As PolyMet’s proposed copper mine, NorthMet, has moved forward, Minnesota tribal communities and environmental advocacy groups who have long grappled with the problems caused by taconite mining are now arguing against a copper-nickel project that could be even more damaging. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200615-copper-nickel-mine
The popular car ferry, which makes a four-hour trip from Manitowoc to Ludington, Michigan, and back throughout the summer months, already delayed its 2020 season by about a month because of shelter-at-home orders in both Wisconsin and Michigan to avoid the spread of the virus. Read the full story by the Herald Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200615-ferry
Dredging will continue to be the way Oman’s Creek, in Michigan’s Gogebic County, is kept open to Lake Superior after the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced it was no longer pursuing a project to construct a groin east of the creek’s mouth. Read the full story by Your Daily Globe.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200615-oman-creek
As the state loosens restrictions, there are many adjustments and considerations being made for New York’s Erie County parks. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-erie-parks
A large section of Mackinac Island’s M-185 highway that rings the island has been closed to all traffic – humans and horses alike – as the state of Michigan transportation officials map out a plan for $1.4 million in emergency repairs due to high-water damages. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-mackinac-repair
Toronto, Ontario, beaches have been open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but lifeguards have not been in place and the public has been strongly advised not to swim. Read the full story by Narcity.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-toronto
As Niagara County, New York, prepares for phase three of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “New York Forward” reopening process, the tourism sector is still waiting answers, dates and procedures for reopening. Read the full story by Niagara-Wheatfield Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-niagara
The annual Bayview Mackinac sailboat race along Lake Huron will be held next month, despite cancellations of other events due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-sailboat-race
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy continues to test for PFAS in Pellston-area wells. Testing began earlier this year but was stalled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by the Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-pfas
Three Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair set record high water levels in May. The forecast shows an all-time high water mark is possible mid-summer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-high-water
This week, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) introduced a bipartisan amendment that would delist the gray wolf in the Western Great Lakes region, including Wisconsin, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Read the full story by WKOW – TV – Madison, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-gray-wolf
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that legislators did not violate the state constitution by allowing construction of an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, clearing the way for the project to proceed unless another court intervenes. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200612-line5
The board of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative unanimously voted Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Mayor Mike Vandersteen to serve as chairman of the group and lead the coalition of 85 mayors in the U.S. and Canada to collectively address Great Lakes challenges. Read the full story by the Sheboygan Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-glslci
Pelee Island in Lake Erie remains unusually quiet this summer as the U.S. and Canadian border remains closed during the coronavirus pandemic. The ferry that typically sails between Ohio and the Canadian island remains closed until at least June 21st. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-dead-fish
The recently released State of the Great Lake report published by the US EPA and Environment and Climate Change Canada described the overall condition of the Great Lakes as “fair and unchanging”. Advocates for the Great Lakes note that regulatory rollbacks protections for wetlands and on water quality standards threaten to degrade the Great Lakes and erode progress. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-SOGL
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Collaborative wants $2.2 billion from the Canadian federal government to fund clean-up and pollution prevent efforts along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region. Read the full story by the Blackburn News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-glsl-collaborative
The annual Bayview Port Huron to Mackinaw Island sailboat race on Lake Huron will be held next month, despite cancellations of other events due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-huron-mackinaw
The US Army Corps of Engineers predicted that Michigan-Huron will be 2 inches to 5 inches above record-high levels through August and near its record high in September, and will then recede to 7 inches to 9 inches below their record highs in October and November. Read the full story by The Voice News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-usace
Lake and river trash cleanup efforts in West Michigan are adapting in the wake of high-water levels and the coronavirus pandemic. The water levels affect the location of waterfront cleanups and threaten the safety of pick-up efforts, while the pandemic has forced organizers to reschedule cleanups and rework the trash pick-up process. Read the full story by Rapid Growth Media.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-clean-ups
In another blow to the Great Lakes tourism industry, Victory Cruise Lines announced that it will not sail cruise vessels throughout the Great Lakes region this year. Read the full story by WKFR – Radio – Battle Creek, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-cruise
Traverse City, Michigan, recently started its weekly testing of all the waters at the city’s beaches this week to monitor the safety of water for swimming. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-traverse-testing
Lake Erie’s provides recreation for residents and tourists that supports thousands of jobs in the Erie, Pennsylvania area. To support revitalization efforts in the area that is sustainable and helps Lake Erie, decision-makers need to have more holistic conversations about projects that impact the Erie waterfront. Read the full story by the Record Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200611-erie-water-resource
Thousands of dead fish are washing up along the southern shore of Lake Erie, but experts say the phenomenon shouldn’t concern people. ODNR said it has taken reports and studied every possible explanation, and determined there is nothing for Ohioans to worry about. Read the full story by WJW-TV- Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-dead-fish
The Institute of Water Research through Michigan State University has received a $1 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to help reduce agricultural field runoff in the Saginaw River watershed through farmer-led outreach and education. Read the full story by WLNS-TV-East Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-water-quality
Enbridge has produced legally acceptable plans for dealing with a potential spill from oil pipelines that cross a Michigan channel linking two of the Great Lakes, according to a federal appeals court. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-spill-plans
Manitou Island Transit ferry services will not operate this season because of dock conditions on both North and South Manitou islands. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-ferry-service
A recent study finds bighead and silver carp – two invasive fish collectively known as bigheaded carp – are capable of surviving and establishing itself in Michigan’s Saginaw Bay. Read the full story by WJBK-TV- Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-asian-carp
Due to safety concerns, a large storage bin built in the 1920s out in Lake Huron near Tawas, Michigan is set to be demolished this summer. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-gypsum-bin
As national parks nationwide grapple with when and how to safely welcome the public during a socially distanced summer, Lake Superior’s Isle Royale National Park has rolled out the latest update in its phased opening for the 2020 season. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-Isle-Royale
Steel production has plunged by 16.9% for the year, while steel capacity utilization is down 26 percentage points as compared to the same time last year, largely as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-steel-production
Previously shut out of the Canadian federal government’s plan to rebuild its Navy and Coast Guard fleets, Heddle Shipyards now has a chance at gaining work in the multibillion-dollar project having reached a deal with British Columbia-based Seaspan Shipyards that could bring long-term work to the company’s Port Weller dry docks as well as its yards in Hamilton and Thunder Bay. Read the full story by the St. Catharines Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-shipyard
A humpback whale that stole the hearts of Montrealers when it spent time in one of the city’s ports – far from its natural habitat – was found dead in the St. Lawrence River. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200610-whale
Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers recently confiscated over 2,000 pounds of live red swamp crayfish being smuggled across the United States-Canada international border, making this the largest aquatic invasive species seizure by the MDNR. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-crayfish
The Oakland County Board of Commissioners are requesting that all county-owned dams undergo more frequent in-depth inspections, rather than once every three years as required by the State of Michigan. Read the full story by The Oakland Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-inspection
Every June, hundreds of billions of mayflies come out of Lake Erie. The mayflies are still on the bottom of the lake, waiting for it to heat up enough for them to be able to come up through the water and hatch at the surface. Read the full story by WNWO-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-mayflies
Restrictions on pleasure craft traffic transiting St. Lawrence Seaway’s eight-lock Welland Canal and Lake Ontario-Montreal section are being eased and the locks will be open to recreational boating by next week. Read the full story by The Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-pleasure-craft
An extensive three-year research study of lakes in and around the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in Minnesota has found an abundance of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, hormones, pesticides, and other chemicals in water, lake bottoms, and fish. Read the full story by The Circle News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-chemicals
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is planning a virtual public hearing on a Canadian company’s plans to reroute an oil pipeline around a Native American reservation in northern Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-pipeline
Michigan’s Gov. Whitmer announced that she is planning to send a letter to the federal government requesting a FEMA “major disaster” declaration for the areas impacted by the dam failure flooding. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-disaster
Michigan agencies have served the owners of the failed Edenville dam with a warrant to inspect the lake bed and adjacent wetlands for evidence that mussels or other aquatic creatures were harmed by its failure last month. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-mussels
Wastewater plants in the Great Lakes and across the country are experiencing clogged pipes from face masks, gloves, and wipes that residents have flushed down the toilet. Read the full story by Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-wipes
Anishinaabe tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are adapting to climate change by prioritizing relationship-building and observation of the land. Read the full story by Yale Climate Connections.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200609-climate-change
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s most recent early season projection for western Lake Erie, this year’s harmful algal blooms are expected to be smaller than last year. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-bloom
A months-long, $1.6 million repair project on the south breakwater structure at Pere Marquette Park in Muskegon, Michigan is almost completed, rendering the walkway out towards Muskegon’s iconic lighthouse safe to traverse. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-breakwater
For a place known as “The Walleye Capital of the World,” the combination of great hatches and smart management by Ohio fisheries officials has resulted in Lake Erie showing off this year like no other. Read the full story by the Tribune Chronicle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-walleye
Michigan’s Environment and Relative Risk, a report intended to set Michigan’s course for environmental protection, claimed that an uninformed, unaware public was one of the biggest environmental risks Michigan faced. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-education
A $139 million underwater box the size of six city blocks is being built to contain a contaminated zone underwater in Lake Ontario’s Hamilton Harbour for some 200 years. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-containment
Both state and federal experts advise shoreline communities and property owners to prepare for record high water levels through summer’s end on Lake Michigan — and associated conflicts bound to arise. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-levels
Once left ambiguously up in the air, the rest of the 2020 cruising season in the Great Lakes has been officially postponed until 2021, due largely to preventative measures taken by both American and Canadian ports restricting cruise ship docking to halt the spread of COVID-19. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-cruise
Two nonprofit groups are teaming up with communities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to properly dispose of old automobile tires that have been dumped over the years and contain chemicals and heavy metals that can pollute land and water. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200608-tires
