Today I visited the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago to discuss ongoing efforts to preserve clean water, prevent sewage dumping and minimize beach closures across the Great Lakes.

Beach closures cost taxpayers an estimated $2.4 million each year in lost revenue, according to a study by the University of Chicago. An estimated 24 billion gallons of combined untreated sewage and storm water are dumped into the Great Lakes each year, contributing to hundreds of beach closures and threatening the drinking water for more than 30 million Americans.

The Great Lakes are the crown jewel of the Midwest, and as the Senator from Illinois I am committed to ensuring the Lakes are not polluted with sewage. Our water supply and our beaches must remain clean and safe from toxins.

In 2013, along with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), I introduced S. 571, the Great Lakes Water Protection Act, which would set a date certain to end sewage dumping in the Great Lakes and provide greater transparency regarding sewage discharge events. The Great Lakes Water Protection Act would increase fines to $100,000 a day per violation for those who dump and provide communities 20 years to make necessary upgrades to their infrastructure.

To learn more about my work as a co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, a bipartisan organization that works to enhance and protect the environmental health of the Great Lakes, please visit the task force webpage.