Politics
Illinois Puts Invasive Carp Barrier on Hold, Pritzker Says Trump Administration Can’t Be Trusted as Funding Partner
The state of Illinois has pressed pause on a barrier designed to keep invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes, saying it can no longer count on the federal government to honor its funding obligation to the $1.15 billion project.
On Monday, Natalie Phelps Finnie, director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers — which is overseeing construction of the barrier — announcing the postponement of a “property rights closing” scheduled for Tuesday.
Illinois had been slated to acquire the title to the riverbed at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, situated in the Des Plaines River near Joliet, roughly 30 miles southwest of Chicago, where construction was finally set to move forward on the long-proposed barrier.
Instead, IDNR has pushed the closing potentially to May, “to allow Illinois to receive written assurances of federal funding,” Phelps Finnie wrote in her letter. “The Trump Administration’s lack of clarity and commitment to delivering funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources leaves the state to anticipate a lack of federal funding for the Brandon Road Project.”
More than $100 million in federal funds slated for IDNR projects — specifically earmarked for the clean-up of former coal mines, and the plugging and removal of abandoned oil and gas wells — have been withheld under the Trump administration, officials said.
The Brandon Road Project is largely viewed as the best chance to keep invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes by deploying a variety of deterrents at a crucial pinch point, from acoustics to an air bubble curtain to a flushing lock.
These voracious feeders were imported to the U.S. in the 1970s to help clean retention ponds but escaped into the wild through flooding and accidental releases.
The carp — bighead, silver and black carp are the species of greatest concern — have since made their way into the Illinois River, which is their gateway to the Great Lakes courtesy of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
The carp weigh up to 100 pounds and consume one-third of their body weight daily. They not only outcompete native fish for food, but also can alter the underwater environment so that it’s uninhabitable for plants and other animals, threatening native ecosystems as well as Great Lakes fishing and recreation.
Leaders of Great Lakes states, with Illinois and Michigan in the forefront, long argued the states alone shouldn’t be responsible for funding the Brandon Road Project, given the importance of the region to the nation’s economic interests — nor did any of the states have the deep pockets needed to pick up the billion-dollar price tag.
After years of wrangling, the federal government finally allocated $274 million and also agreed to pay the lion’s share of ongoing maintenance costs. With those pledges in hand, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed on to an agreement in July 2024 that brought the project close to the starting line.
In December 2024, the first construction contract was awarded for the project, a milestone lauded by advocates.
But with this latest wrinkle, progress is once again stalled on a project many say has already been delayed for too long.
“Any delay or halt of construction of this project threatens the economy and environment of the Great Lakes and opens the door to yet another invasive species to do irreversible damage to Great Lakes and to the people who call it home,” Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said in a statement emailed to WTTW News.
Pritzker was resolute in pointing blame at the Trump administration, which the governor said “has shown it cannot be trusted to legally uphold its financial commitments to the State of Illinois.”
“We cannot move forward until the Trump Administration provides more certainty and clarity on whether they will follow the law and deliver infrastructure funds we were promised,” Pritzker said.
In a statement emailed to WTTW News, the Army Corps acknowledged that a groundbreaking ceremony for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project scheduled for Tuesday had been postponed “as the State of Illinois was no longer able to attend. This change was to ensure all partners can partake in the celebration at a later date.”
The Corps added, “Although the ceremony did not happen today, work on … this project is ongoing and will continue without delay.”
Note: This article has been updated with comment from the Army Corps of Engineers.
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
