Obama wants to pump $475M into Great Lakes cleanup
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A budget proposal from the Obama administration would spend $475 million on beach cleanups, wetlands restoration and removal of toxic sediments from river bottoms around the Great Lakes.
The spending represents a first step toward a multiyear campaign to repair decades of damage to the battered ecosystem. It also seeks to ward off new threats by preventing exotic species invasions and cutting down on erosion and runoff.
Obama's 2010 budget released in February requested the $475 million for a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, focusing on the region's most pressing environmental problems. When added to existing programs such as sewer system upgrades, it would push annual federal spending on the lakes past $1 billion.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently provided more details on how the new money would be used. Government officials and activists from the region analyzed the plan Thursday in a conference call with reporters.
"These are exactly the kind of measures we need to return the Great Lakes to health," said Andy Buchsbaum, co-chairman of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. "This is not a long shot. This is the president putting the full weight of his office behind Great Lakes restoration."
Supporters urged the region's congressional delegation to fight for complete funding, saying the backing of a popular president from a Great Lakes state —Illinois— has opened a unique window of opportunity.
"It's very important and urgent to move forward right now," said David Ullrich, executive director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. "The big thing about these problems is that they don't go away, they get worse."
Obama's plan is designed to begin a $20 billion restoration plan crafted by government agencies and nonprofit groups in 2005.
Much of the 2010 money would be funneled through state, local and tribal agencies. The biggest chunk — about $147 million — would clean up toxic spots in rivers and streams.
