An invasive fish has become an unlikely flashpoint between President Donald Trump and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, drawing them into their latest political standoff.
The Asian carp were first brought to the United States some 50 years ago to control algae growth in ponds and wastewater facilities, but they escaped into the Mississippi River and have been spreading ever since. With the aquatic pests now threatening to infiltrate the Great Lakes, the Army Corps of Engineers has developed a $1.15 billion barricade to keep the carp out by lodging a series of deterrent technologies — including an electric barrier, acoustic blasts, a bubble curtain, and a special lock capable of flushing out the carp — into the Des Plaines River in suburban Chicago.
Last week, the Trump administration announced plans to put Michigan officials in charge of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, the Chicago-area river barrier. In a statement posted Thursday on X, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Adam Telle, said the agency was “aggressively moving out on this project and ... Read more
