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The Corps of Engineers released a draft in August that detailed a $275 million plan to keep the invasive species from getting into Lake Michigan by using electric barriers and other deterrents at the Brandon Road lock and dam near Joliet, Ill. The original timeline for the project calls for the final version of the report to be done by February 2019.
The Dec. 7 letter co-signed by 26 members of the House urges the Corps to stick to that original timeline, saying more delays will increase the likelihood that the carp will reach the Great Lakes. The letter also echoed a similar letter sent to the Corps by the senators of Michigan, saying that the process is taking far too long. "Current estimates indicate it will take as long as
eight years to have a barrier installed at the Brandon Road Lock and
Dam," wrote U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, co-chair of the Senate Great
Lakes Task Force, and Gary Peters. "This timeframe
is simply unacceptable with Asian carp having been discovered closer and
closer to the Great Lakes, including an adult Asian carp captured above
the electric barrier, just nine miles from Lake Michigan" in June.
"Construction of the full upgrades for Brandon Road is likely years away," Burke reports. First, the Corps must conduct a feasibility study, then federal and state agencies must review it, then the chief of engineers will issue the final report. If Congress authorizes and funds the project, it could be constructed about four years after authorization.
"The group cites an analysis co-authored by Wayne State University supply-chain management professor John C. Taylor and East Lansing transportation consultant James Roach that concludes the Corps overstates the economic impact of closing the dam, which the Corps determined would hit shippers and bulk producers with about $318 million in "lost transportation cost savings," Garret Ellison reports for Michigan Live.
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