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MEDIA ADVISORY: Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grants For Northeastern Minnesota Announced In Duluth, Minn.

Release Date: 10/18/2010
Contact Information: Peter Cassell, 312-886-6234, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 10-OPA126

(CHICAGO – Oct. 18, 2010)

WHO:
• Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator (Great Lakes).
• U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar.
• Suzanne Hanson, Regional Manager, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
• Lucinda Johnson, Director, Center for Water and the Environment, University of Minnesota.
• Angie Miller, Executive Director, Community Action Duluth.

WHAT: Announcement of three federal grants, totaling about $1.2 million, awarded in northeastern Minnesota under President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Duluth Office (outdoors pending weather), 525 Lake Ave. S., Suite 400, Duluth, MN 55802.

BACKGROUND: President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades. The initiative calls for aggressive efforts to address five priorities:
• Cleaning up toxics and toxic hot spots around the Great Lakes.
• Combating invasive species.
• Promoting nearshore health by protecting watersheds from polluted runoff.
• Restoring wetlands and other habitats.
• Accountability and working with strategic partners on outreach.

Three grants will be announced at Tuesday’s event:
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, $411,680, for cleanup and restoration of the St. Louis River Area of Concern.
• University of Minnesota, $193,432, for restoring 200 acres of moose foraging habitat near wetlands in the Lake Superior Uplands.
• Community Action Duluth, $636,365, for restoring urban riparian zones and implementing critical habitat restoration projects in the St. Louis River Area of Concern.

For more on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, please visit http://www.greatlakesrestoration.us.
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