There may funding available for major infrastructure projects around Western New York as part of a $1.5 trillion federal legislative package that is slated to be introduced within days. Read the full story by WBFO-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200625-infrastructure
The Port of Monroe in Michigan is in the midst of handling one of its largest cargo endeavors, as the port has become a congregation and distribution hub for wind tower segments. Read the full story by the Ionia Sentinel-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200625-port
A resolution adopted by the Michigan House of Representatives supports the construction of a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to support Line 5. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200625-tunnel
The Council from Tiny Township, Ontario, unanimously approved a motion demanding upper levels of government push for action to manage high-water levels in Lakes Huron and Michigan. Read the full story by OrilliaMatters.com
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-high-water-Ontario
During a summer recreation season already hampered by pandemic-related delays and restrictions, many of Michigan’s state parks are now wrestling with another force of nature: historically high water along the Great Lakes that is reshaping shorelines, eroding beaches, submerging docks and piers, and rendering roads and trails inaccessible. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-high-water-michigan
The pavilion at Orchard Beach State Park in Manistee, Michigan, is expected to be moved to a picnic area within the park this fall due to threat from Lake Michigan erosion at a cost of about $1.5 million. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-historic-building-erosion
On Tuesday, a joint Michigan senate committee heard from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about its role with the dams that failed in Midland County and caused catastrophic flooding. Read the full story by WEYI – TV – Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-senate-dam-failure
$850,000 in provincial funding was allotted to the Invasive Species Centre in Sault Ste. Marie for developing new measures to prevent and manage invasive species infiltrating Canada’s natural ecosystems Read the full story by Northern Ontario Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-invasives-ontario
An Ontario nuclear power generating company has officially dropped its pursuit of a deep underground storage facility for low- to intermediate-level radioactive waste within a half-mile of Lake Huron. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-radioactive-huron
The ceremony was jointly held by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding and The Interlake Steamship Company and recognized the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in more than 35 years. Read the full story by WLUK – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-new-freighter
Michigan regulators are encouraged by preliminary test results that show low pollutant levels in sediments deposited in the Tittabawassee and Saginaw river floodplains downstream of the Dow Chemical Co. in MIdland, MI following historic flooding. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-dioxin-dow
North Olmsted, OH codes require stormwater to be maintained entirely on the property where development is proposed; the undeveloped condition of the property is the benchmark for new developments, meaning that the property cannot release more stormwater off their property than if the property was completely undeveloped. Read the full story by Cleveland.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-stormwater-development
The restoration work is re-establishing natural and ecological function to approximately 1,700 feet of stream in Mentor, OH due to the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District, and funding from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; the city recently learned that the Ohio EPA has recommended a second grant toward the next phase of the project. Read the full story by The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200624-stream-restoration
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has completed its second of seven tunnels to store combined sewer overflows and keep sewage from polluting Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Plain-Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-sewer-district
Independent experts are questioning the adequacy of plans to examine how much fluorochemical pollution is entering Michigan’s Rogue River from Wolverine World Wide contamination sites and subsequently washing downstream toward Lake Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-PFAS-rogue
In March, COVID-19 brought the Great Lakes economy and society in general to a grinding halt. Three months later, it’s not yet business as usual and challenges remain. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-covid
After more than a century in which Cleveland, Ohio, has hardened its shoreline with concrete, steel and boulders to defend against storms, the city and four other agencies are looking at a softer, greener and more natural solution to climate change and rising lake levels. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-recycled-river-sediment
There have been more than a dozen significant rollbacks of water-related protections that affect the Great Lakes area. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-regulatory-rollbacks
Michigan’s attorney general on Monday asked a judge to shut down the Line 5 pipeline in the Great Lakes after Enbridge discovered that an anchor support had shifted deep below the surface. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-shut-down-pipeline
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has issued a safety notice for paddlers along a popular stretch of the Boardman River in Traverse City due to high water. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-dnr-issues-caution
Following flooding that caused the failure of two dams on the Tittabawassee River, officials say hundreds of residents in Gladwin and Midland counties are experiencing issues with their water wells. Some of the wells aren’t working properly, others are dry. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-water-issues
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is holding a series of webinars to introduce a “Total Maximum Daily Loads for Total Phosphorus and Total Suspended Solids in the Northeast Lakeshore Basin” (TMDL) study. Watch the full story by The Kewaunee County Comet.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-tmdl-webinar
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer demanded that Enbridge Energy provide proof that the damage to one of its dual oil pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac will not pose a threat to the area. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-pipeline-answers
A new culvert may replace the existing one that drains South Bar Lake into Lake Michigan. The current culvert is failing, with high water, winds and waves clogging it with sand about once a week. Read the full story by Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-culvert
Port of Monroe received the Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award, a recognition given to domestic shipping industry leaders by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. Read the full story by The Monroe News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-port-award
Three months after Ontario declared its COVID-19 emergency, nixing crowds and shutting down many public spaces, Southwestern Ontario’s two biggest beach enclaves – Grand Bend and Port Stanley – threw open their lakeside stretches of sand for the first time Monday since the pandemic began. Read the full story by The London Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-ontario-beaches-open
“The Forever Chemicals” examined the impact of PFAS contamination in west Michigan communities: private wells that tapped into groundwater near industrial dump sites were delivering PFAS-laden drinking water to unsuspecting residents for years until the contamination was detected and reported. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-forever-chemical
Conditions across the Lake Superior were drier than average in May and the water level rose less than it typically does. Nonetheless, an exceptional volume of water remains in the system and all of the Great Lakes remain near or above record-high water levels for this time of year. Read the full story by Sault Online.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200623-superior-water-levels
Enbridge Energy shut down part of the Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac following “significant damage” to an anchor support on the lake bottom. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer demanded that Enbridge cease all oil transport in the pipeline, including the undamaged segment, until they could provide the pipeline’s integrity. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-line5
The new H2Ohio initiative will fund voluntary conservation efforts by Ohio farmers to improve soil quality and reduce runoff from crop fields that contributes to harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. Proponents support the collaborative, science-based approach of the initiative, but some environmentalists remain skeptical that it will achieve the intended outcomes. Read the full story by Civil Eats.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-h2ohio
As Chicagoans return to the lakefront following easing coronavirus restrictions, they will find a transformed shoreline with flooded pathways and disappearing beaches. High-lake levels along the lakes are forcing cities to spend money on repairing and reinforcing damaged shoreline to keep city residents and municipal infrastructure safe. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-lakefront
The U.S.’s first freshwater wind farm is in limbo after regulators in Ohio told wind developers that they must do more to understand how their turbines will impact migrating birds. Environmentalists critical of the windfarm say that the stipulations to monitor bird and bat activity at the sites prior to installation is a critical step that should be the precedent for any wind turbines going on Lake Erie. Read the full story by Washington Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-erie-wind
Michigan’s Muskegon County has applied for a $10 million state grant to buy a former sand mining site on Lake Michigan and convert it to a public park that would include space for camping, hiking, fishing and kayaking. Read the full story by WNEM – TV – Bay City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-muskegon-park
The Joliet, Illinois City Council will convene for a workshop to study the options and understand public comments as it considers the options between building a Joliet pipeline to Lake Michigan or getting water from the city of Chicago to increase its drinking water supply. Read the full story the Herald News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-joliet-dw
Two buoys have been deployed in Green Bay to monitor weather conditions as well as the quality of the water, which will help researchers understand under what conditions toxic algal blooms form in lower Green Bay. Read the full story by WFRV-TV- Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-water-safety
During periods of high-lake levels on Lake Erie, residents and businesses along the shoreline face new realities that affect daily life and force people to either adapt or leave. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-erie-angst
A mass of vegetation and grasses was discovered floating in Muskegon Lake near Lake Michigan last week. The origin of the floating vegetation is unknown but is thought to be a consequence of high lake levels eroding dunes along the western shore of Michigan. Read the full story by the Daily Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-floating-isle
Multiple law enforcement agencies used the clear weather to do dive team training in Lake Michigan to practice search and rescues, evidence collection, and salvage operations. Read the full story by WWUP – TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200622-dive-teams
Two buoys have been deployed in Green Bay to monitor weather conditions as well as the quality of the water, which will help researchers understand under what conditions toxic algal blooms form in lower Green Bay. Read the full story by WFRV-TV- Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-buoys
Years of discussion, argument, and litigation about how to deal with the aging Line 5 pipes under the Straits of Mackinac have left everyone involved with a bad taste in their mouths. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-tunnel
With Chicago beaches still closed, some Indiana parks and beaches are seeing a big influx of visitors from Illinois. That’s good for local businesses, but also creates new safety concerns. Read the full story by WLS-TV- Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-Indiana-Dunes
The Town of Gore Bay, Ontario, formally agreed to support a resolution seeking for the federal government to intervene to better manage and control the water levels of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Manitoulin Expositor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-lower-water
Channel dredging is underway to clear the path for a new navigational lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Read the full story by Northern Ontario Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-Soo-Lock
Montrose Beach in Illinois is once again the home of a newborn piping plover chick, after their parents Monty and Rose successfully mated at the lakefront for the second consecutive year. Read the full story by Block Club Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-Piping-plover
Citizens in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, are illegally pumping water from their flooded properties into the public sewer system, contributing to numerous sewage overflows into the Boardman River in recent weeks. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-illegally-pumping
Federal environmental regulators have fined Enbridge $6.7 million for allegedly violating a 2017 consent decree, saying the company failed to remedy pipeline-safety issues in a timely manner. Read the full story by the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-Enbridge-fines
International cargo on the Great Lakes fell 10% at the start of the shipping season, as the coronavirus pandemic greatly disrupted the global economy. Read the full story by the Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-shipments-down
With Great Lakes water levels setting records this season, a popular recreation site in Door County, Wisconsin, is taking steps to save its shrinking shoreline by limiting access to those headed to the beach. Read the full story by WLUK-TV-Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200619-beach-access
The Land Conservancy of West Michigan is seeking to buy 43 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline property near Montague, 75 percent of which is designated critical duneland. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200618-dunes
Local government leaders up and down Michigan’s coastlines are in triage mode as they grapple with the layered crises of high water and COVID-19 budget cuts. Read the full story by Bridge Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200618-coast
