The recent Trump administration rollback of Obama-era regulations that restricted the discharge of carcinogenic and potentially brain-damaging toxic metals into U.S. waterways will allow a power plant in Wisconsin to dump further toxins into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WTTW-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-epa-rollback
Ports in the Great Lakes and around the world are critical to global trade but are vulnerable to disruption from climate-related events. The gale-force winds and storm surge that damaged port infrastructure in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last January are an example of threats to come. Read the full story by The Economist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-ports-vulnerability
Local biologists in Ontario are perplexed by the upcoming cormorant hunt in the province and argue that there is no scientific evidence supporting the need to hunt the birds. Read the full story by Smiths Falls Record News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-cormorants
Alpena, Michigan, is no longer expecting cruise ships to visit until 2021. The pandemic has shut down cruising on the Great Lakes and delayed port infrastructure development projects in the area. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-alpena
Michigan residents living along the emptied reservoirs above the Edenville and Sanford dams that collapsed in May could be expected to pay annual assessment fees of up to $2,400 per year for dam and lake restoration for the next 40 years. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-flood-restored
A self-described “Lakeshore Janitor” has turned a hobby of scouring the beaches and waters along Lake Michigan for lost treasures using a metal-detector into a lucrative side-hustle, and helps beachgoers recover items lost among the waves. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-rihanna
Ontario is beginning the process to designate the Ostrander Crown Land Block and the Point Petre Provincial Wildlife Area, along Lake Ontario’s shoreline, as a new conservation reserve. Read the full story by County Live.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-ontario
Stretching for 11 miles through the Ottawa National Forest near Lake Superior, the Black River Scenic Byway provides access to five waterfalls in the Black River Harbor Recreation Area and opportunities for hikers. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-chasing-waterfalls
The teenagers and scientist announced they located fragments from the 2017 meteorite that crashed into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-meteor
After fishing trips to the Cleveland river turned up only trash, a Cleveland local started a non-profit organization of volunteers dedicated to fishing trash out of the river. Read the full story by WKYC – TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200911-cleveland-river-trash
Enbridge said Wednesday it will fully resume operation of a Michigan Great Lakes oil pipeline after a partial shutdown this summer because of damage to a support structure. Read the full story by The Associated Press
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-enbridge-pipeline
In Ohio, The Toledo Zoo’s popular lake sturgeon stocking event won’t happen this year, though a pause in the program – thanks to the international COVID-19 pandemic – won’t hurt the project. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-sturgeon
Indiana celebrated Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes during the second annual Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Appreciation Day this week. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-GL-appreciation-day
A new study has identified the most important coastal wetlands to focus on to preserve more than a dozen species of marsh birds on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-marsh-conservation
A river that marks the border between Michigan and Wisconsin has been removed from a federal list of heavily polluted sites in Great Lakes waters, although it continues to have contamination issues with toxic fluorochemicals. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-menominee-river
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking residents to keep an eye out and take precautions against spreading European frogbit. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-frogbit
The Minnesota Court of Appeals will take its own look at the actions of the state’s Pollution Control Agency, after a district court judge found that the state agency did not break permitting rules when it pressured the federal Environmental Protection Agency to delay issuing public comments on its proposed water discharge permit for PolyMet. Read the full story by The Timberjay.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-Polymet-water
Land conservancies are often a critical partner in the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund process, pre-purchasing land that is later sold to municipalities or the state with trust fund money, arranging financing for the 25% matching funds required by the program, negotiating with landowners and performing ongoing stewardship. Read the full story by Second Wave Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-land-conservancies
Work to fix erosion issues along the Iron Ore Heritage Trail is ongoing along US-41 in Marquette, Michigan. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-ore-heritage+trail
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that improvements at Lewiston Landing Park on Lake Ontario as part of Cuomo’s Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative have been completed. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-lewiston-restoration
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed a budget bill that will fund a federal $300-a-week unemployment benefit, flood cleanup costs in the Midland area and Michigan’s contribution toward a project to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200910-carp-project
As the COVID-19 pandemic marches on, the Soo Locks has seen a decrease in vessel traffic this year. According to the Lake Carriers’ Association, shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 3.5 million tons in July, a decrease of 46.5% compared to a year ago. Read the full story by The Sault News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-soo-locks
A special task force set up to study Michigan’s dam safety rules and regulations met virtually for the first time Tuesday. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-dam-safety
For the second time in two years the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center appears to have forced the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s hand in seeking solutions to Lake Erie’s ongoing nutrients pollution problem. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-TMDL
Forecasters predicted waves of about of 4 to 7 feet in height and strong currents would cause potentially life-threatening conditions at Lake Michigan beaches in Indiana. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-hazards
With U.S. Senate support and the president’s signature, the secretary of the Navy would be able to consider maintenance and repair work at shipyards other than those in Navy vessels’ homeports — including ports around the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Duluth News-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-ports
A bloom of Microcystis cyanobacteria continues in the western basin of Lake Erie. Recent satellite imagery indicates the bloom is present along the the Ohio coast to Catawba Island. Along the Michigan coast the bloom extends to Point Mouillee State Game Area. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-bloom-forecast
A U.S. Coast Guard official told environmental groups Friday that damage discovered to Line 5 earlier this year likely was caused by Enbridge-contracted vessels conducting work in the area to prepare for the construction of a utility tunnel. Read the full story by the Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-enbridge
The EPA announced a $5 million investment to research the best methods for making sure the ships that navigate the Great Lakes aren’t spreading invasive species through their ballast water. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-ballast-water
A multimillion-dollar rehabilitation project now underway along the American bottom of the Detroit River is just a small example of the potentially huge benefits the Great Lakes region could enjoy through post-pandemic investments. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200909-opportunities
Two Minnesota shipwreck hunters located the Pere Marquette 18, as it sits in nearly 500 feet of water far offshore from Sheboygan and Port Washington, WI, coated in zebra mussels and with the tip of the bow rising nearly 100 feet off the lake bed. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-shipwreck-wisconsin
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is partnering with the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) to strengthen the impact of the H2Ohio water quality initiative. OWDA has approved $5 million to fund additional wetlands efforts in ODNR’s H2Ohio program. Read the full story by The Delaware Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-ohio-water-quality2
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is partnering with the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) to strengthen the impact of the H2Ohio water quality initiative. OWDA has approved $5 million to fund additional wetlands efforts in ODNR’s H2Ohio program. Read the full story by The Delaware Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-ohio-water-quality
The State of Michigan is holding a number of public meetings online regarding the proposed tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac for Enbridge’s Line 5. The first is being held Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-line-5
About 400 sturgeon were relocated farther upstream between 2015 and 2019 thanks to an elevator installation at the Menominee Dam, located about two miles upriver from Green Bay, WI; bypassing the dams means the sturgeon can access their historical spawning sites. Read and listen to the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-fish-elevator-green-bay
A salvage-rearing program led by the Detroit Zoological Society has released 39 of the birds in northern Michigan this year, among 299 piping plovers reared in captive and released since 2001. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-piping-plovers
A northern Michigan lake that’s famous for its turquoise waters is facing an outbreak of brown algae that’s left its sandy bottom covered with mushy, squishy mats. One lakeshore resident, said the brown algae was first noticed about a decade ago, but now the “golden-brown algae” grows in thick mats and sticks to the otherwise sugar-sand bottom of the lake in Antrim County’s Torch Lake. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-torch-lake-algae
One of Illinois’ most popular tourist attractions, the pier closed from mid-March to June, but even after its reopening, attendance has been only 15% of its normal level, which prompted Navy Pier officials to suspend operations once more until spring. Read the full story by Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-navy-pier-covid
Traverse City, MI has plans to move forward with the Fishpass Project, to provide bi-directional passage of selective fish, as the capstone of a 20-year restoration on the Boardman River, reconnecting the river to Lake Michigan; and including a kayak launch, pedestrian bridge, and rehabilitated boardwalk. Read the full story by WGTU-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-traverse-city-fishpass
As thunderstorms and flooding hit Northeast Ohio on Monday, raw sewage overflowed into Lake Erie at Edgewater Beach, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District said in a news release. The sewer district is advising people going to Edgewater Beach to avoid contact with the water and debris. Read the full story by Cleveland.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-lake-huron-erosion
Current high lake levels are due to increased precipitation; with more storms in and around the Great Lakes basin in the fall, the Great Lakes will likely increase erosion in the fall and winter. Read the full story by Barrietoday.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200908-lake-huron-erosion
After the oil spill on the Kalamazoo River in 2010, volunteers spent hundreds of hours rescuing and cleaning oil-coated turtles from the river. Ten years later, researchers see a successful recovery of many of the impacted turtles that were returned to the river. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200903-september-7
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer must follow through on her campaign pledge to shut down the Line 5 pipeline. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200903-september-7
The Michigan Legislature has restored funding to support early work upgrading the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Illinois help to stop invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200904-fund-the-carp-gauntlet
Situated in northern Michigan along Lake Michigan, Benzie County offers excellent opportunities fall color viewing and autumn travel. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200904-benzie-county
Several Michigan political figures say they’re joining a coalition of hunters and anglers from across the nation backing Joe Biden for president. The coalition criticized the current president for trying to slash funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other Great Lakes protections. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200904-hunters-anglers-for-biden
A new novel written by a former Great Lakes environmental leader explores cultural and environmental conflict and connection in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200904-gl-novel
Residents in Duluth, Minnesota, are turning to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers for assistance with protecting their property as storms and high-water levels on Lake Superior erode shoreline. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200904-superior-encroaching
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has announced the creation of the Michigan Dam Safety Task Force to provide recommendations on policy, budget, legislative and enforcement reforms to prevent future dam failures across the state. Read the full story by the Keweenaw Report.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200904-EGLE-dam
The shoreline and islands of Lake Erie offer an idyllic setting for summer travelers searching for natural beauty, watersports, and other outdoor adventures. Read the full story by the Springfield News Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200904-lake-erie-nice
