Senator Kirk Testifies at Senate Hearing: Stop Sewage Dumping in the Great Lakes

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today testified at an Environment and Public Works hearing in support of bipartisan legislation S. 571, the Great Lakes Water Protection Act. The Great Lakes Water Protection Act was introduced by Senators Kirk and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in 2013, and would set a date certain to end sewage dumping in the Great Lakes. Today’s hearing is an important step in moving the bill forward and ending the practice of diverting billions of gallons of untreated waste and stormwater into the Great Lakes, the drinking water source for millions of Americans.

The legislation would restrict dumping in the Lakes after 2033, which would give cities in the Great Lakes region the time necessary to upgrade their infrastructure to prevent sewage dumping. Beginning in 2033, polluters would be fined up to $100,000 a day per violation. The fines collected would flow into a Great Lakes Clean-Up Fund, generating resources for Great Lakes states to improve wastewater treatment systems, as well as habitat protection and wetland restoration.

“Each year more than 24 billion gallons of sewage are dumped into the Great Lakes, and ‘the Dirty Dozen’ are contributing to this pollution, threatening the drinking water for 30 million Americans,” Senator Kirk said. “Our water supply must remain clean and safe from toxins. The Great Lakes are America’s most precious natural resource, and as the Senator from Illinois I am committed to ensuring the Lakes are not polluted with sewage.”

The Committee also today considered S. 1232, the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act, introduced by Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Senator Kirk. S. 1232 would formally authorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)  to tackle the some of the most serious challeneges facing the Great Lakes, such as invasive species, non point source and nutrient pollution, and the clean-up of toxic hot spots across the basin.

To download video testimony from today’s hearing, please click here.