Governor Announces Cleanup Plans for Detroit Areas

Michigan's first female Head of State continues to amaze me. Today at Tri-Centennial Park in Detroit, the pro-Detroit Michigan governor announced plans to speed-up the beginning of the Clean Michigan Initiative bond program. The CMI will start this spring rather than during the next ten years, as originally planned.

The Clean Michigan Initiative bond program will target 47 places around the state that are desperately in need of environmental cleanup. The selected areas will share the $38 million.

Of the 47 areas across the state set to receive funds, three spots in Detroit will benefit. The particular areas and the funding they will receive are as follows:

*Detroit Riverfront Promenade: $1.5 million
*Wayne County Detroit: $2 million
*Detroit: $200,000

The CMI is part of the Governor's Jobs Today Initiative, a plan she described in her 2005 State of the State address, which is designed to put thousands of unemployed workers in Michigan back on the job.

According to this press release issued by the Governor's office today, the Jobs Today Initiative also contains two other programs targeted at accelerating the cleanup of abandoned and hazardous areas in Detroit communities before the arrival of the Super Bowl next year. The details are as follows:

*$75 million in brownsfield grants and loans are available to qualifying areas. Grants/loans for this project must be applied for.

*$124 million is available for the cleanup of abandoned and hazardous gas stations through the Refined Petroleum Fund.

For more information on the Jobs Today Initiative, visit this page at the State of Michigan's website.