EPA unveils Great Lakes restoration plan

[liberal N proud]

Crafted by 16 federal agencies, the five-year, $475-million proposal seeks to heal the Great Lakes ecosystem from '150 years of abuse.'


Reporting from Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency on Sunday unveiled a five-year, $475-million plan to revitalize the Great Lakes, including cleaning up polluted water and beaches, restoring wetlands and fighting invasive species such as Asian carp.

Federal and state officials call the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan "historically unprecedented" in size, funding and coordination between branches of government.

The plan calls itself light on study and heavy on action, seeking to heal the Great Lakes ecosystem from "150 years of abuse" and to ensure that "fish are safe to eat; the water is safe to drink; the beaches and waters are safe for swimming, surfing, boating and recreating; native species and habitats are protected and thriving; no community suffers disproportionately from the impacts of pollution; and the Great Lakes are a healthy place for people and wildlife to live."

Developed by 16 federal agencies, the plan requires annual progress reports from the EPA on restoration activities and the allocation of funding, which would come from the normal congressional appropriations process.

The plan sets concrete measures for progress on several key threats to the lakes and their surrounding communities.

For example, it sets a goal to collect or prevent the release of 45 million pounds of electronic waste, 45 million unwanted pills and 4.5 million pounds of household hazardous waste in the Great Lakes basin by 2014. It also sets out to significantly reduce harmful algal blooms and to clean out 9.4 million cubic yards of toxic sediment.

It promises a "zero-tolerance policy" toward invasive species, such as Asian carp, that threaten to overrun native plants and wildlife. It calls for a 40% drop in the new detection of such species by 2014.

More at link: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/newsletter/la-na-epa-carp22-2010feb22,0,3918468.story

[mrcheerful]

1. But Dow Chemical is still dumping into the Tittabawassee which flows into Saginaw river

which then flows into Saginaw Bay which flows into Lake Heron. Not to mention that under the leadership of Gov John Engler Dow Chemical built a Chemical Plant at the mouth of the Saginaw river where it flows into the Bay. Thank you tax payers for picking up the tab of cleaning up after Dow.

Though I have to admit it brought great amusement listening to the folks who had land near where Dow built on the Saginaw river whine about the area being a protected wet land s they weren't allowed to build on the land yet these same folks who voted for Engler never uttered a peep when he declared the land Dow wanted wasn't a part of said wet land.