Midwest Energy Ships 500 Millionth Ton of Coal

Superior Company Reaches a Milestone

Midwest Energy Resources Company (MERC) transshipped its 500 millionth ton of coal on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, with the loading of Interlake Steamship Company’s M/V Paul R. Tregurtha for the DTE Electric Company.

MERC, which began operations in 1976, transshipped its 100 millionth ton of U.S. western low-sulfur coal in 1991, 200 millionth ton in 1998, 300 millionth ton in 2004 and 400 millionth in 2009.

“The 500 millionth ton transshipped on December 14th represents another significant MERC milestone along with the loading and transshipment of our 10,000th vessel, American Steamship Company’s M/V American Century on Monday, November 9, 2015,” said MERC President Fred Shusterich.

He credits the achievement of these transshipment milestones to the hard work and dedication put forth by all MERC employees throughout the years and looks forward to MERC’s attainment of its 600 millionth ton transshipped in the not to distant future.

MERC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the DTE Electric Company, owns and operates the largest capacity coal transshipment facility on the Great Lakes and presently transships more coal than all of the other Great Lakes coal dock facilities combined.

Fun Facts:

A comparative description of what 500,000,000 tons of coal would look like in one pile:

-It would rise one mile high from a base of 80 acres, which is the total coal storage pile(s) footprint at MERC.

-It would cover the 56 square miles of the entire city of Superior, WI in 12 feet of coal.

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