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Campbell Soup pollution lawsuits raise concerns about additional Northeast Ohio phosphorus sources

By Zaria Johnson, Ideastream Public Media

This story was originally published by Ideastream.

A recent lawsuit suit accusing Campbell Soup of discharging excessive amounts of phosphorus and other contaminants into Northwest Ohio waterways is highlighting challenges the state faces in targeting harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie.

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As some push for repeal, state seeks input on renewable energy siting law

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

The Michigan Public Service Commission is gathering public input on a controversial new law, Public Act 233, which gives it final authority in approving large renewable energy projects.

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Amendment to Clean Water Act improves Great Lakes through critical observation, collaboration

From fishing to enjoying a summer day at the beach, the Great Lakes provide enjoyment, comfort and a sense of home to the region. But these bodies of water were not always secure, as the lakes and connecting rivers were considered dangerous due to high pollution spots. 

The Great Lakes region has seen some of the most historic river fires.

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Jada Vasser

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What are wetlands for, anyway?

On May 25, the Supreme Court ruled 9 to 0, changing wetland protection in The Clean Water Act. The Sackett family, who took on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), were being fined $40,000 a day for building their Idaho property too close to an unnamed tributary. That tributary feeds into a creek, and that creek feeds into Priest Lake.

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Judge orders segment of Enbridge’s Line 5 shut down and moved off of Native American land

By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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What does the Supreme Court’s wetland ruling mean for Michigan?

This article was republished here with permission from Planet Detroit.

By Brian Allnutt, Planet Detroit

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling to significantly reduce Clean Water Act wetlands protections has caused alarm among environmental advocates who fear it will endanger crucial habitats and human health and safety.

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FRESH: New Wisconsin Law Aims to Protect Watersheds From Farm Runoff

May 16, 2023

Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday.

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Company seeks first-time restart of shuttered nuclear plant

By John Flesher, Associated Press

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A company that tears down closed nuclear power plants wants to do in Michigan what has never been done in the U.S.: restore a dead one to life.

Holtec Decommissioning International bought the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station last June for the stated purpose of dismantling it, weeks after previous owner Entergy shut it down.

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Former U.N. adviser warns on water futures trading, elevates water crisis to level of climate

There were two differing visions on how to deal with the global water crisis at the recent United Nations World Water Conference, according to former U.N. water adviser Maude Barlow.

One, would “treat water as a commodity like oil and gas and put it on the open market for sale,” Barlow said.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/04/former-adviser-warns-water-futures-trading-water-crisis-level-climate/

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Enbridge Line 5 tunnel project in Michigan delayed another 1.5 years

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Environmental justice expert questions Michigan’s subsidies for electric vehicles

It’s a mistake, environmental law attorney Nick Leonard says, for Michigan to invest so heavily in private auto transportation in place of public transit options.

Leonard was referring to the billions of dollars in subsidies Michigan has recently budgeted primarily for electric vehicle (EV) production. Investment in public transit better serves lower income groups who don’t have resources to purchase EV’s and it’s the better option to deal with climate change, according to Leonard.

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Court: Nessel can try again to return Line 5 lawsuit to state court

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/02/nessel-try-again-return-line-5-lawsuit-state-court/

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Hope springs eternal for Michigan legislator who champions drinking water equity

In 2014, Detroit and Michigan received international attention on a water issue, but it wasn’t the spotlight either would have wanted.

The United Nations dispatched an official human rights rapporteur to Detroit to document the harm caused by water shutoffs based on the inability to pay. “There was no water for food or toilets or for care of the elderly or kids, people had to go to public parks and put water in cans,” water rights advocate Maude Barlow told Great Lakes Now in a 2022 interview.

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Right to water: Could 2023 be the year Michigan ends shutoffs?

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Michigan plastics company forced to probe PFAS contamination, cover costs

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Road Salt, A Stealthy Pollutant, Is Damaging Michigan Waters

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue

This is the first story in a series of reports from the Great Lakes News Collaborative that will investigate contemporary water pollution challenges in the Great Lakes region. Called Refresh, the series will explore the shortcomings in the Clean Water Act and how Michigan and other Great Lakes states can more completely address water pollution in the next 50 years.

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Multi-state group prepares Great Lakes basin for effects of climate change

Climate change is already affecting the Great Lakes. One group is urging the Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces to coordinate their efforts to make the Great Lakes basin more resilient to those changes.

Climate change contributed to the rapid rise in Great Lakes water levels a few years ago.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/01/group-great-lakes-basin-effects-climate-change/

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Join Bridge, Circle of Blue to discuss Michigan lawmakers’ water priorities

By Rebecca Fedewa, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Divided Congress: Smooth sailing or choppy waters for Great Lakes programs?

Since 2020 when Democrats swept into power by winning the presidency and taking control of both chambers of Congress, Great Lakes programs have had a tailwind of funding support from Washington.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided a $1 billion windfall for the region to accelerate clean up of the multiple toxic sites known as Areas of Concern that remain from the peak industrial period in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

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Buffalo legislator calls for bill of rights protection for the Great Lakes

Should natural resources like the Great Lakes have the same legal right to protection from harm as a person has? Including the right to be free from exploitation as a commodity for financial gain?

New York state Assemblyman Patrick Burke thinks so and has introduced formal legislation that would provide for those rights.

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Drinking Water News Roundup: Report urges Michigan water-affordability strategy, $191 million to target Minnesota water and infrastructure projects

From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.

Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.

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Illinois:

  • Midwest river towns looking for answers after forever chemicals found in water – Illinois Newsroom

This fall, the towns and rural farmsteads along the Mississippi River received alarming news about their drinking water.

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No federal aid to restart Michigan nuclear power plant

COVERT, Mich. (AP) — The federal government has turned down a request for financial aid to restart a nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, the owner said.

Holtec International said it was notified Friday by the U.S. Energy Department.

The Palisades plant along Lake Michigan, formerly owned by Entergy, was shut down last spring after generating electricity for more than 50 years.

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I Speak for the Fish: These catfish have something to say

I Speak for the Fish is a new monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television. 

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Democrats in control: Advocates want action on justice, climate and “stronger leadership” from Gov. Whitmer

Elections have consequences, the saying goes, and for the Michigan Democratic party, the election last week resulted in a sweep of the race for governor and the legislature.

Now comes their opportunity to deliver on long-stalled environmental initiatives.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was re-elected and for the first time in almost 40 years, Democrats will be the majority in the legislature.

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From radiation to water pollution to cities, humans are now a driver of evolution in the ‘natural’ world – podcast

By: Daniel Merino The Conversation

Guidelines on use of articles from The Conversation can be found at http://bit.ly/TCUSinfo or contact us-republish@theconversation.com. Images, graphics and shortened text may also be available from The Conversation.

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Daniel Merino, The Conversation and Gemma Ware, The Conversation

(THE CONVERSATION) Humans do a lot of different things to the environment, and there aren’t many natural processes – aside from an asteroid impact or the like – that can rival the scale of change brought on by human activity.

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Madison Wood

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Indiana governor traveling to UN climate summit in Egypt

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s governor is planning his fifth overseas trip of the year, this time to attend a U.N. climate conference in Egypt.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office announced Wednesday that he would take part in the COP27 climate change conference. Holcomb’s schedule includes giving a speech about Indiana’s efforts to increase use of clean energy in the state, the governor’s office said.

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PFAS News Roundup: Ongoing Upper Peninsula industrial fire raises “forever chemical” concerns, PFAS medical monitoring programs to begin in New York

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.

Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.

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As septic pollution roils Higgins Lake, Michigan lawmakers consider reform

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Dana Nessel sues former west Michigan company over PFAS, other pollution

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Evers administration relaunches efforts to limit PFAS

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration is trying again to limit the levels of a group of chemicals known as PFAS in Wisconsin’s groundwater.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that Evers authorized the Department of Natural Resources last week to begin work on administrative rules establishing limits.

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State cracks down on Flint company after Flint River spill

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — State regulators on Monday ordered a Flint chemical company to truck wastewater to a water treatment plant, weeks after it was blamed for an oily discharge in the Flint River.

The 11-page order describes disputes between Lockhart Chemical and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

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Powerful Industry’s Torrent of Manure Overwhelms State Regulators

By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Mapping the HABs: Click to see your state’s reports

“The Erie Situation,” a new documentary about toxic algae blooms will air simultaneously on six PBS stations in four states at 9 p.m. ET on Monday Sept. 12. To see if your station is one of them, click HERE.

Finding news about harmful algal blooms is easy – a Google News search provides headlines of the latest outbreaks.

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Energy News Roundup: Green jobs, solar farms and the value of trees

Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.

Click on the headline to read the full story:

Illinois

Solar, storage projects set to bring jobs, tax revenue to Illinois coal communities — Energy News Network

Six retired coal plants in downstate Illinois will soon receive solar panels and become renewable energy storage sites.

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Kathy Johnson

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DNR monitoring crappie kill at Loon Lake in NE Indiana

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (AP) — State Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists have collected fish and water samples at a northeastern Indiana lake as the result of a fish kill involving thousands of crappies, the agency said June 23.

The fish kill began last week at Loon Lake in Whitley and Noble counties.

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Court kills Flint water charges against ex-governor, others

By Ed White, Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water scandal, saying a judge sitting as a one-person grand jury had no power to issue indictments under rarely used state laws.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-court-kills-flint-water-charges-ex-governor/

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In: Climate change, Feature Homepage, Gary Wilson, infrastructure, Lake Michigan, Latest News, Michigan, News, nuclear waste, Politics, Policy, Environmental Justice, The States, U.S. and Canadian Federal Governments, Waste, Water Quality and Restoration Efforts
Does extreme weather threaten the hazardous waste sites that border Lake Michigan?

Climate change-fueled weather such as extreme storms will provide a direct threat to contaminated waste storage sites, nuclear power plants and industrial facilities at multiple sites on the shores of Lake Michigan, according to a new report.

The 63-mile corridor from Gary, Indiana, through Illinois to the Wisconsin border is particularly at risk.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/extreme-weather-hazardous-waste-sites/

Gary Wilson

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Michigan Gov. Whitmer’s plan needs to move from aspiration to action, says Detroit climate advocate

In February 2021, Detroit’s Michelle Martinez was excited like she hadn’t been in years about the potential of progress on core environmental and climate justice issues.

President Donald Trump, who took the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords and was rolling back Obama-era environmental protections, was out of office.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/michigan-gov-plan-action/

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Wisconsin Republicans allow PFAS standards to take effect

By Todd Richmond, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans will allow regulations Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration developed to control pollution from a group of chemicals known as PFAS to take effect, a spokesman for the lawmaker who controls the Legislature’s rules committee said Monday.

The Legislature’s Republican-controlled Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Reviews has no objections to the regulations and will allow the Department of Natural Resources to implement them, said Mike Mikalsen, an aide to the committee’s co-chairman, Sen.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-wisconsin-republicans-pfas-standards/

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Pennsylvania public water utilities say Senate bill will force up rates

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Legislation criticized by opponents as a vehicle for-profit water companies to take over municipal water authorities in Pennsylvania by imposing expensive regulations on them passed the Republican-controlled state Senate on Tuesday.

Opponents also warned that the bill will precipitate ratepayer increases when water authorities must meet the new regulations or after they are forced to sell out to for-profit water companies.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-pennsylvania-senate-bill-rates/

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Landmark bill to limit cryptomining passes NY Legislature

By Michael Hill, Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers have passed a milestone environmental measure designed to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining operations that burn fossil fuels.

Both supporters and opponents say that the closely watched bill, approved early Friday by the state Senate, is the first of its kind in the U.S.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-landmark-bill-limit-cryptomining/

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COVID hits Buttigieg, others who attended Michigan event

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — At least 15 people who attended a public affairs conference last week on Michigan’s Mackinac Island have tested positive for COVID-19, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The gathering is put on each year by a business group, the Detroit Regional Chamber, and attracts more than 1,000 public officials, journalists and others who discuss a variety of political and policy issues.

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EPA: Two toxic hot spots in Michigan will take longer to clean up than many others in Great Lakes states

By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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IDEM Testing Confirms “Forever Chemicals” in Some Public Water Systems

By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter

Final results of the first phase of statewide community water system testing confirmed the presence of PFAS chemicals in the treated drinking water of nearly a dozen Indiana communities.

The presence of PFAS chemicals in drinking water could be exposing thousands of Hoosiers to a series of adverse health conditions ranging from increased risk of kidney and testicular cancers to high cholesterol levels.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/testing-confirms-forever-chemicals-water-systems/

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Soo Locks project no longer fully funded

After a big announcement in January celebrating $479 million directed to fully fund the construction of a new lock, the Army Corps of Engineers has had to walk it back, according to a report by The Detroit News.

The billion-dollar project, authorized by Congress at $922 million in 2018, is now estimated to be “somewhere between two times and three times” the cost, Sen.

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National Guard to help with northeastern Minnesota flooding

ST. PAUL (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday activated the National Guard to help control record flooding in areas of northeastern Minnesota.

Emergency management officials in St. Louis and Koochiching counties requested the assistance to deal with high water caused by heavy spring rains and rapid snowmelt throughout the Rainy River Basin.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ap-national-guard-minnesota-flooding/

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Report: Going off script, decisive action saved lives during 2020 dam disaster

By Mike Wilkinson and Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/decisive-action-2020-dam-disaster/

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Water executive tells cities to “get creative” when it comes to replacing lead service lines

Lynn Broaddus has little patience for cities who focus on the reasons why they can’t replace lead service lines.

She understands that finances are a big part of the problem but says too often cities focus on the barriers, instead of what’s possible.

Broaddus is the recent past-president and now a trustee with the international group Water Environment Federation, a non-profit focused on increasing the awareness of the impact and value of water.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/water-executive-creative-replacing-lead-service-lines/

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PFAS News Roundup: 20M acres of farmland polluted, PFAS found in ‘nontoxic’ children’s clothes and car seats

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.

Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/pfas-news-roundup-farmland-polluted-pfas-childrens-clothes/

Natasha Blakely

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How Michigan state parks will spend a $250 million COVID windfall

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/michigan-state-parks-covid/

Bridge Michigan