The Ohio Department of Health reported that Multiple Lake Erie beaches in Northeast Ohio were put under a bacteria contamination advisory this week, which indicates the level of bad bacteria in the water has reached unsafe levels and could make you sick. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240614-bacteria-advisory
The Biden Administration is providing $60 million for climate-adaptation training to students living in nine ecosystems, including the western Lake Erie shoreline in Ohio. Ohio State University is getting $4.85 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding to make first-ever “climate-ready” training affordable. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-climate-training
The Great Lakes freighter Michipicoten hobbled near Isle Royale, Michigan, over the weekend suffered a 13-foot crack in its hull, but the mishap likely wasn’t caused by an underwater collision as originally thought. Now, the Coast Guard suspects a stress fracture. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-freighter-crack
From the electrification of major cargo ports to sustainability improvements for Great Lakes ferries, a first-of-its-kind statewide “maritime strategy” could offer a roadmap toward a potential green future for shipping and boating in Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-green-shipping
In 2021, a start-up was denied a county permit that would’ve allowed the start-up to operate a pumping facility in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, near Lake Superior. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals’ decision to prevent pumping is the latest development in a years-long legal battle. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-pumping-denied
A total of seven ‘significant’ spills have occurred on Algoma Steel property on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in the past five years. A local environmentalist says he has uncovered additional spills that have not yet been reported to the public. Read the full story by SooToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-algoma-spills
Some Michigan communities have considered a technology that’s just beginning to be used in the United States: floating solar panels. Researchers at Cornell University are testing the technology. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-water-panels
The Detroit River Watershed Management Plan, developed in response to the 2021 summer rainstorms and flooding, aims to improve water quality and address flood risks in Detroit. Supported by local and federal agencies, the plan encourages residents to engage in green infrastructure projects and promotes the creation of climate-resilient neighborhoods. Read the full story by Bridge Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-detroit-watershed-plan
Vessels in the Detroit River don’t have to dock to get deliveries; the J.W. Westcott company brings mail and supplies right to them as they travel along the river. The company turns 150 years old this year. Read the full story by the CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-river-mail
An adaptive sailing program on Lake Michigan provides people with disabilities the opportunity to sail using specialized equipment and boats. Started 34 years ago, the program has become a transformative experience for participants. Read the full story by WFLD-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-adaptive-sailing
On June 11, 1908, Dan Seavey commandeered a Great Lakes cargo ship and sailed it to Chicago. “Roaring” Dan Seavey is known as the only man to be arrested as a pirate on Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240612-great-lakes-pirate
A nearly 700-foot-long bulk carrier hauling taconite struck an underwater object on Lake Superior causing the ship to take on water and the crew to evacuate. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-carrier-hits-object
Local legends and anecdotal observations often describe the Great Lakes’ water levels as having a tidal quality. However, scientific examination reveals that these changes are due to different mechanisms. Read the full story by CIND – Toronto, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-great-lakes-tides
The joro, or “parachute” spider, is a species native to eastern Asia, but has been observed cropping up in the southeastern United States for the past decade. Environmental research has found that the creatures could comfortably live much further north, with the potential to inhabit the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence region. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-joro-spider
Over the last century, natural erosion of Lake Michigan’s shoreline has exposed logs from an ancient, buried forest, spilling them onto the beaches among modern driftwood near Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Read the full story by the Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-hidden-forest
A recent outbreak of biting flies has been creating horrible conditions on Lake Michigan beaches in northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan. Read the full story by WBBM – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-biting-flies
A WWII training plane was recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan in 2012 after spending 68 years submerged. After a decade of restoration by Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum volunteers and staff, the WWII era plane is now restored. Read the full story by the MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-plane-restoration
A fire last year shutdown of the Cheboygan Tissue Plant in Cheboygan, Michigan, which is now causing fluctuating water levels on the inland waterway. Without the factory’s generator, precise changes in water level can no longer be made. Read the full story by WPBN/WGTU – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-water-fluctuation
A recent study reveals that rain has played a large role in spreading PFAS into all five Great Lakes. Commonly found in household products such as cleaners or personal care products, PFAS chemicals resist breaking down in the environment. Read the full story by the Quetico Superior Foundation.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-pfas
There are five Michigan beaches closed or under contamination advisories due to high bacteria levels resulting from stormwater runoff, wildlife, and other unknown sources. Read the full story by the MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-beach-closed
Eastern Lake Ontario has been designated a national marine sanctuary. The designation recognizes the national significance of the area’s historical, archeological, and cultural resources. Read the full story by the WWNY – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240610-marine-sanctuary
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week designated a 1,722-square-mile area in eastern Lake Ontario as America’s 16th national marine sanctuary. The Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary is the first such sanctuary in New York, and only the third in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by The Post-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-marine-sanctuary
Emissions targets set by the International Maritime Organization mean the shipping industry must find a way to decarbonize by 2050. A new, cleaner ship points way as U.S. ports in the Great Lakes region are spending millions on upgrades in pursuit of net zero. Read the full story by The Guardian.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-shipping-emissions
Rain and contaminated air are major sources of PFAS contamination detected by a team of researchers in the Great Lakes. Airborne concentrations of PFAS are much higher near Chicago and other urban areas than at rural monitoring stations in northern Michigan and upstate New York. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-pfas-rain
Governor Gretchen Whitmer had pledged to crack down on bottled water companies taking water at the same time Flint, Michigan, faced a water crisis. Six years later and in her second term, little has changed. Read the full story by ProPublica.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-bottled-water
Scientists at University of Toledo’s (UToledo) Lake Erie Center have studied lake ecology for years, but after the 2014 water crisis, the center has added new goals for water safety: protecting the water supply and understanding the toxins harmful algae produce. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-utoledo-science
Fish fly season has begun, bringing thousands, if not millions, of the winged insects to swarm the backyards, screen doors and car windows of metro Detroiters. Considered by many to be a messy inconvenience, the mayfly swarms are an indicator of nearby freshwater ecosystems’ health. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-fish-flies
Global warming is fueling the spread of the nonnative peach blossom jellyfish in the Great Lakes region. Researchers urge the public to submit sightings to various online databases so that their changing distribution can be understood. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-invasive-jellyfish
The Clyde S. VanEnkevort, an integrated tug and barge, spilled red dye diesel into Lake Superior in Silver Bay, Minnesota, on May 29. The cleanup of nearly 400 gallons of fuel is complete. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-diesel-cleaned
Health officials recently closed nine Michigan beaches due to high E. coli levels. Of these, eight beaches are back open and four additional beaches are either closed or under contamination advisories. Swimmers should stay out of water infested with high levels of E. coli or risk getting sick. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-ecoli-levels
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife assessment crew will conduct a sea lamprey assessment project at the Long Lake outlet in Alpena County, Michigan, this month. The study will estimate the abundance of sea lampreys and determine if there is a need for population control operations. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240607-lamprey-study
More than 31,000 Atlantic salmon raised in a Michigan fish hatchery had to be killed after failing to recover from a bacterial kidney disease, officials said Tuesday. The unhealthy fish would have posed a risk to other fish if they had been released into Michigan waters. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-slamon-disease
Scientists studying unregulated “emerging contaminants” say Ontario and the federal government need a coordinated plan to protect our water and health. Read the full story by The Narwhal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-drug-microplastics-pfas
The federal government’s premiere Great Lakes restoration program, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, has improved the health of rivers and lakes across the region, but has sometimes overlooked environmental justice goals, according to a new audit from a federal watchdog. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-glri-audit
This year’s Michigan Great Lakes and Fresh Water Week, which will take place June 1 – June 9, will focus on events and resources related to physical, mental, and spiritual wellness as a result of connecting with water, as well as continuing to dive into enjoyment, recreation, appreciation, stewardship, and protection of the Great Lakes, their environment, and their communities. Read the full story by WHMI – Howell, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-fresh-water-week
Researchers at the University of Michigan have received a $6.5 million grant to serve as a hub for studies investigating how climate change is impact on the harmful algal blooms on the Great Lakes and the overall impact on human health. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-algal-blooms
Health officials closed seven Michigan beaches on Friday after water testing showed high levels of E. coli. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-beach-closures
In Ohio, a city of Avon Lake council member presented at a recent meeting regarding stormwater runoff and allegations of heavy metals leaking into Lake Erie from the ongoing demolition of the Avon Lake Power Plant. Read the full story by the Sun Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-avon-lake-power-plant
On Tuesday, hundreds of Wisconsin residents congregated for a multi-session public hearing on the controversial Enbridge Line 5 pipeline project. The hearing focused on the proposed construction of a new segment of the pipeline, some 40 miles of which would be constructed around and upstream of the Bad River Reservation. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-line-5
Beaver Island, a remote island off the coast of west Michigan, could become the testing ground for a new energy prototype that harnesses Lake Michigan’s tides. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-wave-energy
1.6 million Wisconsin residents get their drinking water from Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, so why are we not doing more to protect this freshwater resource from continuous PFAS contamination? Read the full story by The Capital Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240605-pfas
The United States Coast Guard says hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel spilled into Lake Superior on Wednesday morning, May 29. The Coast Guard estimates the quantity of the spill to be around 300 gallons, and it is now contained. The clean-up effort is still in effect as of May 30, and it’s unclear how long it will take. Read the full story by WCCO-TV – Minneapolis, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-oil-spill
Within the Great Lakes watershed there are 23 nuclear power plants, four sites for mining uranium, six for uranium processing and 12 places where nuclear waste is stored. An interactive map shows all the nuclear power operations within the Great Lakes watershed. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-nuclear-sites
A piping plover egg has been spotted at Montrose Beach in Chicago and could hatch within the next month. The egg is a culmination of yearslong efforts by nature groups to boost the Great Lakes piping plover population, which has been listed as federally endangered since 1986. Read the full story by WTTW-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-plover-egg-spotting
In 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine started a program called H2Ohio to encourage farmers to change the way they manage farm runoff to slow down the entry of phosphates into the Maumee River watershed. Currently, 2,600 producers have enrolled in the H2Ohio program, covering 1.8 million farm acres working to prevent heavy rain from washing out fertilizer and soil. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-nutrient-pollution-program
Michigan’s Great Lakes and Fresh Water Week is back, running from June 1 to June 9 to celebrate the connection between water and wellness in the state. Free fishing weekend will take place from June 8 to June 9, and the Library of the Great Lakes is offering two free books through their inaugural Great Lakes, Great Read program. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-freshwater-week
The city of Highland Park, Michigan, has been grappling with a water debt crisis for years, owing millions of dollars to the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). In October 2023, a tentative deal was reached between GLWA and Highland Park to end the dispute, but the agreement is still unsettled and needs approval from all parties involved. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-water-debt
Great Lakes Tribes are reviving the population of wild rice, or manoomin, an ecologically important wetland species, after two centuries of decline. Today, rising temperatures threaten the rice’s future because the seeds are supposed to grow while submerged in snow and ice, but the lack of snow coverage has made that difficult. Read the full story by The Cool Down.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-manoomin-restoration
In Oneida County, Wisconsin, Crescent Lake has an adequate adult population of walleye, but stakeholders are concerned about the lack of juvenile fish. While reproduction typically fluctuates, with a strong generation every three to four years, reproduction from those adult walleyes within the lake hasn’t been recorded for the last six years. Read the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-walleye-reproduction
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 2025, open water swimmers will have an opportunity to participate in a 17-stage, 411-mile relay swim from Lake Superior, where the shipwreck lies, to Detroit, the ship’s intended destination. Read the full story by WSTM-TV – Syracuse, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240603-shipwreck-journey
