U.S. URGES CANADA TO SPEND MORE ON LAKES (Shorter Version)

The U.S. government would like to see Canada spend more on cleaning up pollution hot spots in the Great Lakes. However the U.S. is having difficulties getting its own cleanup money approved. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

The U.S. government would like to see Canada spend more on
cleaning up pollution hot spots in the Great Lakes. However, the U.S.
is having difficulties getting cleanup money approved for its own
cleanup. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports.


Canada recently announced it would spend the equivalent of more
than four-million U.S. dollars a year for the next five years on
cleanup of so-called “areas of concern,” heavily polluted areas in
the Great Lakes.
The administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency says
she welcomes the Canadian effort… but Carol Browner says the U.S.
plans to spend 12 times that much… 50-million dollars a year.
Browner says she’d like to see a —quote “more equal partnership.”
but Browner is in an awkward position because congress doesn’t
seem ready to approve the money.

“We’re going to continue to fight in Congress. At this point in
time, we think Congress should provide 50-million dollars as an initial investment to focus on
those areas of critical concern. It’s an important next step in protecting this incredible national
resource.”

Meanwhile, a commission that monitors a water quality agreement
between the U.S. and Canada says both nations are falling short.

For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Lester Graham.