|
GRAND RAPIDS – Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers Friday afternoon will host a Congressional field briefing on the status of current and future efforts to clean up the Great Lakes.
The briefing, under the auspices of the House Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standard, which Ehlers chairs, will be held in the Eberhard Center on the Grand Rapids campus of Grand Valley State University, beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, April 21.
The hearing, titled “Great Lakes Restoration: How? How Soon?” will feature testimony from several environmental experts and local stakeholders about the status of efforts to clean up the Great Lakes and to discuss the recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, a partnership of federal, state and local government officials and program managers, scientists, and interested private stakeholders who developed a strategic action plan for cleaning up the Great Lakes.
Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, recently introduced the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Implementation Act (H.R. 5100) following those recommendations in eight key areas: aquatic invasive species, habitat protection, coastal health, Areas of Concern and contaminated sediment, non-point source pollution, toxic pollutants, scientific research and monitoring, and sustainable development.
The field hearing is open to the public and media are encouraged to attend. It will be preceded by a press conference at 12:30 p.m. outside the Eberhard Center near the Grand River, featuring Ehlers, Don Scavia of the Healing Our Waters Coalition, Andy Buchsbaum of the National Wildlife Federation and Dan Radloff, statewide vice president of the Michigan United Conservation Club.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Field Briefing - Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards
Title: Great Lakes Restoration: How? How Soon?
Date: Friday, April 21, 2006
Time: 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. (Preceded by a press conference at 12:30 p.m.)
Where: L.V. Eberhard Center, Grand Valley State University, 301 West Fulton Street, Grand Rapids, MI
Witnesses:
- Mr. Gary Gulezian, Director, Great Lakes National Program Office, United States Environmental Protection Agency;
- Dr. Steven Brandt, Director, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
- Ms. Catherine Cunnigham Ballard, Chief, Coastal Management Program, Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality;
- Dr. Alan Steinmann, Director, Annis Water Resources Institute, Grand Valley State University;
- Dr. Don Scavia, Healing Our Waters Coalition and the University of Michigan;
- Mayor George Heartwell, City of Grand Rapids; and
- Jan O’Connell, Treasurer, Sierra Club.
|
