News Releases from Region 05

EPA provides $1.3 million to Ohio for Great Lakes programs

Contact Information: Allison Lippert (lippert.allison@epa.gov) 312-353-0967

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- (May 30, 2019) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1.3 million to the Ohio EPA to continue restoration work at four highly contaminated sites on the Great Lakes and to coordinate the state’s management plan for Lake Erie. This EPA funding is the first installment of an approximately $3.7 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to Ohio EPA.

“Today’s grant illustrates the value of federal and state partnerships in accomplishing our shared goal of restoring the Great Lakes,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Cathy Stepp. “This GLRI investment moves us that much closer to delisting toxic Areas of Concern in Ohio and protecting the waters that communities depend on.”

“Addressing the challenges with Lake Erie is a high priority for the state,” said Ohio EPA Director Laurie A. Stevenson. “We are appreciative and eager to put this grant to work for important restoration work and other projects in this area.”

Under the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the United States and Canada targeted 43 highly contaminated Areas of Concern, or AOCs, for cleanup. EPA’s GLRI grant supports work toward “delisting” the four AOCs in Ohio:

Maumee River

Black River

Cuyahoga Estuary

Ashtabula River

The GLRI grant also provides funding for staff who help develop and implement a binational action plan for Lake Erie to address water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and invasive species issues.

Since 2010, EPA has provided states with GLRI funds totaling more than $300 million. Through these federal-state partnerships, more than 4 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment have been removed or otherwise addressed and more than 195,000 acres of habitat have been restored.

For more information on GLRI, visit https://www.glri.us//