Comments sought by task force on Great Lakes cleanup

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Comment sought on lakes cleanup
Tuesday, August 23, 2005

A task force wants to hear your comments about a proposed $20.5 billion cleanup and restoration plan for Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes...

David Ullrich, who heads the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, said the meetings have raised two recurring questions: Will Congress pay for the plan, and is there the will to implement it?...

Comments about the plan will be accepted at the meeting. But comments also can be submitted via the Web at http://www.glrc.us ; or mailed to: Comments, Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, c/o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, 77 W. Jackson Blvd. (G-17J), Chicago, IL 60604-3511...

Copies of the 48-page document will be available at the meeting. It can also be viewed online at http://www.glrc.us .

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1. Plan to restore Great Lakes backed

$20.5 billion effort gives cleanup priority
Wednesday, August 24, 2005

...About two-thirds of the plan's estimated price tag will go toward correcting sewage overflow problems, which dump billions of gallons of raw sewage into the Great Lakes annually, and cleaning up polluted sediment at 31 harbors and rivers around the Great Lakes...

The plan proposes to improve water quality at beaches, virtually eliminating discharges of mercury, pesticides and toxic pollution, and restoring 550,000 acres of wetlands, which serve as water purifiers.

But it does not mention global warming and its impact on the Great Lakes, an omission pointed out by Cleveland resident Randy Cunningham...

Comments about the plan can be submitted via the Web; or mailed to: Comments, Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, c/o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, 77 W. Jackson Blvd. (G-17J), Chicago, IL 60604-3511. The deadline for comments is Sept. 9.

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