U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar Discusses Minnesota Slip Restoration Project with City Leaders

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar visited Duluth to talk about the Minnesota Slip.

DULUTH, Minn.- Presidential hopeful and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar stopped in Duluth Thursday.

She came to learn more about what’s going on with the Minnesota slip and to hear updates on the city’s restoration project involving both the slip and seawall.

Parts of the slip were under construction for longer than expected, but Senator Klobuchar is confident restoring the slip and seawall will mean a big economic impact for Duluth and the state of Minnesota once everything is finished.

“Today we can see the ecological, environmental and economic benefit that these cleanup efforts have had in our community,” Klobuchar said.

The Minnesota slip is one part of a larger Great Lakes restoration project and one of over 20 update projects in the state of Minnesota that still need about $53 million to complete by 2024.

“This is really an 11 million dollar inter-agency project that we are here to talk about. It is to clean up, it is to reconstruct, and it is to provide improved Minnesota access to Minnesota Slip,” Duluth mayor Emily Larson said.

Larson says the original cost of the slip project has gone up.

In the latest increase the council is set to vote Monday on an additional 700 thousand dollars, but Lake Superior is Duluth’s number one tourist attraction and is worth the time and money going into it.

“The Great Lake’s combined economic impact is so significant that restoration along is estimated to provide 50 billion dollars in long term economic benefits,” Klobuchar said.

Senator Klobuchar was proud to announce the EPA and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative joint investment of $10 million to the slip project.

Klobuchar says it’s not just an economic investment, it’s about taking care of the Earth’s greatest natural resource and where it comes from.

“It’s not just about funding our oceans but that we make sure that we’re paying attention the Great Lakes. Both for this incredibly important port, for our economy, but also for the important environmental impact on the great lakes, the tourism that it brings,” Klobuchar said.

Getting a first hand look at progress being made on the slip project was a big part of Senator Klobuchar’s visit, but she also spent some time fundraising for her presidential campaign while she’s here.