WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced it will use the extra $20 million that Congress allotted for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative this year to address invasive species control and prevention, restore habitats, remediate environmental problems that it previously designated “Areas of Concern,” and address nutrients that enter the lake and cause harmful algal blooms.

After being funded at $300 million for years, the program got a $20 million boost for 2020. After repeatedly trying to cut the program’s funding, President Trump announced support last year during a campaign appearance in Michigan.

“The President is a fan of the Great Lakes,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, an Ohio native who graduated from Case Western Reserve University, told reporters on Thursday. “He’s heard from a number of lawmakers, a number of governors and and the people who live in the Great Lakes states. So he’s fully committed to the Great Lakes.”

The EPA said $7.5 million of the extra money will be used for habitat restoration and sediment remediation to restore and delist “Areas of Concern” along the Great Lakes, which include Ohio’s Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Black and Maumee rivers.

“We’re working hand in hand with Governor (Mike) DeWine,” said Wheeler. “He has a very active program to help restore Lake Erie and its tributaries. We’re looking to augment what he’s doing."

Around $5 million will be used to fund research and development of systems to treat ballast water used by ships traveling between the lakes, which can spread invasive species as it is discharged. And $5 million will be used to control invasive species like Asian carp, and reduce levels of nutrients that leach into the lake and feed algal blooms of the sort that rendered the city of Toledo’s water supply undrinkable for a period in 2014.

Another $2 million will be used to keep trash out of the Great Lakes. Wheeler says the EPA has over 50 “trash free water” projects spread across the country, and has been soliciting applicants for beach and shoreline cleanup projects, harbor and river cleanup projects and trash and litter prevention and education projects in the Great Lakes. In other parts of the country, Wheeler said the EPA funds small ships that filter trash out of polluted water bodies.

“At EPA, we know we don’t have to choose between a healthy environment over a healthy economy,” said Wheeler. “We can and should do both. And this is especially true when it comes to work the EPA is doing to restore the Great Lakes.”

Local members of Congress applauded the initiative, with Bainbridge Township GOP Rep. Dave Joyce saying it would help “to protect the invaluable natural resource and economic powerhouse that is the Great Lakes system.”

“The Great Lakes is one of our nation’s most important resources,” added Holmes County GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs. “From the commerce it drives regionally to the drinking water it provides locally, the ecological safety of the lakes is important to the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans.”

“Put simply, our Great Lakes cannot be replaced – they must be protected and deserve robust federal investment,” agreed Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.

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