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Growing up on the shores of Lake Michigan, Fred has an extensive history of working to protect Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes watershed. Fred is a longtime member of the Great Lakes Caucus in the U.S. House.
- Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
In the 111th Congress, Fred has been working to ensure that $475 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative proposed in the President’s 2010 budget will be included in the final bill. The inter-agency initiative will address problems such as invasive species, non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment. 1,500 federal, state, local, tribal, and other stakeholders from the region spent over a year drafting the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy Report, the blueprint for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
- The Great Lakes Legacy Reauthorization Act of 2008
The bill reauthorizes $50 million to clean up the Great Lakes in 2009 and 2010. The funds will help the Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with local authorities and private enterprises, to carry out projects targeted at cleaning up areas of the Great Lakes where contamination has settled into sediments at the bottom of the lakes. Since 2002, this legislation has been responsible for the removal of nearly a million cubic yards of toxic sediments from Great Lakes tributaries, and is widely recognized as one of the most successful federal environmental cleanup efforts in history. Fred was a co-author of the House passed version of the bill that would have tripled the funding to $150 million. The Senate, however, reduced the funding to $50 million in the final version of the bill.
- Fighting to keep pollutants out of Lake Michigan
In 2007, Fred learned that the State of Indiana had given a green light to British Petroleum to increase its daily dumping to an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of total suspended solids into Lake Michigan per day, an inconceivable increase of 54% and 35% respectively. Fred, with the help of the Great Lakes Caucus won a tremendous victory in August, 2007 when BP acquiesced and announced that it will reverse its course of action and not increase dumping of hazardous chemicals into Lake Michigan from its Whiting, IN refining facility.
In light of a June 2009 Chicago Tribune story reporting that BP’s Whiting facility has been violating clean air permits for the last six years, Fred joined his Great Lakes colleagues in calling for the EPA to immediately review all of BP’s reported ground, water and air discharges. Fred has zero tolerance for putting our beloved Lake Michigan and the treasured Great Lakes Basin in jeopardy.
- Great Lakes Compact
The Great Lakes Compact is a compact between the United States and Canada that dates back to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972. Last year’s approval of the Great Lakes Compact included provisions to prohibit diversion of lake water outside the region and efforts to fund the ambitious Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to address important environmental issues related to the lakes. Other issues of importance the Compact Addresses are: Cleaning Up Toxic Sediments, Closing the Door on Aquatic Invasive Species, Controlling Nonpoint Source Pollution, Enhancing the Great Lakes Observing System, Improving Navigation Infrastructure, Investing in Great Lakes Restoration and Economic Revitalization, Protecting Coastal Health, Protecting Water Quality and Human Health, Reducing Atmospheric Toxic Pollution, and Restoring Wetlands and Habitat.
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