A group of U.S. representatives from throughout the Great Lakes region has signed on to a bill, recently introduced by U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, aiming to create a new entity dedicated to developing the area’s communities and conserving its vital natural resources. Read the full story by the Fremont News Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-great-lakes-authority
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $3.3 million dollar contract to a Rochester firm to make repairs to the west pier at Little Sodus Bay in Fair Haven in Cayuga County, New York. The repairs will ensure that boaters have safe passage between Little Sodus Bay, Lake Ontario, and the rest of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by FingerLakes1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-pier-repair
The Ontario city of Stoney Creek will study whether it should classify a stretch of Lake Ontario shoreline between Green and Millen roads as a public beach and test the water for bacteria during the swimming season. Read the full story by The Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-water-quality
The city of Kewaunee, Wisconsin, received a grant from the state’s Harbor Assistance Program to improve the moorings in its Harbor Park for the Tug Ludington, a World War II vessel that has been a popular tourist attraction in the city. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-tugboat
After a century of use for saw milling, 60 years as a municipal dump site, and 70 years as a coal-fired power plant, the city of Grand Haven, Michigan, is making a push to renew Harbor Island and restore it to productive use. Read the full story by the Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-harbor-island
According to the International Joint Commission, the Lake Erie-Niagara River Ice Boom, which helps reduce the amount of ice flowing into the Niagara River, will soon be removed for the season. Read the full story by WIVB-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-ice-boom
Salt deposited over the winter season is an inevitable part of road safety, but is the amount of salt too much? Fresh water resources in Michigan have a lot of salt in them, and scientific projections show that the water, and crowning Great Lakes waters, are indeed getting, and will continue to get, saltier. Read the full story by Jalopnik.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-road-salt
Friends of Second Marsh president Peter Taylor said his group’s vision is to re-purpose the old GM headquarters in Oshawa, Ontario, into a ‘Great Lakes Centre for education and research’. Read the full story by Insauga.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220330-friends-of-second-marsh
The 2022 commercial shipping season is underway after the opening of the Soo Locks at midnight March 25th. The Edgar B. Speer was the first freighter through the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie and was presented with a plaque to the ship’s captain and hat to each crew member. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-shipping-opens
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the Canal Corporation published a plan to prevent the round goby’s spread, but members of the Nature Conservancy in Vermont say more may be needed. Read the full story by VTDigger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-goby-invasive
Fined $100,000 for destroying piping plover habitat, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula is in court arguing over just what an Ontario beach should be. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-plover
Crews are hard at work replacing the lead water lines to get clean water to residents in Benton Harbor, MI. According to an online dashboard, 679 lines have been replaced so far out of the 3,700 expected over the next year. Read the full story by WBND-TV – South Bend, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-lead
Crews are hard at work replacing the lead water lines to get clean water to residents in Benton Harbor, MI. According to an online dashboard, 679 lines have been replaced so far out of the 3,700 expected over the next year. Read the full story by WBND-TV – South Bend, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-lead
The Western New York Land Conservancy has received a $2 million grant to protect forested watersheds and safeguard drinking water in Allegany County and another to supply native plantings to Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-restoration
For the last 40 years, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has sought to teach the people of Michigan the history of the lakes that surround them. Read the full story by The Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-shipwrecks
The privately-owned retired U.S. Army Corps tugboat Lake Superior began listing at its slip in Duluth Harbor and over the course of a weekend the stern of the vessel was underwater. The saga of the Lake Superior continues, with the U.S. Coast Guard discovering the tugboat is now leaking oil. Read the full story by Bring Me The News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-duluth
Researchers at Central Michigan and others are studying long-term trends in the Great Lakes and connecting waterways in winter, trying to document the impacts of climate change and nutrient pollution. Read the full story by The Eagle-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-fish-climate
Smelt fishers will be able to tend their nets until midnight this spring in a traditional Milwaukee harbor spot, according to a plan announced last week by Port Milwaukee officials. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-fish
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reported 806 known bald eagle nests throughout the state, marking a 14% increase from 2020. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-ohio
For the past two years, an 800-foot line of large, barrel-shaped green barriers have lined South Beach to prevent erosion along Lake Michigan in South Haven, MI. Considered as a must for saving the beach, but an eyesore by others, the HESCO barriers are going away in a decision citing lower water levels on Lake Michigan. Read the full story by South Haven Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220328-lake-levels
Michigan communities could more easily access new infrastructure money under legislation that aims to modernize state programs which fund, among other things, the removal of lead service lines from water systems. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-water-funds
A new film considers the problem of toxic algae on Lake Erie and what is, and isn’t, being done about it. The producers of The Erie Situation film announced that it will premier at the Cleveland International Film Festival April 3. Read the full story by Eco Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-documentary
Seeing dead fish in the spring is common, but sometimes it is a sign of a problem. Fish kills of more than 25 should be reported immediately to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Listen to the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-fish-kills
Freighters have been lining up for days in anticipation of the Soo Locks opening today at 12:01 a.m. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-soo-locks
If your summer plans include time at your favorite Michigan lake, there’s an easy and rewarding way to show your lake some love: help the MiCorps Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program gather valuable information about water quality and fish habitat conditions. Read the full story by the Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-monitoring
Will maritime containers take off in Duluth-Superior? How does the invasion of Ukraine impact grain? And what to expect for iron ore, icebreaking in 2022-23. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-shipping-questions
The U.S. Coast Guard continues to work on a tugboat that’s partially underwater in the Duluth Harbor to remove fuel and water from the sinking vessel. Read the full story by Bring Me The News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-tugboat
The most recent bald eagle census from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife estimates 806 nests in the state. Lake Erie and other large waterbodies host the highest number of eagles because of easy access to food resources. Read the full story by The Delaware Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-bald-eagles
When it comes to water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, no news is good news and 2022 is shaping up as a ‘no news’ year. According to the International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board, All the indicators are that we’re in the normal band of forecasted water levels. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-water-levels
The 2022 shipping season is underway as the first shipment of cargo arrived into the Port of Green Bay March 18. Read the full story by WFRV-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220325-port-of-green-bay
Due to the US and Canadian pandemic border crossing closures, U.S. and Canadian joint sea lamprey treatment programs were much harder to complete. In 2020, 93 Great Lakes tributaries and 11 standing bodies of water were scheduled with only 26 tributaries and six standing bodies of water treated. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-fish-lamprey
In response to the growing awareness of microfibre pollution being discharged in wastewater, a group of Canadian organizations focused on protecting freshwater resources are calling on all Ontario provincial parties to support action on mass-scale washing machine filters. Read the full story by the Georgian Bay Forever.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-plastic-pollution
Debra Shore, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Region 5, wants to create vast demonstration projects that knit together various agencies’ work to address climate change, promote resiliency, and protect environmental justice and public health. Read the full story by Bloomberg Law.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-epa-projects
Michigan’s health department is recommending people eat no more than one serving per month of Lake Superior smelt, due to elevated levels of PFOS. Read the full story by WNMU – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-fish-pfas
The damage to public groundwater resources in Minnesota from missteps during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline is more severe than previously known. Enbridge Energy crews ruptured three groundwater aquifers while building the 340-mile pipeline across northern Minnesota releasing nearly 300 million gallons of groundwater last year. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-enbridge-line-3
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced a new statewide monitoring system for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) which will start by focusing on water testing and air emissions reporting at 379 potential emitter facilities across the state. Read the full story by KSTP – Minneapolis, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-pfas
A multi-disciplinary team of US Forest Service employees gathered at Michigan’s Gooseneck Lake to help Hiawatha National Forest fisheries biologists install forty “fish cribs” on the ice, providing increased cover and habitat after the ice melts in the spring. Read the full story by Radio Results Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-fish-habitat
Michigan’s Alpena Township is prepared to borrow $15.8 million to invest into its water system. Funds would be used to pay for large projects that include replacing approximately 2,600 water service pipes from the water main to the curb. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-water-infrastructure
The communities of St. Clair and Clay Township in St. Clair County, Michigan, are getting major awards in federal infrastructure funding, one that could kick off millions’ worth of water plant improvements and another aiming to bolster sewer access for new development. Read the full story by Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220323-infrastructure
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur on Thursday introduced legislation that would establish a new federal entity called the “Great Lakes Authority” that would promote regional development in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Read and hear the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-great-lakes
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory shows Lake Michigan has dropped nearly 3 feet since setting its record high in the summer of 2020. Read the full story by WOOD – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-lake-michigan
Michigan officials are finalizing the state’s plan to meet Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s goal to make the state carbon neutral by 2050. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-climate-plan
Earlier this month, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) announced the discovery of the wreck of the Atlanta, a schooner-barge that sank in Lake Superior in 1891. Days later, GLSHS found a letter from one of the two survivors. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-shipwreck
United States Coast Guard icebreakers will begin fracturing ice separating Mackinac Island and St. Ignace next week. Read the full story by the WWTV – TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-coast-guard
The comment period on a draft analysis of the environmental impact of rerouting an oil and gas pipeline around an American Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin will run for an additional month, state regulators announced Wednesday. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-enbridge
The Ohio Supreme Court is expected to hand down a decision soon on whether the proposed Icebreaker wind farm in Lake Erie can go forward. Read the full story by WKSU – Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-wind-farm
New flood maps may help communities in Cayuga County, New York and elsewhere become better prepared for rising water along the Lake Ontario. Read the full story by The Citizen.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-flood-maps
The province of Ontario is investing $1.1 million to help reduce sewage discharge in Lake Ontario, help fight pollution and ensure cleaner drinking water in Cobourg and Port Hope for generations to come, says the local MPP. Read the full story The Northumberland News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-funding
This year marks the 50th year of the Clean Water Act. Several environmental groups argue that promises of the landmark law are half-kept at the half-century mark. Fifty percent of the country’s total miles of streams and rivers are classified as “impaired” because of pollution. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220321-cwa
House Democrats reintroduced legislation to expand protections for Michigan’s water supply and close a loophole in state law allowing corporations to bottle Michigan’s water and ship it elsewhere. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-bottled-water
