President Joe Biden announced Thursday an unprecedented investment in restoring and cleaning up the Great Lakes as part of his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Speaking at The Shipyards, an historic industrial building that has been redeveloped as an event venue in Lorain, Biden touted the newly unveiled spending plan, which will funnel $1 billion into accelerating the cleanup of the Great Lakes in sites across six states.
"We're investing like never, ever in history," Biden said. "It's going to allow the most significant restoration of the Great Lakes in the history of the Great Lakes."
Biden was joined by Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley and Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, who has been a longtime advocate for the Great Lakes. Kaptur, who has served in Congress since 1983, said Biden has done more for the region than any other president in her tenure. She recalled a previous visit when then-Vice President Biden pledged to accelerate efforts to clean up the Black River — once derided as the "river of tumors" — which flows through Lorain into Lake Erie.
"Today, as millions of tons of slag and pollutants have been removed, native fish have begun to return and be certified as safe to eat," Kaptur said. "Thank you, President Biden, for never forgetting us."
Biden was introduced by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, who discussed how the "unwillingness to dedicate necessary resources" to clean up the lakes decimated waterfront communities, many of them underserved and include or are adjacent to communities of color where poverty levels are well above average.
"These magnificent waters are essential to the region's way of life and to the American economy, but they require endless care, especially in the face of emerging challenges like PFAS pollution and climate change," Regan said.
The Great Lakes provide drinking water for about 40 million people and support 1.3 million jobs. Biden said previous commitments from U.S. and Canadian governments to clean up the lakes had languished due to multiple factors including insufficient funding and barriers such as the acceleration of climate change.
"For decades, there was a lot of talk a lot of plans but very little progress," he said. "It was slow. That changes today."
The bulk of the funding will focus on continued restoration work in 25 designated “areas of concern,” including the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio. The area of concern includes the lower 46.5 miles of the river, starting at the Gorge Dam pool along the Akron-Cuyahoga Falls boundary and ending at Lake Erie.
Biden said a study found that every dollar that is spent on Great Lakes restoration will translate to between $3 and $4 in economic activity. That could mean the regions supported by the Great Lakes could experience a $3 to $4 billion economic boom if that estimate is accurate. The study and who conducted it was not specified.
The Great Lakes cleanup falls in line with other water infrastructure improvements nationwide and regionally. Ohio has the second highest number of lead service pipes in the country, totaling about 650,000.
Under the infrastructure law, Biden promises 100% of lead pipes will be eradicated and replaced. EPA administrator Regan said water infrastructure funding to Ohio this year alone will total $242 million.
Akron city officials are eager to receive those funds as they look toward replacing aging water mains throughout the city. Currently, a quarter of Akron's pipes are over a century old. It costs about $1 million to replace one mile of the city's 1,200 miles of pipes and the yearly budget to do so hovers around $2 million.
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
Universal e-Edition
Access the digital replica of USA TODAY and more than 200 local newspapers with your subscription.
"Every American and every child should be able to turn on a faucet and know they water they’re drinking is clean and safe," Biden said.
Akron has also been working to replace its remaining lead service lines. Though public service officials say they are ahead of most other Midwest cities, the city still has about 3,000 remaining lead lines. With infrastructure funding, public service director Chris Ludle told the Beacon Journal earlier this month he is hopeful the city will be able to eradicate the rest.
Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure law passed in November 2021 with the support of Democrats and Republicans, solidifying the president's economic spending agenda. In addition to water infrastructure, Ohio will see investments and repairs to about 1,300 bridges and 5,000 miles of highway in poor condition.
Biden concluded his remarks with a quote from writer Toni Morrison, a Lorain native.
"'We got more yesterdays than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow,'" he said. "Places like Lorain have a lot of yesterdays. Now, they're going to have some brighter tomorrows."
Published in the Akron Beacon Journal on Feb. 17, 2022.