U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk | The Office of U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk | The Office of U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday approved Sen. Mark Kirk's (R-IL) amendment to protect the Great Lakes from a Canadian plan to store 7 million cubic feet of nuclear waste less than a mile from the lakes.
Kirk's amendment calls on the Department of State to request an International Joint Commission Review of Ontario Power Generation’s proposal and to urge the government of Canada to postpone the plan until the review is complete.
“This dangerous plan to store 7 million cubic feet of nuclear waste less than a mile from the shores of the Great Lakes could cause irreparable damage to our nation’s most precious natural resource and the source of drinking water for millions in Illinois,” Kirk said. “We are one step closer to saving the Great Lakes, the crown jewel of the Midwest, from being polluted by toxic nuclear waste.”
Kirk said the ban on Great Lakes sewage dumping is the most aggressive measures taken to date to protect the ecosystem.
“Lake Michigan is our state's most precious natural resource, and we must work to keep it, and all of the Great Lakes, safe and clean for future generations," Kirk wrote in an an op-ed in the Daily Southtown last week.
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