Shipments of iron ore from U.S. Great Lakes ports totaled 4.4 million tons in May — a decrease of 20.4% compared to the same month a year ago, and 21.9% below the month’s five-year average, according to the Ohio-based Lake Carriers’ Association last week. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220620-shipping
Brookfield Renewable U.S. plans to construct a 2,050-foot long berm to protect its Steel Winds II facility from damage during storms along Lake Erie. Fall and winter storms have caused erosion events impacting access and causing turbine shutdowns for remediation. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220620-wind
To control the population of the invasive fish in the Great Lakes, a pesticide containing TFM (3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) is added to spawning areas to kill lamprey larvae. However, fewer treatments due to the pandemic might have inadvertently led to a surge in lamprey populations in 2022. Read the full story by Newsweek.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-lamprey
In Harbor Springs, Michigan, thousands of juvenile fish native to the Great Lakes are being meticulously monitored and raised for release by the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Natural Resources Department in efforts to revitalize vulnerable fish species in the 1836 treaty territory. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-fish-stocking
After last week’s oil spill in the St. Mary’s River, Lake Superior State University will put numerous oil pollution monitors around the Great Lakes, which will allow the university to quickly identify and react to spills. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-water-sensors
With a healthy sturgeon population in the St. Clair River, researchers are hoping that eggs collected during spawning can help restock areas that have seen historic sturgeon declines. Read the full story by the Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-sturgeon
In Indigenous communities that have lacked access to safe water for years, getting access to a safe water supply is crucial. However, perceptions of the water supply — not just how it tastes and smells, but also trust in the source’s safety — affect consumption. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-water-perception
Starting next week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will host the public in Luna Pier, Michigan, at the first of seven free beach walks around the state led by a coastal engineer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-beach-walk
Stamp sand, a pulverized rock leftover from ore processing, has been dumped in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula for more than 100 years. Transforming miles of shoreline, the stamp sand is now a slow-moving ecological disaster. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-stamp-sand
Two significant flood mitigation projects along Lake Ontario are now complete – one in the town of Irondequoit and the other in the Village of Sodus Point, New York. Read the full story by WXXI-TV – Rochester, New York.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-flood-mitigation
Extreme water levels and stronger storms are not only threatening homes and beaches along Lake Michigan — they could also send toxic waste into communities and the lake, according to a new report by the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Read the full story by Indiana Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-erosion
Lower lake levels offer a welcome change for communities and property owners who have been trying to keep up with erosion affecting their shorelines, but some experts are advising caution before folks get swept up in a wave of relief. Read the full story by the Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220617-lake-levels
Michigan agencies are responding to a significant oil spill in the Flint River. Officials said the spill, estimated at several thousand gallons, was reported to a state hotline Wednesday morning. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-flintriver
A report by Chicago’s Environmental Law and Policy Center, focuses on toxic hazards in the four states bordering Lake Michigan but also notes that densely populated neighborhoods in Chicago could face potentially devastating flooding if weather patterns continue. Large parts of those areas may face more severe flooding, as much as a half-mile inland, and pose threat to lakefront superfund sites. Read the full story by Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-climate-impacts
Environmental advocates argue the gear oil spill last week in St. Marys River connecting Lakes Superior and Huron amounts to a small taste of the potential ecological catastrophe that could strike the heart of the Great Lakes should a controversial underwater petrochemical pipeline rupture. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-oil-spill
In six months, Detroit’s temporary ban on water shut-offs runs out, and residents with past-due bills will once again be at risk of losing access to water. More than 60,000 city households have delinquent water bills. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press and Bridge Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-water-shut-offs
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. Regulations that are being finalized include a 70 parts per trillion standard for drinking water and an 8 ppt standard for most surface waters that can support fish, while leaving well water unregulated. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-pfas-standards
Mike Shoreman, a passionate advocate for mental health after suddenly losing his mobility in 2018, has crossed Lake Erie this summer and set his sights on crossing all five Great Lakes. Shoreman is set to finish his crossing of Lake Huron next and would become the first person with a disability to paddleboard across Lake Huron. Read the full story by The Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-great-lakes-crossing
A large alewife die-off washed up on the beach along the state of Michigan’s Lake Michigan shoreline. While it may be an unpleasant sight, die offs are a sign the Lake Michigan salmon fishery is in good shape and benefitting juvenile fish. Read the full story by Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-alewives
The Nature Conservancy is wrapping up restoration of Erie Marsh Preserve set to be completed in 2023. The project, which began in 2011, reconnected the marsh to Lake Erie making roughly 250 acres of potential habitat available to fish for spawning and foraging. Read the full story by The Monroe Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-erie-preserve
Staff at the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Natural Resources Department have been working since 2013 to revitalize vulnerable fish species in the 1836 treaty territory. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-fish
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has started to release the findings of voluntary per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) testing of water utilities across the state, finding new contaminations. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-pfas-locations
In a recent, unofficial outlook of the Great Lakes water levels, the Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District forecasts that the Great Lakes water levels may continue to be above their long-term average for the following year should weather and ice cover conditions be similar to this past winter. Read the full story by Thumbwind.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220615-lake-levels
Michigan is giving thousands of dollars in grant funding to 16 schools across the state to develop science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) projects that teach students about the importance of Michigan’s Great Lakes and freshwater resources. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-great-lakes-programs
The State of Michigan recognized June 4-12 as Great Lakes and Freshwater Week to raise awareness about our state’s beautiful inland lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater. Read the full story by the Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-freshwater-week
The city of Kingston, Ontario recently installed a Seabin, a contraption that will be collecting plastics from Lake Ontario as part of the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup. Read the full story by The Kingston Whig Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-seabin
A new state law will soon require water rescue equipment along Lake Michigan in Illinois. Read and view the full story by WWTW -TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-water-rescue
Oil spilled from an Ontario steel mill into the waterway connecting Lake Superior and Lake Huron is “not recoverable,” said the U.S. Coast Guard. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-oil-spill
Twenty-seven thousand Atlantic salmon were released from a spawning hatchery into the St. Mary’s River this week. Read and listen to the full story by Soo Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-salmon
Mayflies have begun emerging along the shoreline of Lake Erie. Read and view the full story by WTVG -TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-mayfly
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to restore power to states and tribes to veto energy infrastructure projects that could pollute local rivers and streams. Read the full story by Popular Science.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-tribal-voice
Despite the Great Lakes water levels making their annual seasonal rise during the summer, they are still falling from the record highs seen a few years ago. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-water-levels
The University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center, located on Maumee Bay, held a ceremony May 10 to formally unveil its new research boat, named the R/V Spangler, in honor of the late Captain Dave Spangler. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-ut
The Huron Pride made its way from Somerset, Massachusetts, arriving in Port Huron on Tuesday by flatbed truck. It is a 40-foot all-aluminum, deep V boat, with a foam collar and a top speed of about 42 miles an hour. Read the full story by the Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220613-new-boat
Nine African scientists took part of the first in-person cohort of the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education’s African Women in Science program. This exchange program allowed state and federal agencies in the Great Lakes an opportunity to learn from and work with the African scientists. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-african-scientist-exchange
A Wisconsin Sea Grant fisheries specialist explains how invasive species have altered Lake Michigan’s fisheries. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-fisheries
Great Lakes piping plovers Goo and Gabby have returned from their winter territory to the shores of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan to nest and raise a family. Thanks to Sleeping Bear Touring Co, it’s possible to learn first-hand of piping plover behaviors, charms, perils and conservation practices. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-piping-plover
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, an oil spill temporarily closed shipping traffic on the St. Marys River between Ontario and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-oil-spill
More than a dozen teams of scientists from the U.S. and Canada collected samples of ice, snow and frosty lake water in a coordinated scientific event called Winter Grab, a research effort to assess the winter conditions of the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair. Now they are beginning to analyze results. Read the full story by National Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-winter-grab
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers proclaimed June as “Invasive Species Action Month.” The campaign is designed to encourage Wisconsinites to help prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species that harm Wisconsin’s native wildlife, wetlands, forests, prairies, lakes and rivers. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-invasive-species
A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researcher says hundreds of homes in southeast Wisconsin could end up in Lake Michigan. Now, there is an effort to protect it. Read the full story by WITI-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-shoreline-protection
A Wisconsin judge agreed to keep on hold his ruling from April that prevented state regulators from requiring businesses and others responsible for pollution by PFAS chemicals to investigate and clean up the contamination. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-pfas
Shore erosion is a natural process for lakes, but one that was made worse during high water levels. Shoreline erosion risks damaging both infrastructure and fish and wildlife habitat. Read the full story by The Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-erosion
Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania will receive federal funding to replenish sand on peninsula beaches this summer. Although the money is coming a little later this year, that should have minimal effect on swimming in Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220610-presque-isle
The Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois Departments of Natural Resources recently concluded a multi-year law enforcement investigation into the poaching and over-harvesting of hundreds of vulnerable spawning lake whitefish from the Menominee River. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-poaching
Visitors to the Lake Michigan shoreline in southeast Wisconsin have been welcomed over the past week by the unmistakable scent of dead fish as hundreds of dead alewife wash up on shore. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-alewife
The Lapeer Conservation District in eastern Michigan received a grant through the Great Lakes Aquatic Invasive Species Landing Blitz, a weeklong outreach event held throughout the Great Lakes basin to raise awareness about preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species. Read the full story by The County Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-landing-blitz
Mayflies are beginning to hatch and emerge from the depths of Lake Erie, with swarms so dense they were detected on weather radar over the lake. Read the full story by WOIO-TV – Cleveland, OH
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-mayflies
The significant fluctuations in Lake Michigan’s water levels are causing shoreline damage and erosion to Chicago beaches. Listen to the full story by WTTW – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-chicago-beaches
The U.S. Army Corps is shoring up eroded beaches this summer along Lake Michigan using dredged sand from harbor mouths. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220608-dredged-sand
