Great Lakes Roundtable GLRI

CLEVELAND, OH —Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) convened a roundtable with Lake Erie businesses to discuss the importance of protecting the Great Lakes for jobs and the local economy. Today’s roundtable follows news Friday that a federal judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers had violated the law in 2015 when it delayed the dredging of the Cleveland Harbor and Cuyahoga River. Brown has been working on bipartisan efforts with Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) for several years to ensure that dredged material is disposed of in a way that is consistent with Ohio’s water quality standards.

Last week, Brown and Portman also announced that the government funding measure passed by the Senate last Thursday includes $300 million in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for this fiscal year.

“In Ohio, families and businesses rely on Lake Erie – its waters are critical to everything from tourism here at the marina and industry and manufacturing, to farming and clean energy development,” said Brown. “My Ohio colleagues – Republicans and Democrats alike – have made it clear that zeroing out the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is not an option that we will stand for. We cannot allow Washington to write off Lake Erie and the millions of Ohioans who rely on it. This will cost Ohio jobs and put our water supply at risk.”

Brown and Portman raised concerns over the GLRI’s future after the Administration’s 2018 budget request eliminated the program, and the Senators vowed to keep fighting to protect the program. Brown and Portman also announced that last week’s government funding measure included language to prevent toxic sediment from the Cuyahoga River from being disposed of in Lake Erie.

“The Port of Cleveland applauds the full funding of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and Senator Brown's efforts to protect Lake Erie,” said Port of Cleveland President and CEO Will Friedman “We believe a healthy Lake Erie is vital to our region's economic and environmental well being. Operations within Cleveland Harbor and the Cuyahoga River has an economic impact $3.5 billion and 20,000 jobs, all of which would be imperiled without adequate investment in our greatest natural resource.”

Brown has worked to strengthen the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – a highly successful program that has targeted the most significant problems in the region and jumpstarted restoration efforts to protect, maintain, and restore the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great Lakes. Last Congress, Brown cosponsored the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act of 2015 (GLEEPA) – a bill would reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and codify the program into statute. In December, Brown successfully fought to include authorization for GLRI in the Senate water bill.

 

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