A ceremonial groundbreaking for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project was abruptly canceled Tuesday over concerns over federal funding of the project.
The news comes as the new administration of President Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to institute a variety of funding freezes, with Illinois officials expressing concerns that those freezes could impact work on the project that proponents say is critical to protecting area waterways from invasive species of carp.
Most of the funding for phase one of the $1.1 billion project was allocated through former President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure law, but a federal funding freeze under the current Trump administration has state officials concerned.
In a letter to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the project's lead federal partner, the director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), said the state is "postponing the February 11, 2025, property rights closing for Increment 1 of this project based on the anticipated lack of federal funding for the Brandon Road Project."
In its letter to the corps, IDNR requested a potential May 2025 closing to allow Illinois to receive written assurances of federal funding.
Supporters of the project expressed shock and dismay at the decision to delay it.
"This project has been authorized by Congress, the money has been appropriated for phase one of construction, so it was surprising to see this last minute delay," said Joel Brammeier, the president and CEO of Alliance for the Great Lakes.
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The environmental organization has been advocating for the project, which aims to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes using innovative deterrents at the Brandon Lock and Dam near Joliet, for nearly a decade.
"We’re really worried about one, [invasive carp] pushing out those native fish people love to fish for and are part of the identity of the Great Lakes. And also, that big risk to the boating industry," said Brammeier.
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On Monday, a federal judge ordered the government to “immediately restore frozen funding.”
However, Governor JB Pritzker says the administration is still withholding funding from IDNR.
In a statement he said in part, "If the federal government does not live up to its obligations, Illinois could unfairly suffer the burden of hundreds of millions of dollars of liability. We cannot move forward until the Trump Administration provides more certainty and clarity on whether they will follow the law and deliver infrastructure funds we were promised.
“Our hands are tied here. At the end of the day, we must do business with partners operating in good faith, and the Trump Administration has yet to show us they are capable of that," he added.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul has signed onto lawsuits against the Trump administration over the funding freezes, arguing that they are in violation of the Constitution since Congress authorized and funded the expenditures.
Judges have blocked funding freezes, though the Trump administration has signaled they will continue to push for a halt to a variety of expenditures.
"I am pleased the judge agreed with our coalition that the president cannot interrupt funding appropriated by the separate, but equal, legislative branch of government,” he said in a statement.
In a statement to NBC 5, the Corps said in part, "Although the ceremony did not happen today, work on Increment 1B of this project is ongoing and will continue without delay."
