Senator Durbin's statement on the Brandon Road Study

CHICAGO - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) released the Brandon Road Study, a draft plan for keeping Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. This draft plan was set to be released on February 28, 2017, but had been stalled by the Trump Administration.

“After an unexplained five month delay, the Trump Administration finally released the draft plan for keeping Asian carp from reaching and irreparably harming the Great Lakes. With the discovery of an adult Silver Carp a mere nine miles from Lake Michigan in June, it is imperative that the Trump Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continue to move this draft plan along the process and towards the end goal of preventing the spread of Asian carp. The Administration has already wasted precious time with this unnecessary delay. It’s time they show a commitment to protecting the Great Lakes for generations to come.”

The Army Corps posted the report on http://glmris.anl.gov/brandon-rd/ today, and will accept comments related to the report until September 21, 2017. Comments will be accepted on the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study project website, by letter, or at two planned public meetings.

Durbin has continuously pressed the Trump Administration to release the Brandon Road Study for the past seven months. In January, Durbin and eleven other bipartisan senators from the Great Lakes region wrote to Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy asking the Army Corps to complete the Brandon Road Study, which will offer recommendations to keep invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

In April, Durbin and other Senators from the Great Lakes region wrote to President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney requesting the Administration release the Army Corps draft proposal to prevent Asian carp from reaching and severely harming the Great Lakes after the White House decided to delay and potentially modify this report. Durbin has yet to receive a response to this letter.

In June, Durbin joined Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Gary Peters (D-MI) to introduce the Stop Asian Carp Now Act, which would require the Trump Administration to release the Brandon Road Study within seven days of the bill’s enactment.

And in July, Durbin and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) included a provision in the Senate Appropriations Committee approved energy and water spending package requiring the Army Corps to release the Brandon Road Study within 30 days of the bill’s passage.

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