VIDEO: Portman Praises Coast Guard Station Cleveland Harbor for Great Lakes Protection Protocols

In a new video, Senator Portman praises the Coast Guard's Ninth District HQ at Station Cleveland Harbor after a brief tour and meeting with the commander, Rear Admiral Donna L. Cottrell, to receive an update on District operations, as well as Great Lakes shipping and environmental issues. The Ninth Coast Guard District is responsible for all Coast Guard operations throughout the five Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway, and parts of the surrounding states, including 6,700 miles of shoreline and 1,500 miles of the international border with Canada.  

Portman continues to be a leader in protecting our Great Lakes and the environment. As co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, Portman has taken the lead in protecting Lake Erie from harmful algal blooms, invasive species, contamination, and microbeads. He has also led efforts in the Senate to fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  Last year, President Trump signed Portman’s Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Reauthorization Act, a primary source of federal funding for harmful algal bloom research, monitoring, and forecasting in the Great Lakes. 

A transcript of the video can be found below and the video can be found here. 

“Really good to be back at the 9th district again today. I was with Admiral Cottrell and her team. The men and women of the Coast Guard do an awesome job. They are the ‘Guardians of the Lake’ and the Great Lakes are such a treasure for all of us. We use it for our water, we use it for recreation, it's the number one tourist attraction in Ohio. They’re the ones who keep it safe. They do a lot of urban search and rescue, and frankly, during the COVID-19 period, there've been more people boating and more rescues needed. But they also handle commercial traffic and help them to ensure we can continue to use the lake to create jobs on the commercial side. And then they also have done a lot of work in terms of identifying pollution problems and working with the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. So we're lucky to have the Coast Guard here in Ohio and I appreciate their efforts and what they do every day.”

###