Many areas in Ontario experienced record-hot temperatures in 2020 which, combined with high-intensity rainfall and with periods of calm, are favorable to algal bloom formation. Read the full story by Barrie Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-algae-bloom
In Ohio, the Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District is offering property owners and farmers in the Turtle Creek and Portage River watersheds financial incentives through new cost-sharing programs for nutrient best management practices. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-nutrient-trapping
Genesee County, Michigan, has agreed to sell its last remaining parcel of property near Lake Huron, netting $600,000 from the land that remained after construction of a Lake Huron intake for the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-genesee-county
Protections for most gray wolves will once again be eliminated under a final rule announced by the Trump administration. The decision removes gray wolves, except for the Mexican wolf, from the endangered species list in the lower 48 states. The final rule would take effect in January. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-gray-wolf
A group of Native American tribal citizens utilized a remote-operated underwater vehicle in the Straits of Mackinac to take a look at Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines. They may have inadvertently confirmed the most important finding in Great Lakes archaeology in at least a decade. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201030-ice-age
This past week, the Invasive Species Centre – through the Asian Carp Canada program – presented a panel of experts to discuss the threat of Asian carps, and the measures being taken to keep these invasive species out of our Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Kingston Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-carp-session
Erie, Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle State Park beaches continue to show signs of erosion, but officials are still calling the 2020 sand replenishment a success. Read the full story by the Erie Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-presque-isle
Due to the relatively dry spring and summer, the 2020 algae bloom came in on the lower side of the forecast which was between a 4 or 5 out of 10. Read the full story by WNWO -TV– Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-eries-habs
A partnership composed of public and private entities has accomplished its mission of restoring a floodplain in North Perry Village on Lake Erie in Ohio. Read the full story by The News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-floodplain-restoration
The coronavirus pandemic is encouraging more Ohioans to be hikers, bicyclists, kayakers, and campers while at the same time devastating other parts of Lake Erie’s tourism-based economy, such as amusement parks and waterparks. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-erie-recreation
The coronavirus pandemic is encouraging more Ohioans to be hikers, bicyclists, kayakers, and campers while at the same time devastating other parts of Lake Erie’s tourism-based economy, such as amusement parks and waterparks. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-erie-recreation
Tamaracks are Wisconsin’s only native coniferous tree that is not an evergreen. The trees can be found throughout Wisconsin, but their numbers are dropping. Since 2000, over 150,000 acres of tamaracks have died across the Great Lakes states due to warmer temperatures, droughts and the eastern larch beetle, according to Treehaven at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-wisconsin-tamarack
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday will announce a new rule to remove federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states. Read and hear the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-wolf-delisting
The COVID-19 pandemic brought droves of people to Wisconsin’s outdoors this year. And a study released Wednesday but conducted before the arrival of the coronavirus lays out just how important activities like biking, camping, hiking, golf and scores of other outdoor activities are to the state’s bottom line. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-wisconsin-tourism
Dams are inspected by the state of Michigan on a cycle of every three years. A recent inspection ordered by Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller found the county’s dams to be in good shape with any chance of failure being highly unlikely. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-macomb-dams
Dams are inspected by the state of Michigan on a cycle of every three years. A recent inspection ordered by Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller found the county’s dams to be in good shape with any chance of failure being highly unlikely. Read the full story by the Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-macomb-dams
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, the nation’s largest provider of dredging services, announced October 22 that it is moving its national headquarters to Houston, Texas, from Oak Brook, Ill. The company will maintain a business and operations support center in the Oak Brook area. Read the full story by the Waterways Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201029-gldd
As the high-profile legal case over the Lake Erie Bill of Rights continues, Toledo residents are stuck paying over $200,000 in legal fees for the entity suing Toledo over the bill. Communities involved in protracted environmental litigation often find themselves responsible for huge legal bills, which can discourage such municipalities from taking such action. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-costly-lebor
A new long-term study of Ontario loons revealed fewer chicks are currently being born than in previous years. Scientists say declines in loon chick hatches are possibly connected to declines in Great Lakes water quality. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-loons
This shipping season has witnessed an influx of international freighters on the Great Lakes, many transporting wind turbine parts to drop off in Duluth bound for wind farms in the northern plains. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-shipping-windmills
Lake Ontario is slightly above its long-term average water level, and forecasts predict that levels will decrease over the next month. However, some are concerned about flooding over the winter and spring and are calling for more water to be released from the Moses-Saunders dam to avoid this scenario. Read the full story by WRVO – Oswego, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-ontario-levels
Nearly two months after a new law went into effect restricting the use of hazardous PFAS foams, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is still trying to write rules for enforcing it amid disputes over what is considered foam and how to define effective treatment. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-wi-pfas
The Port of Thunder Bay in Ontario is on track to have shipped its highest per-tonne volume of goods in well over two decades this year, bucking the downward trend seen by most ports during the pandemic. The port has been buoyed by a strong global market for Canadian grain. Read the full story by TVO News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-shipping-grain
A new survey of the towns of Somerset and Yates in New York found that 83% of residents oppose a wind power project on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-wind-opposition
Michigan announced it will retain an international civil engineering firm to provide a technical review of Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project after environmental groups raised concerns about the Michigan’s ability to adequately evaluate the project. Read the full story by WKAR – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-line5
The Superior Watershed Partnership won the 2020 Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award for their habitat restoration projects along the shores of Lake Superior. Read the full story by the Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-superior-watershed-partnership
The Erieau Marina in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, along Lake Erie is getting help from the Ontario government to tackle plastic pollution using new plastic capture technology. Read the full story by CTV – News Windsor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201028-ontario-plastic-marinas
Canadian grain shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway topped 6.2 million tonnes at the end of September, maintaining its 20 per cent increase over the 2019 season, according to the latest results. While the ‘grain rush’ has helped lift cargo totals, Great Lakes-Seaway shipping also reported decreases in commodities related to steel production, and the energy and construction sectors. Read the full story by Manitoba Co-operator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-shipping-seaway
A western Michigan city has been selected to receive a $5.1 million federal water infrastructure improvement grant to help pay for lead service line replacement. The grant will help fund 1,700 lead service line replacements in the coming years. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-water-lead-infrastructure-grant
Approximately 20 households in East Bay Township near Traverse City, Michigan could have drinking wells contaminated with PFAS chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks with state and local health officials seeking to test the properties, provide bottled water as a short-term safety precaution, and potentially switch the homes to municipal hookups going forward. Read the full story by The Ticker.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-pfas-pollution-michigan
The oil pipeline company Enbridge pushed to limit what a state regulator could consider regarding relocating the Line 5 twin pipelines across the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-line-5-review
Rainstorms dumped 4.4 inches in 36 hours on Traverse City, and its sewage system didn’t overflow has it had in previous large rain events. City officials continue to investigate infiltration to prevent a repeat of the past three spills; the worst sent more than 50,000 gallons of sewage into the Boardman River. Read the full story by The Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-sewer-traverse-city-infrastructure
The Great Lakes Sports Commission has awarded $150,000 in grant funding for infrastructure development at the Tech Trails. The Tech Trail system is part of a larger trail system, providing both extensive mountain biking and ski trails. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-recreation-trails-grant
A graduate student’s road trip around Lake Michigan revealed the effects of small streams and their nutrient loads on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Science Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-tributaries-nutrients-pollution
State studies show an encouraging drop in PFAS levels along the Huron River. Though it’s still not safe to eat the fish, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) said last week that ongoing monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance levels in the Huron River are on the decline. Read the full story by WHMI-FM, Howell MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-pfas-huron-river
The current approach to nonpoint source pollution and polluted urban runoff is insufficient to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. To achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act, Congress must provide grant funding and financing to state and local authorities, as well as private landowners, commensurate with the scope of the pollution challenge. Read the full story by Center for American Progress.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-pollution-non-point-nutrient
Perhaps no other Great Lakes shipwreck has as much notoriety as the ill-fated SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a 729-foot iron ore carrier that sunk to the bottom of Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975, during a fierce November gale. Read the full story by WiscNews.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-edmund-fitzgerald
The Wisconsin DNR has proposed new permanent administrative rules that would increase fees for nonferrous mining exploration and operation permits, licenses and fees by about $502,000 per project. Applicants also would be required to provide substantially greater detail in feasibility reports, operational plans and construction documentation as conditions for permits. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201027-mining-dnr
Research shows chemicals banned years and even decades ago are showing up in some Great Lakes shorebirds, such as the common tern. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-shorebirds
Pointe Mouillee State Game Area in southeast Michigan is considered the largest fresh water marsh restoration project in North America, with about 5,200 acres dedicated to wildlife and water quality. Read the full story by The Daily Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-pointe-mouillee
The City of Benton Harbor in southwest Michigan was awarded a $5 million grant to replace lead pipes and make sure everyone has access to clean drinking water. Read the full story by WSBT-TV – South Bend, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-water-pipe-grant
After more than two decades of cleanup and community efforts, Lake Erie’s Presque Isle Bay became the second heavily contaminated place in the United States to be removed from the Great Lakes toxic waters list. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-pennsylvania-bay
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler visited two Michigan cities to announce the distribution of utility grant funds that will help replace lead water pipes of the type that contributed to tap water poisoning in Flint. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-utility-grants
A Michigan state commission considering a permit for a controversial tunnel project to house a new section of the Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac will not look at the potential impacts the proposed project could have on climate change. Read the full story by the MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-climate-impacts-line-5
The Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed a lawsuit against a Washtenaw County landfill over environmental violations related to air quality issues. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-landfill
Michigan is lacking statewide septic system rules that would help protect our precious water resources from aging and failing home sewage systems that are prevalent in communities across Michigan. Read the full story by Iron Mountain Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-septic-rules
Wisconsin’s air quality has improved over the last 15 years, according to a report by state environmental officials. Read the full story by Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-air-quality
The Michigan Public Service Commission has some authority over Enbridge’s plans to build an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the channel that connects two of the Great Lakes and can evaluate the need for the project and whether it would be designed, constructed and operated safely, a state administrative law judge ruled last week. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201026-pipeline-tunnel
Researchers and indigenous activists in Michigan found numerous patterns of evenly-spaced stones near Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinaw that are thought to be man-made patterns potentially dating back 10,000 years. This potential archaeological discovery may halt the construction of an underground tunnel for Line 5. Read the full story by the Wall Street Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201023-archaeology
The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund has invested more than $1.2 billion in receipts from oil and gas extraction into conservation of Michigan’s natural resources and outdoor recreation opportunities in Michigan. Read the full story by Upper Michigan’s Source.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201023-mi-nrtf
