Current:Home > InvestFederal, local officials agree on $450 million deal to clean up Milwaukee waterways-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Federal, local officials agree on $450 million deal to clean up Milwaukee waterways
View Date:2024-12-23 17:12:26
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Federal, state and local officials have agreed to spend about $450 million to dredge contaminated sediment from Milwaukee’s Lake Michigan harbor and area rivers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will devote $275 million from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to the project. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, We Energies, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County Parks will contribute another $170 million.
The project calls for removing almost 2 million cubic yards (1.5 million cubic meters) of contaminated sediment from the harbor and 12 miles (19 kilometers) of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers.
Industrial activities in the region have left the sediment polluted with PCBs, petroleum compounds and heavy metals, including mercury, lead and chromium, according to the EPA. Removing the sediment will lead to improved water quality, healthy fish and wildlife and better recreational opportunities, agency officials said.
Dredging will likely begin in 2026 or 2027, said Chris Korleski, director of the EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office. The sewerage district needs time to build a storage facility for the sediment, he said.
Congress created the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2010 to fund cleanup projects in the basin. Congress has allocated about $300 million for the program annually. The sweeping infrastructure package that cleared Congress in 2021 pumps about $1 billion into the initiative over the next five years, making the Milwaukee project possible, Korleski said.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- FC Cincinnati player Marco Angulo dies at 22 after injuries from October crash
- Ryan Seacrest debuts as new host of ‘Wheel of Fortune’
- From Amy Adams to Demi Moore, transformations are taking awards season by storm
- Beyoncé Offers Rare Glimpse Into Family Life With Her and Jay-Z’s 3 Kids
- Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 11
- Heidi Klum Reveals Some of the Items Within Her “Sex Closet”
- Manhunt continues for Joseph Couch, Kentucky man accused of I-75 shooting rampage
- Francine gains strength and is expected to be a hurricane when it reaches US Gulf Coast
- Trump hammered Democrats on transgender issues. Now the party is at odds on a response
- New Hampshire primary voters to pick candidates for short but intense general election campaigns
Ranking
- Man killed by police in Minnesota was being sought in death of his pregnant wife
- Starbucks’ new CEO wants to recapture the coffeehouse vibe
- James Earl Jones, acclaimed actor and voice of Darth Vader, dies at 93
- When does 'The Voice' start? Season 26 date, time and Snoop Dogg's coaching debut
- Ryan Reynolds Clarifies Taylor Swift’s Role as Godmother to His Kids With Blake Lively
- Teen Mom's Catelynn Lowell Says She's Been Blocked by Daughter Carly's Adoptive Parents
- Why Teen Mom’s Catelynn Lowell Thinks Daughter’s Carly Adoptive Parents Feel “Threatened”
- North Carolina House Rep. Jeffrey Elmore resigning before term ends
Recommendation
-
Brands Our Editors Are Thankful For in 2024
-
Travis Kelce Reacts to Jason Kelce’s ESPN Debut Exactly as a Brother Would
-
Unionized Workers Making EV Batteries Downplay Politics of the Product
-
New Jersey Democrat George Helmy sworn in as replacement for Menendez in the Senate
-
Wildfires burn on both coasts. Is climate change to blame?
-
Declassified memo from US codebreaker sheds light on Ethel Rosenberg’s Cold War spy case
-
Texas school districts say upgrades to the state’s student data reporting system could hurt funding
-
Omaha police arrest suspect after teen critically hurt in shooting at high school