A Wisconsin state law forbids lead pipe replacement when a private water utility is involved. Superior Water, Light & Power – the only private water utility statewide – and local officials are pushing to change the law in order to accelerate lead pipe replacement. Read the full story by the Superior Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240712-lead-removal
An oil spill from a service line adjacent to the marine dock in Sarnia, Ontario, was reported Thursday evening in the St. Clair River. The spill was cleaned up by around 11:15 p.m. Read the full story by Sarnia News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240712-oil-spill
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has proposed a new project to mitigate the immediate risks of erosion along the Line 5 oil pipeline, a move that comes amid fraught conflict between the Band and the Canadian oil giant Enbridge. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240712-erosion-prevention
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched an environmental review of the potential impacts of repowering the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in west Michigan’s Covert Township. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240712-nuclear-plant-restart
Dredging operations are underway in Michigan’s Manistee Harbor to improve ship navigation through the channel. Read the full story by Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240712-dredging-project
The historic 1,000-pound anchor from the Oak Leaf, a schooner-turned-barge that sank in Wisconsin’s Sturgeon Bay in 1928, was recently moved to Bullhead Point, a small spit of land jutting into the Sturgeon Bay channel which is now on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historical and Archaeological District. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240712-anchor-relocation
As of Wednesday, eight Michigan beaches were closed due to high Escherichia coli, or E. coli, levels in the water within Arenac, Bay, Macomb, Oakland, Lenawee, and Allegan counties. Beach closure information is updated regularly on BeachGuard, a site run by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240712-beach-closures
The recent 55th anniversary of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire serves as a reminder to Northeast Ohio residents of the benefits from decades of work cleaning up industrial contamination in the river. But Northeast Ohio officials and Cuyahoga River advocates see stormwater runoff as a new threat and worry it’s on the rise. Read the full story by WKSU – Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-cuyahoga-river
Starting in 2022, Viking Cruises gave its two expedition ships, Octantis and sister ship Polaris, a summer job: plying the Great Lakes from April through September. Since then, the popularity of cruising the Great Lakes has only increased. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-cruising
Thirteen labs make up the University of Windsor’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER). Headquartered at the shores of the Detroit River, GLIER researchers specialize in the complex problems facing the Great Lakes and the watersheds that feed into them. Read the full story by The Globe and Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-glier
Members of the Ojibwe and other Indigenous Nations in the northern Great Lakes region have spearfished walleye for centuries, but the threat of climate change to the habitat for this traditional source of food is adding another difficulty on top of historical government and local opposition. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-spearfishing
The newly built river valley in Toronto’s Port Lands has been officially connected with Lake Ontario through the Polson Slip, a milestone in the grand eastern waterfront project that brings it closer to completely rerouting the mouth of the Don River. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-new-toronto-river-valley
A $110,700 investment from the province of Ontario will allow the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority and the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario, to team up to create a depression around Boulevard Lake that will serve as a wetland to filter storm water runoff. Read the full story by TB News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-boulevard-lake
Two Wisconsin tribes are defending a new rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency that requires states to consider tribal treaty rights when setting water quality standards. The rule aims to help protect water quality where tribes hold rights outside their reservations under treaties with the federal government. A dozen red states have brought a lawsuit challenging the new regulation. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-tribal-water-rights
Michigan rivers continue to face an ecological threat known as didymo (Didymosphenia geminata), commonly referred to as “rock snot”. By covering streambeds, didymo displaces crucial food sources for fish such as trout, including stoneflies and larvae. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-didymo
In June 2023, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced it was starting the designation process for a new national marine sanctuary in Lake Erie. Now NOAA is establishing a pre-designation Sanctuary Advisory Council to provide advice and recommendations for the proposed sanctuary. Read the full story by WZTE – Union City, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-proposed-marine-santuary
Since 1995, The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians’ fish-rearing program has introduced 20 million walleye into the ecosystem. This year, over one million walleye and 45,421 whitefish were released into Northern Michigan waters. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240710-fish-release-program
The 100th running of the Bayview Mackinac Race, where boats sail from Lake Huron off Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario, to the finish line at Mackinac Island, will be its largest. Read the full story by The Sarnia Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-mackinacisland-sailboatrace
Foam on lakeshores is often a natural occurrence, usually caused by dying aquatic plants or algae that’s stirred up by waves. Natural foam is usually off-white and has an earthy smell, but some foam — that’s artificially white — contains toxic “forever chemicals.” Read the full story by Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-pfas-contamination
The Great Lakes vary significantly in depth, but exactly how deep are they, and where does Lake Ontario fit in? Read the full story by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-greatlakes-depth-lakeontario
The Aquarium of Niagara in Niagara Falls, New York, has set a date for the grand opening of its “Great Lakes 360” project. The long-awaited and first-ever expansion will welcome the public for the first time on July 13. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-newaquarium-greatlakes360
An effort continues to help stop the spread of aquatic invasive species in waterways around the Great Lakes. At the Shawano Lake County Park Boat Landing in Wisconsin, conservationists search for unwanted animals like zebra mussels. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-ais-landingblitz-shawanolake
The shallowest of the Great Lakes — which was just named the top lake in the U.S. by USA Today’s 10Best — is now being recognized as a top spot for bass fishermen. Read the full story by The Canton Repository.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-bestbassfishing-lakeerie
The Mark W. Barker, a 639-foot lake freighter built by the Bay Shipbuilding Company, is slated to make stops at the Wirt Stone Docks in Bay City and Saginaw, Michigan. The Barker was the first Great Lakes freighter to be built on the lakes in 35 years when it was put together in 2022. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-freighter-greatlakes-saginaw
When the Environmental Protection Agency research vessel Lake Guardian arrives in Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pennsylvania, it will be carrying not only scientists but also three Pennsylvania educators. The educators will have hands-on opportunities to explore microplastics, benthic organisms, cyanobacteria and other Lake Erie-specific topics. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-pa-educators-researchvessel-epa
What if a high-voltage transmission line were built beneath Lake Michigan, connecting major power infrastructure on either side of the Great Lake? Officials at Wolverine Power Cooperative say regional grid operators should consider the concept. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240708-powerline-michigan-wisconsin
A new funding agreement between the state governments of Michigan and Illinois and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will provide $388 million to start the $1.1 billion Brandon Road Interbasin Project, aimed at preventing invasive species from entering the Great Lakes through the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-brandon-road
The Ports of Indiana landed U.S. Customs and Border Protection approval to establish an international sea cargo container terminal, the first in Chicagoland and the first on Lake Michigan. The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor will be able to unload containers, creating an all-water container route for ocean vessels to reach the Chicago market. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-cargo-port
The Ohio House approved H.B. 599, naming the walleye Ohio’s state fish, by a vote of 94-2. Ohio is one of only three states, along with Indiana and Iowa, without a state fish. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-ohio-state-fish
The FishPass project in Traverse City, Michigan, replaces the city’s failing dam with a new barrier that allows passage of desirable fish while blocking harmful invaders. $1 million from Michigan’s 2025 state budget will support the final phases of construction of the FishPass, including most of its publicly accessible features. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-fishpass-funding
Michigan is looking at ways to reduce the amount of agricultural nutrient pollution getting into Lake Erie, including large- and small- scale wetland restoration projects in southeast Michigan. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-ag-pollution
The cleanup of an oily spill in the Flint River in Michigan continues a week after it was first detected, and officials said Tuesday they still don’t know the source. Flint city officials speculate that soil contamination or illegal dumping could be the source of the spill. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-flint-spill
The first week of August will mark ten years since the water crisis in Toledo, Ohio, when many were instructed not to drink, cook with, or bathe in the water for three days. Water quality advocates are disappointed major improvements haven’t been seen in the lake yet. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-erie-progress
Eight years ago, Oscoda, Michigan, residents were informed that PFAS “forever chemicals” had made their way into the town’s drinking water. The discovery’s impact on tourism is difficult to measure, but both data from the time and sources from the region say it did affect the economy. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-pfas-oscoda
The 20-minute ferry ride across Lake Superior to Madeline Island, Wisconsin, offers not only summer fun but also a glimpse into Great Lakes history. A new exhibit at the Madeline Island Museum highlights the Ojibwe people’s journey and their connection to the island. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-ojibwe-exhibit
Cruise ship season in the Great Lakes is in full swing, and Alpena, Michigan, has seen its fair share of cruise ships anchoring in its waters. Each year since 2022, the number of stops in Alpena has increased because of positive feedback. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240703-cruise-benefits
Chemicals like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were likely spilled after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A low-pressure storm system moved these chemicals across the Great Lakes region affecting all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-regional-pfas
Pennsylvania Sea Grant announced a new online platform to help citizens learn more about commonly found aquatic invasive species (AIS) in waters near them and offers tools to help accurately identify them. Read the full story by WJET – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-new-ais-app
Studies show that indoor air can be more polluted than the outdoor air in the biggest, most industrial cities in the Great Lakes region. Therefore seeking refuge indoors may actually be posing greater health risks. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-air-quality
Genetics is being pointed to as a major factor in the downturn in mallard numbers in the Atlantic Flyway and the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by Outdoor News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-mallard-population-decrease
Newly hatched Great Lakes piping plovers are all feet and fluff. A captive rearing program in northern Michigan is working to help their population increase. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-plover-rearing
Since 2006, the number of new invasive species entering the Great Lakes has declined by 85%, but with climate change warming the lakes, the number of freshwater species that can ultimately survive in the interconnected body of water is only increasing. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-michigan-invaders
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its seasonal outlook for Lake Erie’s algal levels this summer. The annual bloom, commonly known as blue-green algae, is expected to become visible by early July and last into September. Read the full story by KDFW – Dallas, TX.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-summer-algae-bloom
Volunteers and invasive species partners will be at boat launches all over the state of Wisconsin this weekend, working to educate boaters on how to follow clean, drain, dry protocols to prevent the spread of invasive species. Read the full story by WCLO – Janesville, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-landing-blitz
The plastic pollution problem is widespread in the Great Lakes region. At a beach cleanup at Chicago’s North Avenue beach in May of 2024 participants picked up litter including lots of bits of plastic. Read the full story by Environment Illinois.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-beach-cleanup-mi
The Superior Watershed Program’s Lake Superior Volunteer Corps teamed up with the Great Lakes Climate Corps and community volunteers to clean up the new city pier in Marquette, Michigan. Volunteers pulled weeds and invasive plants from the area while planting native flowers and seeds. Read the full story by the WLUC – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240701-native-planting
This year’s Lake Erie algal bloom — which NOAA announced yesterday is expected to be a moderate one — broke from tradition and started growing near the Monroe, Michigan, shoreline days ago. Most of the past outbreaks began in the Maumee Bay near Toledo. Read the full story by the Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240628-hab
Volunteers and invasive species prevention partners will be greeting Wisconsin boaters at boat landings from June 26 through July 6. This effort is to educate people about simple clean-up steps to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species through the Great Lakes Landing Blitz. Read the full story by WJFW-TV – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240628-blitz
Sandy Bihn with Lake Erie Waterkeeper talks with WTOL-TV about efforts that have been made to keep Lake Erie healthy following the water crisis 10 years ago. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240628-sandysandy-bihn-with-lake-erie-waterkeeper-talks-with-dan-cummins-about-efforts-that-have-been-made-to-keep-lake-erie-healthy-following-the-water-crisis-10-years-ago.
The Ohio Legislature is investing $20 million into the North Coast Connector that, according to a Cleveland press release, is going to support a land bridge between downtown and the Lake Erie shoreline. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240628-north-coast
