EPA Announces 2011 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week awarded organizations, agencies and universities working in the Detroit area more than $2.2 million in grants under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). These four grants are among 70 totaling nearly $30 million awarded by the EPA under the GLRI in 2011.

“The President’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative aims to rehabilitate the ecosystem that is the foundation of this region’s economy,” said Cameron Davis, the EPA’s senior advisor to the administrator on the Great Lakes. “For the regional economy to thrive, we need to accelerate our efforts to comprehensively attack problems such as habitat loss, invasive species and pollution that causes algae that choke beaches and fish life.”

The grants were announced last Friday at an event at Veterans Memorial Park in St. Clair Shores.

“The Great Lakes are the largest single source of fresh water on the planet,” said U.S. Rep. John Dingell. “By investing in these critical and urgent needs to protect the Great Lakes habitat and fight against pollution, we are making an indispensable investment in the future of our communities, our environment and our quality of life. Protecting this precious resource is also essential for our water infrastructure to maintain not only our public health, but also our fish, wildlife and the environment.”

Funded projects will advance the goals and objectives of the GLRI Action Plan, developed with 15 other participating agencies and several Great Lakes governors in February 2010.

"The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is vital to the long-term health of Michigan's most important natural resource,” said U.S. Rep. Sandy Levin. “These grants will target runoff pollution, coastal wetlands restoration, and hazardous and medical waste that afflict local rivers and streams in our area."

The funded projects in the Detroit area include:
· $254,406 – Macomb County (Eliminating E. coli Sources Impacting Beach Closures)
· $534,689 – The Nature Conservancy (Detroit River-Western Lake Erie Cooperative Weed Management Area and Phragmites Control)
· $500,000 – Wayne County – Department of Public Services (Toxics Reduction within the Rouge and Detroit River Areas of Concern)
· $1,000,000 – Huron Clinton Metropark Authority (Reducing the Impact of Stormwater on Metro Beach)

More information on the GLRI is available at http://www.glri.us.

Source: U.S. EPA