If federal funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is available for the cleanup of local waters, a Saugatuck group aims to apply for a good portion of the $475 million to cleanup Kalamazoo Harbor.
According to excerpts from the story:
The Kalamazoo Harbor Master Plan Committee hopes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new $475-million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will include funds for local waters.
The GLRI is intended to target “the most significant problems in the region, including invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution and contaminated sediment,” its charge says.
The committee—comprised of representatives from Douglas and Sauga-tuck cities, plus Saugatuck township—seeks to address harbor issues, perhaps most urgently siltation choking boat traffic.
The harbor, described by a $40,000 study commissioned by the two cities in 2006 as the “lifeblood” and “economic engine” of the communities, was last dredged comprehensively in 1936.
Ann Arbor engineering firm JJR’s 138-page harbor technical report said in 2007 such work today might cost up to $45 million.
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