Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River that flows into the bay of Green Bay was one of the many places throughout the Great Lakes polluted with polychlorinated biphenyls. A new book examines the battles behind one of the largest, most divisive PCB river cleanups in history. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230510-pcbs
To mark national Drinking Water Week, the Free Press provided tips on tap water safety to a family in Grosse Pointe Park — and they decided to stop buying bottled water. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-metrodetroit-tapwater
Commercial fishers are catching fewer whitefish in parts of the Great Lakes – and the Anishinaabe people are trying to figure out why. The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians is looking into low reproduction rates for the fish. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-anishinaabetribes-savemiwhitefish
Water levels tend to fluctuate during the year, but seasonally speaking, lake levels typically rise during the spring and early summer. Highest water usually occurs in July. The water level of Lake Michigan and Huron, (hydrologically, a single lake) has fallen a net 4 inches from one year ago. However, this level still stands 6 inches above the May average, which has been tracked since 1918. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-lakemi-lakehuron-waterlevels-aboveaverage
An aging sewer main that crosses the Muskegon River poses a “high environmental risk” and needs to be replaced at an estimated cost of $43 million. The county public works board agreed to apply for a state loan to pay for replacement of the approximately 6 miles of metal pipe that is at risk of breaking and does not meet capacity needs. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-muskegonlake-sewermain
Single-use plastics are one of the world’s most pervasive pollutants. More than 22 million pounds of plastic end up in the Great Lakes every year, and the concentration of plastic in the Great Lakes surface water is among the highest in the world. Because unlike our oceans, which flow fairly freely around the world, the Great Lakes are more of a closed system, and so that plastic just stays there. Read the full story by WGRZ-TV -Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-sourgeofplastic-greatlakes
Once plentiful in Lake Huron, the Chinook salmon fishery collapsed after its main food source, the herring-like alewife, dried up in 2003. The salmon — a species that is not native to the Great Lakes — never fully recovered, and although many fishermen competing at the derby prefer it, it’s unlikely to fetch the weights of 20 years ago. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-lakehuron-chinooksalmon-rapiddecline
Fish sticks, also known as shoreline woody habitat structures, will be among several conservation projects on Michigan lakes and streams funded by $1.7 million in grants. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is awarding the fisheries habitat grants for projects that will rehabilitate and protect valuable fish habitats that provide the foundation for Michigan’s world-class fisheries. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-michigandnr-grants-aquaticsystems
After finding the shipwrecks of the C.F. Curtis and the Selden E. Marvin, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has set its sights on finding the Annie M. Peterson, hoping to finally close the book on a more than 100-year-old mystery. The ships disappeared on Lake Superior Nov. 18, 1914, during a bad storm. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-ships-search-vanished1914
A tugboat that has become synonymous with South Haven, MI maritime museum is turning 100 years old, and to celebrate its legacy, a group of volunteers from the Michigan Maritime Museum recently spent the winter months refurbishing the vessel. Read the full story by the South Haven Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-maritimemusem-tugboat-turns100
Viking is rolling out two new long itineraries in the Great Lakes where the line is sailing its two expedition ships, Viking Polaris and the Viking Octantis. Last year, Viking sailed its debut season in the Great Lakes with the Octantis. This year, Viking doubles its presence in the region. Read the full story by Travel Weekly.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230508-greatlakes-twoships-twoitineraries
NASA’s new satellite is a huge upgrade for measuring Earth’s surface water. The satellite will measure surface currents and the height of water in Earth’s lakes, rivers, oceans, and reservoirs. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-nasa-satellite
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Ohio EPA must create an action plan to address the toxic algae blooms in western Lake Erie, requiring the submission final plan known as a Total Maximum Daily Load to the U.S. EPA by June 30. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-ohio-epa
New Ohio Sea Grant research indicates nocturnal migrating songbirds might rely on archipelagos like North, Middle and South Bass islands on Lake Erie as a navigation aid or resting place. Read the full story by The Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-bass-slands
The threat of erosion of Lake Ontario’s shoreline is a serious issue for property owners. New York Sea Grant, an almost 50-year-old nonprofit organization, wants to help lakefront owners understand and protect their property. Read the full story by the Niagara Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-ny-sea-grant
In a final report issued Friday, an Indigenous-led United Nations panel recommended that Canada and the United States shut down the controversial Line 5 oil pipeline that transports oil through tribal treaty lands and waters in Michigan. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-line-5
The State of Michigan will start using a new test to detect so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will begin using U.S. EPA Method 533 this month. Read the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-pfas
As spring flooding continues in Québec, public safety officials are asking citizens to pay particular attention to landslides as about 100 municipalities are affected by flooding, particularly in areas north of the St. Lawrence River, from the Outaouais to the Québec City region. Read the full story by CTV News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-landslide
Heavy rain in recent days across the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River basin has led to rapid increases in Ottawa River flows and rising Lake Ontario water levels. Lake Ontario levels have been rising at a rate of approximately 2 cm per day. Read the full story at Finger Lakes Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-water-levels
Construction of a $286 million pipeline to bring Lake Michigan water to Waukesha, Wisconsin is underway. Here’s what you need to know about this important public works project. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-water-pipeline
The unexpected arrival of “no trespassing” signs on the Port Dover, Ontario beach late last week caused a stir in Norfolk County and beyond, with residents and social media users wondering if the popular beach would be off-limits this summer. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230505-port-dover
Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot died Monday at the age of 84. Lightfoot’s hit song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” told the story of the largest ship to ever sink on the Great Lakes. According to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the song brought attention and awareness to shipwrecks along the Great Lakes and opened people to tell more stories. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-lightfoot-legacy
Spring flooding has worsened riverbank erosion near Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and gas pipeline on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s reservation in northern Wisconsin. According to court documents, the river ran over its banks on April 11 at an area known as “the meander” where erosion threatens to expose the pipeline. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-flooding-pipeline-exposure
Michigan Democrats have introduced legislation that would establish a statewide septic code to reduce the amount of bacterial and nutrient contamination from the estimated 330,000 failing septic systems statewide. If passed, Michigan would become the final state to create uniform standards governing the design, construction, installation and maintenance of septic systems. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-septic-legislation
Tourism experts are talking about the possibility of Buffalo, New York, becoming a cruise port city in the future. Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation is currently conducting a feasibility study to determine the best location for a future cruise ship port. Read the full story by WKBW-TV – Buffalo, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-port-addition
Oswego, Montgomery, and Yorkville, Illinois, are facing a potential water crisis as their populations continue to rise and the aquifer supplying their wells continue to fall. The three cities decided more than a year ago to band together and join the DuPage Water Commission, though engineers must first plot a precise course for a pipeline to connect with Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Shaw Local News Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-water-pipeline-design
The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board reports that St. Lawrence River water levels as of April 30 were a foot higher than normal. Last fall, some shoreline residents ended the boating season early due to low levels; now, some of them say with a mild winter and rain, the river may be too high. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Carthage, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-river-levels
The Port of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and F.J. Robers Co., a local marine transport company, have received over $3 million from the state’s Harbor Assistance Program for new construction and repairs. Most of the new facilities will support exports from the agricultural community. Read the full story by the La Crosse Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-port-funding
Michigan’s cruise ship season kicks off today with the Viking Octantis docking in Detroit before continuing north along the state’s eastern shoreline. The luxurious, 665-foot ship made its Great Lakes debut in 2022 and is the largest cruise ship to sail the Great Lakes in the modern era. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-cruise-season-start
For over a century, vast amounts of toxic contaminants were discharged by industries into the Detroit and Rouge Rivers. Many of these contaminants now reside in river-bottom sediments and are often referred to as “legacy pollution.” Michigan has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remediate these contaminated sediments, but this will not occur unless non-federal partners can meet match funding requirements. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-remediation-funding
A barge and crane owned by Balcom Marine Contractors notorious for repeatedly sinking in Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay is floating again due to springtime water level increases on Lake Michigan. State officials said they expect the barge to be towed away from its nearly two-year anchor site north of Northport in Leelanau County, as previously agreed by the owner. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230503-barge-floating
Michigan is the Great Lakes State. The shores of Michigan touch four out of five of the Great Lakes, the world’s largest freshwater system. To recognize that importance, Herrick District Library, located in Holland, MI will host a Nature Conservancy program focused on the natural treasure of the Great Lakes, and on the conservancy’s part in preserving this treasure. Read the full story by the Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-herrickdistrictlibrary-holland-celebratesgreatlakes
Nearly 11 million residents depend on Lake Erie for drinking water. To help keep that water safe, a tool called sondes is used to measure what is in the water. Sondes aren’t new, they’ve been around for about a decade. However, as technology improves, they’re becoming cheaper, giving smaller utility operators in smaller watersheds access. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-watermonitoring-smallercommunities
Emergency personnel from a slew of Northern Michigan agencies traveled to Beaver Island over the weekend. It was all part of an emergency response training exercise called Operation Maritime Resolve. The focus of the exercise was to confirm the agencies’ ability to respond to multiple hypothetical emergencies in a remote location like Beaver Island. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-mi-beaverisland-operationmaritimeresolve
Martin Imbleau claims it can wait only “a few weeks” for the additional funding he’s requested from Ottawa to finance a new shipping container terminal. The new C$1.4 billion terminal — about 50 kilometres downstream of downtown Montreal in Contrecoeur, Que. — would boost the port’s container capacity by 60 per cent to 2.1 million TEUs. Read the full story by the Montreal Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-montreal-ceo
PortsToronto welcomed its first cruise ship of the 2023 season on Friday, April 28. The Viking Octantis officially launched another record-breaking cruise ship season, which will see 54 ships visit Canada’s largest city between May and October, bringing more than 22,000 passengers to enjoy all Toronto has to offer. Read the full story by CNW Group.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-portoftoronto-cruiseshipseason
Due to constant weather changes, anglers have been facing challenges with reeling in trout. There is still some hope that if it warms up a bit the bass season should be good. Read the full story by Big Rapid Pioneer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-fishermen-facingchallenges
The Viking Octantis is set to dock on May 4 at Port Milwaukee, marking the beginning of Milwaukee’s 2023 cruise season with 31 port calls scheduled by different cruise ships, bringing about 12,000 passengers to the city. Read the full story by Cruise Industry News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-milwaukee-cruiseseason
The Youngstown Yacht Club in Youngstown, NY is set to hold its 10th annual CanAm Challenge and Great Lakes PHRF Fest on July 28-30, for two days of hosting competitors from all over the U.S. and Canada. It is the largest sailing event on Lake Ontario. Read the full story by Niagara Frontier Publications.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-annualcanam-youngstown
The Mariners’ Service came back April 28 after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19. The service is created in collaboration between the Port Huron Yacht Club and Port Huron, Michigan’s Grace Episcopal Church. The service is a time to bless the nautical community prior to the boating season. Read the full story by the Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230501-mariners-churchservice-porthuron
Experts are concerned after a wet winter, with little relief in sight this rainy season, as the five Great Lakes continue to see an uptick in water levels. All the lakes remain above their April long-term average levels, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ weekly forecast. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-flood-risk
As the trout season approaches on Saturday, April 29th, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, are asking anglers to prepare to decontaminate their supplies. According to the DNR, Michigan’s trout streams are under increasing threat from harmful species that affect habitat and food sources for trout and other fish and can be moved to new locations on waders, nets, and gear. Read the full story by WHMI – Howell, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-decontamination-preparation
Michigan’s spring temperatures are highly influenced by water temperatures on the Great Lakes. It’s a vicious cycle in which the colder than normal air has cooled the Great Lakes waters, which will continue to keep the air cooler as well. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-water-temperatures
According to the International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board (ILOSLRB), Lake Ontario’s water level was at about 75.15 meters as of April 19, which is 0.25 meters above average for this time of year. Residents and visitors to Lake Ontario and the Upper St. Lawrence River are being warned of the high water levels that are expected to continue to increase in the coming weeks. Read the full story by the Kingston Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-high-water-levels
Midland, Michigan, could receive $50 million for flood reduction infrastructure after Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) secured those funds in the proposed Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy budget. That budget was passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, moving on to the full Senate and House for negotiations. Read the full story by the Midland Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-flood-reduction-funding
The Pelee Islander II is staying out of service longer than expected this spring due to ‘an unforeseen technical issue’ found during a scheduled out-of-water inspection. Local officials are concerned the delay will hinder the region’s ability to prepare for the upcoming busy season on the Lake Erie Island. Read the full story by CTV – Windsor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-ferry-delay
Six Michigan Senate Democrats introduced SB 294, which would ban the intentional release of balloons that end up in the Great Lakes, posing a threat to thousands of species. In 2019, the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes found more than 18,000 balloons or balloon pieces along the shores over the previous two years. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-balloon-bill
The ferry that transports people and vehicles between Charlevoix and Beaver Island – Lake Michigan’s largest island – has begun its 2023 season. Beaver Island Boat Company is running three trips a week right now and will begin increasing that number in May. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-beaver-island-ferry
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced a new Erie Access Improvement Program grant opportunity heading to Erie County. The program is funded through proceeds from the sale of Lake Erie permits for programs that benefit public fishing, including enhanced access and habitat projects on or at Lake Erie and the watersheds of Lake Erie. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-fishing-grant
According to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, the S.S. Keewatin, a passenger steamship older than the Titanic, began its journey down the St. Clair River on Wednesday. The Edwardian-era Keewatin was built in 1907 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Glasgow, Scotland, and is the last of its kind. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20230428-steamship-transport
