"Bulk of $15 Billion Plan Not Directly Tied To Stopping Asian Carp"

"CHICAGO — It might be back to the drawing board for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' sweeping proposal to spend billions of dollars and 25 years to block an Asian carp invasion of the Great Lakes."



"Buried within the Army Corps' 10,000-page study, and teased out in interviews with agency staff and legal experts, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that some controversial - if not inaccurate - interpretations of federal and state water laws are driving much of the project's astronomical costs and epic timeline.

The bulk of the Army Corps' $15 billion-plus estimate to restore the natural separation between the Lake Michigan and Mississippi River watersheds is yoked to projects that critics contend have little to do with directly stopping invasive species. They include some $12 billion to build things like new reservoirs, sewer tunnels and water treatment plants, as well as remove contaminated river sediments."

Dan Egan reports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel February 17, 2014.

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 02/18/2014