Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she’s confident the state will be able to provide rural residents in the Upper Peninsula with energy if Enbridge’s Line 5 operations are stopped in the spring. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201223-nessel
Our rollercoaster weather pattern for the next few days has sparked Gale Warnings over Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, with some of these warnings lasting into Thursday. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201223-gale
Great Lakes Divers and Great Lakes, Great Responsibility hosted an inaugural holiday cleanup dive on Tuesday, called the Santa Splash to Pick Up Trash. Divers and beach walkers met at Rockport State Recreation Area north of Alpena, Michigan for an afternoon of diving in and cleaning up. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201223-garbage
Operation Taconite is the Coast Guard’s largest domestic ice-breaking operation. It encompasses Lake Superior, the St. Mary’s River, the Straits of Mackinac, Georgian Bay and all of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WNMU-Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201223-taconite
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, and its contractor, Dean Marine & Excavating, Inc., are scheduled to resume repairs of the Rochester (NY) harbor in the spring of 2021, repairing about 600 feet of the roughly 1,000-foot degraded section. Read the full story by Dvids.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-usace-harbor-repair
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will reimplement a lake trout bag limit and season for Lake Michigan beginning Jan. 1, 2021. The new bag limit and season will mirror previous lake trout regulations. The open season will now run from Mar. 1 to Oct. 31 with a new daily bag limit of two lake trout. Read the full story by Antigo Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-trout-wisconsin-fish
A Franklin County judge on Monday blocked the collection and distribution of the House Bill 6 nuclear bailout fee, which Ohio ratepayers were scheduled to start paying next month. Read the full story by Cleveland.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-ohio-nuclear-fee
A federal judge promised Monday she will hear from all Flint residents with something to say about a proposed $600-million-plus payment to partially settle claims arising from the 2014 lead poisoning of the city’s drinking water supply — even if it requires a court hearing that stretches over several days. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-flint-water-settlement
The Michigan Clean Marina Program is pleased to announce eight Michigan marinas have been named as Certified Clean Marinas. Each has been certified for three-year terms through 2023. Additionally, seven marinas have been Recertified as Michigan Clean Marinas. Read the full story by The Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-clean-marina-michigan
Great Lakes Towing christened two of its new ice-breaking tugboats at its own shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio on December 16th, signaling its newbuilding campaign had passed the halfway mark. Pennsylvania is the fourth of a series of 10 tugboats Great Lakes is building to replace its ageing fleet. Wisconsin, fifth in this series, was also christened during a virtual ceremony hosted from the shipyard. Read the full story by Riviera.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-shipping-tugboat
Arctic grayling have been absent from Michigan since the 1930s, but in 2016 the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative started the process to bring them back and hit a crucial milestone this fall when they were transferred to Marquette State Fish Hatchery. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-arctic-grayling-fish
The Trump administration’s delisting of the gray wolf is being met with criticism by wildlife conservation groups, some of which plan to challenge the decision through lawsuits against the Interior Department to prevent the removal of Endangered Species Act protections. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-wolves-wildlife
After a series of intense storms over the past few years, Duluth’s Lakewalk is being rebuilt to protect the shoreline and the real estate behind it against rising lake waters, and against the more intense and frequent storms fueled by climate change. View and listen to the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-duluth-harbor-erosion
The 2020 Water Resources Development Act will be enacted as part of the omnibus appropriations legislation, and authorizes projects and programs led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study, design, and construct water transportation and infrastructure projects including the restoration and maintenance of wetlands and watersheds critically important to birds and the flood resilience of communities. Read the full story by Audubon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201222-water-restoration-wetland
Ten months after being approved in U.S. House with heavy bipartisan support, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act has passed the Senate and is headed for President Donald Trump’s desk. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-glri
Scientists recently reported pronounced reductions in both cladophora algae and quagga mussel density in Lake Michigan’s offshore waters near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore after an underwater project by the Invasive Mussel Collaborative. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-invasive-mussels-removed
Shorelines across Lake Michigan are eroding, costing Great Lakes states millions of dollars in temporary solutions to protect shorelines and near-shore areas. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-beach-erosion
Work has finally started on a new shipping lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, more than 30 years after the project was first proposed. Read the the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-soo-locks
This is the second year in a row cyanobacteria has appeared on several popular northern Michigan lakes, including Au Sable, Black, and Cadillac, causing health problems for people and their pets. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-michigan-algae
An Ontario company pleaded guilty to a negligent violation of the Clean Water Act for dumping waste water into Lake Ontario. Read the full story by WKBW-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-dumping-waste-water
In the State of Michigan’s next fiscal year, there’s about $500 million available for fixing up sewer pipes and updating wastewater plants to prevent raw sewage flowing into streams and rivers. So far, municipalities have applied for $200 million. Read the full story by WUOM – Ann Arbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-sewer-loans
Google Earth imagery shows the dramatic change in Chicago beaches from 2013, when the lake was at a record low point, to this year when Lake Michigan continues to remain at historically high levels. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-chicago-beaches
When it comes to New York’s world-class fisheries across the state, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Bureau of Fisheries has performed admirably well in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic; fish were stocked, eggs were collected, and surveys were still conducted. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-fisheries-management
Michigan-native Dusty Klifman dives below their surfaces to photograph and share the stories and histories of some of the six-thousand Great Lakes shipwrecks. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-shipwrecks
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Hammond, Indiana, Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. laid out their proposals for delivering Lake Michigan water to Joliet, Illinois, in a special city council meeting. The city of Joliet must find a new water source by 2030, when their current water supply is expected to run dry. Read the full story by the Times Weekly.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-microplastic-pollution-plastic
National parks and public lands in the Great Lakes region, including Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota and Apostle Island National Lakeshore in Wisconsin, offer excellent winter outdoor opportunities as the COVID-19 pandemic restricts travel and gatherings. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-natl-parks
If the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline shuts down next spring, Michigan must find a new way to deliver propane to Upper Peninsula residents who use tens of millions of gallons from the pipeline annually to heat their homes. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-line-5-propane
Michigan legislators on Wednesday finalized a plan to borrow $600 million to finance the state’s proposed settlement with the residents of Flint over the state’s role in the Flint Water Crisis. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-flint-water-settlement
International cargoes on the Great Lakes has rebounding as the shipping season draws to a close. Shipments of crops and wind turbine components to Great Lakes ports like the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor and the Port of Chicago stayed steady in November, while steel shipments picked up the pace. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-shipping-up
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are seeking to restrict the ability of environmental regulators to regulate chemicals known as PFAS by rescinding parts of an emergency rule and limiting efforts to properly treat foam containing PFAS. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-wi-dnr-pfas
The National Park Service is spending $1.4 million to remove abandoned structures and roadbeds at Indiana Dunes National Park and restore natural area in the place of razed structures. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-indiana-dunes
Human remains likely dating back to prehistoric times were found at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story by UpNorthLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-sleeping-bears
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin seek to restrict the ability of environmental regulators to regulate chemicals known as PFAS by rescinding parts of an emergency rule and limiting efforts to properly treat foam containing PFAS. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201219-state-pfas
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced over $252,000 in Coastal Zone Grants to help protect and restore the Lake Erie coastal zone in northwest Pennsylvania. Many coastal zones along Lake Erie are under increased pressure from development, erosion, biodiversity loss and pollution. Read the full story by Erie News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-microplastic-pollution-plastic
Microplastic particles, typically studied as aquatic pollutants, are also common in coastal dunes on Great Lakes’ shorelines, according to a new study in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-microplastic-pollution-plastic
The International Joint Commission has responsibility over the Great Lakes and Seaway and has to deal with a combination of serious problems that includes a warmer Lake Superior, higher water levels in Lake Ontario and the Upper St. Lawrence River, and the appearance of toxic blue-green algae on Lake Superior and Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Maritime Executive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-st-lawrence-seaway-ijc
The Great Lakes continue to inch away from the record high water levels of the past few years. Lakes Michigan and Huron have been in the spotlight with the highest water levels recently compared to previous record high water levels. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-water-levels-erosion
The PFAS Action Plan was developed by the Wisconsin PFAS Action Council, a group of nearly 20 state agencies and the University of Wisconsin System. As part of the statewide initiative to ensure Wisconsinites have access to clean, safe drinking water, Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order #40 in August 2019 to address the issue of PFAS across the state. Read the full story by WSAW – TV – Wausau, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-wisconsin-pfas
A petition to keep the Edwardian-era SS Keewatin in its home of Port McNicoll, ON has now garnered close to 9,000 signatures. The man behind the petition is involved with an additional campaign designed to lobby all levels of government to consider the ship’s plight. View the full story by OrilliaMatters.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-ontario-keewatin-port
Cargo totals on the St. Lawrence Seaway hit nearly 32.3 million metric tons, down 6.6% from 2019. Compared to previous months, the improvement in total cargo figures in November is due in large part to grain shipments, which have been strong since the fall harvest began. Read the full story by WorkBoat.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-shipping
Chicago Piping Plover, a conservation group focused on protecting the endangered species, confirmed that Nish, a chick born on Montrose Beach earlier this year, successfully landed in Florida. The bird was spotted in Anclote Key State Park, just north of Tampa. Read the full story by Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-chicago-piping-plover
An organization of 40 conservation groups say a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule concerning ballast water discharges under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) will not protect the Great Lakes from the spread and introduction of invasive species. Read the full story by Water Technology.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-vida-epa-ballast
As of Dec. 11, according to that Parks Foundation of Kalamazoo County, they’ve already raised 65% of their funding goal from private funds and public funding from the Michigan Department of Transportation to finish the last few miles of the 22-mile long trail. Part of a 140-mile regional trail network connecting Lake Michigan with Lake Huron. Read the full story by Second Wave.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-michigan-trail
The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation has expressed its opposition to a plan that the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario is proposing to remove a large section of the dunes at Sauble Beach. Read the full story by Blackburnnews.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-huron-dunes
On the surface of Lake Michigan, glistening water rushes over sandy beaches. But underneath the waves is a fragile ecosystem that interconnects a complex food web critical to the overall health of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV- Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-invasive-species
Sheets of ice formed over Lake Superior, on the shores of Ashland, Wisconsin, amid cold weather conditions in the region this week. A local photographer captured footage along the water showing ice on top of the water and the unique sound. Read the full story by Yahoo! News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-ice-superior
The risk of high-water impact, including shoreline erosion or flooding, remains, as Lake Superior declined only 3 cm this November, while it normally declines 5 cm. Read the full story by Soo Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-water-levels
In Ohio, efforts to keep Port Clinton’s beautifully scenic Lake Erie shoreline clean are also maintaining its strong sense of art and culture with the latest addition to Waterworks Park. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-waterworks-park
Environmental and farm groups are joining forces to lobby the state for significant funding to support farms across Wisconsin and protect drinking water, but they stopped short of putting a price tag on their request. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-farmers
In Wisconsin, the city of Sheboygan’s Plan Commission approved a conditional use permit for Kohler Co. to move forward with development of its new golf course along Lake Michigan. Community concerns about the course are largely connected to environmental issues that could result, such as pesticide or other chemical runoff into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-golf-course
