2021
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Coast Guard announced the closure of the USCG station located in Grand Marais, Minnesota – currently called the North Superior Station. Now the Coast Guard is making public comments available on the closure along with three other stations across the country.
In a public statement issued on Thursday, the USCG said:
"We are requesting your comments on the planned consolidation of redundant Coast Guard boat stations. Many stations were established at a time when boats lacked engines and were powered by oars and paddles. With modern boat operating speeds and improved direction finding technology, many calls for Coast Guard assistance can be responded to by multiple units significantly faster than when these boat stations were first established. The combination of significantly improved response times, along with an overall reduction in rescue calls due to boating safety improvements throughout the nation, has resulted in a number of boat stations becoming redundant. This consolidation will result in a more robust response system by increasing staffing levels and capacity at select nearby boat stations. Such a consolidation creates synergy and more opportunities for boat operators to properly train instead of missing training opportunities while standing ready to respond to calls that do not come."
The public statement continued with the following rationale for the proposed closures: "The 2017 Government Accountability Office report recommends the consolidation of 18 boat stations. Due to environmental and operational factors, the Coast Guard is not considering all 18 boat stations identified in the GAO report for consolidation this year. Instead, we anticipate consolidating four stations, with implementation nationally scheduled for fiscal year 2022. These stations have been identified because there are other units nearby capable of responding to cases in these areas, and because these four stations respond to a low number of cases."
In addition to the proposed closure of the North Superior Station located in Grand Marais, the USCG is proposing the closure of three other stations - located in Holland MI, Small Scituate MA and Beach Haven, NJ.
From Boreal Community Media - July 30, 2021
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Coast Guard announced the closure of the USCG station located in Grand Marais, Minnesota – currently called the North Superior Station. Now the Coast Guard is making public comments available on the closure along with three other stations across the country.
In a public statement issued on Thursday, the USCG said:
"We are requesting your comments on the planned consolidation of redundant Coast Guard boat stations. Many stations were established at a time when boats lacked engines and were powered by oars and paddles. With modern boat operating speeds and improved direction finding technology, many calls for Coast Guard assistance can be responded to by multiple units significantly faster than when these boat stations were first established. The combination of significantly improved response times, along with an overall reduction in rescue calls due to boating safety improvements throughout the nation, has resulted in a number of boat stations becoming redundant. This consolidation will result in a more robust response system by increasing staffing levels and capacity at select nearby boat stations. Such a consolidation creates synergy and more opportunities for boat operators to properly train instead of missing training opportunities while standing ready to respond to calls that do not come."
The public statement continued with the following rationale for the proposed closures: "The 2017 Government Accountability Office report recommends the consolidation of 18 boat stations. Due to environmental and operational factors, the Coast Guard is not considering all 18 boat stations identified in the GAO report for consolidation this year. Instead, we anticipate consolidating four stations, with implementation nationally scheduled for fiscal year 2022. These stations have been identified because there are other units nearby capable of responding to cases in these areas, and because these four stations respond to a low number of cases."
In addition to the proposed closure of the North Superior Station located in Grand Marais, the USCG is proposing the closure of three other stations - located in Holland MI, Small Scituate MA and Beach Haven, NJ.
The USCG statement continues:
"We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal portal at https://www.regulations.gov. In your submission, please include the docket number for this notice and provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation. We will review all comments received, but we may choose not to post off-topic, inappropriate, or duplicate comments that we receive. We accept anonymous comments. Comments we post to https://www.regulations.gov will include any personal information you have provided."
All the information in this request for public comments can be found by following this link: https://www.regulations.gov/document/USCG-2021-0238-0001
