The Canadian Coast Guard recently purchased a light icebreaker that will supplement its operations in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence, and Atlantic regions. Today, it was officially announced that icebreaker has been named the CCGS Judy LaMarsh. Read the full story by PRNewswire.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-canadiancoastguard-icebreaker-judylamarsh
The effort to replenish the decimated lake sturgeon population in Lake Erie has shown early signs of success, but it will be decades before biologists know if they have accomplished their mission. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-lakesturgeon-stockingmaumeeriver
The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers recently announced a new initiative called “100% Whitefish” that aims to use all of the fish. The group is looking to Iceland for guidance and as an example. That country, among others, has pioneered using all of the fish it catches in various products, greatly increasing the value of the catch while developing new products and markets. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-whitefish-expandingmarket
Plastic Free MKE encourages businesses to become “Lake Friendly” by making decisions that benefit the long-term health of Lake Michigan. Transfer Pizzeria in Milwaukee is one business making this commitment. The business has a landfill, a recycling stream and organic waste that turns into compost. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-plasticfreebusinesses-protectthegreatlakes
In the largest design and construction project of its kind currently underway in North America, crews are restoring the natural systems of the mouth of the Don River, where it empties into Lake Ontario. The river, in its current configuration, is being moved. Read the full story by Canadian Architect.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-recalibratinginfrastructure-ontario
Watersheds in Indiana deposited massive amounts of toxic chemicals into the Great Lakes region in 2020, according to a report released Tuesday by Environment America Research and Policy Center. The Little Calumet River is ranked sixth of the top 20 watersheds in the United States for releasing chemicals known to cause cancer and have negative reproductive effects, the report said. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-littlecalriver-harmfulchemicals
The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority promotes industrial, commercial and recreational opportunities on Erie’s bayfront. The authority, located at 1 Holland St., is also a landlord to both a shipbuilder and a shipping facility and is the entity that ensures public access to the bayfront. Read the full story by Go Erie.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-lakeerie-valuableproperty
On Saturday, Oct. 1, the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville Michigan began construction on a new expansion. The multi-million dollar expansion is the result of a fundraising and donation campaign and is designed to increase class sizes and expand program choices at the school. Read the full story by The Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221003-greatlakesboatbuildingschool-expansion
The State of the Great Lakes Report by the U.S. and Canadian governments assessed that Lake Erie’s ecosystem health is poor, despite major improvements made to the waterbody over the decades. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-lake-erie
Three property owners with land along northwest Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a 2018 ruling by Indiana’s high court which declared that the shoreline is owned by the state for the public’s enjoyment. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-shoreline-ownership
Some Michigan lawmakers are outraged by a recent State Historic Preservation Review Board decision to move forward in the process of adding some lands near the Menominee River to the National Register of Historic Places. The Menominee Indian Tribe considers the lands, which span Michigan and Wisconsin across the Menominee River, culturally and historically significant. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-litter-historic-site
The nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes announced Thursday that, through its Adopt-a-Beach program, it has surpassed 500,000 pounds of litter removed from Great Lakes beaches and shorelines. Read the full story by WJSM – St. Joseph, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-litter-removal
A $15 million regional dredging project, part of New York’s $300 million Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative for communities affected by high water levels along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, has been completed. Read the full story by The Citizen.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-dredging
The M/V Mark W. Barker, built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay for Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Company, reached the top 16 in preliminary voting in the seventh annual Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce-sponsored contest. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-freighter
A new study out of Michigan State University bolsters predictions that the warming from climate change will exacerbate pressures on monarch butterflies. But in the Midwest, monarch populations could stabilize or even grow. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-monarchs
The Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, a Chicago-based organization representing the governors of the Great Lakes states and the Canadian premiers of Ontario and Québec, on Thursday launched its “100% Whitefish” initiative that promotes using 100% of a whitefish for different purposes and beyond just food. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-whitefish
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is suing an out-of-state company for PFAS contamination left behind in West Michigan, claiming hazardous substances were found in the soil and groundwater. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220930-pfas
As the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) retires a century-old power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan shuts down, some residents and activists are warning the region’s water supply could be at risk. Advocates say the coal ash NIPSCO plans to leave on the site puts groundwater and Lake Michigan in danger of contamination in Michigan City and beyond. Read the full story by WTTW-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-contamination-risk
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has announced plans to stop the spread of invasive carp in the Great Lakes with an engineered channel in the Brandon Road Lock. A series of high-tech barriers will prevent invasive carp from travelling upstream to Lake Michigan while still allowing boats to pass through. Read the full story by The Manitoulin Expositor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-invasivecarp-plan
Indigenous leaders in North America, environmental and geographical experts, and volunteers are collaborating on the Biinaagami Project, a planned three-year initiative to engage Canadians and Americans in stewardship of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The St. Catharines Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-stewardship-project
The Great Lakes Water Authority announced that a repaired water transmission main that services several Metro Detroit communities is now expected to resume normal operations in early October, weeks after its expected resumption, after a leak closed the main in mid-August. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-watermain-delay
This Thursday, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is hosting a virtual public hearing on a push to restore the Grand River’s rapids in downtown Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids Whitewater and the city of Grand Rapids are seeking a permit to remove four low-head dams and replace them with rocks and boulders. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-restoration-publichearing
In Minnesota, Brighton Beach’s construction plan is an estimated $3.5 million dollars. However, Duluth’s Park and Recreation department are finding ways to reduce costs and be more sustainable, such as by reusing Brighton Beach’s current rocks and gravel. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-construction-sustainability
Eddie Olschansky, founder of Trash Fish Cleveland, organizes volunteers to clean up trash from waterways leading to Lake Erie. Olschansky aims to educate and encourage his community and hopes to give his volunteers a new perspective on plastic pollution. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-erie-cleanup
The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, launched in 2020 by Pollution Probe and the Council of the Great Lakes Region, is focused both on cleanup technology and raising awareness of the plastic waste problem. Devices like the BeBot, a $55,000 beach-sifting robot that collects the waste buried in a defined area, aim to spark people’s curiosity and get them concerned about the issue. Read the full story by Axios.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-cleanup-technology
This year marks the 50th anniversary of both the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the Great Lakes Public Forum. One topic of discussion at this year’s forum is how the Great Lakes are impacted by climate change and ongoing work to understand how they could be further impaired in the future. Read the full story by The Pointer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-forum-climate
A new film, “Against the Current 2: Keeping Invasive Carp Out of the Great Lakes” is documenting efforts to prevent invasive carp species from entering the Great Lakes. The film is a sequel to 2020’s “Against the Current,” which detailed work on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam project near Chicago. Read the full story by Finger Lakes 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-invasivecarp-film
The Great Lakes region sits at the intersection of two migratory super-highways, the Mississippi and Atlantic flyways, where more than 380 bird species fly through the region each fall. The Bird Migration Explorer, a new interactive map from the National Audubon Society, lets bird watchers track the journeys that globe-trotting birds make each year. Read the full story by Fond du Lac Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220928-bird-mapping
Momentum continues to build in the Green Bay area for the National Estuarine Research Reserve, a federal designation to help protect and study coastal wetlands and natural estuaries. Land set aside for the reserve is designated through a six-step process that usually takes about four to six years to finish. Read the full story by Press Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-national-reserve
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United States, which is happening without the prime minister or the president planning to come together as Richard Nixon and Pierre Trudeau did in 1972. Water communities, led by Indigenous leaders are coming together to renew our commitments and celebrate the Great Lakes, but will our leaders be listening? Read the full story by Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-glwqa
A dugout canoe used by indigenous people 3,000 years ago recently recovered from Wisconsin’s Lake Mendota is the oldest canoe ever found in the Great Lakes region. The canoe, which was carved from a single piece of white oak and is 14.5 feet long, was discovered near where a 1,200-year-old fully intact canoe was found last November. Read the full story by CNN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-canoe
A local group in Chicago is launching a campaign this fall that asks Wolf Lake fishers that catch mudpuppies, a threatened population of aquatic salamanders, to immediately release the threatened and endangered animal. Read the full story by Block Club Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-mudpuppies
A lifetime of taking in Michigan’s pristine wilderness coupled with a calling to protect it has led Colleen Linn into the research field, analyzing the division in why some people care about environmental issues and others don’t. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-michigan
Avoiding Coast Guard regulations, potential damage and a horrific cost atop the $1 million already spent and the bucketloads to come, the Ste. Claire will not sail. Essentially, it will be an ornate barge, but the owners figure the memories are more important than the motion. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-steamer
This weekend, three cruise ships made their way into the city of Milwaukee’s port, one being the Viking Octantis cruise ship. It marked one of the final ships of the 2022 season and the last Viking cruise of the season. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-cruise
A water spout was spotted in Lake Erie this weekend near Lake County, Ohio. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-waterspout
The Great Lakes Water Authority is asking communities that were affected by a 120-inch water main break August 13th in St. Clair County, Michigan to continue to limit outdoor water use until the authority completes a flushing and disinfection process at the main. The advisory was lifted in less than two days for most communities, and all were relieved of the boil order within a week. Read the full story by The Oakland Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-water-main
The sixth year of Harbor Fest drew hundreds out to the riverfront this past weekend to celebrate Milwaukee’s waterways. Read and view the full story by WITI-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220926-harbor-fest
University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professors Haoran Wei and Mohan Qin are looking into how floating plastic debris in the Great Lakes can release nano- and microplastics smaller than 10 micrometers. Read and listen to the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-microplastics
A collaborative effort by multiple agencies has signed into effect a first of its kind study examining the coasts of the Great Lakes. Read and view the full story by WJET – TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-climate-change
A new film is documenting efforts to prevent invasive carp species from entering the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-carp-film
The days are numbered for one of the oldest ships still floating on the Great Lakes, which has called Wisconsin home for 25 years. Read and view the full story by WLUK – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-ship-scrapping
Researchers from the University’s School of Business and Economics, in conjunction with Water Wise are conducting community-based action research on Blue Economy and Freshwater Entrepreneurship. Read and listen to the full story by Soo Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-water-research
More than 15 partners in northeastern Ontario have begun the process of setting up aquaculture facilities funded through the Northern Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiative. Read and listen to the full story by Elliott Lake Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-aquaculture
Several lawmakers joined preservationists on Wednesday in New York to talk about concerns with a proposal to build wind turbines out in the waters of Lake Erie.. Read and view the full story by WGRZ – TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-wind-turbines
Line 5 is still a point of cross-border contention: Enbridge says the pipeline is safe, while a Michigan study shows oil from a spill could reach Manitoulin Island and beyond. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-line-5-risks
At a public hearing Monday night, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources proposed increasing the number of Chinook salmon released from state hatcheries to 1 million. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-chinook-stocking
The Grand River in Ontario, Canada, begins its journey near Lake Huron and flows south into Lake Erie, giving it the largest watershed at approximately 7,000 square kilometers. Read the full story by The Expositor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-grand-river
Authorities say lethal controls are needed to reduce munching birds and re-establish healthy stands of the native grain in the St. Louis River Estuary. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220923-wild-rice
The cost of algae in Lake Erie is falling on shoreline communities like Toledo, where toxic algae blooms hike water bills by $100 per year for a family of five. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220921-water-cost
