EPA Awards Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities grants totaling more than $430,000 to four cities in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan to fund green infrastructure projects that will improve water quality in Lake Michigan. Highland Park and Wilmette, Illinois; Michigan City, Indiana; and Muskegon, Michigan, are among 11 cities across the Great Lakes Basin which will receive funding totaling over $1.8 million through the current round of GLRI Shoreline Cities grants. EPA Region 5 Administrator/Great Lakes National Program Manager Susan Hedman made the announcement at an event in Ohio.
The Mighty Teeny Mississippi
Just as the nation averted the fiscal cliff, it looks as if the inland waterways industries narrowly escaped its own fiscal waterfall. At press time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicates that, despite record low water levels, the Mississippi River will be able to sustain navigation through the spring for towboats and barges. This is welcome news for shippers, operators and the U.S. economy that relies upon a robust export market facilitated by the waterways transportation system.
Rock Pinnacle Work to Begin, Water Still Needed
Senator Durbin, Illinois Lt. Senator Richard Durbin held a meeting in Alton, Illinois, with Members of Congress, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, navigation stakeholders, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard to address the low-water situation on the Mississippi River. At the meeting, it was announced that the Corps will begin work tomorrow to blast and remove rock pinnacles at Thebes, Illinois, (shown in photo below), located south of St. Louis on the Mississippi River.
Clock Continues to Tick, Time for Action is Now
In response to the December 6 letter from Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen Darcy to Senator Richard Durbin providing an analysis of the impact of additional Missouri River releases to sustain navigation traffic on the Mississippi River, The American Waterways Operators (AWO) and Waterways Council, Inc. We reiterate that barge operators and shippers throughout the nation that rely on safe and efficient water transportation need the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…
Senate Democrats Want Inspection of All Rigs
According to a May 20 report from RTTNews, Senate Democrats are urging President Barack Obama to order inspections of all offshore oil rigs. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was joined by Senators Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., in sending a letter to Obama asking him to order the inspections. (Source: RTTNews)
Lieberman Pushes for Extra $6.8B
Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. terrorist threats that face the nation. proposal. security the focused leadership and resources it demands,” Lieberman said. · $500 million to secure air cargo, as well as trains and mass transit systems. president made in port security, bio-terror preparedness, and first responder programs. equipment, training, and other preparedness activities. than $1.8 billion since FY 2002. obtain interoperable communications equipment. reduction in tax cuts for those earning more than $1 million a year. homeland,” Lieberman said. Durbin, D-Ill., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Bob Graham, D-Fla.
