Governor Quinn Visits East Peoria To Talk Mud
By: Sophie Nielsen-Kolding WMBD/WYZZ TV
Updated: October 10, 2012
EAST PEORIA- Wednesday Governor Pat Quinn was in East Peoria to highlight a project on the Illinois river.
It's called the 'Mud-to-Parks' program. Quinn said a lot of the most fertile farm soil ends up as runoff at the bottom of the river, so construction crews are drudging up 90-thousand tons and filling 60 barges.
The mud will be used to cover an old Chicago steel mill site and turn it into a park. Eight million dollars is coming from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and $4.5 million of that is going toward this project.
Quinn said a lot of the river is only 2 feet deep.
"That's bad for fish. It's bad for wildlife that depends on habitat. It's very bad for recreational boating, and definitely bad for navigation," Quinn said.
The dredged mud has also been used to cover a Pekin landfill and a strip-mined portion of Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area.
It's called the 'Mud-to-Parks' program. Quinn said a lot of the most fertile farm soil ends up as runoff at the bottom of the river, so construction crews are drudging up 90-thousand tons and filling 60 barges.
The mud will be used to cover an old Chicago steel mill site and turn it into a park. Eight million dollars is coming from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and $4.5 million of that is going toward this project.
Quinn said a lot of the river is only 2 feet deep.
"That's bad for fish. It's bad for wildlife that depends on habitat. It's very bad for recreational boating, and definitely bad for navigation," Quinn said.
The dredged mud has also been used to cover a Pekin landfill and a strip-mined portion of Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area.
