密歇根新闻广播 环境保护署希望你参与五大湖清理的下一阶段

The Environmental Protection Agency is starting to plan what's next for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. We're eight years into that huge cleanup and restoration effort.

Chris Korleski directs the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office. He says we've made big progress cleaning up pollution hot spots in the region.

"I think the progress that's been made in the Area of Concern and toxic¹ substance area has been nothing short of miraculous," he says.

He says the next phase will include tackling issues like cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Erie, Saginaw Bay and Green Bay.

"There's no easy answer. I don't think it's going to be quick, easy or inexpensive to get that addressed," he says.

The EPA is working on developing "Action Plan III," which will focus on these five areas, outlined on the GLRI page:

toxic substances and areas of concern

invasive species

nonpoint source pollution impacts on nearshore health

habitat and species

future restoration actions

The EPA is holding a series of meetings to get public input² on this next phase, including one in Saginaw on July 24th. You can also send feedback online.

Mike Shriberg is the Great Lakes Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation³. He agrees there's been significant progress in cleaning up toxic pollution in our region.

"Those were shovel-ready projects when the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative first started, and about 30-40% of funding overall has gone to that. So this means we have cleaner waterways in some of our major urban areas from the Chicago area to along Lake Erie to many of the areas in Michigan as well," he says.

But he says we still have big challenges to tackle.

"Things like toxic hot spots that still need to be remediated, habitat loss that we need to reverse and put in better habitat all around," says Shriberg.

He says we've spent just under three billion dollars under the GLRI.

"The funding has varied⁴ by year but it's been most years about $300 million a year, for more than 4,000 projects," he says.

Shriberg says initial estimates pegged⁵ the total cost to clean up and restore the Great Lakes at about $20 billion.

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

5 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》