Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) City Council agreed Monday to try to persuade the federal government to locate a new Canada Water Agency to keep our water safe, clean, and well-managed in the city. Read the full story by Sootoday.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-sault-ste-marie-agency
A lot in the water and shoreline of the Detroit River and western Lake Erie is much more environmentally sound than a generation or two ago, but new threats to the ecosystem are approaching tipping points, according to a study by an array of concerned officials and private citizens from the United States and Canada. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-shoreline-ecosystem-threats
Enbridge’s plans for drilling an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes do not meet industry standards and pose significant hazards to workers and the environment, experts who reviewed project documents on behalf of opposition groups said Monday. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-line-5
The blockbuster deal includes several steel mills: ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor in East Chicago; ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor in Porter County; ArcelorMittal Riverdale in Illinois; and the Gary Plate finishing facility located inside U.S. Steel’s Gary Works steel mill. Read the full story by the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-merger-steel
Lake Erie is Buffalo’s most important natural resource, and together with Lake Ontario, the two bodies of water are overwhelmingly influential in the lives of all Western New Yorkers, regardless of how they vote. The issues involving them go far beyond the still-nagging problem of pollution and politics suffuses them all. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-duluth-pfas
The Minnesota DNR precautions follow warnings issued for contaminated deer near industrial sites known to have PFAS contamination, including a warning near the Duluth air base where PFAS has been detected in downstream Miller Creek and in Rice Lake. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-duluth-pfas
Researchers funded through the Minnesota Sea Grant, have been testing water samples every weekend since July at eight Duluth beaches, with the goal to further understanding of how the virus acts in the water and whether it can spread there. Read the full story by Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-duluth-covid
The owner of the dams in Midland County, that failed in May, has been given an emergency order by the State of Michigan to make repairs right away on the Edenville Dam. Read the full story by WSMH-TV-Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-michigan-dam
A Memorandum of Understanding between Michigan Technological University and Northwestern Michigan College will have the two colleges working together on marine technology, freshwater science, and professional development to support Great Lakes research. Read the full story by Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200929-research-universities
For the first time since it was created in 1955, the Great Lakes Commission will be helmed by a woman. Erika Jensen was appointed Interim Executive Director of the Great Lakes Commission last month. Read the full story by WDET – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-erika-jensen
To continue managing walleye populations across the state, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will begin updating Wisconsin’s Walleye Management Plan through regional public meetings and surveys. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-wisconsin-walleye
Genetically unique brook trout have been discovered at some remote streams in the Tug Hill, NY. The Tug Hill chapter of Trout Unlimited conducted a trout field study last year using citizen science protocols which led to the discovery of the “heritage trout”. Read the full story by Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-heritage-trout
The Washtenaw County Health Department is reminding residents of a health advisory issued in August for harmful algal blooms in Ford Lake located in southern Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-ford-lake
Dead squirrels have been washing up on a Lake Michigan beach in west Michigan. The squirrels likely drowned while trying to cross the Grand River and then flowed to the lake and Grand Haven State Park, an expert said. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-squirrels
Birds are in peak fall migration right now, and birders are seeing huge numbers of songbirds fly through the Chicago area. The Great Lakes act as a funnel for birds that are migrating through the area. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-bird-migration
For more than a decade a group in Cleveland has been working to harness Lake Erie’s wind energy with a proposed six turbine windfarm called Icebreaker, but the project ran afoul of regulators earlier this year and a provision to save migrating birds has left the future of Icebreaker up in the air. Read the full story by WKSU – Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-windfarm
As anglers await autumn’s first major rainfall, businesses in Erie, Pennsylvania, are gearing up for what they anticipate could be a plentiful year for steelhead fishing and the economic catch that comes with it. Read the full story by the Elmwood City Ledger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-steelhead
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the start of construction for a project in the Village of Sackets Harbor, on the shores of Lake Ontario, that had been awarded a $2.5 million Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative grant. Read the full story by Newzjunky.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-sackets-harbor
The city of Tecumseh in southern Michigan is looking to begin much-needed repair work to Standish Dam. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200928-standish-dam
Attorney General Dana Nessel and Enbridge Energy have reached a deal to implement further safety measures for vessels operating near the Line 5 oil pipeline in the Mackinaw Straits. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-climate-change-michigan
New research on invasive sea lamprey and lake trout populations revealed that sea lamprey occasionally change their preferred fish host species depending on the abundance of lake trout in the lake. This finding will support efforts to manage sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-lamprey-prey
As Chicago grew during the 20th century, many of the wetlands around the city were drained and built over. New maps tracking wetland loss over the last century will help conservationists and developers plan projects that have lower impact on remaining wetlands. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-chicago-wetlands
New figures show shipments of Canadian grain through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway are up 20 percent this year, bolstering the Ontario port and shipping industry that has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by Yorkton This Week.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-gl-shipping
In Illinois, workers from the Shedd Aquarium and Cook County Forest Preserve District are searching for and tagging more than 100 freshwater mussels in Lake Michigan tributaries. A group of species researchers say these mussels are among the most endangered in the world. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/202009245-mussels
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order committing the state to carbon neutrality by 2050 was applauded as an important first step in addressing climate change, but a coalition of Michigan environmental justice advocates say it doesn’t move the state fast enough to address the climate crisis. Read the full story by the Energy News Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-emissions-reductions
A Marinette manufacturer of firefighting foam has reported that 94% of wells near farm fields in northeastern Wisconsin that it sampled had levels of PFAS chemicals below the federal threshold for harming to human health. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-tyco-pfas
An Ohio contractor has been awarded a $111 million contract to complete phase two of a massive, multiyear project to build a new lock at the Soo Locks. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-soo-locks
Canada has long history of shipping and shipwrecks in the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. However, shipwrecks receive little attention by federal government officials and citizens despite their value in understanding Canadian history. Read the full story by the Ottawa Citizen.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-ontario-shipwrecks
Water levels have always fluctuated on the Great Lakes, but the extreme seesawing seen in recent years is unprecedented and likely due to climate change. Researchers are warning people living along the shoreline to expect high water levels for years to come. Read the full story by Physics Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-lake-levels
A recently eroded bike path along Lake Michigan could cost up to $10 million to repair, according to a study. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-north-mi-biketrail
Maitland Conversation is encouraging property owners along Lake Huron to prepare for hazardous waves and erosion as high-water levels continue through fall and winter. Read the full story by the Goderich Signal Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200925-shoreline-damage
Citing a “dangerous reality” created by global climate change, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order aimed at making the state’s economy completely carbon neutral by 2050. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-climate-change-michigan
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced that a wholesale fish dealer in Platteville, WI is facing state charges for illegally selling species of highly invasive, destructive Asian carp. Read the full story by Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-wisconsin-carp
The Pine River runs through five mid-Michigan counties, including Gratiot County, which is home to 27 concentrated animal feeding operations, the third highest of any county in Michigan, and has been impacted from chemical pollutants from other industrial sources. Read the full story by NPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-michigan-pollution
Michigan lawmakers are exploring a new task force aimed at combating flooding and soil erosion, a problem that Michigan has been experiencing most recently with Great Lakes water levels hitting record heights this past spring and summer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-michigan-erosion
Ontario’s controversial new fall hunt for the double-crested cormorant has pitted outdoors’ and sportsmen’s groups against naturalist and birding organizations. Following public consultation, the province approved a shorter cormorant hunting season from Sept. 15 to Dec. 31, and reduced the limit on cormorants that can be taken by a hunter to 15 per day. Read the full story by Owen Sound Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-ontario-cormorant
The Ohio House on passed a bill blocking Cuyahoga County and other local governments from banning plastic bags and other single-user containers, sending the measure to Gov. Mike DeWine; bill opponents say the ban will prevent local governments from addressing pollution, particularly in Lake Erie. Read the full story by cleveland.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-ohio-plastic
Testing of private residential wells near the Grand Ledge Army Support Facility in Michigan did not detect PFOS or PFOA, among the most common varieties of PFAS chemicals, according to the Michigan National Guard. Read the full story by Lansing State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-pfas-michigan
Only 17 breeding pairs existed when the Great Lakes Recovery Program launched in 1986. Currently sixty-four piping plover pairs breed along all five Great Lakes, with a goal of 150 breeding pairs which would allow for the delisting of the piping plover from its federally endangered listing. Read the full story by Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-piping-plover
Officials have said the coronavirus pandemic and resulting closures presented visitors with more opportunity — and little else to do — to go to the beach this summer. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200924-covid-beaches
The National Museum of the Great Lakes is hosting its biggest fundraiser of the year this Saturday. The event will feature all kinds of amazing auction items — like a ride onboard the boat that delivers mail to sailors on the Great Lakes — plus the Luck of the Lakes raffle where you can win a freighter ride. Read the full story by WTVG-TV- Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-museum
Put on your rubber boots and grab your bug net because a socially distanced Thames River scavenger hunt is about to occur. The event offers Southwestern Ontarians the chance to learn about the Thames River while completing challenges and workshops, with prizes on the line. Read the full story by The London Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-Thames
In New York, a Jefferson County based group is calling on the St. Lawrence Seaway to be flexible with the end of the shipping season this year. Read the full story by North Country Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-shipping
The city of Algoma, Wisconsin, is digging up land by Crescent Beach and the Lake Michigan shore to improve the health of the beach and the lake. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-runoff-ponds
The COVID relief package passed by Congress in March, specifically set aside $300 million to bolster the struggling fishing industry, which accounts for $7 billion annually in the Great Lakes. But when it came time to distribute that funding, most of the Great Lakes states were left out altogether. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-fisheries
A report by the International Joint Commission’s science advisory board report shows that the Great Lakes are victims of multiple stressors that interact with each other in different ways. Read the full story by WROC-TV- Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-stressed-lakes
Great Lakes steel production dipped by 3,000 tons last week and remains depressed by more than a fifth so far this year, 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/20200923-steel
In Wisconsin’s first-ever invasive carp case, a wholesale fish dealer is facing state charges for allegedly illegally selling Asian carp, the state’s most highly destructive and prominent invasive species. Read the full story by WMTV-TV- Platteville, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-illegal-fish
On a September day at an airline hanger in Freeland, Michigan, President Donald Trump trumpeted himself as a benefactor of the Great Lakes. But his critics say actions speak louder than words, and when it comes to actions, Trump’s administration has been focused on weakening environmental programs that help the Great Lakes. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200923-trump
In simple terms we think of a cleanup as removal of something that, left unattended, will become a nuisance or a problem. But cleanup of toxic sites, especially in water, is not that simple. Read the full story by GreatLakesNow.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200922-toxic-cleanup
