This is part of a series in which the Great Lakes Now staff looks back on 2020.
Besides the fact it’s almost over… one great thing about 2020 for me was joining the Great Lakes Now team.
The pandemic affected us all in many ways, and it often took everything we could muster deep inside to push through.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/new-team-whats-good-about-2020/
This is part of a series in which the Great Lakes Now staff looks back on 2020.
In any effort to sum up the year that was 2020, one word is unavoidable: poop.
Don’t you agree?
At Great Lakes Now, we’ve kept our finger on the pulse of poop news all year, because we care about our readers and viewers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/on-the-pulse-ive-got-one-word-for-you-2020/
This is part of a series in which the Great Lakes Now staff looks back on 2020.
It’s probably futile to try to find ONE moment that captures 2020 for Great Lakes Now, at least from my view today at my dining room table/desk on a grey winter day.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/great-lakes-now-year-in-review-predicts-2021/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A program that has pumped $2.7 billion into healing long-term injuries to the Great Lakes environment has received authorization from Congress to continue another five years.
The U.S. Senate voted unanimously Sunday to extend the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, as the House did earlier this year.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ap-congress-5-year-extension-great-lakes-cleanup-program/
In Lake Erie, the northern pike occupies, on the grand fish scale of things, a not-so-special place.
The elongated, fast, toothy eating machine is in general neither widely loved nor widely hated. In fact, as far as a sportfish goes, which it most definitely is, it is rather neglected.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/pike-huron-michigan-ontario-superior-erie-seiche/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
The aquifer that supplies Chicago suburb Joliet’s drinking water is expected to dry up by 2030.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/water-withdrawal-contaminated-farmers-water-quality/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/pfas-news-roundup-michigan-new-york-wisconsin/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin must prevent pollution from forever chemicals known as PFAS while developing ways to reduce the chemicals’ use, according to a 25-point action plan released Wednesday by Gov. Tony Evers’ administration after a year of study.
Nearly 20 state agencies, along with the University of Wisconsin, worked on the report to tackle the growing pollution and public concern around PFAS, which is shorthand for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ap-wisconsin-action-plan-reduce-pfas-chemical-use/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/line-5-closure-upper-peninsula/
When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took office in January 2019, she immediately put a spotlight on the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline and started the process that would eventually lead to her ordering it shut down.
In her 2018 campaign, Whitmer also pledged to remedy the inequities related to water withdrawal issues, specifically a Nestle Waters case being fought by grassroots advocates that originated in the administration of former Gov.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/pipelines-and-plastic-bottles-michigan-advocate-focuses-on-line-5-and-nestle-bottled-water-issue/
Want to give your loved ones a holiday gift that connects to that summer trip up north or the fall color tour you took together?
Or maybe you have a trip planned for after the COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed and want to give them something to remind them they have something to look forward to.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/great-lakes-gift-guide-2020-list/
By Oliver Morrison, PublicSource, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
A single PFAS chemical featured in the movie “Dark Waters” last year about contamination from a Teflon plant in Parkersburg, W.Va. resulted in a $670 million court settlement. A community study showed the chemical was linked to six diseases: kidney cancer, increased cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, preeclampsia and testicular cancer.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/pfas-chemicals-pittsburgh-scientist/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Eric Freedman, Great Lakes Echo
The U.S. Coast Guard wants to retire its oldest cutter on the Great Lakes, the 57-year-old cutter Buckthorn.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for the replacement of the Sault Ste.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/oldest-coast-guard-cutter-great-lakes/
By Hannah L. Harrison, University of Guelph, The Conversation
is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
For three generations, the Minor family — today brothers Carson and Landon and their father Paul — have been up before first light to board their fishing tug and make their way to their fishing grounds on Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/family-owned-fishing-businesses-displaced-waterfront-developments-great-lakes/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A bipartisan task force that brought together environmentalists, the energy industry and others released its recommendations Wednesday for how Wisconsin might bolster its economy while addressing climate change.
The report from the task force, which was led by Lt.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ap-wisconsin-climate-task-force-recommendations/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
In this edition: Environmentalists in Wisconsin sue EPA over regulation rollback favoring coal plants, bankruptcy plan for Ohio nuclear power company upheld by appeals court, Prairie Island tribe prepares for massive investment in renewable energy, and Ford Motors to invest millions for electric vehicle construction in southeast Michigan
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Michigan:
Across the United States, tribal treaties are becoming more and more influential in shaping legislative policy while also seeing greater recognition in courthouses, potentially reshaping the entire landscape of environmental justice.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/great-lakes-energy-michigan-tribal-green-mine/
NOTE: The report will formally be presented in English at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 10. A French session will follow at 3:30 p.m. For more details about how you can watch or ask questions, click here.
Public concern about climate change is escalating in the Great Lakes region, according to a new report issued by a binational group that manages and protects the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/public-concern-climate-change-runoff-chemicals-ijc/
If you read the International Joint Commission’s 2020 Triennial Assessment of Progress Report or
watched the webinar where the IJC announced and discussed the findings, you might be curious about some of the other reports and documents referenced.
For the 2020 triennial report, go to the IJC’s website.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/index-international-joint-commission-2020-triennial-assessment-of-progress-report/
By Amy Diaz, Flint Beat, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
Flint, MI– Lorraine Taylor remembers when she first started having to fit bottled water into her already tight $20 weekly grocery budget.
She remembered thinking about how blessed she was to have a car so she could drive to the grocery store.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/what-should-justice-look-like-for-flint-after-the-water-crisis-residents-weigh-in/
The watersheds that feed the Western Basin of Lake Erie are home to thousands of crop and livestock farms. Those farmers use underground systems to manage rainwater, including many located where a massive swamp once made up the Ohio landscape.
All those farms face challenges managing fertilizers and water in their fields with drainage systems.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/field-tiles-drainage-systems-pose-problems-lake-erie/
Flint has taken important steps toward resolving the lead contamination crisis that made the impoverished Michigan city a symbol of the drinking water problems that plague many U.S. communities, officials said Monday.
A total of $120 million in federal and state funding has helped Flint replace more than 9,700 lead service lines, which carry water from main pipes into homes, said Kurt Thiede, administrator of the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ap-officials-flint-makes-progress-toward-ending-water-crisis/
By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/biden-administration-water-policy-expert-roundtable/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Building an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes would risk environmental devastation, opponents said Monday, while supporters argued that rejecting the plan would further damage a Michigan economy already reeling from the coronavirus.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ap-federal-officials-hear-arguments-enbridge-pipeline-tunnel/
LASALLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A fire Friday destroyed an enormous building loaded with hundreds of boats stored for the winter in southeastern Michigan, sending smoke for miles along Lake Erie.
Neighbors and boat owners rushed to get as close as possible to Toledo Beach Marina. Aerial video showed clouds of black smoke and a building overwhelmed by flames.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ap-hundreds-boats-likely-destroyed-michigan-marina-fire/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Indiana:
Just 150 miles from Lake Michigan, utility planners are worried about finding enough water to supply a growing Indianapolis because of climate change.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/drinking-water-climate-change-lead-first-nations-waukesha-pipeline/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
For over two decades, when you drove by the former McLouth Steel Plant in Trenton, you could not help but slow down and stare.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/new-vision-waterfront-former-mclouth-steel-site-trenton/
The report is an independent review of the Canadian and U.S. governments’ progress to restore and maintain the Great Lakes under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/ijc-2020-triennial-assessment-of-progress-report-on-great-lakes-water-quality/
By Walker Orenstein, MinnPost, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
Enbridge Energy has all the permits it needs to start construction on a controversial new crude oil pipeline in Minnesota, more than five years after the Canadian company first asked state regulators to approve the Line 3 project.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/enbridge-line-3-project-minnesota-construction-protests/
For most people, the new year is still a month away. For hydrologists and climate scientists, the new year has already started. The water year begins in November, to account for when water enters a system and begins accumulating.
Data from the last water year indicated record-breaking levels in the Great Lakes, and this year looks to be much of the same.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/high-water-levels-water-year-wdet-watch-party/
Water conservation advocacy groups in Michigan expressed outrage over the state’s recent dismissal of their appeal of the decision allowing Nestle Waters North America to increase the amount of groundwater it was withdrawing for bottled water.
Nestle received the greenlight for additional withdrawals in 2018 under the administration of former Gov.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/12/dismissed-michigan-advocates-outraged-by-bottled-water-decision/
A familiar view for many who live and play around the Great Lakes graces the current cover of National Geographic – a stormy sunset over Lake Michigan, seen from the sandy beaches of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
The feature story of the magazine’s December 2020 issue puts a spotlight on the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/saving-great-lakes-national-geographic-december-issue-struggles/
By Amy Diaz, Flint Beat, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
Flint, MI– Attorneys involved in the Flint Water Litigation provided an overview of the $641.25 million water settlement Nov. 23 on the City of Flint Facebook page.
This information session followed the proposal of a $20 million contribution to the settlement by the city’s insurer.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/641-million-flint-water-settlement-residents-attorneys/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/enbridge-sues-michigan-over-line-5-shutdown-order/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/michigan-politicians-water-problems-activists-fixes/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Research has long shown that pollution often disproportionately affects low income — especially Black and brown — communities.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/drinking-water-wisconsin-contaminants-lead-pipes/
With so many twists and turns in the Line 5 story, it’s hard to keep up with the legal filings and positions from Enbridge Energy Corp., various Michigan governmental agencies and groups trying to stop or keep the pipeline.
But in the following conversation, attorney Nick Schroeck, who is the director of the environmental law clinic at University of Detroit Mercy, and Great Lakes Now Program Director Sandra Svoboda have this update about the latest legal actions and a refresher about what the pipeline is all about.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/legal-translation-environmental-attorney-explains-latest-enbridge-line-5/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/pfas-news-roundup-michigan-wisconsin-study-vaccine/
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed on behalf of residents of Flint, Michigan, who were harmed by lead-tainted water now totals about $641 million, officials revealed Tuesday.
The lawsuit was the result of workers following state environmental officials’ advice not to use anti-corrosive additives.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/ap-flint-water-lawsuit-settlement/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/great-lakes-pummel-michigan-beach-towns-development-rules/
Scientists at dozens of colleges and universities around the country are hoping early detection of COVID-19 infections can come from a not-so-glamorous sampling process.
With collection devices set up in campus sewer systems, researchers are sampling waste from residence halls and other buildings for evidence of the virus.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/campus-covid-19-sewage-testing-early-infections/
For President-elect Joe Biden, the environment and climate change as campaign issues weren’t tucked away in an obscure position paper. Neither was his intent to focus on environmental justice if elected.
Biden also put a spotlight on President Trump’s rollback via executive order of nearly 100 environmental protections in his four years.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/rollbacks-climate-justice-environmental-attorney-president-elect-biden/
By Paula Gardner, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
Doubling the size of a factory during a global pandemic may not fit a traditional business plan.
But Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis is based in Northern Michigan, where it’s making a product that helps to define the winter economy for the ski-maker’s home in Boyne City and across the region.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/covid-19-outdoor-recreation-michigan-ski-industry/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/michigan-shut-down-enbridge-line-5-means/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took legal action Friday to shut down a pipeline that carries oil beneath a channel that links two of the Great Lakes.
Whitmer’s office notified the Canadian company that it was revoking an easement granted in 1953 to extend a roughly 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) section of the pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/ap-michigan-governor-seeks-shutdown-line-5-great-lakes-oil-pipeline/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
In this edition: Environmentalists in Wisconsin sue EPA over regulation rollback favoring coal plants, bankruptcy plan for Ohio nuclear power company upheld by appeals court, Prairie Island tribe prepares for massive investment in renewable energy, and Ford Motors to invest millions for electric vehicle construction in southeast Michigan
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Michigan:
Ford Motor Company will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in southeast Michigan and Missouri to expand its electric vehicle assembly process and develop EV parts, which is projected to add or retain several hundred jobs in both states.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/great-lakes-energy-news-wisconsin-coal-ohio-nuclear/
How do you protect water quality, public health and the environment when much of society comes to a near full stop with no notice?
That was the dilemma for regulatory agencies in March when the realities of the COVID-19 virus caused businesses and schools to close, factories to cease or drastically modify operations, travel to be restricted and office workers to scramble to set up makeshift workspaces in their homes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/covid-19-compliance-agencies-environmental-protection/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/great-lakes-stressed-climate-change-worse/
An estimated 9,887 metric tonnes (22 million pounds) of plastics make their way into the Great Lakes every year. Now a new project aims not only to suck out some of that plastic but stop it from getting into the lakes in the first place.
It began last summer with Toronto Harbour’s installation of three Seabins – devices that look like trash cans in the water but behave like vacuum cleaners, said Christopher Hilkene, CEO of Pollution Probe.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/seabins-trap-plastics-great-lakes-canada/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Great Lakes Echo
Only a minority of Great Lakes region congressional candidates endorsed by national environmental advocacy groups were victorious on Election Day.
The winners had a couple of things in common.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/green-group-endorsements-congress-great-lakes/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/pfas-news-fish-wisconsin-canada/
