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Kaptur, Great Lakes region Members of Congress, offer formal comments regarding Brandon Road Study and Asian carp effect on Great Lakes

December 8, 2017

Today is last day for public comment on the Brandon Road Study and the nuisance species of fish

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Co-Chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, along with Members of Congress from the Great Lakes region, offered formal comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Brandon Road report. Today is the final day for public comment on the draft Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP) of the USACE, which details options for how to prevent the Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

"My colleagues and I have long sounded the alarm on the threat of Asian carp across the Great Lakes region," said Kaptur. "Just a few short months ago, we urged the need for action when a live Asian carp was caught about nine miles from Lake Michigan just past the protective barriers. Current estimates show it will take as long as eight years to have a barrier installed at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam – a timeframe which is unacceptable. With the Asian carp on the doorstep of our region's most vital natural resource, we have a small window of opportunity to stop this invasive species. Once the Asian carp are in the Great Lakes, it will be too late to stop the destruction they will cause."

The letter sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's' Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study Brandon Road report can be viewed here.