This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Eric Freedman, Capital News Service
To keep healthy this fall, deer hunters have more to worry about than just COVID-19 and the flu.
On the beware list: a group of chemicals known as PFAS and lead from ammunition.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/hunters-contaminated-game-pfas-lead/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F6A54EE40.FreezeWarning.125F6A63F9D0WI.GRBNPWGRB.5dcd1b5236e630e965b1a0070d1861e0
Over the past decade, toxic algal blooms – giant plumes of algae that can contaminate drinking water, harm the ecosystem, and hurt the economy – have become a perennial issue in the Great Lakes and many inland waters.
Toxic algal blooms are having a profound impact on Great Lakes communities. A 2014 bloom in Lake Erie led to a “do not drink” advisory for more than 400,000 Toledo residents, and residents in communities across the region live under the threat of another disaster, while dealing with lost recreation, hurt businesses and ongoing economic and health issues that these blooms cause.
And the health effects from being exposed to these toxic blooms can be costly and debilitating. A 2019 study showed that exposure to these blooms can cause health impacts for residents that can reduce their life expectancy by years and cost tens of thousands of dollars in hospital bills.
Caused by a variety of factors including farm runoff of animal waste and fertilizer as well as a changing climate, toxic algal blooms have had a devastating impact on the health and economy of Great Lakes communities. A 2015 report estimates that these blooms can cost communities tens of millions of dollars in lost revenues from lost tourism, damaged property values, and required maintenance to water treatment facilities – and they’re only getting more frequent. As the climate changes, we can expect more intense and frequent algal blooms as storms grow wetter and waters grow warmer.
Stopping the spread of toxic blooms is a crucial element not only in providing water security, but economic well-being, for the tens of millions of Americans who rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, recreation, fishing, tourism and a variety of other activities that power the Great Lakes economy. These blooms are everywhere – from Green Bay, Wis., to Saginaw Bay, Mich., as well as inland waters like Grand Lake St. Mary’s in Ohio.
This is why the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition is calling on presidential candidates to make addressing these toxic blooms a priority. This means investing in farm conservation practices and supporting policy solutions that help the region hit its goals to limit farm runoff pollution and curb toxic algae.
The next president needs to act with urgency because the region is not meeting its goals to reduce runoff pollution, and climate change will only exacerbate the threat of toxic algae as more intense storms wash more fertilizer and animal waste off of farm fields and into local waters. Great Lakes communities can’t wait any longer. The time for action is now.
The post Toxic Algal Blooms: A 2020 Great Lakes Priority appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/toxic-algal-blooms-a-2020-great-lakes-priority/
This article is published in conjunction with PBS’s “The Age of Nature” series which begins airing on Oct. 14.
Join Great Lakes Now‘s “Watch Party: Damming Decisions – A discussion about dam removals and what they mean for the environment” on Facebook on Monday, Oct.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/when-a-dam-comes-down-removal-of-dams-allows-fish-passage-and-habitat-restoration/
By Brett Walton, 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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/michigan-20-million-customer-water-debts/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F6A53F56C.FreezeWarning.125F6A63F9D0WI.GRBNPWGRB.5dcd1b5236e630e965b1a0070d1861e0
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news//news/global-climate-202009
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered Flint to check for lead or galvanized steel water lines in neighborhoods built since the 1990s, despite the city’s belief that the homes have copper pipes.
Flint is in the homestretch of digging down to water lines at more than 20,000 properties and replacing them if necessary, the result of a deal that settled a lawsuit by residents and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/ap-judge-flint-water-lines-newer-neighborhoods/
Canada took the next step in its effort to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030 last week when it announced a ban on certain single-use plastic items that its environmental protection and policy agency says are not often recycled.
The ban includes check-out bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery and foodware items, according to a press release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/canada-zero-plastic-waste-toxic-ban/
A team of nonscientists utilized a remote-operated underwater vehicle in the Straits of Mackinac and found stones they say appear arranged in patterns on the lake floor, potentially done by humans 10,000 years ago. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-ice-age-culture
Foreign commercial ships traversing the Straits of Mackinac between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsula would be required to get special help under a resolution approved by the Michigan House on Tuesday. Read the full story by WJRT-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-federal-designation
The International Joint Commission posted an online questionnaire for owners of property along Lake Ontario that could lead to revisions to the agency’s lake level management plan. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-ijc-management-plan
Lawyers for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine and state regulators urged the Minnesota Supreme Court to defer to the judgment of the state Department of Natural Resources and reinstate three critical permits for the project. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-polymet-mine
The history of the decade-long fight over what to do about the aging oil and gas pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac is untangled. Listen to the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-pipeline-history
Conneaut in northern Ohio has received a $19.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, for critical infrastructure work on the city’s port. Read the full story by Star Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-port-grant
Three new all-terrain wheelchairs have been added for guest use at Indiana Dunes State Park, provided access to trails and the Lake Michigan beach. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-wheelchairs
The old lighthouses of the Great Lakes are believed to hold the unsettled spirits of those who kept them, and those who met tragic, untimely deaths. Read the full story by Fodor’s Travel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-haunted-lighthouses
Construction on a pipeline in Waukesha, Wisconsin that is designed to return treated water back to Lake Michigan, is slated to begin later this month. Read the full story by GM Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-pipeline-construction
After twenty-seven years, two states and one Great Lake, a small wooden boat was discovered on a remote beach on Lake Superior. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201014-toy-boat
Cheese curds. Image credit: Pixabay
One of my favorite food experiences is taking a bite from a cheese curd. Sure, they’re small. I, however, stretch the pleasure into two bites of those odd shapes, the result of coagulating casein protein in milk and the separation of the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Curds are part of the cheesemaking process and they can be salted, shaped and ripened into other cheeses or simply enjoyed in their nascent form. As a Wisconsin native and proud cheesehead, I’ve also got a reason to celebrate my snack on Oct. 15, which is National Cheese Curd Day.
Straight up or deep-fried, these little nubs of squeakiness pair well with Wisconsin fish, washed down with a beverage of choice. (Did someone suggest a brandy old fashioned?) Throw in some coleslaw or a relish plate and that’s a quintessential Badger State meal.
Move over, Chicago hot dogs. Step aside, Kansas City spareribs. Stand down, New York City cheesecake. This is the real deal. A few years back, the Food Network proved cheese curds’ popularity by surveying the nation for its finest curds outside of America’s Dairyland. The resulting online homage reached from coast to coast and dipped into southern reaches—Florida and Austin, Texas—where the sides are more typically of the grits or hushpuppy variety.
Even foodies have taken notice. A case is point is Bud and Marilyn’s in Philadelphia, a trendy restaurant with curds on the menu, but alas, lacking a good walleye entree. Have no fear, though, and check out our recipes at Eat Wisconsin Fish. Those cheese curds will become the perfect accompaniment to whitefish, trout or salmon to munch away on all day on Oct. 15, or any other day of the year, for that matter.
Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/pair-wisconsin-fish-with-wisconsin-cheese-curds-on-oct-15-national-day-to-celebrate-the-squeaky-delicacy/
The relationship between humanity and nature is the overarching theme of “The Age of Nature,” a new PBS documentary series airing over the month of October. In it, the producers seek to answer questions about what the modern issues affecting nature are and what humans are doing about them.
Throughout this month as “The Age of Nature” airs, Great Lakes Now will bring audiences stories, videos and watch parties to better understand how issues covered in “The Age of Nature” relate specifically to the Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/age-of-nature-humanity-great-lakes-region/
By Sarah Cwiek, 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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/egle-fines-2019-detroit-dock-collapse/
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/10/14/hunters-need-to-avoid-contaminated-game/
Thanks to many, the vision for a trusted lab where residents could have their water tested for free by Flint residents and provide educational opportunities for youth in the sciences and technology is now a reality. We are humbled and honored to have been a part of this project and look forward to many years of partnership.
Project Funders:
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 
Thermo Fisher Scientific Bonneville Environmental Foundation
Cedar Tree Foundation CPI International Consumers Energy Crown Foundation Hagerman Foundation
Joyce Foundation Michigan Economic Development Corporation Nalgene Water Fund Ruth Mott Foundation TCF Bank
Donors to Patronicity/Online Fundraiser
Project Partners:
City of Flint Flint Development Center Freshwater Future Genesee County Latino Hispanic Collaborative
Flint Neighborhoods United University of Michigan Biological Station University of Michigan Flint Bio-Chemistry Department
Tim Veverica, Chemistry Consultant
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/thank-you-flint-community-lab-funders-and-partners/
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lawyers for the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine and state regulators urged the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday to defer to the judgment of the state Department of Natural Resources and reinstate three critical permits for the project.
Attorneys for the DNR and PolyMet argued that the agency acted within its authority when it decided, after years of public environmental review and permitting proceedings, that there was no need to hold an additional trial-like proceeding known as a contested case hearing.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/ap-minnesota-supreme-court-polymet-mine-permits/
CHESTERTON, Ind. (AP) — Three new all-terrain wheelchairs have been added for guest use at Indiana Dunes State Park.
The park in Northwest Indiana says the chairs were purchased by the Friends of Indiana Dunes. Two of the chairs are designed for use on trails, and one chair is designed for use on the Lake Michigan beach.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/ap-all-terrain-wheelchairs-indiana-dunes-state-park/
The Ports of Indiana and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working to have the northern and southern portions declared as maritime districts; the alignment will create one district for Lake Michigan shipments and one district for Ohio River shipments, allowing the state to be better represented in national rankings. Read the full story by The Center Square.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-ports-martime
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, has completed construction for the final phase of the Fort Sheridan Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration project at Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve in unincorporated Lake County, including 60 acres of shoreline and placement of artificial underwater reefs. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-fort-sheridan-restoration
The owner of a Detroit River dock that collapsed in November 2019, spilling large piles of gravel-type rocks into the river, has been fined $60,000 by state regulators for violating state environmental laws. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-detriot-dock-collapse
The Duluth City Council approved a resolution that will halt any further work to advance the path and redirect $915,000 in federal disaster aid that had been earmarked to repair a crushed stone shoreline path, to be used to help fund repairs of other storm-damaged areas. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-duluth-construction
Consumers Energy spent from May through mid-September pulling four to eight 46 kV cables from the water. The cables had been installed in 1956 to carry electricity to the Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-mackinac-energy
The project on Detroit’s Oakman Boulevard will drain 64 acres to prevent flooding by installing permeable medians as much as 15 feet below the street surface. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-green-infrastructure
According to the Chamber of Marine Commerce, from April through the end of August, cargo volumes in the St. Lawrence Seaway, was down 8% compared to 2019’s figures. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-shipping-slowdown
More than 91,000 dams impede the passage of rivers all around the United States. Most dams have a lifespan of about 50 years, and many that exist in the United States were built long before the 1970s—including the Edenville Dam in Michigan, which failed earlier this year. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-aging-dams
The ongoing disaster striking the coastal communities of the Great Lakes has not captured national attention like hurricanes and wildfires in other parts of the country, but those communities are reeling from untold billions in damage and the prospect that climate change will make things worse in the years to come. Read the full story by Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201013-coastal-damages
By Brett Walton, 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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/utility-data-customer-water-debt-problems/
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.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Indiana:
The Environmental Protection Agency is set to install six groundwater monitoring wells to investigate the contaminated water plume beneath much of Kokomo.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/drinking-water-wisconsin-wells-septic-first-nations-lead-pipes/
Wisconsin Water Library
https://waterlibrary.aqua.wisc.edu/indigenous-peoples-day/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=indigenous-peoples-day
University of Wisconsin-Superior researchers are trying to figure out how to better regulate small invasive organisms that stow away in the ballast water of large vessels traversing the Great Lakes Basin. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-ballast-water
Community members, local officials and supporters celebrated the grand opening of a free water testing lab in Flint, Michigan, that fosters STEM education, job-skill training, and trust in the community amid the Flint water crisis. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-flint-water-testing
A new study reveals that other invasive species may be impacting invasive mussel populations in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-invasive-mussels
Record setting amounts of water flowed through some Michigan rivers this year on the way to Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-michigan-rivers
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula residents are waiting to see how much of the $500 million for water infrastructure upgrades announced by Michigan Gov. Whitmer last week will make it to the region. Read the full story by Your Daily Globe.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-indrastructure-investment
Nearly three dozen public health and environmental organizations are calling on Wisconsin state officials to require thousands of public water systems to test for hazardous chemicals known as PFAS. Read the full story by Kenosha News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-pfas-testing
A smell that some residents in Saginaw, Michigan, have noticed in their tap water is due to a seasonal turnover in the city’s water source out of Lake Huron. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-tap-water-odor
Lawmakers in Washington are again making bipartisan efforts to push for funding to protect the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-great-lakes-support
Lakefront erosion is not hurting property values for communities along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, where housing prices have been on the rise since months after the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by the Post-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-lake-michigan-property
Storm chasers and meteorologists observed a record number of waterspouts over the Great Lakes this month, according to the Toronto-based International Centre for Waterspout Research. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201012-waterspouts
After nearly a century of generating hydroelectric power on the St. Regis River in upstate New York, the Hogansburg Dam came down in December 2016. Fish who could now swim freely along the river weren’t the only ones celebrating. The end of the dam also marked the first time a tribal nation led the decommissioning process for a federal dam.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/dams-great-lakes-aging-infrastructure/
As they traveled the globe filming the three-part “Age of Nature” documentary, the series producers knew foreboding stories and failed projects were not going to make it onto the screen.
Series Producer Verity White and her team were looking for segments — many about water — that would show successful efforts to restore natural environments and improve habitats for critters, plants and humans.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/global-good-news-age-of-nature-success-environmental-restoration/
