The International Joint Commission has issued a special report on progress in cleaning up 43 of the most polluted sites in the Great Lakes region. These sites are known as “areas of concern.” The report says some progress has been made, but critics say the report is deeply flawed. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
Transcript
The International Joint Commission has issued a special report on progress in cleaning up 43 of
the most polluted sites in the Great Lakes region. These sites are known as “areas of concern.”
The report says some progress has been made. But critics say the report is deeply flawed. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
The IJC is an international commission that monitors the health of the Great Lakes. The IJC
report says two of the 43 areas of concern have been cleaned up. But Margaret Wooster of the
environmental group, Great Lakes United, says the IJC report is a disappointment. Wooster says
progress is far too slow and part of the problem is a lack of accountability for who cleans up
what.
“The EPA reduced their involvement, and they say they said they expected the states to step in.
The states did not step in. Nobody’s really reporting to anybody.”
Dennis Schornack is the U.S. Chair of the IJC. He says even though progress is slow, it’s
progress in the right direction. He says the recent passage in the U.S. of the Great Lakes Legacy
Act is a big step forward, that should eventually provide funding for more cleanup.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.