A community group formed in Oscoda, Michigan, called on the Air Force to stop the flow of PFAS contaminants from Wurtsmith Air Force base into Oscoda area surface waters by no later than 2023, and to immediately begin remediation of the PFAS plumes. Read the full story by the Iosco News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-pfas
The 96th sailing of the Bayview Mackinac race, a Michigan summer tradition on Lake Huron, remains scheduled, although the coronavirus pandemic continues to force the race to adapt. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-bayview-mackinac-race
Great Lakes Learning lessons and activities created by Great Lakes Now offer an opportunity to engage younger learners with the Great Lakes issues and science. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-freshwater-learners
The Community Foundation of St. Clair County is planning a construction project to shore up the Bluewater River Walk from high water. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-blue-water-porth
Ohio governor Mike DeWine warned that large gatherings along Lake Erie’s beaches during the coronavirus pandemic may result in beach closures. Read the full story by TV – WJW – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-oh-beaches
While Lake Michigan beaches typically receive more attention, Lake Huron’s coastline also offers spectacular views. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-mi-thumb
Lake Michigan and Huron will see water levels rise 10 inches above average levels recorded at the same time last year and 2 inches higher than the highest monthly average on record for May. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-levels
National Park Service rangers issued citations Sunday to stop contractors working on repairs to seawalls along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Odgen Dunes, Indiana. The Park Service said the contracts had not received necessary permits for the construction. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200506-nps-odgen
The Detroit District of the US Army Corps of Engineers is urging those living along the Great Lakes shoreline to prepare for high and possibly record-breaking water levels this spring. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-levels
Sightings of river otters along western Lake Erie at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio and Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, and evidence of a return of river otter to Toronto Harbour, raise the prospects that they just might return one day to the Detroit River too. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-otters
We’re sharing four ways that you can adapt Great Lakes Learning lessons and activities to engage younger learners with the Great Lakes.. Read the full story by the Duluth News-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-GL-learning
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it has approved removing another official “impairment” for the St. Louis River Estuary and Twin Ports harbor. Read the full story by the Duluth News-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-twin-ports
Solutions to the Erie Shoreline flood and erosion problems will have to be solved with resilience, not in-water structures, consultant Peter Zuzek pointed out at Monday night’s meeting of the Chatham-Kent Council in Ontario. Read the full story by the Chatham Voice.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-erosion
Andrew Reeves traveled across 10 states, interviewing and shadowing countless experts, to get the truth behind the Asian carp invasion. Sifting through his findings, he published a 384-page book, “Overrun: Dispatches from the Asian Carp Crisis,” in March 2019. Read the full story by BU News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-carp
Our recovery from this pandemic must include a sincere investment in water systems, including assuring access to reliable, affordable water in all households, strengthening underfunded and struggling water utilities, and modernizing the aging pipes, pumps and plants that deliver it. Read the full story by Crain’s Chicago Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-COVID
Thirty five million people get their drinking water from one of the Great Lakes. But with rising temperatures, more rainfall and more nutrients running into the water, conditions become perfect for algae growth. So, what’s the prognosis for drinking water near the Great Lakes? Read the full story by WORT – Madison, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-drinking-water
A new study shows that hundreds of tons of plastic are building at the bottom of the Great Lakes and Lake Erie alone has about 380 tons of plastic.gain. Read the full story by WROC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200505-plastic
A pair of endangered piping plovers whose Montrose Beach nest sparked fierce debate last year between conservationists and music fans, leading to the cancelation of a popular lakefront festival, have returned to nest once again. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-plover
The Great Lakes Commission is calling upon Congress to remember the Great Lakes region “in any economic stimulus response to the devastating coronavirus pandemic.” Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-commission
Three property owners in Porter, Indiana, who claim their holdings include a private beach on Lake Michigan are challenging a new state law that explicitly asserts state ownership of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Read the full story by the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-shoreline
Heavy rain undermined a Kenosha, Wisconsin, construction site, causing a rupture to a sewer pipe and the bypass of nearly 2 million gallons of sanitary sewage into the storm water system and ultimately into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Kenosha News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-sewer
As the energy utility company Northern Indiana Public Service Company prepares to close its Michigan City Generating Station, a coalition of residents and environmental groups are calling on the company to do more to protect their health and the environment. Read the full story by the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-nipsco
As April ends, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake St. Clair will all average out at new April record high water levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-record
With Great Lakes and river water levels projected to be higher than last year, the city of Detroit is underway on a $2 million dam project to protect the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood ravaged by flooding last year. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-dam
The area proposed for a wind energy project in Lake Erie offshore of Cleveland, Ohio, would be located in the middle of a major migratory pathway for wildlife, prompting concerns from environmentalists about the impacts of approval. Read the full story by Belt Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-wind
There is only a 5% chance that the water level of Lake Ontario will rise high enough this year to cause significant flooding in Niagara County, New York. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-flood
Marina officials in Indiana along the Lake Michigan shoreline said that while some aspects of their operations have been impacted by the COVID-19 virus, boaters have been respectful of social distancing mandates as the season gets under way. Read the full story by The Post-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-marina
Waves from Lake Michigan have washed away a section of pavement in a Northwest Indiana town, threatening utility lines and nearby homes. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200504-waves
Duluth, Minnesota, tourism leaders are ready for Minnesotans that may be looking for summer vacations close to home. Visit Duluth, the city’s tourism nonprofit, plans to use taglines like “Lake Superior: Big enough for everyone.” Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-duluth
Despite a delay, Emmet County, Michigan, is slated to open the Crooked River Lock later this month. The lock regulates water levels between the Crooked River and Crooked Lake, and is one passageway in the extended Inland Waterway connecting to Lake Huron. Read the full story by the Petoskey News-Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-crooked-lock
As Ohio begins to open some businesses again, Lake Erie fishing guides will be back in operation. The guide operations will be taking customers fishing starting Friday, but only if the guides and their customers diligently follow the COVID-19 protocols mandated by Gov. Mike DeWine. Read the full story by Cleveland.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-charter
This month, waves and high water levels unearthed two historic shipwrecks on the shores of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Smithsonianmag.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-shipwrecks
Beverly Shores, Indiana, looks to secure five million dollars in funding to mitigate erosion at Indiana Dunes National Park due to high water levels amid severe spring weather. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-indiana-shoreline
The municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, is looking for public feedback when it comes to a highly-anticipated Lake Erie shoreline study. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-shoreline
The St. Lawrence Seaway has agreed to wake restrictions in narrow sections of the Seaway to help abate the threat of high water levels to the shorelines in the region. Read the full story by the Kingston Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-seaway
The first invasive grass carp capable of reproducing in Michigan was caught this spring during an annual fish survey by the Department of Natural Resources. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-carp
Proposed off the coast of Cleveland, Ohio, the Icebreaker Wind Project, a six-turbine array billed as a “demonstration wind farm,” faces opposition since the area is in the middle of a major pathway for migratory birds. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200501-wind-erie
The combined effects of climate change and degraded water quality could make “Do Not Drink/Do Not Boil” warnings more frequent across the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-climate+change
Once a city in decline, the city of Duluth has rebounded as a tourism destination and a “climate haven”. However, changing weather patterns and higher lake levels are forcing citizens to adapt and prepare for future challenges. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-duluth
Judicial oversight is not a panacea to addressing Lake Erie pollution, but judges should exercise their authority to enforce the implementation of a Lake Erie clean-up plan required under the Clean Water Act. Read the full editorial by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-judges
The novel coronavirus pandemic has drawn attention to the consequences of insufficient water access, air pollution and the role of federal oversight in protecting the basic right to clean water. Read the full story by WDET – Radio – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-water-is-a-human-right
As spring returns and birds migrate north, bird enthusiasts in Chicago are hoping a locally famous pair of piping plovers returns to Lake Michigan. As the coronavirus shuts down activity along Chicago’s beaches, bird enthusiasts hope that the new quiet help birds like the piping plover safely nest and hatch their eggs. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-plovers
Stay-out-home orders and restrictions on “non-essential” businesses have left Ohio’s fishing and tourism industry floundering. The halt in manufacturing across the region has also beached cargo shipping along the lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-fish-n-freight
Coronavirus restrictions have scuttled boating in Chicago, leaving charter boat operators and sightseeing cruises with no source of income. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-charter-boats
While less flooding is expected this year, Canadian mayors along Lake Ontario are continuing to implement coastal resiliency strategies to protect their communities from further flooding and erosion. Read the full story by the Belleville Intelligencer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-mayors
At a recent public hearing, community environmental groups urged the Northern Indiana Public Service Company to protect public health and fully remediate the areas currently used as a coal ash pond near a power generation facility in Northwest Indiana. Read the full story by the Indiana Environmental Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-nipsco
To reach the Atlantic Ocean from Lake Erie through Canada, freight vessels must traverse a series of locks, known as Neptune’s Staircase, that drop 100 meters down the Niagara Escarpment. Read the full story by the Niagara Falls Review.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200430-locks
A cruise ship visit to Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Little Current scheduled for early June has been scrubbed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full story by Soo Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200429-great-lakes-cruise
A group by the name of “Boatnerds” are using a phone app to track the ships making their way to Buffalo, New York. Read the full story by Buffalo Rising.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200429-boatnerds
New York Sea Grant’s Great Lakes program is now offering free virtual site visits to waterfront property owners in need of erosion management expertise. Read the full story by the Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200429-virtual-management
