EPA pledges $1 billion for Great Lakes ‘Areas of Concern’
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[February 18, 2022]
By Bruce Walker
(The Center Square) – The Biden
administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced a
$1 billion cleanup fund for 22 of 25 Great Lakes “Areas of Concern,” or
AOCs.
President Joe Biden announced the cleanup funding during a press event
on Thursday in Lorain, Ohio. According to Press Secretary Jen Psaki, the
president will “deliver remarks on how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
delivers for the American people by investing in clean-up and
restoration efforts in the Great Lakes region and surrounding
waterways.”
Psaki noted the $1 billion of expenditures will “deliver significant
environmental, economic, health, and recreational benefits for
communities throughout the region, including helping people in the
community access clean water.”
An EPA list of 14 AOCs in the Great Lakes Region
include:
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The Clinton River, Michigan.
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The Cuyahoga River, Ohio.
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The Detroit River, Michigan.
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Lower Green Bay/Fox River, Wisconsin.
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Grand Calumet River, Indiana.
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The Kalamazoo River, Michigan.
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Maumee, Ohio.
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Milwaukee Estuary, Wisconsin.
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Niagara River, New York.
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Rouge River, Michigan.
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Saginaw River and Bay, Michigan.
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St. Lawrence River, New York.
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St. Louis River,
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Minnesota/Wisconsin.
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Torch Lake, Michigan.
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“The Great Lakes are a vital economic engine and an irreplaceable
environmental wonder, supplying drinking water for more than 40 million
people, supporting more than 1.3 million jobs, and sustaining life for
thousands of species. Through the investments from President Biden’s
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we will make unprecedented progress in
our efforts to restore and protect the waters and the communities of the
Great Lakes basin,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
Many of the 14 currently active projects listed by the EPA include plans
for removal of pollutants. Michigan’s Clinton River cleanup initiative,
for example, will focus on removal of heavy metals, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), and such conventional pollutants as oil and grease,
fecal coliform bacteria, nutrients and total dissolved solids.
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The Cuyahoga River project includes removal of beneficial use
impairments such as removal of the Gorge Dam in order to restore 1.5
miles of free-flowing river.
Funding for the projects will be provided by the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law in accordance with the Biden Administration’s
Justice40 Initiative, an effort pledging to deliver 40% of the benefits
deriving from federal investments to underserved communities.
An EPA news release cites a 2018 study authored by the Great Lakes
Commission and the University of Michigan, which concluded each dollar
spent by the Great Lakes Restoration Commission results in an additional
$3.35 of economic activity. Additionally, the study reported a return
economic multiplier of $4 for every federal dollar spent restoring AOCs
in older industrial cities such as Detroit and Buffalo.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative initially identified 31 AOCs, and
the EPA reports six AOC projects have been completed thus far. The EPA
forecasts 22 of the remaining 25 AOC projects will be completed by 2030. |