LANSING (WWJ) -- Major financial support is being invested into some of Michigan's high-priority waterways, and the Detroit River is one of them.
Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters announced Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency is making a $1 billion commitment in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Program, which is the single-largest investment in the Great Lakes' history.
The money comes from Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Job Creation Act and is in addition to the annual funding approved by Congress for the program.
The funds will go toward cleaning up and restoring nine locations in the state whose lakes, rivers and watersheds feed into the Great Lakes. Peters noted that these bodies of water have had their ecology harmed for decades by industrial pollution and growth.
Senator Peters told WWJ Newsradio 950 that this project impacts citizens as well as companies in Michigan.
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"We enjoy the Great Lakes from a recreational standpoint -- from boating and fishing and swimming -- but we also rely on the Great Lakes for a source of drinking water," said Peters. "So it is a part of our economics in the state of Michigan, and it is critical that we do everything we can to maintain the quality of the water in our Great Lakes."
The Clinton, Rouge, St. Clair and Manistique rivers, as well as Torch Lakes in Traverse City, are among the waterways being focused on in Michigan.
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In total, 31 sites in surrounding states around the Great Lakes will be involved in this project.
Peters expects the waterways will all be cleaned up by the year 2030.
