U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both D-Mich., announced that the Army Corps will distribute $25 million for Great Lakes navigation projects, including funding to help address the backlog of dredging projects in the Great Lakes.
Last month, Great Lakes Task Force Co-chairs Levin and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., led a bipartisan letter from Great Lakes senators, including Stabenow, to leaders of the Army Corps of Engineers. The letter urged the Army Corps to allocate additional funding for Great Lakes harbor maintenance from the $200 million in national funding provided in the FY14 omnibus appropriations bill, which Congress approved in January.
“The failure to provide adequate funds for harbor dredging has created a crisis in which many Great Lakes harbors are becoming so choked with silt that they are increasingly unusable,” said Levin. “ This funding will provide assistance to harbors across the Great Lakes region, including several of the most severely impacted harbors in Michigan.”
“Making sure that our harbors and waterways are properly dredged and maintained is absolutely critical to supporting Michigan’s shipping, boating and tourism industries,” said Stabenow. “ This is much-needed funding that will go a long way to supporting our economy and thousands of jobs across our state.”
Following is the list of Michigan projects that will receive funding:
– Black River, Port Huron, MI – Dredging;
– Cheboygan Harbor, MI – Dredging;
– Grand Haven Harbor, MI – Additional dredging at inner harbor;
– Leland Harbor, MI – Dredging;
– Menominee Harbor, MI and WI – Dredging;
– Monroe Harbor, MI – Additional dredging;
– Saginaw River, MI – Additional dredging;
– St. Joseph Harbor, MI – Dredging;
– Detroit River, MI – CDF fill management activities;
– St. Mary’s River, MI – Access bridge and duct bank to hydropower plant.
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Press Release, March 6, 2014