On Friday, lawyers for the state of Michigan and Canadian petroleum giant Enbridge faced off in oral arguments in Ingham County Circuit Court stemming from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s lawsuit challenging the 1953 easement that made way for the pipeline’s construction. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200526-enbridge
The city of Holland, Michigan, has installed a new camera at Holland State Park, which will be used to provide water and beach safety information. Read the full story by WZZM – TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200526-research-camera
High water levels on the Great Lakes mean there’s less beachfront this year. At the same time, the pandemic means there’s more need for space. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200526-high-water
The Farmory, an indoor growing center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, provides educational programming about sustainable agriculture and aquaculture. It’s also home to the state’s first bio-secure yellow perch hatchery. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200526-yellow-perch
Two decades after the environmental awakening that saw the EPA’s creation and the first earth day, after the environmental disasters of the decades previous, Michigan would take a clear-eyed look at the challenges of the coming years in the form of the Michigan’s Environment and Relative Risk report. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200526-environmental+risk
As high lake levels continue to erode Indiana’s Lake Michigan shore, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission is collecting information about the damage to help convince the state to declare a public emergency in the region and allocate funding to help with repairs. Read the full story by the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-nirpc
Scientists and activists fear that flooding from the dam collapse on the Tittabawassse River near Midland, Michigan, will have undone years of work to remove toxic chemicals and contamination from the nearby Superfund site. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-midland
Ohio regulators approved the siting of six wind turbines on Lake Erie with the condition that the turbines stop during the night between March and November to limit the risk to birds and bats. The company developing the wind farm says these conditions effectively kill the project. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-wind-turbines
Once an existential threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem, sea lamprey populations have been effectively controlled through the Sea Lamprey Control Program run by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-lamprey
The International Joint Commission has appointed a 16-member public advisory group of both US and Canadian stakeholders who live along Lake Ontario to help identify potential improvements to the regulation of Lake Ontario outflows. Read the full story by the Niagara Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-ijc
The EPA’s new rules remove protection for about 50 percent of wetlands and 65 percent of the streams in the Great Lakes states, threatening the lakes and people who rely on these waterbodies for clean water. Read the full story by The Hill.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-cwa
Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology estimate there are approximately 381 metric tons of plastic in Lake Erie and over 10,000 metric tons of plastic that enter the Great Lakes each year. Read the full story by the Rochester City Newspaper.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-plastic
Following heavy bouts of rain this month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Lake Michigan, Huron and Erie set a new water level record for April 2020 and is on track to set a new record in May. Read the full story by Up North Live.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-levels
The Great Lakes shipping industry has been hit by high water levels that delayed shipping and fluctuating demands for shipments as the coronavirus shuts down the economy. While demand for shipping wheat and grain products have been strong, iron ore shipments for manufacturing have contracted, placing the industry in flux. Read the full story by WorkBoat.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200522-shipping
Officials at Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania expect a swell of visitors during Memorial Day weekend but are encouraging visitors to follow coronavirus safety guidelines while enjoying the outdoors. Read the full story by GoErie.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521-erosion
The lead of a study looking at the devouring of the Lake Erie shore says high lake levels are just the beginning of the problem. Man-made changes to the shoreline are also contributing to the erosion. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521-erosion
A new documentary highlighting surfers in Lake Superior is now being filmed on Minnesota’s North Shore. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521-surfing
A Great Lakes engineer explains that the unusually high water levels combined with strong winds are likely to increase flooding in northwest Ohio. Read the full story by WTOL – TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/flooding
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has ordered the owner of the Sanford Dam near Midland, Michigan to establish an independent investigation team to determine why floodwaters overflowed the structure. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/sanford+dam
A small breach in an oil line in in Casco Township, Michigan caused crude oil to leak into several ditches, according to St. Clair County Emergency Management. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/oil+spill
The devastation wreaked by the collapse of the Edenville Dam followed a 16-year battle between the dam’s owner and federal and Michigan state regulators that ultimately failed to bring the dam into compliance. Read the full story by WXYZ – TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/Edenville+Dam
The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust is raising funds to purchase 131 acres of lakefront property in Port Washington, Michigan to create a natural recreation area, similar to Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/recreation
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin has released final design standards for a planned extension of the Milwaukee RiverWalk. Read the full story by Urban Milwaukee.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/milwaukee
A movement is developing among officials in Macomb County, Michigan to protest state environmental officials’ initial denial of a project to reduce sewer overflows into Lake St. Clair. Read the full story by Macomb Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/chapaton
The failure of two mid-Michigan dams called attention to the safety of many others around the state, many of which experts said were aging and needed expensive maintenance to avoid catastrophic failures. Read the full story by WWMT – TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/dam+failure
Lake Michigan water levels have continued at record highs this spring and with no sign of dropping anytime soon, lakeshore residents are taking expensive steps to protect their land. Read the full story by WLUK – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200521/water+levels
The cool spring weather has slowed down the reproduction cycle of bait fish in Lake Erie, causing a shortage of minnows. Read the full story by WNWO – TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-erie-minnows
Water levels on Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes set a record for April, but that was no surprise to residents up and down whose homes and property flooded last weekend. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-lake-levels
Funded by the H2Ohio initiative, a grant will turn an 18-acre property in Ohio into a recreational wetland, acting as a natural filter for nutrients from drained water of local farms before the water reaches Lake Erie. Read the full story by WTOL – TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-wetland-h2o
The third straight wettest May on record is sending a message: Every town and suburb in the Chicago region needs to do a better job of teaming up to prevent flooding. Read the full story by Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-chicago-flooding
Rapidly rising water overtook dams and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people in central Michigan, where the governor said one downtown could be under 9 feet of water by Wednesday morning after a catastrophic dam failure caused by aging infrastructure. Read the full story by The Washington Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-dams-flooding
The U.S. Senate committee that oversees water infrastructure projects approved legislation authorizing $18 billion for projects and included a provision that the federal share of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to stop Asian carp at Brandon Road Lock and Dam in the Chicago waterways system be increased from 65 percent to 75 percent. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-asian-carp-plan
A manufacturer of firefighting foam says the majority of more than 250 drinking water wells it’s tested in Marinette County, Wisconsin, turned up no trace of toxic chemicals known as PFAS; state regulators say it’s too early to tell the scope of PFAS contamination within drinking water in the area. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-pfas-wisconsin
U.S. EPA’s temporary policy regarding enforcement of environmental legal obligations during the COVID-19 outbreak has received sharp criticism as a step-back from the EPA-established enforceable limit for daily loads of phosphates and runoff published a month ago. Read the full story by Cleveland Scene.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-epa-algae-bloom
As Midland County, Michigan, grapples with flooding that collapsed one dam and overtopped another, plus evacuations of people and businesses, Dow Inc. officials have implemented the chemical company’s flood preparedness plan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-dam-failure
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel condemned the Navigable Waters Protection Rule as a replacement of the 2015 Waters of the United States rule, stating that the change would result in reduced protection under the Clean Water Act for many wetlands and smaller streams. Read the full story by WNEM – TV – Saginaw, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200520-clean-water-act-michigan
The marbled crayfish, which reproduces by cloning, has been added to Michigan’s prohibited species list. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-marbled-crayfish-prohibited
Due to intense rainfall and rising water levels, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago reversed the flow of the Chicago River into Lake Michigan at both the Wilmette Pumping Station and downtown’s Controlling Works. Read the full story by WTTW-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-river-reversal
Aiming to return Minnesota’s river systems back to their original, untamed state, the Department of Natural Resources has for several years now been chipping away at older dams and other obstructions and replacing them with rock arch rapids. Read the full story by the Detroit Lakes Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-dam-removal
A major utility’s plan to close five Indiana coal ash ponds at a power plant along Lake Michigan and move coal ash to a landfill has sparked concerns from environmental activists about how the dust kicked up by that project will be controlled. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-coal-ash-removal
A team of Michigan State University researchers hopes Detroit sewage will hold clues about the trajectory of COVID-19. The group has been sampling sewage as it arrives at a Great Lakes Water Authority water treatment plant. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-detroit-wastewater
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says there are more people out fishing this year compared to last year. The increase may be due to the ability to practice social distancing when fishing. Read the full story by the WLAX-TV – La Crosse, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-wisconsin-fishing
Routine quarterly testing of municipal water in Portage, Michigan, conducted by the state, turned up a low level of chemical contamination in one of the city’s wells. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-portage-pfas
In Munising, Michigan, Pictured Rocks Cruises’ scenic shoreline tours will kick off on June 15, a little later than usual this summer on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-pictured-rocks-cruise
The Iron Ore Heritage Trail, a 47-mile, multi-use trail through Marquette County, Michigan, received state and local funding pledges to support restoration efforts. Read the full story by WBUP-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200519-heritage-trail
Condos and cottages aren’t the only victims of high lake levels and erosion. It’s also been a rough 2020 for Illinois Beach State Park, as northeast as you can get in Illinois. Read the full story by WBEZ-Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200518-erosion
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ decision in early April to suspend out-of-state fishing licenses, coupled with stay-at-home orders, essentially shut down the fishing charter business during what should have been a busy and profitable month. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200518-charter-fishing
Boat sales are up in Ohio and across the country, as Americans search for socially distant fun amid the threat of the coronavirus. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200518-boat-sales
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s H2Ohio program appears to be coming through the coronavirus pandemic relatively unscathed, despite a recent announcement by the governor that $775 million must be cut from state spending over the next two months. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200518-H2Ohio
The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation is launching the second year of its Summer Coastal Webinar Series this Wednesday. The webinar series will cover topics like invasive species, species at risk, lake levels, coastal processes. Read the full story by the Blackburn News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200518-webinars
