It’s Not Just for the Lakes, it is for the Economy, Stupid!

It’s Déjà all over again. Last September the US House passed a Great Lakes Legacy Act reauthorization that tripled the funding to clean up toxic pollution in the Great Lakes. One Senator from Oklahoma shot down the bill in the US Senate. Today, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) is trying once again to convince his colleagues to support the $150 million price tag.

Oklahoma is pretty far away from the Great Lakes and it might be that we need to invite this persnickety Senator for a summer tour of this nation’s largest source of fresh water. If he could see their stunning size, take in their majesty and experience the debilitating effects that toxic pollution has had on these great bodies of water he would surely be convinced.

We agreed five years ago that in a decade all of the Areas of Concern would be cleaned up. Guess what – we aren’t even close and a big reason is that we don’t have enough money allotted or appropriated on an annual basis. Right now, the Great Lakes Legacy Act is appropriated at $50 million a year and Congress actually spends about $30 million. This program has been named one of the most efficient government programs and it creates jobs while cleaning up the lakes for safe drinking, eating and recreating. These clean ups also help Great Lakes cities with their revitalization efforts as so many of them are clustered around waterfronts.

Consider Buffalo, New York’s strategic plan to revitalize the downtown area by developing a tantalizing waterfront. “There is a widespread belief that the revitalization of Buffalo’s waterfront is key to the revitalization of the city and the region as a whole,” says Craig Turner, director of Public Policy for the Buffalo-Niagara Partnership. “It’s not difficult to see in many cities – such as Baltimore or New York’s Battery Park – that strategically utilizing the natural resource of a waterfront can be an economic stimulus on its own. In addition to the obvious job creation in tourism, retail, etc., we believe our region’s connection to the waterfront will offer opportunities and new technologies related to fresh water that will further enable Buffalo Niagara to shed some of its old “rust belt” renown.”

The City has been using Great Lakes Legacy Act funds to clean up the inner harbor, but there are still nearly 40 miles of the Niagara River that need to be addressed and the GLLA continues to be underfunded. “People in Buffalo are so hungry for revitalization,” said Niagara River Keeper Jill Spisiak Jedlicka, “but we have the stigma of a contaminated river and who wants to relocate to an area of concern? We want to eat the fish and swim in the water and I think that is a realistic goal.” By realizing these seemingly small goals, with the help of a renewed Great Lakes Legacy Act and significant local commitment, the city would make real progress toward this renaissance. “That is how it [cleaning up the Buffalo and Niagara rivers and restoring the ecosystem] contributes to the revitalization of the City as a whole,” explains Spisiak Jedlicka.

Buffalo is just one case – just think of the impact that tripling the funding for the GLLA could have on the economies of the entire region. And it can easily be argued that what is good for the Midwest is good for the nation as a whole. Go George, Go!

• Posted by Tiffany Danitz Pache on June 18th, 2009
• Tags: Area of Concern, Buffalo, Buffalo Niagara River Keeper, Economic Revitalization, Economic Stimulus, Great-Lakes-Legacy-Act, Jobs & Economic Recovery, Sen. George Voinovich, US Senate
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