skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Readies for Phase III

play audio
Play

Thursday, May 23, 2019   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal program committed to improving the health of Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes is moving into its third phase. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative follows five-year action plans and is taking public comments through tomorrow on its proposal for Phase Three.

Rick Graham, a board member with the Lake Erie Foundation, explains that since its launch in 2010, the initiative has spurred projects that have benefited the lakes by reducing toxins, restoring habitat, and preventing the influx of invasive species.

"Water is so important to our state, for health, for jobs, for opportunities for our future generations,” says Graham. “I think water may be the resource that is most limited in our future especially if they keep violating it the way we are with different kinds of pollution."

Phase Three will continue the work of the initiative's priorities, including safe water for recreation and drinking, keeping fish safe for consumption, and the restoration of a healthy ecosystem. The plan is expected to be in place by October.

Phase Three includes a focus on delisting Areas of Concern, which include the Cuyahoga River and Maumee River in Ohio.

So far, four of these so-called "toxic hotspots," have been delisted, and Director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Office Chris Korleski says the actions have been completed for eight more.

"You can dredge all the sediment and you can do habitat restoration, but you need to monitor after you finish the work to see if you're hitting your targets,” says Korleski. “Then, you can say you've addressed that environmental impairment, and when you've addressed all the environmental impairments, then you can delist the AOC."

Korleski encourages Ohioans to review the Phase Three plan, and offer their opinions.

"If someone says, 'Well, they seem to be overlooking this,' or 'I think they've got their priorities a bit out of order,' then certainly those are comments that we would welcome,” says Korleski. “This is just an opportunity for the Great Lakes public to provide their two cents, which is extremely valuable."

Congress has invested more than $3 billion on roughly 4,000 restoration projects over the past nine years. A 2018 study estimated that every federal dollar spent on the initiative's projects in its first six years will result in roughly three dollars in additional economic activity for the region through the next two decades.

Disclosure: Lake Erie Foundation contributes to our fund for reporting on Environment, Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021