Work has finally started on a new shipping lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, more than 30 years after the project was first proposed. Read the the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-soo-locks
This is the second year in a row cyanobacteria has appeared on several popular northern Michigan lakes, including Au Sable, Black, and Cadillac, causing health problems for people and their pets. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-michigan-algae
An Ontario company pleaded guilty to a negligent violation of the Clean Water Act for dumping waste water into Lake Ontario. Read the full story by WKBW-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-dumping-waste-water
In the State of Michigan’s next fiscal year, there’s about $500 million available for fixing up sewer pipes and updating wastewater plants to prevent raw sewage flowing into streams and rivers. So far, municipalities have applied for $200 million. Read the full story by WUOM – Ann Arbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-sewer-loans
Google Earth imagery shows the dramatic change in Chicago beaches from 2013, when the lake was at a record low point, to this year when Lake Michigan continues to remain at historically high levels. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-chicago-beaches
When it comes to New York’s world-class fisheries across the state, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Bureau of Fisheries has performed admirably well in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic; fish were stocked, eggs were collected, and surveys were still conducted. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-fisheries-management
Michigan-native Dusty Klifman dives below their surfaces to photograph and share the stories and histories of some of the six-thousand Great Lakes shipwrecks. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201221-shipwrecks
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Hammond, Indiana, Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. laid out their proposals for delivering Lake Michigan water to Joliet, Illinois, in a special city council meeting. The city of Joliet must find a new water source by 2030, when their current water supply is expected to run dry. Read the full story by the Times Weekly.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-microplastic-pollution-plastic
National parks and public lands in the Great Lakes region, including Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota and Apostle Island National Lakeshore in Wisconsin, offer excellent winter outdoor opportunities as the COVID-19 pandemic restricts travel and gatherings. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-natl-parks
If the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline shuts down next spring, Michigan must find a new way to deliver propane to Upper Peninsula residents who use tens of millions of gallons from the pipeline annually to heat their homes. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-line-5-propane
Michigan legislators on Wednesday finalized a plan to borrow $600 million to finance the state’s proposed settlement with the residents of Flint over the state’s role in the Flint Water Crisis. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-flint-water-settlement
International cargoes on the Great Lakes has rebounding as the shipping season draws to a close. Shipments of crops and wind turbine components to Great Lakes ports like the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor and the Port of Chicago stayed steady in November, while steel shipments picked up the pace. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-shipping-up
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are seeking to restrict the ability of environmental regulators to regulate chemicals known as PFAS by rescinding parts of an emergency rule and limiting efforts to properly treat foam containing PFAS. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-wi-dnr-pfas
The National Park Service is spending $1.4 million to remove abandoned structures and roadbeds at Indiana Dunes National Park and restore natural area in the place of razed structures. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-indiana-dunes
Human remains likely dating back to prehistoric times were found at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City, Michigan. Read the full story by UpNorthLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201218-sleeping-bears
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin seek to restrict the ability of environmental regulators to regulate chemicals known as PFAS by rescinding parts of an emergency rule and limiting efforts to properly treat foam containing PFAS. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201219-state-pfas
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced over $252,000 in Coastal Zone Grants to help protect and restore the Lake Erie coastal zone in northwest Pennsylvania. Many coastal zones along Lake Erie are under increased pressure from development, erosion, biodiversity loss and pollution. Read the full story by Erie News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-microplastic-pollution-plastic
Microplastic particles, typically studied as aquatic pollutants, are also common in coastal dunes on Great Lakes’ shorelines, according to a new study in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-microplastic-pollution-plastic
The International Joint Commission has responsibility over the Great Lakes and Seaway and has to deal with a combination of serious problems that includes a warmer Lake Superior, higher water levels in Lake Ontario and the Upper St. Lawrence River, and the appearance of toxic blue-green algae on Lake Superior and Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Maritime Executive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-st-lawrence-seaway-ijc
The Great Lakes continue to inch away from the record high water levels of the past few years. Lakes Michigan and Huron have been in the spotlight with the highest water levels recently compared to previous record high water levels. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-water-levels-erosion
The PFAS Action Plan was developed by the Wisconsin PFAS Action Council, a group of nearly 20 state agencies and the University of Wisconsin System. As part of the statewide initiative to ensure Wisconsinites have access to clean, safe drinking water, Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order #40 in August 2019 to address the issue of PFAS across the state. Read the full story by WSAW – TV – Wausau, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-wisconsin-pfas
A petition to keep the Edwardian-era SS Keewatin in its home of Port McNicoll, ON has now garnered close to 9,000 signatures. The man behind the petition is involved with an additional campaign designed to lobby all levels of government to consider the ship’s plight. View the full story by OrilliaMatters.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-ontario-keewatin-port
Cargo totals on the St. Lawrence Seaway hit nearly 32.3 million metric tons, down 6.6% from 2019. Compared to previous months, the improvement in total cargo figures in November is due in large part to grain shipments, which have been strong since the fall harvest began. Read the full story by WorkBoat.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-shipping
Chicago Piping Plover, a conservation group focused on protecting the endangered species, confirmed that Nish, a chick born on Montrose Beach earlier this year, successfully landed in Florida. The bird was spotted in Anclote Key State Park, just north of Tampa. Read the full story by Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-chicago-piping-plover
An organization of 40 conservation groups say a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule concerning ballast water discharges under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) will not protect the Great Lakes from the spread and introduction of invasive species. Read the full story by Water Technology.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-vida-epa-ballast
As of Dec. 11, according to that Parks Foundation of Kalamazoo County, they’ve already raised 65% of their funding goal from private funds and public funding from the Michigan Department of Transportation to finish the last few miles of the 22-mile long trail. Part of a 140-mile regional trail network connecting Lake Michigan with Lake Huron. Read the full story by Second Wave.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-michigan-trail
The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation has expressed its opposition to a plan that the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario is proposing to remove a large section of the dunes at Sauble Beach. Read the full story by Blackburnnews.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201217-huron-dunes
On the surface of Lake Michigan, glistening water rushes over sandy beaches. But underneath the waves is a fragile ecosystem that interconnects a complex food web critical to the overall health of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV- Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-invasive-species
Sheets of ice formed over Lake Superior, on the shores of Ashland, Wisconsin, amid cold weather conditions in the region this week. A local photographer captured footage along the water showing ice on top of the water and the unique sound. Read the full story by Yahoo! News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-ice-superior
The risk of high-water impact, including shoreline erosion or flooding, remains, as Lake Superior declined only 3 cm this November, while it normally declines 5 cm. Read the full story by Soo Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-water-levels
In Ohio, efforts to keep Port Clinton’s beautifully scenic Lake Erie shoreline clean are also maintaining its strong sense of art and culture with the latest addition to Waterworks Park. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-waterworks-park
Environmental and farm groups are joining forces to lobby the state for significant funding to support farms across Wisconsin and protect drinking water, but they stopped short of putting a price tag on their request. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-farmers
In Wisconsin, the city of Sheboygan’s Plan Commission approved a conditional use permit for Kohler Co. to move forward with development of its new golf course along Lake Michigan. Community concerns about the course are largely connected to environmental issues that could result, such as pesticide or other chemical runoff into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-golf-course
An impounded section of the Kalamazoo River, which drains a portion of southwest Michigan, will become a lake again now that repairs are finished on a hydroelectric dam that allowed huge quantities of sediment to wash downstream after the reservoir was drained. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-morrow-lake
There are over 4,000 types of PFAS chemicals and most researchers study a handful of these chemicals at most. Carla Ng, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, is one of the few scientists trying to find an approach that works for all of them. Read the full story by Public Source.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-pfas
There are over 4,000 types of PFAS chemicals and most researchers study a handful of these chemicals at most. Carla Ng, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, is one of the few scientists trying to find an approach that works for all of them. Read the full story by Public Source.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-pfas
Human remains, which likely date back to prehistoric times, were found at Sleeping Bear Dunes, park officials confirmed Tuesday. The park service is now giving notice to the local Native American tribes and organizations as required by law and aims to turn the remains over to the appropriate tribe or tribes once the legal process is completed. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-prehistoric
Great Lakes steel production rose by 3,000 tons last week, but remains depressed by more than 18% this year with U.S. steel mills only operating at two-thirds of capacity, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201216-steel-production
A Montreal-based company released a new dog food formula that includes Asian carp, an invasive species in both the United States and Canadian waterways. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-carp-kibble
Record high lake levels, flooded beaches, and endangered buildings along Lake Michigan are driving residents around the lake to take on projects big and small to try to hold back the water. Read and listen to the full story by Illinois Public Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-beaches
Legislation sponsored by Michigan Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow would help shoreline communities address rising water levels and erosion by setting up funding mechanism to carry out mitigation projects and reduce natural disaster risk associated with high lake levels. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-peters-bill
The International Joint Commission (IJC) has announced approval to deviate from the controversial Plan 2014, allowing for increased outflow from Lake Ontario’s waters through the Moses-Saunders dam on the St. Lawrence River to help avoid flooding on Lake Ontario shorelines. Read the full story by Rochester First.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-ijc
The Michigan DNR relocated a historic shelter building to keep it safe from eroding shoreline on Lake Michigan. The Orchard Beach State Park’s historic shelter building now sits a safe 230 feet back from the eroding Lake Michigan shoreline. Read the full story by Click-On Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-orchard-beach
With the aquifer that supplies drinking water to Joliet, Illinois, expected to dry up by 2030, the community is in talks with both the city of Chicago and the city of Hammond to provide water from Lake Michigan. Read the full story by CBS Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-joilet
Decades after they gave up the adventure of searching for shipwrecks, two underwater explorers with Alpena roots made a thrilling find in the waters of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary by discovering a Civil War-era shipwreck not seen in nearly 160 years. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-shipwreck
Dickinson County, Michigan adopted a resolution Monday in support of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, urging completion of a tunnel replacement project with no disruption of service. The resolution comes in response to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent demand the company shut down its oil pipeline that crosses the bottom of the waterway connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-dickinson
Threatened with a court injunction by a prominent Canadian environmental law organization, the town of South Bruce Peninsula in Ontario has postponed its dune excavation project at Sauble Beach. Read the full story by the Stratford Beacon Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-sauble
Another future U.S. Navy warship has completed acceptance trials on Lake Michigan. Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 23, the future USS Cooperstown, passed several trials in advance of its commissioning to the US Navy in 2021. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201215-navy-ship
Crews have started emergency construction work on a portion of a central Michigan dam that collapsed last spring and contributed to flooding that destroyed homes and forced the evacuations of about 10,000 people. Read the full article by WDIV- TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-dam-construction
In anticipation of high volumes of water entering Lake Ontario in 2021, the International Joint Commission has granted pre-emptive permission to deviate from its controversial Plan 2014 and increase outflows in an attempt to avoid flooding. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20201214-ijc-lake-ontario
