Will the shipping facility at Taconite Harbor that once transferred iron ore from trains coming from the Iron Range onto ships headed for steel plants around the world ever operate again? The county board held an impromptu discussion on this question at its February 28, 2012 meeting.
Board Chair Jan Hall saw community member Lloyd Speck in the audience and asked for his comments, since he worked there for 30 years. Speck raised concern over the fact that more than half of the employees at the Minnesota Power plant that currently operates next to the docks—and that supplies energy to iron mines on the Range—come from Lake County. He said he would like to see at least half of them come from Cook County. He suggested that the board write a letter to the company addressing this issue.
The dock is probably the fastest boat loading facility “in the whole world,” Speck said. If Minnesota Power sold this portion of the property to a company that would start using the shipping facility again, he said, at least 40 local jobs could be created.
Commissioner Bruce Martinson said that Lake County schools place more emphasis on technical training and prepare their students for these types of jobs better than Cook County High School.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja concurred, saying, “Our educational system here in Cook County has failed us in preparing our students for these types of jobs.”
He said the removal of the metal shop at the high school left students unable to gain skills in this area. The North Shore Trade and Tech Project has developed a trade program through the Minnesota state college system for high school students and adult community members at Silver Bay High School, he said.
Sobanja said he has heard that there are companies that could use the Taconite Harbor shipping facility, but legislators advocate more for Two Harbors and Duluth docks. “We need to start working on this,” he said. “The industry is growing. …Seventy percent of the iron used in this country comes from 250-300 miles of us. … We’ve got it here, too, but it’s never going to be dug up.”
Sobanja suggested that they send a letter to state and federal legislators asking them to advocate for the re-opening of the shipping facility. Commissioner Hall asked him to draft that letter for their review.
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