Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL-13) today issued the following reaction in response to the release of a study by the Great Lakes Commission examining the feasibility of severing water channels that have connected the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes for over a century:

           “Unfortunately, this study has nothing new to offer.  GLC has long argued that, at a cost of billions of dollars and untold damage to economic growth, Illinois could theoretically close its waterways to commerce, travel, and shipping.  The question is whether it makes better sense to control invasive species like Asian carp with less costly, more scientific means.  Most importantly, the timelines proposed in this study ignore the urgency of the Asian carp threat.  The GLC study assumes that decades worth of infrastructure investments, billions of taxpayers dollars, and a massive reengineering of Chicago’s shipping, sewage, and water management systems can all be accomplished before Asian carp reach the lakes.  We clearly need a better solution for our environment, for taxpayers, and for our economy.  

            “That’s why I and my colleagues have been working for years to build support and secure resources to field scientific solutions, and initiate a comprehensive study by the Army Corps to evaluate options for Illinois.  That study is underway, and I look forward to reviewing the results.  In the meantime, reversing Illinois waterways is not called for, and we should be working together on more immediate solutions, including electronic barriers, chemical management, netting, and more.  I invite my colleagues from the entire Great Lakes region to join me in supporting these efforts while our experts at the Army Corps do their job.”

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