Close your eyes for a moment and imagine you are on a roller coaster ascending the first and highest hill on the ride. You hear the click, click, click as the car slowly climbs to the top and you start getting excited, even nervous, the closer you get to the peak.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/06/michigan-history-environmental-contamination/
The animals at various aquariums are dealing with their own COVID-19 lockdown struggles as they adjust to new routines, new procedures and a distinct lack of the public, and each animal handles it a little differently.
Thanks to Great Lakes aquariums like Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, the Aquatarium at Tall Ships Landing in Brockville, Ontario, and Belle Isle Conservancy in Detroit, the public can get a peek at the various things staff are doing to keep the animals happy and entertained.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/05/animal-quiz-great-lakes-aquarium-animal-covid-19-quarantine/
There are cockroaches roaming the aquarium at the Belle Isle Conservancy.
But don’t worry, they’re supposed to be there.
Unlike the smaller, more common roaches you might find in a dirty or old building, these cockroaches are Madagascar hissing cockroaches, who have their own exhibit at the conservancy and were given a chance to say hello to some fish while the aquarium is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/05/covid-19-belle-isle-fish-and-insects-visitors/
The virus can be detected in infected people’s feces – sometimes even before they begin exhibiting symptoms.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/05/sewage-check-researchers-look-to-wastewater-for-data-on-covid-19/
When you ask well-intentioned government officials about environmental justice issues and why they are so difficult to remedy, the response usually goes like this:
“Some of the challenges we see as environmental problems are really rooted in decades of disinvestment in parts of our urban communities,” Liesl Clark, director of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy told Great Lakes Now in a 2019 interview.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/environmental-justice-during-covid-19-coronavirus/
Great Lakes Now is sharing work from our partners in a project on what climate change means for Great Lakes cities. Here is the initial piece in the series.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/rust-resilience-climate-change-great-lakes-cities/
DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has signed a $2.9 million agreement to remediate contaminated sediment along Detroit’s east riverfront.
The cleanup will allow for further expansion of the popular Detroit Riverwalk.
Work will be funded through a Great Lakes Legacy Act cost-sharing partnership with the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/ap-project-cap-contaminated-sediment-detroit-river/
Wayne Brusate started a commercial diving company in the two-car garage of his home in Marysville, Michigan.
Ten years later, his business was contracted to maintain all the water intake systems at Detroit Edison’s power generating facilities in southeastern Michigan. Power generating plants require a massive volume of water to operate, Brusate said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/04/blasting-zebra-mussels-invasive-species/
DETROIT (AP) — The advice is simple and universal: Washing your hands with soap and water is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of the coronavirus. But for millions of people across the country, that’s not simple at all: They lack running water in their houses due to service shutoffs prompted by overdue bills.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-michigan-water-shutoffs-coronavirus-outbreak/
Customers who attempt to pay with cash at the Blue Water Bridge will be prohibited from crossing.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/covid-19-coronavirus-tighter-border-crossing/
With the COVID-19 global pandemic continuing to spread throughout the U.S., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines have stressed the importance of staying hydrated and rigorously washing hands as a preventative health effort.
But for thousands of residents in Detroit, Flint, Benton Harbor, Hamtramck and other cities around southeast Michigan, following these guidelines is difficult when your water is shut off.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/water-rights-advocates-stations-michigan-governor-mayor/
DETROIT (AP) — Thousands of Detroit residents who have had their water service shut off due to nonpayment of bills can have it restored under a plan that aims to allow them to wash their hands at home as a way to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-detroit-restore-water-service-coronavirus/
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer campaigned on an aggressive water platform. Now those campaign pledges are being put to the test.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/michigan-governor-whitmer-detroit-water-shutoffs-egle/
DETROIT (AP) — The Great Lakes Water Authority is transferring more than $1.6 million to Detroit and Flint for conservation education and to help customers pay past-due water bills.
Board members transferred the Water Residential Assistance Program funding from uncommitted 2019 bill assistance funds from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-water-authority-transfers-funding-bill-assistance/
In major lakeside cities around the Great Lakes, there isn’t a clear answer on who handles oversight of industrial storage facilities.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/seawall-inspections-industrial-storage-pollution-government/
