MarAd gives $4 million for invasive species fight
The U.S. Maritime Administration on Monday said it will give $4 million to fight against the spread of aquatic invasive species found in cargo ships plying the Great Lakes and nation's inland waterways.
The funding is part of the Obama administration's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the largest federal investment in the Great Lakes in 20 years. The initiative's priorities for action — developed by a task force of 16 federal departments — are combating invasive species, cleaning up toxics, protecting wetlands from pollution, and restoring wetland and habitats.
Through a cooperative agreement with the Northeast Midwest Institute, MarAd will provide funding and technical expertise to help upgrade the Great Ships Initiative (GSI) ballast water treatment technology testing facility. The GSI facility, located in the Duluth-Superior Harbor of Lake Superior and the only one in North America, tests water treatment technologies designed to remove invasive species 'hitchhiking' in ballast water tanks onboard cargo ships.
