WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Army Corps of Engineers approved and sent to Congress their plan for the Brandon Road project to prevent Asian Carp from reaching the Great Lakes. Last month, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a letter of intent for the State of Illinois to move forward as the local sponsor of the project.
“We applaud today’s announcement from the Corps signing off on the Brandon Road project. The threat of invasive Asian Carp to the economic and environmental resources of the Great Lakes is real and must be protected against. With this important step behind us, we will now work together with the Great Lakes Delegation in Congress to fully authorize this important project under a cost-share agreement that will ensure Illinois isn’t left footing the bill for a project that will benefit the entire Great Lakes region.”
Durbin and Duckworth have long advocated for a comprehensive approach to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of Asian Carp.
Durbin was instrumental in forcing the release of the Brandon Road Study – a draft plan that outlines a number of technologies to prevent the spread of Asian carp to the Great Lakes while having minimal impact on waterway users. The study was set to be released on February 28, 2017, but had been stalled by the Trump Administration. It was eventually released in August 2017 only after Durbin included language in the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2018 Energy & Water appropriations bill forcing the Corps to release the study within 30 days of the bill’s passage.
Durbin has led efforts in the Senate Appropriation Committee to secure federal funding to combat the spread of Asian Carp. He has helped secure nearly $2 billion in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), a cross-agency action program intended to protect the Great Lakes from threats, including invasive species like the Asian carp, and clean up toxic areas of concern.
