Gary Peters Asks Engineer Corps Head About Project To Stop Spread Of Invasive Species In Great Lakes

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

[00:00:02]>> Thank you, Senator. You know, we uh we in the Senate call Senator Hovind by his nickname superhero, too, >> but in high school, he was known as Scooter.

[00:00:19]Senator, >> thank Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[00:00:21]>> You're welcome. Scooter.

[00:00:26]>> Senator Peters.

[00:00:29]Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Use everything.

[00:00:31]>> Yes, sir. You need to catch your breath.

[00:00:33]I won't start the clock. We're not paying attention to the clock anyway.

[00:00:37]>> I appreciate that. I appreciate that.

[00:00:39]Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, member. Thank you. Um, as um likely come as no surprise to the folks here today, I want to start today by talking about the Brandon Road inter basin uh project. You know, put uh simply, this project is our one and only hope of keeping karp from decimating the Great Lakes and really causing irreputable harm to our economy and way of life really throughout the the Great Lakes region. Uh that's why I've been a long it's been a longtime priority of mine and I'm glad to see it was also a priority of the president as well. Uh as was made clear in his protecting the Great Lakes from evasive CARP presidential memorandum. But to be clear uh we don't just have to get this project done. We also have to get it done as soon as possible. Karp are not waiting for that project and they're working aggressively trying to to get into the Great Lakes wershed. So, Assistant Secretary Tal, when we met last week, you outlined the fiscal year 27 funding capability for the Brandon project at $235 million. That level of funding would help ensure the timely award of the increment to Flushing Dock and the right descending bank guidewall construction contracts, which uh as you well know is key to keeping this project on track.

[00:02:04]So, I'm certainly laser focused on securing this level of funding in the FY27 energy and water bill. My question uh for you uh Assistant Secretary and General Graham, and for those who may not be familiar with the stakes here, if both of you would let the committee know the importance of this project, uh how you've worked to get construction moving and h how vital it is. Vital again stressing that it gets completed on time.

[00:02:30]>> Thank you, Senator Peters. and you've been a tremendous advocate for this project as has the entire state of Michigan. Um, and I like to zoom out when I talk about this project because um, prior to the 20th century, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system weren't connected. Um, the core of engineers during the last century connected them, which has been great for commerce. I like to say it connects New Orleans, Louisiana to Buffalo, New York, which is a miracle by water, which is the most efficient form of transportation. The unfortunate byproduct of that is that Asian carp entered the Mississippi River system and they're now threatening to enter the Great Lakes. And I've heard from you on a number of occasions and from those throughout the Great Lakes states about the impact this would have on your economy and the ecology of the Great Lakes, which are an absolute treasure for our nation. Uh the Brandon Road, the Brandon Road is a lock on that waterway that connects those two uh formerly unconnected bodies of water. And it is a choke point, the perfect choke point that we've identified to deter Asian carp and turn them around. Uh it will include, General Graham likes to call it a fish disco, but it's bubble curtains, acoustics, electric shock, uh flushing do uh flushing locks, as you mentioned.

[00:03:40]All these are things that we've studied that will turn these Asian carp around uh and not allow them to enter the Great Lakes. This is an important project that, as you said, President Trump has been a champion for. Uh he believes in that same cause. You've been a tremendous advocate for it and a great partner. Thank you.

[00:03:56]>> Thank you, Sarah. This is all about momentum and we've got great momentum right now. As you spoke to, increment 1A is on the streets and uh we're progressing forward on that, moving forward with the second increment, the flushing lock, as you said, would be a great step forward to just maintain momentum on this project, deliver it efficiently, and protect the Great Lakes.

[00:04:16]>> Great. Thank you. I appreciate it. Uh, Secret Serell, on May 1st, u, you signed a request allowing for additional time and funding to complete the Southeast Michigan Flood Risk Management Study, which is, uh, as you know, another top priority of mine. Uh, and for that, I'd like to just say thank you. Uh, thank you. uh as we've discussed previously, this is going to help ensure that the study progresses to the point at which the the core will be able to develop a thorough technical report to inform future infrastructure efforts to address what has become pretty uh regular regional uh flooding in the area. Uh with this request signed, I'm hoping that we can now turn our attention to actually getting this done, the study done in the coming fiscal year so that we can start delivering some tangible results for residents throughout Southeast Michigan. By my account, the study needs another $800,000 in federal funding to allow for completion. So, that's what I'm going to be working to uh secure in FY27 energy and water bill. So, my question for both of you gentlemen is, can I count on you to work with me to find a way to get this study done that so we can finish it up in FY27?

[00:05:24]>> Senator Peters, thank you for the question. And if I might take 30 seconds, this is a result of building infrastructure, not paperwork.

[00:05:31]success in Southeast Michigan. We had hesitancy in the past to make a decision and uh give a community the information that we had acquired and that they had helped fund about how best to protect themselves. There may be a role for the federal government. There may be a role for the the local community in some parts of the project. And that's what we did. We applied a new process as part of building infrastructure not paperwork called rapid that's really about making decisions, getting everybody involved into a conference room and making decisions about how to proceed. in this project instead of being studied forever uh we are going to be able to deliver something to protect the citizens of that area of your state.

[00:06:07]>> Thank you >> Senator. It's all about hustle and moving forward to exactly as assistant secretary tale secretary t spoke to which is get that information where it can do the citizens good.

[00:06:18]>> Yeah. Great. Well, I appreciate both of you. Thank you for this effort and the other effort as well. And uh we're going to get all these done soon. I want to get them done real soon, certainly by the end of the year for a lot of reasons. Thank you.

[00:06:29]Um, we're waiting on Senator Macowski.