WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) awarded the City of Lorain $1,522,644 for two projects to help restore the habitat along the Black River in Lorain.
“The Black River is an important natural and economic resource for Lorain,” Brown said. “These funds will restore wildlife habitat and help ensure that the River is clean, healthy, and safe for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.”
Lorain received $1,347,644 for the Black River Landing and Heron Rookery Restoration Project. Those funds will support stream bank stabilization and in-stream habitat restoration to benefit fish and other species, including heron. The city received $175,000 for the Lower Black River Heron Rookery Restoration Phase II Assessment to restore six acres of riverside to benefit local nesting herons and to expand the Black River’s floodplain area to improve water quality.
GLRI is an interagency effort to protect the Great Lakes and is tasked with cleaning up toxic areas, combating invasive species, protecting watersheds from polluted runoff, restoring wetlands and other habitats, and tracking progress and working with strategic partners. According to the State of Ohio, more than $10 billion of the state’s nearly $40 billion tourism industry is derived from counties along the Lake Erie shoreline. Restoration efforts in the region are essential to maintaining a strong economy along the Ohio coast.
Brown is the cosponsor of the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act (GLEEPA), which would protect the Great Lakes—and the millions of jobs they support—from a variety of ecological threats and invasive species like harmful algal blooms by fully funding the GLRI.
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