Michigan river tabbed for PCB clean-up

DETROIT, July 2 (UPI) -- The River Raisin in southeastern Michigan is set to undergo a multimillion-dollar clean-up to remove polychlorinated biphenyls from its waters, experts say.

Alie Muneer, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency project manager, said the PCB contamination of the River Raisin makes the body of water an ideal candidate for Great Lakes Legacy Act funds, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.

"We're trying to get this done as quickly as we can," Muneer said.

The Great Lakes Legacy program received $163 million in funds through September from the U.S. Congress and is earmarked to receive an addition $50 million as part of the 2010 budget.

Of all states in the Great Lakes region, Michigan has the most areas of environmental concern with 13 areas, the Free Press reported.

The clean-up of the River Raisin is expected to cost up to $25 million once it begins next May and at least one official expressed concern some of the environmental pollutants will remain despite such efforts.

"You're never going to get it all," Daniel Stefanski, Monroe County drain commissioner, said. "But it will be better than it was. Every time we do something, it does improve."