DETROIT – A unique border battle is brewing in Detroit as a small ferry boat owner said the owner of the Ambassador Bridge is trying to put him out of business.
Greg Ward has been crossing the Detroit River with his ferry boat for nearly 30 years. His boat carries trucks that aren't allowed to cross the bridge or use the tunnel because of hazmat regulations.
But Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun wants to change the regulations, saying he feels deliberately singled out by the state. The state controls where hazardous or dangerous cargo can go on its roadways. Moroun said he should be able to decide what travels on his bridge.
For all the Ambassador Bridge trucks that travel to and from Canada, you won't see gasoline tankers, explosives or radioactive cargoes.
Moroun said he can't understand the regulations and he is suing the state to change them.
In a statement, the bridge company said, "Supplies important to manufacturing and the auto industry currently are required to drive 60 miles out of their way or pay a ransom to cross the border on a barge."
The barge is the Detroit Windsor Truck Ferry.
"MDOT (Michigan Department of Transportation) has no issue with the highly regulated and controlled cargo using the state-owned crossing at Port Huron. The Ambassador Bridge should be available for trucks to take the shortest and safest route," the bridge company's statement said.
"It puts us out of business if they're successful," Ward said.
Ward started the truck ferry in 1990 and has battled Moroun for years.
"It's a very small economic gain for them, but it probably gives them some pleasure in causing as much grief they can for anyone who opposes them," Ward said.
Ward said he has a bull's-eye on his back. The new Gordie Howe Bridge would likely make the ferry obsolete, and he said he could live with that.
"I don't necessarily want to go out of business, but I understand the greater good, and we need to have a redundancy in a transportation system," Ward said. "If it's at our cost, so be it."
In 2008, Moroun asked the state to look at the issue and management decided not only to prevent hazardous materials from crossing the bridge, it increased restrictions.
While the state doesn't comment on pending litigation, MDOT spokespeople said federal standards would require increased public safety as a reason to change the rules, and they don't believe changing the regulations would do that.