Advocates for a massive Great Lakes cleanup gather in Duluth this week energized by increased support in Washington.
By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune
Nearly 250 activists, scientists and government officials will gather today through Saturday at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center for the fifth annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference. A plan in Washington includes $475 million in the 2010 federal budget for Great Lakes efforts — including cleaning up toxic pollution hotspots, stemming the invasion of exotic species, stopping sewage overflows, and restoring and protecting habitat along the shores of the Great Lakes.
The U.S. House already has approved the Obama administration’s plan. The Senate is expected to begin considering the issue this month, said Jordan Lubetkin, spokesman for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office.
“It passed the [Senate] Appropriations Committee at $400 million. But we’re optimistic we’ll still get the full $475 million after conference committee,’’ he said.
Lubetkin said there’s good reason to celebrate, but that the federal money, while double any previous effort for the lakes, is still only a “down payment’’ on years of work ahead.
“We have a long ways to go to nurse these precious environmental and economic resources called the Great Lakes back to health,’’ he said.
The Bush administration unveiled a more than $20 billion cleanup proposal for the Great Lakes in Duluth in 2005. But neither the president nor Congress came up with money for the effort. Obama’s proposal to pump $475 million into the effort would be by far the largest expenditure to date.
Cameron Davis, President Obama’s newly appointed Great Lakes Czar, will address the conference tonight, with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D- Minn, slated for Friday and U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D- Minn., scheduled for Saturday.
Davis was president of the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes before taking the White House job. The alliance pushed passage of the Great Lakes Compact, passed by the states and Congress, that protects the lakes from large water diversions. In the newly created position, Davis will oversee Great Lakes efforts of 11 federal agencies.
Organizers say this year’s conference will focus on where the proposed restoration money, the first in what supporters hope will be multiple installments, should be spent to encourage fast ecological results as well as help stimulate economic recovery.
Conference attendees will take field trips and a harbor tour while in Duluth, including stops at Hawk Ridge and the Environmental Protection Agency lab, the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District and the Hog Island/Newton Creek site in Superior where contaminated sediments have been cleaned up and habitat restoration is planned.
“The conference is held on a different lake every year and the timing is great for it to be on Lake Superior,’’ said Rosie Loeffler-Kemp, a local organizer of the event. “It’s a chance for local people to get involved on a Great Lakes-wide scale ... and for us to show off the needs we have here, and the successes we’ve already had.”
Sessions this year include geographic priorities for habitat restoration; links between global climate change and Great lakes water levels; links between restoration efforts and economic recovery; and securing long-term funding toward completing the restoration effort.
The conference is organized by the Healing Our Waters, Great Lakes Coalition of more than 90 local, state and national environmental groups and local governments. The group formed in 2005 to promote public awareness of Great Lakes issues and to secure money to pay for the Great Lakes restoration plan.
The public is invited to attend the conference, but the cost for all events for all three days is $180. Single-day prices also are available. Call Martha Borie, (847) 207-8944, or go to www.healthylakes.org for more information
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