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INDIANAPOLIS — Don’t look for Gary or East Chicago to be home to a bustling Lake Michigan port anytime soon.

That’s the word from Rich Cooper, Ports of Indiana CEO, who last week told a panel of Hoosier lawmakers, led by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, that neither city has the lakefront infrastructure or available land necessary to develop a profitable port for ocean-going ships.

“We can handle double the cargo that we’re handling today at Burns Harbor without any additional investment,” Cooper said. “There’s still tremendous capacity there.”

As a result, a second Northwest Indiana port likely wouldn’t grow shipping to the Region, only redirect it to more locations — and that’s not cost-effective, Cooper said.

He also identified specific issues with Gary and East Chicago port sites proposed in the past by both city’s mayors and state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, among others.

In Gary, Cooper said his agency determined that most of the dock wall and a large chunk of property in and around Buffington Harbor is owned by Carmeuse for its quicklime manufacturing operation.

He said the remainder is tied up in a trust created by Don Barden, the late former owner of the Majestic Star casinos.