Port of Ashtabula benefits from $17 billion infrastructure bill

ASHTABULA, Ohio (WOIO) - Here’s a look at how the recently passed 17 billion dollar Infrastructure Bill is going to impact Northeast Ohio’s ports.

At the port of Ashtabula, it’s business as usual.

For years this port has been the way coal, gravel, iron ore, and many other things get delivered.

Now with the help of the recently passed 17 billion dollar infrastructure bill passed, the port is going to flourish even more.

It’s unknown when the money will come, and how much of it there will be, but when it does the county says it’s ready.

“The economic impact will be tremendous, not just the direct impact,” said Greg Myers, the Executive Director at Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County.

We’re told some of that money that they do get, they’re going to use that towards fixing up the port, to make it more marketable.

“What’s really important is reinvestment infrastructure. So this infrastructure was built here in the 40s and 50s. New pumps, new casings, we don’t have to create new we can upgrade. If you don’t have the opportunity to replace them, you won’t have what you have in the future,” said Mark Winchell, with Ashtabula County Port Authority.

With the money, they’ll also invest in their water infrastructure,

“From a local perspective we have tons of water infrastructure so we have a permit to pull 200 million gallons a day out of Lake Erie so we’re currently pumping about 30 million gallons a day,” said Winchell.

Copyright 2021 WOIO. All rights reserved.