ILLINOIS—Construction of an invasive carp barrier near Chicago, Illinois, to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes could be delayed as the state of Illinois has not yet signed a project partnership agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The USACE is slated to start the $1.3 billion barrier project in October.
“From the timeline I have seen, if the agreement is signed this month, USACE will be able to break ground on construction in October,” Molly Flanagan, chief operating officer and vice president for Programs of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, told The Expositor.
“The problem is Illinois has not signed the agreement thus far,” said Ms. Flanagan. “And if the state does not sign the agreement the construction gets pushed back further.”
“I don’t think Illinois wants to be responsible for letting invasive carp destroy the Great Lakes,” stated Ms. Flanagan.
Michigan and Illinois previously agreed to pay $114 million of the cost of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. However, Illinois has not signed the partnership agreement with USACE because it would make Illinois the host state and responsible for any problems that could take place, such as environmental cleanups, reported Michigan Radio on December 7. They report property needed for the Brandon Road project is on land that was part of a power plant complex that once burned coal.
“One of the Illinois concerns is that they would need property that Midwest generation owns. And they’re concerned about contaminants on that property,” said Ms. Flanagan. “They are worried about there being pollution that would make it expensive for Illinois to clean up in order to be able to use it to build the project,” she explained.
“Illinois says they want to have this project done, but they haven’t signed on the dotted line,” Ms. Flanagan told The Expositor. “They keep saying they will sign soon, but it has been six months so far. I thought the hardest thing of this whole project would be getting the federal and state governments to provide funding to get the construction started, not that the state of Illinois taking so long to sign the agreement. Every step of this project has been difficult.”
The Brandon Road Project barrier would involve a series of deterrents at a river lock at Joliet, downstream from Lake Michigan. There are concerns that if any of the invasive carp, including bighead, silver, black and grass carp were to get into the Great Lakes, it would cause massive damage to the ecosystem of the lake and the region’s rivers, ruining fishing and other activities in the lakes.
