Judy Freed (Page 3)

Social, racial, and economic justice are inseparable from environmental justice. We cannot achieve our vision of a Great Lakes enjoyed by all when systemic racism is allowed to permeate our society unchecked. We are outraged by the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis. We are outraged at the threats made against Christian Cooper, who was birding in Central Park in New York City. We condemn these as part of a pattern of violence and racism, and we stand with the movement for black lives.

No one should have to fear for their health and safety when enjoying everything the Great Lakes have to offer – from hanging out with friends on a Chicago beach to drawing a glass of water from the tap at home to jogging along a lakefront trail in the city or the remote shores of Lake Superior. All too often, black, brown, and indigenous people cannot take these things for granted.

The Alliance for the Great Lakes has work to do to address racial equity in our work, internally and externally. We have started this – as individuals, as an organization, and in our communities – but we know that we have a long way to go.

To all who are fighting systemic injustice right now and those who are hurting, we and the Alliance hear you, see you, and stand with you. We are committed to fighting for justice in the communities where we live, work, and play.

There is no perfect starting point. It is important to just start. Here are three steps we are taking and we encourage you to join in:

• Donate to local social, environmental or racial justice organizations.
• Reflect on and speak up against injustice.
• Educate yourself in understanding systemic racism.

We’re excited to share our new Adopt-a-Beach website with you! Visit www.greatlakesadopt.org to check it out.

The new website will make hosting Adopt-a-Beach events much easier. It also makes it super easy for volunteers to find and sign up to attend your cleanups. To help you get acquainted with the new site, we’ve created a list of Frequently Asked Questions and several short video tutorials.

Hosting an Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup in this Unusual Time

The Adopt-a-Beach website is currently open to host cleanups in your area. Team Leaders and volunteers must follow federal, state, and local coronavirus-related guidelines and should use their best judgment when planning and attending cleanup events. For now, we encourage Team Leaders to limit group size or hold a solo cleanup on your own or with your immediate household members.

Please take a few minutes to review our list of safety-related best practices for Adopt-a-Beach Team Leaders. The list includes general Adopt-a-Beach safety information along with specific information on COVID-19 safety and high water levels. We are closely monitoring developments around the Great Lakes region and will share any updates or changes with you.

Time to Start Thinking About September Adopt-a-Beach

We are hopeful that we will be able to hold the annual September Adopt-a-Beach event, scheduled for Saturday, September 26th. (It’s being held a bit later this year due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday.) We encourage you to test out the new website by creating your September Adopt-a-Beach event. The new site makes it easy to send updates to volunteers if anything changes over the coming months.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by emailing adoptabeach@greatlakes.org if you have any questions in the coming weeks. We’re so grateful for your commitment to the Great Lakes – thank you!

The Alliance’s Adopt-a-Beach program would not be possible without the involvement of hundreds of Team Leaders like you each year. We are grateful for your efforts to protect the Great Lakes and to keep our beaches safe and beautiful.

On this page you will find the following:

• COVID-19 Safety
• High Water Levels
• General Adopt-a-Beach Safety Guidelines

COVID-19 Safety

It’s been a challenging year and we’re excited to return to a more normal Adopt-a-Beach season this summer. However COVID-19 related rules and guidelines vary around the Great Lakes region. Adopt-a-Beach Team Leaders and volunteers must follow federal, state, and local coronavirus-related guidelines and should use their best judgement when planning and attending cleanup events.

Before planning an Adopt-a-Beach cleanup, Team Leaders should:

• Contact the beach landowner (e.g. state or local park district, etc.) to ask about any restrictions on events at your selected beach or shoreline. Confirm that they will allow you to host an Adopt-a-Beach event at the location. NOTE: Chicago and Cleveland cleanups do not need to contact the landowner.

• Follow federal, state, and local guidelines for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals including rules on mask wearing, social distancing, and group size limits. Be sure to review and follow federal CDC guidelines for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. See below for links to find information specific to Great Lakes states.

• Wear gloves when handling litter or other debris.

• Wash your hands. Check to be sure you and your volunteers can access water at the cleanup location (e.g. bathrooms facilities, etc.). If not, bring plenty of soap and water or hand sanitizer with you to the cleanup event.

• If you are feeling ill or have been exposed to someone who may be ill, cancel or postpone your Adopt-a-Beach event or find another volunteer to lead the event. For more information on the symptoms of COVID-19, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control website.

• If a volunteer attending your event appears to be ill, do not allow them to participate in the event and contact local health authorities and Alliance staff.  

• If you or a volunteer learns after the event that they were exposed to COVID-19 and may have exposed other attendees, contact local health authorities and Alliance staff.

• Check local, state, and federal guidelines for additional restrictions or guidelines including travel restrictions, group size limitations, special closures or restrictions in parks and other shoreline areas, and other local health and safety guidelines. Here are links to the COVID-19 resource pages for each of the Great Lakes states:

Illinois: https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/
Chicago: For up-to-date information, visit the Chicago Park District’s  COVID-19 page.

Indiana: https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/

Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/

Minnesota: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/prevention.html

New York: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/home

Ohio: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home

Pennsylvania: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx

Wisconsin: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm

• Encourage all event attendees to register in advance with the new Adopt-a-Beach website. With the new website, we have made it as easy as possible for volunteers to register for cleanups. And, it is very easy for Team Leaders to cancel events and share updates with registered attendees. It will be the best way for Team Leaders and Alliance staff to keep in touch with volunteers if cleanup events are canceled or postponed.

Alliance for the Great Lakes staff will update this guidance as appropriate and will communicate any new guidelines with Team Leaders and volunteers. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at adoptabeach@greatlakes.org.

High Water Levels

Many of the Great Lakes continue to experience high water levels.

Team Leaders should keep in mind the following safety and logistics concerns when scheduling and leading cleanup events:

• Before scheduling your event, visit your preferred cleanup location to be sure it is still a feasible site for your event. Some beaches are currently underwater. Other beach and shoreline areas are significantly smaller and cannot accommodate large groups.

• Pay close attention to weather events, particularly with high winds. Waves may reach further onto a beach than you are used to, submerging most of the area. Waves can be very powerful. Be cautious and keep your distance.

• Be aware of submerged hazards. Although the majority of cleanups are held on solid ground, some volunteers enter the water. High water levels may submerge hazards such as piers, breakwaters, or natural formations.

General Adopt-a-Beach Safety Guidelines

We have plenty of resources to help Adopt-a-Beach Team Leaders plan a fun and safe cleanup event. Our Team Leader How-To Guide is a helpful step-by-step guide for organizing an event. And, you can also check out this quick refresher video.

Adopt-a-Beach Team Leaders should stress personal safety with all volunteers at your event including:

• Never pick up dead animals or feces. Leave them where they are found.

• Be cautious with suspicious looking items. Contact authorities or the park manager to alert them or to ask for guidance.

• Be cautious with sharp objects such as broken glass or syringes/needles. Team Leaders should bring a container, such as a bucket or an empty plastic soda bottle, for sharp objects.

• If children are volunteering at your event, tell them not to pick up items they are unsure of and to find an adult for help.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at adoptabeach@greatlakes.org.

Chicago’s Southeast Side is where the Calumet River meets Lake Michigan. The neighborhood is rich in water resources: Lake Michigan, Lake Calumet, Big Marsh Nature Preserve, and the river that courses through the community.

But the Calumet River is heavily industrialized. Its shoreline is dominated by industry, leaving little access for people to enjoy the water. The steel mills that once operated here left a legacy of industrial pollution. And for the past decade, community activists have been fighting to prevent new pollution sources and clean up existing sources that threaten public health.

The Alliance for the Great Lakes believes that everyone should have access to clean water and recreation opportunities. That’s why we’re facilitating and funding Calumet Connect, a coalition of local and community organizations that’s working for change along the river.

Bringing People Together

“The Southeast Side has so many dedicated folks that have been working to improve the community,” says Olga Bautista, a longtime community resident and the Alliance’s Community Planning Manager – Southeast Chicago. “It’s exciting to bring them together to make things happen around water.”

Environmental activists have won a series of victories like stopping a coal gasification plant from being built along the river, reducing levels of airborne manganese, and halting storage of open petroleum coke piles along the river’s shore. Meanwhile, service organizations have focused on affordable housing, public health, economic development, and other important issues.

“But most of them have been working independently of each other,” says Bautista. “Calumet Connect is bringing them together.”

Ideas at the Heart of Change

Last year Calumet Connect formed an advisory council. The group identified three principles to guide its work: racial equity, community benefit, and challenge/growth.

Racial equity is the acknowledgement that marginalized groups bear the brunt of poor land use regulations, which makes them more susceptible to environmental pollution and climate impacts. Southeast Side neighborhoods like South Chicago and South Deering suffer higher asthma rates and lower life expectancies than the city overall.

Community benefit is un-siloing the great work community groups are doing and tapping into their “collective genius” to meet the goals of Calumet Connect. The coalition brings multiple perspectives to bear on how land use, permitting, and zoning can improve public health, protect the community’s natural areas and resources, and promote sustainable economic development.

Challenge/growth: “Community groups have had great successes articulating what they don’t want in their community,” says Bautista. “Challenge/growth means identifying what we do want instead. A question we always ask is ‘what would it look like if we are successful? What will delight us?’ We have one example of that in the Calumet region. Method, the soap manufacturer, is using renewable forms of energy and manufactures their bottles onsite. What we want is a working river that’s sustainable, that doesn’t contaminate the water, the air, the land, or the people.”

A Golden Moment of Opportunity

For the first time in 25 years, Chicago is evaluating land use in industrial corridors like the Calumet River. Chicago’s new mayor has opened the door to community involvement in the planning process.

“We may be in the midst of a perfect storm,” says Bautista. “The time for change is now.” And with leadership from Calumet Connect, the community will be ready to jump in.

February 10, 2020 (Chicago, IL) – Earlier today President Trump released his FY21 budget proposal. Alliance for the Great Lakes Vice President for Policy Molly Flanagan released the following statement:

“Although the President has proposed funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, his budget includes significant overall cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental programs. Funding for the GLRI is important, but not nearly enough to protect the lakes.

Over the past three years, the Trump administration has gutted parts of the Clean Water Act and proposed major rollbacks of the National Environmental Policy Act, two of our nation’s cornerstone environmental policies. And in each of his budgets, the President has proposed significant cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others charged with enforcing environmental regulations and implementing programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Moreover, the lack of enforcement and understaffed environmental agencies puts past investments in Great Lakes restoration at risk. While we fully support funding for the GLRI, money alone won’t protect the Great Lakes.”

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Media Contact: Jennifer Caddick, jcaddick@greatlakes.org, (312) 445-9760