Kaptur Statement on Halt of Brandon Road Lock and Dam ConstructionPress ReleaseTradeJobs and the Economy

Toledo, OH - Today, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water and Co-Chair of the bipartisan House Great Lakes Task Force, released the following statement about the US Army Corps of Engineers stopping work on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam complex, a project in Joliet, Illinois intended to stop invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

"The Army Corps of Engineers has stopped work at the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. That is terrible news for our Great Lakes. Invasive carp do not belong here. If they reach the Great Lakes, they will destroy our native ecosystem. Lake Erie holds more fish and more boats than all the other Great Lakes combined. Ohio has as much at stake in this fight as any State in the basin - and so does every family that fishes, boats, or earns a living on Lake Erie and in our precious Freshwater Kingdom.

"For years, we have worked on a bipartisan basis to build a barrier program at Brandon Road that meets the needs of every affected State. Congress authorized this project, and Congress paid for it. Multiple states have made financial and land contributions for the project. The President himself directed his agencies to move it with maximum speed. The work had finally begun.

"And yet, now we learned of a stop work order through the news. The Administration and Corps of Engineers did not provide any legally-required notice to Congress nor any public information. That sends a red alert across the Great Lakes basin.

"The Corps of Engineers must resume the work at once. Congress has spoken. The Governors from the Great Lakes States have spoken. This project is under construction, and it must be built. There is no excuse for delay, and as Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee and a leader of the bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force I stand fully ready to use all the tools in our arsenal to ensure this vital work resumes with great haste."

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