Great Lakes get Extra Funds for Cleanups, Invasive Species

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Additional funds provided by Congress for Great Lakes environmental improvements will be used to hasten cleanups of highly toxic sites and step up work on other longstanding forms of pollution, federal officials said Thursday.

Lawmakers last fall put $320 million into the 2020 budget for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a multiyear program that focuses on some of the region’s most pervasive ecological problems.

It was a $20 million boost over the amount appropriated in most years since the program began a decade ago.

“With this additional $20 million, we will be able to target many harder-to-solve challenge areas like invasive species and high nutrient loads,” said Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, which distributes the money for projects across the eight-state region.