On the western edge of Lake Erie is a green, oily sludge that comes out regularly every summer and lasts into the first month of fall. It’s an issue that will require regional collaboration to solve. Read the full story by WJBK – TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-lake-erie
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Portage, Indiana was one of eight ports in the United States to win a Pacesetter Award for its performance during the 2020 shipping season. Read the full story by The Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-port-award
Environmental advocates are urging Detroit, Michigan’s City Council to take action on an ordinance that aims to safeguard the Detroit River by imposing stricter rules for companies operating along the waterway. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-detroit-river
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin emergency dredging of Lake Michigan’s St. Joseph Harbor early June, expediting the process to restore critical navigation, the agency said in a news release. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-dredging
A century-old shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Michigan is now officially on the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places. Read the full story by WDJT – TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-shipwreck
To help improve water quality and soil health, Canadian federal and provincial governments are providing more than $2.5 million for the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds.. Read the full story by Chatham-Kent This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-watershed-funding
The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC) has launched a new campaign called “Little Bits, Big Problems” to help tackle the problem of plastics pollution in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-dec-plastic-pollution
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Syracuse-based Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC) announced $121,741 in grant awards for five research projects that will help restore and protect the health of New York’s Great Lakes and surrounding communities, including one project led by Clarkson Assistant Biology Professor Andrew David. Read the full story by Finger Lakes 1 News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-dec-funding
Oil and gas are still flowing through Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. That’s despite Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order to shut it down. Read and hear the full story by WDET- Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210525-line5
Green infrastructure is a strategy that cities around the Great Lakes basin have increasingly been employing to ease the burden on their wastewater infrastructure and improve water quality, while deferring or avoiding costly upgrades to wastewater treatment plants. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-green-infrastructure
The Chicago Park District announced that a pair of endangered birds, namely Monty and Rose, has produced three eggs at their Montrose Beach Dunes Natural Area breeding grounds on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. Read the full story by The Science Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-piping-plovers
The plan envisions a broad land bridge connecting the downtown malls to the area just north of First Energy Stadium and the Great Lakes Science Center. The 350-foot-wide greenway, known as a plinth, would soar over railroad tracks and the Ohio 2 Shoreway and provide a park-like connection to Cleveland’s biggest asset. Read the full story by cleveland.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-cleveland-lakefront
A dispute near the northern U.S. border is threatening relations between America and Canada. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered the shutdown of the Line 5 pipeline, which carries up to 540,000 barrels a day of crude oil and natural gas. Read the full story by The Wall Street Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-pipeline
A formerly troublesome dirt path, connecting Bowmanville Avenue to West Beach Road of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail in Bowmanville, Ontario was recently paved to allow for improved recreation opportunities along Lake Ontario’s northern shoreline. Read the full story by Oshawa This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-waterfront-trail
A group of students, researchers and volunteers at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario — called the U of T Trash Team — are dumping plastic bottles with GPS trackers to pinpoint exactly where trash goes in the water to help determine ways to retrieve it. Read the full story by Yahoo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-ontario-trash
On this day May 18, 1894, the Milwaukee-built canal schooner Lem Ellsworth foundered on Lake Michigan taking her crew of seven with her. Read the full story by On Milwaukee.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-lem-ellsworth
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources awarded money for 150 new water quality projects on private property in the Lake Erie watershed, mostly to create new wetlands, the state agency said. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-wetland-projects
The town of Cobourg, Ontario will begin its annual spring removal of built-up sediment by dredging the harbour and area. Read the full story by CHUC- Cobourg, Ontario.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210518-dredging
There’s been a lot of news about the amount of plastic debris in the oceans, but plastic pollution also affects the Great Lakes. A study from the Rochester Institute of Technology estimates 22 million pounds of plastic debris enters the Great Lakes from the U.S. and Canada each year. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-plastic
Cities surrounding Michigan’s Thunder Bay may not have the equipment needed to respond to an oil spill, if one were to occur, but they do have well-stocked military base and disaster response agencies at their disposal. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-oil-spill
If Line 5 is still pumping petroleum through the Straits of Mackinac on Thursday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has notified Enbridge Energy she will consider all resulting profits to be property of the state of Michigan. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-enbridge-profits
Gravel miners and other business groups are launching a new push to make it easier to open sand and gravel mines in residential areas in Michigan. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-gravel-mining
Ontario’s Lakehead University has announced the launch of the Lake Superior Climate Action Field School, in cooperation with three other universities on both sides of the international boundary. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-climate-school
A major effort is underway to protect the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk in Portage, Indiana, from further erosion. Read the full story by WFLD-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-portage-erosion
The University of Toledo recently received more than a million dollars from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, part of which will fund research to understand the biological mechanisms of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-algae-blooms
A recently proposed bill that would modify the Fisheries Act in a way that would essentially return to prior laws, which were ineffective and rarely enforced, was dismissed as a step backwards by environmentalists and opposing Members of Parliament. Read the full story by the Toledo Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-sewage-bill
Ontario’s Laurentian University will be losing three researchers within its environmental sciences department due to restructuring. The loss of the three “Sudbury Model” researchers will affect local opportunities for the education and research of aquatic ecology and plant ecology. Read the full story by The Sudbury Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210513-laurentian-researchers
Bolstering a 14-year Great Lakes research partnership, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $6 million to Clarkson University and experts at two State University of New York campuses. Read the full story by Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-clarkson
A newly released study suggests water temperatures are warming beneath the surface of Lake Michigan, and AccuWeather meteorologists warn that the rising temperatures of the lake water could actually mean surrounding cities will have more snow than usual. Read the full story by AccuWeather.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-lake-michigan
The realities of climate change present the Buffalo, New York area with some good news and bad news. Global warming may turn Buffalo into a climate refuge. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-earth-day
Earth Day serves as a reminder of our collective responsibility to care for the environment. And this year, policies that address climate change continue to be among the most pressing priorities for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-wisconsin-climate
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is warning people the exposed riverbeds of the Tittabawassee and Tobacco rivers aren’t safe for recreation. Read the full story by WNEM -TV – Bay City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-bottomlands
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources are seeking public comment to develop a 10-year management plan for Lake Superior and its tributaries. Read the full story by the Crawford Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-superior-management-plan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not follow its own procedures when it shared comments and concerns on a draft permit for PolyMet’s proposed copper-nickel mine over the phone with Minnesota regulators instead of in writing, according to the agency’s inspector general. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-polymet
A Michigan agency delivered a split decision Wednesday in a high-stakes battle over a pipeline that carries oil beneath a channel that connects two of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-line-5
The Lake Express Ferry in Milwaukee, Wisconsin will trade a bicycle for a round-trip ticket across Lake Michigan on Friday in celebration of Earth Week. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-ferry
The Lake Express Ferry in Milwaukee, Wisconsin will trade a bicycle for a round-trip ticket across Lake Michigan on Friday in celebration of Earth Week. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-ferry
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is collecting smelt for the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) so that smelt in the Canadian waters of Lake Superior can be tested for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminants. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-fish-pfas
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is collecting smelt for the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) so that smelt in the Canadian waters of Lake Superior can be tested for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminants. Read the full story by The Sault Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210422-fish-pfas
A new report finds that the Great Lakes basin’s large urban centers, including Metro Detroit, are now being confronted with significant climate challenges, but also stand to benefit from prudent investment in green infrastructure. Read the full story by Second Wave Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-climate-change
According to the study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, focus groups from both of Michigan’s peninsulas identified environmental threats for coastal communities and called for education on how to be better stewards of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-environmental-education
This past winter was drier than normal over the Great Lakes drainage basin. As a result, the Great Lakes water levels continue to decline faster than the typical late winter decline. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-water-levels
Operators of recreational boats less than 26 feet long on federally-regulated waters, including Lake Superior, are now required to have and to use an engine cut-off switch and associated engine cut-off lanyard under a new federal law passed by Congress and enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-boat-engine
Traverse City, Michigan’s multi-million dollar FishPass Project has seen ongoing arguments between the city and some residents who don’t want to see the project break ground. Now the Great Lakes Fishery Commission has filed a motion to become a formal party in the lawsuit. Read the full story by WPBN -TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-fishpass
An alarming spike in the number of drownings across several of the Great Lakes last year may have been linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, a new research study finds. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-drownings
Lake Michigan water levels are down a foot and homeowners along the lakeshore are happy. Read the full story by WOOD – TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-lakefront-homeowners
After a year in lockdown due to COVID-19, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s largest research vessel left the harbor in Chicago, and was expected to reach the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair by Wednesday afternoon, according to a news release from the EPA. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-lake-guardian
Conservationists are celebrating the Chicago Park District’s announcement Wednesday of a 3.1-acre expansion of Illinois’ Montrose Dune Natural Area, a site that’s gained international attention in recent years as the nesting home for a pair of endangered Great Lake piping plovers, Monty and Rose. Read the full story by WTTW – TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-chicago-plovers
The Erie Canal is a more than 360-mile canal connecting the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and took only 8 years to build. Read the full story by History.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210408-erie-canal
Recent events in the Suez Canal drew worldwide attention to the fact that when a cargo vessel goes sideways in a shipping channel, it can cause big problems. Those working within the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes system reflect on the economic damage that could be done if a similar situation occurred closer to home. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210405-shipping-delays
