Remarks for the Milwaukee Estuary Sediment Remediation Project Announcement, As Prepared for Delivery
Michael Regan, EPA Administrator
Milwaukee, WI
Thank you, Pierce, for that wonderful introduction.
Senator Baldwin, it’s great to see you again! Thank you for your leadership. I’m so grateful for our partnership and your work to secure a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future. You made it your mission to strengthen the “Made in Wisconsin economy”, and you have succeeded every step of the way.
To Mayor Johnson as well as the state and local leaders here with us today — thank you all for joining.
I’d also like to give a special shout out to all of the students here from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Fresh Water Sciences. Young people are leading the charge in the fight for a cleaner, and more just tomorrow, and I’m thankful to have them with us.
Thank you to our hosts today, the wonderful team here at Discovery World…a museum that has been educating young people on the importance of our Great Lakes for years. We appreciate all that you do.
Our Great Lakes supply drinking water for more than 40 million people, support regional economies, provide abundant recreational opportunities, and sustain life for thousands of species.
These lakes aren’t just a national treasure, they are an economic engine for so many communities.
And President Biden has made investing in our nation’s waters and water infrastructure a cornerstone of his Investing in America agenda.
Thanks to his leadership, along with the leadership of Congressional partners like Senator Baldwin, we have already made the single-largest investment in water infrastructure in U.S. history through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Just last year, EPA announced over $1 billion dollars of resources to accelerate the ecological restoration and sustainable management of the Great Lakes.
While we’ve already made tremendous progress, there is certainly more work to be done.
Today, there are still 25 U.S. sites throughout the Great Lakes basin that remain “Areas of Concern” because they continue to suffer from harmful “legacy” pollution — the contamination left over from an era when this nation had not yet begun to take environmental protection seriously.
And for many areas throughout the Great Lakes, including here in Milwaukee, these historical industrial discharges have left a disastrous aftermath.
These “Areas of Concern” have been polluted for years, and many of the neighborhoods surrounding these areas, and the people who live in them — often low-income communities and communities of color — have been left behind.
The Milwaukee Estuary has long been identified as one of the most polluted areas in the country. Clean up and restoration of the Milwaukee Estuary is essential to the health of the surrounding communities, the vitality of Lake Michigan and the strength of local economies.
Today I’m thrilled to announce more than $450 million dollars for the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern Sediment Remediation Project in partnership with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, We Energies, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the City of Milwaukee, and Milwaukee County Parks.
The project agreement reflects joint funding between EPA and these five non-federal sponsors who will contribute over $170 million dollars to the cleanup, with more than $275 million dollars coming from EPA, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Without their critical participation, this project would not be possible, and we’re truly grateful for their collaboration.
This is the largest cleanup project ever under EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative —cleaning up approximately two million yards of contaminated sediment from the Milwaukee Harbor and the three rivers.
Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we have a once in a generation opportunity to remove contamination that has gone unaddressed for over 150 years.
By cleaning up these treasured waters, we will significantly improve the environmental health of the Milwaukee area, create good-paying jobs, and contribute to the revitalization of communities here in Wisconsin.
The restoration of the Milwaukee Estuary is not only a crucial step in preserving our environment, but also a testament to what we can achieve when we work together.
At EPA, it’s our greatest responsibility to protect our environment while ensuring that all people have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and enjoy, and the opportunity to live a healthy life — and this project will undoubtedly take us one step closer to that goal.
We have so much work ahead of us, but I can’t wait to see the results of this remarkable project.
Thank you, all! Now I’m happy to take a few questions.
Transcript from the October 12, 2023 Live Event (Part 2) (docx)