Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Great Lakes restoration plan criticized

|
|
 
  
Steam rises from Lake Michigan as temperatures remained below zero throughout the day on January 15, 2009 in Chicago. O'Hare International Airport recorded a temperature of 11 below zero Thursday morning, the lowest temperature recorded in Chicago in more than a decade. (UPI Photo/Brian Kersey) 
Published: Oct. 26, 2009 at 2:04 PM

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A restoration plan from the U.S. federal government to protect the Great Lakes from pollution is not tough enough to make a major difference, experts said.

Henry Henderson of the Natural Resources Defense Council said while the federal program will spend as much as $475 million, those funds will do little if the plan does not enforce current regulations or produce more stringent rules, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday.

"There is a deficiency in governance here that goes beyond funding," Henderson said.

Former National Wildlife Federation attorney Noah Hall said before funds are spent to clean up the world's largest freshwater system, the program should include regulations intended to limit Great Lakes pollution.

"This was not meant to be a list of new regulatory actions or legal requirements that should be imposed on local governments and industry to protect the Great Lakes from further harm," Hall said.

The Journal Sentinel said the Great Lakes are facing threats from increased development of shorelines as well as pollution from shoreline businesses and area farmlands.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 21
President Obama Signs Smuggling Prevention Act at White House
View Caption
fark
If we timewarped back by 2000 years, what job would you most qualified to do? No, you can't bring...
BAD: getting caught in a landslide while hiking. WORSE: getting struck by lightning while trying...
Weepy eyes, hot chix, Jersey Shore Ronnie and a guy with mini fishing reels stuck in his beard....
French roadbuilders find 21 German WWI soldiers...and 1 goat
Photoshop this crazy old coot in the cold
Anonymous ends the week by bringing down the CIA webpage. *golf clap*