Great Lakes senators call on Trump to stop delaying invasive carp barrier

Five Democratic senators from Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin sent a letter demanding the Trump administration stop delaying the $1.15 billion Brandon Road Interbasin Project, a carp barrier near Joliet that has now been halted twice in under a year by administrative review. The letter, addressed to the Army's acting assistant secretary for Civil Works, warns delays are inflating costs already shared by Illinois and Michigan at $50 million and $64 million respectively.

The barrier is meant to stop invasive silver and bighead carp from reaching Lake Michigan using sonic blasts, bubble walls, and an electric barrier. Alarm intensified this summer after hundreds of juvenile carp were found 80 miles from the lake, the closest young fish have been detected since monitoring began in 2010, with adults spotted as near as 50 miles away.

Sen. Dick Durbin said the administration has no time to interfere with the project 'without explanation' as the carp advance. The project was authorized by Congress in 2020 with $225 million in initial funding, plus $47 million in 2023 and $28 million in 2026, before construction began and was paused within months.

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