WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and 10 of his Senate colleagues urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to aggressively work towards implementing short term measures and finding a long term solution that would stop the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The Senators also asked USACE for several updates on its progress implementing proposals from the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee’s feasibility study released earlier this year.
“With thousands of jobs and billions of dollars at stake, we need to do everything we can to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of invasive species,” Brown said. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to be aggressive and make progress towards temporary and permanent solutions that would stop the spread of Asian carp once and for all. The Army Corps can better achieve this by working with Congress and keeping it informed of its progress.”
USACE, as part of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee, released a feasibility study in January 2014 that evaluated alternatives and technologies that could be used to combat the spread of Asian carp. Included in the report’s alternative proposals were separating the Mississippi River Basin from the Great Lakes; a new lock system that would pump treated water in and pump untreated water out; and several options to protect Chicago from flooding and allow the shipping industry to coexist with efforts to combat the spread of Asian carp.
This report, however, did not include a formal recommendation as to which alternative would be most effective. Brown and his colleagues therefore urged USACE to work with Congress, local authorities, and other stakeholders in order to determine the best strategy to combat what has already cost Ohio jobs, revenue, and valuable resources. 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.
Brown continues to work towards stopping the spread of Asian carp and protecting the Great Lakes and the jobs that they support. In July 2013, at Edgewater Park along Lake Erie, Brown called for passage of the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act of 2013 (GLEEPA), bipartisan legislation he is co-sponsoring which is intended to protect the Great Lakes—and the millions of jobs they support—from a variety of ecological threats and invasive species like Asian Carp. At the press conference with U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Brown also applauded that week’s announcement by the Obama Administration that it would implement a new, $50 million strategy for keeping Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes.
While more work needs to be done, this decision built on momentum created when, in May 2013, the Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) which included an amendment Brown introduced that would prevent the invasion of Asian carp into the Ohio River. Based on the Strategic Response to Asian Carp Invasion Act, and passed unanimously 95-0, the amendment would enable the federal government to have a more effective partnership with state and local entities that are working to slow the spread of Asian carp.
Brown’s letter to USACE can be read in its entirety HERE and below:
The Honorable Jo-Ellen Darcy
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works
108 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0108
Dear Secretary Darcy:
As Senators from Great Lakes states, we are committed to protecting the lakes from a variety of threats, including from invasive species like the destructive Asian carp. We want to impress upon you the need to implement short-term measures to stop Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes, and to move aggressively toward a long-term solution. The January 2014 Great Lakes and Mississippi River Inter-basin Study (GLMRIS) outlined both short- and long-term options for preventing inter-basin transfer of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) and we want to ensure that you are advancing the options that look most promising and implementing measures that are already available.
We also have a number of questions for you concerning the process of moving forward with different options for protecting the Great Lakes from ANS:
We look forward to receiving a prompt reply to our questions. Thank you.
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