In 1962, Chicago city workers dumped 100 pounds of dye into the river flowing through downtown Chicago. It left the river emerald green for an entire week and kick-started an annual tradition. The city celebrated the 60th anniversary of the event this past weekend. Read the full story by National Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-green-chicago-river
With more than 4,000 vessels traveling through the Soo Locks each year, sometimes the biggest mystery when the huge chambers are emptied for annual maintenance is what treasures might be found at the bottom. Now we’ve got answers, thanks to recent finds being shared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Detroit District. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-empty-soo-locks
The tourism industry on the north shore of Lake Superior is getting a boost from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation with $450,000 in funding for the Town of Marathon to develop the Pebble Beach tourist area. Read the full story by TB News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-superior-beach
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society had one of its most successful seasons ever in 2021 while searching for wrecks. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Ferndale, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-shipwreck
Starting April 1, underwater spearfishing in Michigan will expand to include the chance to harvest additional species, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-spearfishing
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, Soo Area Office will open the Poe Lock at 12:01 a.m., March 25, marking the 2022 Great Lakes shipping season start. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Suite Ste. Marie, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-soo-locks-open
The Save Our Great Lakes project aims to improve storm water management on Barker’s Island off the Lake Superior coast of Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-island-storm-water
The sites include a plastics manufacturer in Wyandotte, a sewage treatment plant in Jackson, an ice-cream maker in Ludington and a petroleum fuel terminal in St. Clair, according to a recent federal report that reviewed climate risks throughout the nation. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-climate-change
Icebreaking efforts are continuing on the St. Lawrence River in anticipation of the start of the 2022 navigation season. While ice-breaking activity is ongoing, residents are urged to stay off the ice. Officials stated that icebreaking will dislodge pack ice and pose severe dangers to those on the river. Read the full story by InformNNY.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220318-ice-breaking
The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards recently signed to an updated version of Great Lakes Geographic Annex agreement between the two coast guards, an environmental partnership. Read the full story by WIMS – Michigan City, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-coast-guard
In January, the U.S. Army Corps announced $226 million to complete design on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, an $858 million effort to keep carp out of the Great Lakes. But Great Lakes advocates say more work is needed to close off other pathways for potential invasion, from Great Lakes freighters to recreational boats and online pet shops. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-carp
As several groups of researchers race to bring back Great Lakes grayling, one program recently got a big assist with a $70,000 grant to find the best design for an incubator to produce the fish that hasn’t been in Michigan waters since 1936. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-grayling
After decades of failure, the tide has finally turned in the battle against invasive species in the Great Lakes. Scientists say the main reason is mandatory saltwater flushing of ship ballast tanks. Read the full story the Anthropocene.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-ballast-water
In the nationwide search for extra nuclear submarine maintenance capability, one proposal would transform two sites located on the shores of Lake Erie in rural Ohio into a big, integrated naval maintenance center. Read the full story by Forbes.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-navy-shipyard
A proposed wind farm, located about eight miles off the coast of Cleveland and first pitched in 2009, would bring six wind turbines to Lake Erie, making it the first freshwater wind farm in North America. But the project is as hated as much as it is loved. Read the full story by the Cleveland Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-wind-turbine
An environmental bill that would require the removal of pollutants near the shores of Lake Michigan is advancing in the Illinois General Assembly, despite objections from opponents who argue the legislation singles out one company unfairly. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-power-plant
Ottawa County, Michigan, is hoping to nearly double the size of Rosy Mound Natural Area, a rustic park popular among beachgoers and hikers. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-park
Permitted users in the cities of Two Harbors and Grand Marais, Minnesota, take an average of 50 million gallons per day out of Lake Superior, the largest of those users being Northshore Mining. Read the full story WTIP – Grand Marias, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-lake-superior
Permitted users in the cities of Two Harbors and Grand Marais, Minnesota, take an average of 50 million gallons per day out of Lake Superior, the largest of those users being Northshore Mining. Read the full story WTIP – Grand Marias, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-lake-superior
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced Tuesday that the Department’s Economic Development Administration is awarding a $2.7 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Great Lakes Boat Building School, in Cedarville, Michigan, to construct a 10,000-square-foot school expansion, establish new boat-docking infrastructure, and purchase additional marine electronics testing equipment. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-boating-school
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced Tuesday that the Department’s Economic Development Administration is awarding a $2.7 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Great Lakes Boat Building School, in Cedarville, Michigan, to construct a 10,000-square-foot school expansion, establish new boat-docking infrastructure, and purchase additional marine electronics testing equipment. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-boating-school
The state of Michigan has scrapped a risk study on Enbridge’s Line 5 and fired a researcher working on the study just a week before a first draft was to be released. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220316-deq
A wholesale fish dealer from Platteville has been convicted of illegally selling invasive carp in Wisconsin. As the state’s first case involving illegal sale of bighead, grass and silver carp, Li Fish Farm, LLC was ordered to pay more than $13,000 in penalties. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-carp-conviction
Enbridge’s plan to relocate a portion of its Line 5 pipeline in northern Wisconsin could involve a controversial drilling method, Horizontal Directional Drilling, which the company admits may release toxic chemicals into surrounding waters. Read the full story by Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-line-5
Concerns about potential impacts on rivers and lakes linger in the lead-up to a long-awaited environmental hearing into a proposed palladium and copper mine near Marathon, Ontario. Read the full story by The Chronicle-Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-mining
More than a year after it arrived at the U.S. Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore for a scheduled maintenance overhaul to prep it for its Great Lakes assignment, the 225-foot cutter Spar is on its way to its new home port in Lake Superior. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-ice-breaker
Scientists at Bowling Green State University recently joined researchers from around the region in studying how Great Lakes algal blooms persist in winter months. Read the full story by Sentinel-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-winter-algae
An experimental project, named Phosphorous Optimal Wetland Demonstration, located in Defiance, OH is aimed at preventing harmful algae blooms and improving water quality in the Great Lakes and is featured in the February edition of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers magazine, The Corps Environment. Read the full story by The Star Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-phosphorous-ohio
The Ontario government is proposing legislative changes that would open the door to storing carbon dioxide underground in the province. Experts say the area near the north shore of Lake Erie between Port Dover and Windsor has the best geologic potential for storing carbon dioxide in Ontario. Read the full story by Canada’s National Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-carbon
Sandusky, Ohio has begun construction on the Cedar Point Causeway Wetlands, a long-awaited 30-acre wetlands project on the west side of the Cedar Point Causeway, using material dredged from the Sandusky harbor to provide a new home for wildlife like birds and fish. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-cedar-point
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has recorded at least 18 earthquakes so far this year in Ohio, higher than the typical two or three earthquakes per month. Read the full story by Tribune Chronicle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220314-earthquakes
A wholesale fish dealer from Platteville has been convicted of illegally selling invasive carp in Wisconsin. As the state’s first case involving illegal sale of bighead, grass and silver carp, Li Fish Farm, LLC was ordered to pay more than $13,000 in penalties. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-carp
Approaching two years since Great Lakes Now’s initial reports on the pandemic’s immediate impact on the shipping industry, most ports have adjusted to the setbacks they once faced, including those in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-shipping
A scientist may have found a native aquatic plant in Ohio that was once thought to be wiped out in the state, a watermilfoil species has not been seen in Ohio in at least 20 years. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-watermilfoil
Wild rice that grows in Michigan’s clearest and most pristine waters will be the focus of new state efforts to safeguard among the most culturally and ecologically important native plants in the upper Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-wild-rice
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission, which serves to preserve Lake Erie’s natural resources and protect the lake’s ecosystems, held its quarterly meeting Wednesday to discuss future plans for Lake Erie. Read the full story by WNWO-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-commission
The U.S. Brig Niagara will sail to six ports of call in the Great Lakes this coming summer before returning home for Tall Ships Erie. But a new strategy to make the ship more accessible to the public and to collaborate more with the Erie Maritime Museum in coming years could shorten the ship’s sailing schedule. Read the full story by Erie Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-oil-brig-niagara
New York Department of Environmental Conservation officials, water pollution remediation crews, and U.S. Coast Guard members are working to address an oil spill at Lake Ontario’s Oswego Harbor. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-oil-spill
Houghton, Michigan and the Keweenaw Peninsula will welcome thousands of people seeing the area for the first time this summer as part of a series of summer cruises. Between June 1 and Sept. 21, seven cruises from Viking cruise line and two from the Victory fleet will dock in Houghton. Read the full story by the Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-cruise-ships
The Biden administration directed states this week to make sure that disadvantaged communities which struggle with disproportionally higher pollution and environmental health risks get an equitable share of new water infrastructure funding over the next five years. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-epa
Michigan needs to do more to combat climate change. The state has an opportunity, with federal infrastructure dollars, to enable the protection of remaining natural lands and for broader adoption of natural climate solutions like green stormwater infrastructure, especially in rapidly developing regions. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-climate-change
It’s time for the State of New York to do its part and stop the invasive round goby from spreading through the New York canal system before the ecology of Lake Champlain is changed forever. Read the full story by the Times Union.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220311-lake-champlain
he Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced it will begin releasing rainbow trout in public lakes and ponds throughout the state, including in Northeast Ohio, on March 15. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-rainbow-trout
A deep-water hydrographic survey vessel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will use multi-beam sonar to create 3D images of the Detroit River and Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-sonar-map
One target of the 2021 federal infrastructure package is a decades-long effort to remediate industrial contamination in five locations in Wisconsin where rivers and estuaries flow into the Great Lakes. Read the full story by PBS Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-wisconsin-cleanup
The Rouge River in metro Detroit, Michigan, is among the state’s environmental areas of concern that will receive significant funding for restoration projects. Read the full story by C&G Newspapers.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-restoration
University of Wisconsin researchers are seeing more and more salt in the Great Lakes — so much that the lakes’ ecosystems are starting to change. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-salty
A top infrastructure official from Macomb County in southeast Michigan is feuding with state environmental regulators over water protection, claiming the state is not doing enough to clean up sewage systems contaminated by pesticide runoff and drugs being flushed down drains and toilets. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-contaminated-water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says filters distributed by Michigan state and county health departments since 2018 to remove lead from tap water in Benton Harbor are working effectively. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-water-filters
A shipwreck dating back to the 1890s was discovered 650 feet below the surface of Lake Superior, 35 miles offshore from Deer Park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220309-shipwreck
