The White House announced today that the United States and Canadian Governments have agreed to extend the 1979 navigation clearance deadline in the St. Lawrence Seaway from midnight December 15 to midnight December 18. The 3-day extension of the shipping season is designed to help reduce the backlog of grain awaiting shipment from Great Lakes ports.
The backlog developed this harvest season due to a bumper wheat crop and unprecedented export demands, which severely strained the Nation's grain transportation system. Two months of labor strife at the Port of Duluth in Minnesota also disrupted grain shipments and slowed total grain exports by as much as 10 million bushels a week.
The White House expressed gratitude to the Canadian Government and stated:
"We expect the additional Seaway shipping time to help relieve the current backlog of grain in Great Lakes ports. We are hopeful that the weather will allow shippers to take full advantage of the additional time to move grain through the Seaway?'
Jimmy Carter, St. Lawrence Seaway Navigation Clearance Announcement of Extension of the Deadline. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/248291