The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) announced last week that it has received funding to implement restoration projects in two Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs), areas of historic pollution and degradation.
The GLC will support the design and restoration of valuable habitat in the Maumee River AOC in Ohio and the Clinton River AOC in Michigan in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Great Lakes states, and local partners.
Since 2008, the GLC has been awarded nearly $40 million to restore key sites across the basin.
“We are excited to expand our restoration work to new communities in Ohio and Michigan,” said Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission.
“We’ve seen that restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern generates both environmental and economic benefits by creating jobs, providing new recreational opportunities, and improving the quality of life for local residents in these communities.”
The GLC will receive $375,000 to develop engineering design plans to restore wetland habitat at the Penn 7 site in the Maumee River AOC near Toledo, Ohio, and to excavate and dispose of sediments to restore wetlands in the Black Creek Marsh in the Clinton River AOC in Harrison Township, Michigan.
The GLC will also continue work to restore habitat in the Muskegon Lake and St. Marys River AOCs in Michigan and the Buffalo River AOC in New York. Funding for the GLC’s restoration work comes from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has implemented more than 3,000 restoration projects since 2010.