Researchers at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University recently received $5.4 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to continue their study of climate change. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-climate
Great Lakes steel production fell by 11,000 tons last week, while U.S. steel mills dipped under 85% capacity utilization, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-steel
Since the first reported algal bloom in Lake Superior in 2012, no serious levels of toxins had been confirmed. That changed last month with a bloom near Superior, Wisconsin, where toxins in the water at a nearby beach were just beyond the level set for safe swimming. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-algae
President Joe Biden has chosen a new administrator to oversee Region 5 of the Environmental Protection Agency, covering Indiana and other Great Lakes states. Read the full story by WBAA- West Lafayette, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-epa
Construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel in the Mackinac Straits of Lake Michigan is officially delayed until at least 2022. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-tunnel
As we see the southwestern US suffer through wildfires, partially caused by the continuing drought conditions, there are again pressures to move waters from east to west. Fortunately for the residents of the Great Lakes region, the lakes are currently protected from the call for water from the west by the Great Lakes Agreement and Compact. Read the full story by Buffalo Rising.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211015-west
President Joe Biden on Tuesday appointed Debra Shore, a wastewater treatment official in Chicago, to direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwestern office. Read the full story by ABC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-epa
Several Michigan community members who have been impacted by the toxic chemical PFAS met virtually Tuesday afternoon to introduce policy recommendations to lawmakers. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-pfas
A baby lake trout discovered in Lake Erie waters near the Pennsylvania-New York border confirmed that the species, thought to be extinct for 60 years, is now reproducing on its own. While this is positive sign for fisheries management and water quality of the lake, there is still a need for strong focus on the health of the Great Lakes for the future. Read the full story by the Ohio Capital Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-trout
Environmental and tribal advocates argued that Canada’s invocation of treaty rights to keep Line 5 open was a ploy to protect fossil fuel profits over Great Lakes protections, and a failure to immediately address the climate crisis with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-line-5
Construction has started on an endeavor intended to fortify a severely eroded bluff behind the historic Parmly Mansion along the shoreline of Lake Erie in Perry Township in Ohio. Read the full story The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-erosion
Health officials in Michigan are advising residents in the city of Benton Harbor to rely on bottled water instead of tap water in response to elevated levels of lead in the city’s water supply. Levels of lead significantly exceeding the federal action level of 15 parts per billion have been reported in Benton Harbor since at least 2018. Read the full story by The Hill.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-lead
A Lake Superior lighthouse in Beaver Bay, Minnesota plans to welcome visitors back for an annual memorial honoring the sailors who died when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-lighthouse
Harmful blue-green algae blooms are becoming more frequent along Lake Superior as climate change continues to make conditions right for the species to bloom. Read the full story by the Up North News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-algae-bloom
New York Governor Kathleen C. Hochul announced Tuesday that dredging is underway in the village of Clayton, New York at the Clayton French Creek Marina as a part of the state’s $15 million Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-dredging-
An unusually warm October has prolonged algal blooms in western Lake Erie, including one that arrived this summer that continues to fan out about 100 square miles along the Ohio shoreline. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211013-lake-erie
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in partnership with the state of Wisconsin, officially designated the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. This follows the close of a 45-day review period of continuous session of Congress that began on June 23, with the publishing of the final rule. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-shipwreck-sanctuary
Leaders of an all-star team of Ohio scientists working together to create an H2Ohio wetlands testing program say the multi-faceted approach being developed will have a broad impact on not only Ohio’s ground-breaking program but how wetlands are tested throughout the nation and the world. Read the full story by The Advertiser-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-h2o-ohio-wetlands
A study by Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières found high concentrations of E. coli bacteria colonies are entering the St. Lawrence River in the Montreal area and following the current as far as Lake Saint-Pierre and Trois-Rivières. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-montreal-ecoli
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will treat waters inhabited by juvenile sea lampreys in Catharine Creek Canal from Montour Falls Marina to the mouth at Seneca Lake. By effectively controlling sea lampreys, managers can reduce mortality rates for fish they prey upon, especially lake trout, rainbow trout, and landlocked salmon which are some of the more popular fish in Seneca Lake. Read the full story by The Chronicle-Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-sea-lamprey
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory posted satellite imagery on its Facebook page Friday showing how the hues dotted land near Lake Superior. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-fall
Cape Vincent, NY has received $5.07 million in grants from the Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative to mitigate the impacts from serious flooding experienced in 2017 and 2019. Read the full story by NNY 360.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-flooding
The beaches at Indiana Dunes National Park were back open Friday after they were closed for the second time in two weeks because of discharge from U.S. Steel Midwest. This discharge and beach closure comes weeks after a federal judge approved a revised settlement with the company, more than four years after the Portage plant discharged wastewater containing a potentially carcinogenic chemical into the Burns Waterway. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-oil-beaches
The International Lake Ontario- St. Lawrence River Board announced that it will temporarily reduce outflows on Lake Ontario as water levels remain low on Lake St. Lawrence. Outflows will be decreased to provide marinas and shoreline dock owners with assistance at the end of the season to remove recreational boats. Read the full story by Inform NNY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-outflow-lake-levels
A former industrial dock in Kingston, ON is being converted to a temporary deepwater berth for Great Lakes cruise ships. The temporary dock is being surveyed and converted to safely accommodate cruise ships which are expected to resume travel in the spring of 2022. Read the full story by The Kingston Whig-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-cruise-ships-ontario
A report published by University of Minnesota Duluth’s Bureau of Business and Economics revealing initial visits by cruise ships would have a small economic impact, but over time it could add 60 jobs annually and more than five million dollars in added spending throughout the city. Read the full story by KQDS-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-cruise-ships
This week, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock is departing to work the waterways in Duluth, Minnesota, for several weeks while USCGC Alder is undergoing its midlife maintenance period. The USCGC Hollyhock will be working to keep the waterways safe in the Coast Guard’s Ninth District, which oversees maritime safety and security across the Great Lakes region and works with its Canadian partners to maintain the Maritime Transportation System including 2,483 aids to navigation, such as buoys, throughout the lakes. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211011-coast-guard
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and local lawmakers are at odds over Canada’s support for the crude oil pipeline across the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-pipeline
The office of U.S. Congressman Tom Reed announced Yates County, New York will receive a $195,227 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant provided through the Great Lakes Commission. Read the full story by the Observer Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-grant-funding
Michigan residents are advised to look out for the invasive species on the state’s watchlist. Read the full story by the Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-invasive-species
Ontario is rolling out new rules related to the use and movement of baitfish and leeches when fishing in the province. This is all part of the province’s plan to prevent the spread of invasive species and diseases that can devastate Ontario’s fish stocks. Read the full story by Sault Online.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-baitfish
One thousand fingerling lake sturgeon were released into the Genesee River, a tributary of Lake Ontario in New York, as part of a statewide recovery effort for the species. Read the full story by WHAM-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-sturgeon
The state of Michigan says a Flint chemical company with a permit to discharge into the Flint River appears to be responsible for contaminated stormwater or groundwater that has found its way into the city’s storm sewer system. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-groundwater
Tons of soil is being removed from a westside Detroit park as part of a storm water retention project to reduce flooding in streets and basements during periods of heavy rainfall. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-storm-water-project
An oil spill from the U.S. Steel plant in Northwest Indiana forced the closure of nearby Lake Michigan beaches for the second time in less than two weeks. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-oil-spill
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says nine reservoirs, including Lake Milton and Pymatuning Lake, have been stocked with muskellunge, a popular game fish that can grow to immense sizes. Read the full story by WFMJ-TV – Jamestown, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-game-fish
Community leaders along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin are celebrating the creation of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary this weekend. Read the full story by Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211008-wisconsin-shickwreck
The Great Lakes Water Authority believes it will take anywhere from “$5 billion to $20 billion” to shore up the regional infrastructure enough to prevent heavy storms from flooding basements in Metro Detroit, officials said. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-infrastructure
Based at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Consortium will research the threats climate change has on natural resources and people in the Midwest. Read and hear the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-climate-change
Canada invoked a treaty with the United States and asked a judge Monday to suspend litigation over Michigan’s effort to shut down a Great Lakes oil pipeline. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-treaty
Michigan’s Tribal Nations are responding after the Canadian government attempted to use a 1977 pipeline treaty to keep Line 5 open. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-tribal
As a result of the drier than average conditions, water levels on Lake Superior have gone below the seasonal long-term average for the first time since April 2014. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-superior
State and federal officials on Tuesday confirmed the second finding of invasive carp DNA in the Milwaukee River. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-carp
The cleanup of the Ashtabula River Area of Concern and removal from the international Great Lakes pollution hotspot list in 2021 are considered major successes that give hope to other communities working to clean up their polluted waterways. Read the full story by GreatLakesNow.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-aoc
A storm-spurred equipment failure Monday at Hamilton’s treatment plant forced the city to dump 353 million litres of untreated and partly treated sewage into Red Hill Creek which flows into Hamilton Harbor. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-spill
The California oil spill that has contaminated miles of coastline is renewing concerns about the potential of an oil leak from Line 5, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by WOOD -TV- Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-oil-spill
According to a study published today in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, there isn’t a widespread upswing of harmful algae blooms in North American lakes. Read the full story by Phys.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-algal-blooms
The donation was part of a larger agreement earlier this year between the Oneida Nation and the city that recognizes tribal sovereignty and cooperation between tribal and city police. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211006-sanctuary
The advisory council for NOAA’s proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary will meet virtually from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20. NOAA will discuss elements of NOAA’s sanctuary proposal and address questions from council members and the public. Read the full story by Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211004-sanctuary
The All Nations Grand River Walk started out in 2018 with the commitment to walk the length of Ontario’s Grand River. Along the journey of the Grand River, the group performed ceremonies for the water which included prayer and singing to the water and offering intentions. Read the full story by CBC Canada.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211004-walk
