The cost of a Great Lakes cleanup plan unveiled on Monday by a White
House-backed group could reach $20 billion, a price that Washington has
already said the U.S. government cannot afford.

"The next step in
implementing the plan is to obtain funding," said Reg Gilbert of the
environmental group Great Lakes United after the plan was introduced at
a news conference in Chicago.

U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson introduced the plan drawn up by a
1,500-member task force made up of officials from federal, state and
local governments along with Indian tribal groups.

To ensure the
health of the world’s largest collective body of fresh water, which 35
million North Americans rely on for drinking water, the report called
for billions of dollars in government funding to refurbish decrepit
municipal sewer systems, clean up toxic "hot spots," keep out invasive
species, restore wetlands and other projects.

But after the task
force, created in 2004 by President George W. Bush, released a
preliminary report in July, federal agencies said in a letter to the
White House that tight budgets meant there could be no additional
funding for Great Lakes cleanup.

An EPA official said $20 billion was not necessarily what would be spent.

"It
states in the report that none of the partners are endorsing every item
in this report. We’re all focused on realistic and efficient ways to
get the job done," EPA Assistant Administrator Benjamin Grumbles told
Reuters.

"The mayors, tribes, governors and members of Congress
have each independently recommended significant new funding next year
to implement the plan — at least a net increase of $300 million over
this year’s federal budget for the Great Lakes ecosystem. Now we are
waiting for the administration’s commitment for significant new
funding," Gilbert said.

"This restoration plan comes just in
time," said Andy Buchsbaum of the National Wildlife Federation. "The
Great Lakes are sick. Their immune system is damaged. If we quickly
take the actions in this plan we can heal the lakes."

For Indian
representatives on the Great Lakes task force, concerns focused on
levels of mercury and other contaminants in fish in the region that
they rely on for income as well as food.

"We’re spending billions
of dollars looking for water on Mars, but we’re not even testing for
mercury in fish living in inland waters," said Chief Lee Sprague of the
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, which fishes on Lake Michigan.

By Andrew Stern

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