The wetland ecosystem of Braddock Bay in Monroe County, New York, is a prime example of how climate change and fluctuating Lake Ontario water levels have altered the shoreline habitat. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200901-climate-change-lake-ontario
The Shaw Point Historic District on Sand Island in Lake Superior has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district on Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands National Lakeshore holds a unique collection of three neighboring properties at Sand Island’s southeastern edge. Read the full story by the Ashland Daily Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200901-historic-lake-superior
Throughout the past few years, millions of dollars in grant funding have been utilized in Greenville, Michigan, to properly map, identify and locate deficiencies within the city’s wastewater system. Read the full story by The Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200901-michigan-sewer-line
Booming exports of grain are driving the Great Lakes shipping industry’s rebound, with shipments of Canadian grain up 13 percent from last year. The demand for grain helps offset downturns among many other products, like coal, steel and iron ore, which have brought the overall amount of cargo shipped on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway down eight percent year-to-date. Read the full story by The Stony Plain Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200901-shipping-grain
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday finalized its weakening of an Obama-era rule aimed at reducing polluted wastewater from coal-burning power plants that has contaminated streams, lakes and underground aquifers
The change will allow utilities to use cheaper technologies and take longer to comply with pollution reduction guidelines that are less stringent than what the agency originally adopted in 2015.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/09/ap-trump-administration-coal-plant-pollution-rollback/
By Judith Lavoie, The Narwhal
This story originally appeared in The Narwhal and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
New global industry standards for dealing with mine waste are not enforceable, fail to set measurable standards and will not protect communities, workers or the environment from disasters such as the 2014 Mount Polley spill or the deadly 2019 Brumadinho dam failure in Brazil, says an international group of scientists, community organizations and non-profits.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/09/new-global-standards-mine-waste-dam-failures-critics/
Topics include aquatic invasive species, eating local fish and Green Bay’s ecosystem
Wisconsin Sea Grant’s “Lake Talks” series of free, public events will return this fall—in cyberspace. Four virtual events in the series will take place on Thursdays at 7 p.m. between Sept. 10 and Nov. 12.
The series was launched earlier in 2020 with an in-person event in Green Bay in early March. However, remaining spring events were canceled due to public health concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Now, because of ongoing health concerns and university policy, the series will move to a virtual format this fall. Wisconsin Sea Grant is headquartered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Lake Talks cover topics of special interest to residents in communities along or near the Lake Michigan shoreline—though anyone is welcome to attend.
Fall speakers and topics are:
Sept. 10: Molly Bodde of Kenosha, Wisconsin Sea Grant aquatic invasive species outreach specialist for southeast Wisconsin, will present “But It’s So Pretty: Combating Purple Loosestrife with Look-a-likes.”
Sept. 24: Chris Litzau of Racine, Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps director.
Oct. 22: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate students Cadie Olson and Brandon Falish will speak about “Green Bay: A Saga of Life, Destruction and Restoration.”
Nov. 12: Titus Seilheimer of Manitowoc, Wisconsin Sea Grant fisheries specialist, will offer “How to Eat Wisconsin Fish.” Seilheimer will talk about his favorite fish, the benefits of eating Wisconsin fish—both wild-caught and farmed—and how you can incorporate local fish into upcoming holiday celebrations.
Zoom will be used as the online event platform. Each event will last one hour and include time for Q&A after the presentation.
While web links and other technical details for the sessions are still being finalized, those interested can get more information when it is announced by following Wisconsin Sea Grant on social media (at the handle @UWiscSeaGrant on both Facebook and Twitter), or by going to the Wisconsin Sea Grant website at seagrant.wisc.edu (search for “Lake Talks”).
Questions about the series may be directed to Wisconsin Sea Grant science communicator Jennifer Smith at smith@aqua.wisc.edu.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-sea-grant-to-host-virtual-lake-talks-this-fall/
Alongside the illnesses, deaths and closures caused by COVID-19, the threat of climate change still hangs over communities across the Great Lakes region and around the world. And the people and organizations fighting against climate change and for environmental justice have found themselves caught between these two threats to public health.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/intersecting-crises-climate-change-justice-covid-19/
A major agronomic debate about the Nutrient Management Practice Standard, regulations limiting runoff from livestock farms or more commonly known as Code 590, is happening in now Columbus, with potentially large ramifications for western Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-manure
Unlike fish, native mussels take years to establish in a previously polluted stream, and since so many mussel species are in a precarious position, Ohio has strict laws to protect them. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-ohio-mussels
In a report card generated by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the Western Lake Erie basin scored a 58%, or a C+. The overall report card is a holistic summation of all factors for the Western Lake Erie Basin and watershed. Read the full story by The Daily Telegram.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-erie-graded
A new study finds fishing lines are one of the highest potential pathways for spread spiny water fleas. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-spiny-water-fleas
Recent sturgeon deaths in Lake Michigan highlight the fragile nature of Great Lakes ecology and should be a reminder of the urgent need for protective state and federal efforts to preserve the lakes. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-save-the-sturgeon
There is no clearly defined marker in either Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence River about where the boundary of the United States ends and Canada begins, meaning recreational boats may unknowingly cross federal lines. Read the full story by Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-uniform-boater-rules
The Detroit Zoological Society’s Piping Plover Captive Rearing Program, a breeding program for the endangered Great Lakes piping plovers, had its best year ever after welcoming 39 new hatchlings in 2020. Read the full story by WLHT – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-piping-plovers
Lake Erie saw several record high monthly mean water levels in 2019 and 2020, but U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projections show the lake is not expected to reach any more records for at least the rest of the year. Read the full story by The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-erie-water-levels
The International Joint Commission announced that it will adjust its outflow strategy and allow water levels in Lake St. Lawrence, an artificial lake in the international portion of the St. Lawrence River, to decline to the normal navigation season minimum following Labour Day. Read the full story by Seaway News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-st-lawrence+
The Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, has completed $1.5 million worth of improvements designed to show off its outdoor artifacts and take advantage of its riverfront location. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200831-dossin-museum
Fish and Wildlife Service News
Fish and Wildlife Service News
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=u.s.-fish-and-wildlife-service-determines-designating-critical-habitat-is-&_ID=36761
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/08/31/pandemic-impacts-library-services-budgets-in-long-term/
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
https://noaaglerl.blog/2020/08/28/glansis-technical-memos-add-new-data-to-invasive-species-risk-assessments/
Amid COVID-19, Freshwater Future has doubled down on their support for water councils through the Great Lake region to ensure people have running water in their homes.
In April of 2020, a reporter in Chicago, IL disclosed information cultivated through an investigation on the number of Chicago residents living without running water. Revealing a staggering 150,000 reports on water disconnection since 2011. With handwashing being the top preventive measure aside from social distancing and wearing a mask, the Chicago Water Council (CWC) has been working to understand the present situation for the rest of the community.
As a result, the CWC has discovered local residents without running water. Partnering with the Center at Englewood organization as they serve hundreds of residents by hosting a food distribution point, CWC now has a place within Englewood to provide free bottled water while working with the residents to pinpoint who is living without water.
Freshwater Future has assisted by establishing a working relationship between the two organizations in addition to coordinating with Elevate Energy to have bottled water delivered to the Center at Englewood for CWC. The Chicago Water Council has been working tirelessly to support and aid their community amid COVID-19 with a goal of continuing the work with the support of Freshwater Future to locate homes living through this pandemic without a basic human need — access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/chicago-water-council-locates-residents-without-water-and-theres-more/
Residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan have always carried a strong spirit of justice and equitable treatment. They are not to be pushed around and their tenacity caught the attention of Freshwater Future — summer of 2018 a partnership was conceived and the Benton Harbor Community Water Council (BHCWC) was born. Spring of 2018 water samples were drawn throughout the community homes to look deeper into its water quality and elevated levels of lead double the limit allowed in drinking water were discovered.
Since then, BHCWC has rolled up its sleeves and have gone to work with diligence and tenacity. The Chairman of BHCWC Reverend Pinkney with numerous community leaders and activists have joined him to resolve the lead issue to ensure their neighbors have clean and safe water to drink. They’ve established partnerships with the health department, city commissioners, and the youth to work in unison for the health of the people. Recently, BHCWC successfully secured an exclusive supply of water filters from the health department and organized their own drive thru a water filter distribution pilot program with the health department which attracted local residents in staggering numbers.
While enforcing social distancing and distributing filters at a proficient rate, BHCWC and their youth executed leadership and organization that impressed the health department distributing a total of 300 filters and 2,000 masks in 3 hours while keeping everyone safe from spreading COVID-19 with an innovative drive thru event.
Benton Harbor Community Water Council is passing out water filters October 21 from 11am to 3pm at River Terrace Apartments. Come get your filter or replacement! They’ll see you there.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/bhcwc-water-filter-drive-thru-event-shows-up-and-shows-out/
Freshwater Future has worked for years to help ensure people can protect themselves from lead and other contaminants in drinking water, and one thing is clear to us: there is no safe level of lead. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has long held “the best available science which shows there is no safe level of exposure to lead.” Our work in partnership with the Flint Development Center and the University of Michigan Biological Station laboratory have also clearly indicated that when there is lead in drinking water, filters reduce the amount of lead when used and maintained properly.
In Michigan, a revised Lead and Copper Rule now has communities utilizing a new testing protocol that is more accurate at finding lead at the tap. Unfortunately, as communities and water systems are learning they are out of compliance with the rule, we have not heard strong recommendations for using filters in these communities coming either from the state or municipalities. Instead, we have seen alerts and educational materials that recommend filters only for pregnant women and children.
While we agree that children and pregnant women should use filtered water in communities out of compliance with the rule, we strongly believe EVERYONE in these communities should utilize filters to protect their health. Because the testing that the rule relies on is conducted in only a few homes, it is impossible for most residents to know whether they too could be drinking tap water with elevated lead levels. Therefore, filters that connect directly to the tap to filter out lead (be sure they are labeled Standard 53) are an important tool to protect residents of all ages in communities that are out of compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule.
We hope that the State of Michigan and water system operators will also begin to take a more proactive approach to public health by recommending everyone in, out of compliance, communities utilize filters.
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/public-health-and-lead-in-water-our-view/
Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission announced today that it will be appointing Erika Jensen to serve as its interim executive director. Erika first joined the Commission in 2006 and currently oversees the agency’s aquatic invasive species prevention and control program. She will be the first female executive director of the Commission since it was established in 1955.
Darren Nichols announced that he will be stepping down from his current role as executive director on September 8. He will provide transition guidance to executive leadership as needed through January 2021 and will work to ensure a seamless transition for the Commission. He plans extensive travel and distance learning with his wife and three teenage sons through the next school year.
“I am so pleased to announce that Erika Jensen has been named to serve as interim executive director,” said Chair Sharon M. Jackson, Deputy General Counsel for Governor Eric J. Holcomb of Indiana. “Erika is highly regarded throughout the Great Lakes community and has spent more than 14 years with the GLC, spearheading many regional initiatives and serving in several leadership roles during this time. Erika has the ideal combination of experience with Great Lakes issues and stakeholders and fresh new ideas for the agency.”
“The Commission sincerely appreciates Darren’s significant contributions to the Commission and the Great Lakes basin,” said GLC Vice Chair Todd L. Ambs, Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. “We wish him and his family the very best.”
Erika joined the Commission as a Sea Grant Fellow and has a master’s degree in environmental management from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. She currently serves as coordinator for the Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species and the Invasive Mussel Collaborative and works with a variety of regional partners on projects focused on invasive species and other topics.
The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Sharon M. Jackson, Deputy General Counsel for Governor Eric J. Holcomb of Indiana, is an interstate compact agency established under the Great Lakes Basin Compact of 1955. The Commission is authorized by state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin and its residents. The Commission consists of governors’ appointees, state legislators, industry and nonprofit leaders and agency officials from eight states and two provinces. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission office is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/news/leadership-082820
During this pandemic many of us have had to take our work home with us, and now that children are returning to school they will be, too. Everybody is at home battling with their own stress, so dealing with others too can be tough. It becomes more daunting when days just can’t seem to go right. You know what I am talking about. Confined within the same four walls everyday can start to feel as if they are closing in when there is so much that “has” to be done. By that time, anxiety rises, motivation withers and you want to throw your hands up, curl up in bed and eat your favorite dessert, mine is ice cream, while watching Netflix wishing all deadlines and projects go away.
We’ve all been there but during the pandemic it has a chance to happen a lot more often. The reality is we will be knocked off our square and being able to recognize when we are knocked off, provides us an opportunity to realign with our internal self. Without peace, we can’t think straight. Without thinking straight, let’s be honest, we’re no help to anyone, including ourselves. So what can we do to quiet the madness inside and keep our hands from ripping out our hair? (Though I’m bald already.) We must incorporate activities that bring us peace during our work day, and practice them daily. Practicing these activities daily ensures they become second nature and ensures the practice of self-care, which some would say we need more than ever. The holy grail to the consistent high level productivity you expect from yourself is self-care. Take care of your body, mind, and spirit, and in turn, they will take care of you. The key is to understand that you must give to yourself before you give yourself to others. Sounds too simple? Perhaps, but it is as easy as making a choice.
If you’re looking for ideas to recenter yourself and allow time to recharge and re-calibrate yourself to be the best you for others read the following suggestions and see what works best for you.
Meditation: a way to really center yourself is finding a relaxing spot, sitting down, closing your eyes and just breath. It may not make sense since most of us have a million thoughts passing by, but next time, sit down and focus on your breathing in and out while observing your thoughts as they come and go. This will clear the fog in your mind and has been proven to reduce anxiety while boosting clarity.
Self Talk: You ever wake up in the morning, stub your toe, and the first thoughts you have are unhappy? Those negative thoughts can create a snowball effect with the expectation that the rest of the day will be a bad day. I invite you to wake up and before you grab your phone or think of the million and one things you have to do that day, to write down or say to yourself at least three things you are grateful for and try this for at least 10 days. Practicing gratitude opens the door to more and better relationships, improves physical and psychological health, enhances empathy, reduces aggression, and improves sleep and self-esteem.
Being totally focused on what’s in front of you: I know a lot of people take pride in being multi-taskers but I will, respectfully, ask you guys to cut the crap. That may be one of the reasons why you feel overwhelmed at times. You don’t need to do it all at once. Take the most important task in front of you and put all of your focus on it and finish it before moving to the next one. You will experience a dramatic change in your productivity.
These are only a few options out of thousands to choose from. I invite you to begin thinking about what you can do for yourself. In this productive society we are constantly thinking about what we can do better at work, for our family, and for our friends. Now it’s the time to think about the most important person — yourself. Take care of yourself and enjoy the benefits of a more relaxed, centered you. I guarantee others will.
Written by Brandon Tyus, Policy and Community Program Associate
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/a-closer-look-at-self-care-during-covid-19/
Please also visit:
Great Lakes Coastal Flood Study
Great Lakes Coastal Flood Study
https://www.greatlakescoast.org/2020/08/28/please-also-visit/
Joliet, Illinois, is talking with 13 potential partners about forming a regional water commission that would share the costs of bringing Lake Michigan water to communities that now rely on aquifers. The city is deciding whether to buy water from Chicago or build their own pipeline. Read the full story by The Herald News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-joliet
Blount Small Ship Adventures, a small cruise company with a long-time presence in the Great Lakes, is exiting the cruise business as the coronavirus pandemic has continued to devastate the previously resurging Great Lakes cruise industry. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-blount
Work started on a $2.9 million project to clean up an area of contaminated sediments in the Detroit River and extend the popular RiverWalk along the east riverfront by linking the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-riverwalk
The waters of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River have been strikingly green in recent weeks. The phenomenon is called a “whiting event,” which occurs when the weather warms up and water loses its ability to hold onto the dissolved calcium carbonate that naturally occurs in hard water. Read the full story by NNY 360.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-whiting-event
State officials determined that a fish kill on the Escanaba River was caused by illegally discharged pollutants from the paper mill in Delta County, Michigan. Fortunately, there appears to be no long-term harm to the river’s ecosystem. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-fish-kill
After years of contaminated stormwater runoff being washed from the streets of Rogers City, Michigan, straight into Lake Huron, community members are now teaming up with graduate students from the University of Michigan to install new stormwater management systems. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-rogers-city
The Army Corps of Engineers recently began restoration of more than 1,300 feet of seawall along Lake Erie at Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park in Buffalo, New York, which has deteriorated over time due to ice and wave action. Read the full story by The Buffalo News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-rcwilson-park
The Door County Land Trust in Wisconsin acquired 20 acres of rare remnant boreal forest on Washington Island in Lake Michigan. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-door-county
A new study has found no traces of COVID-19 in Lake Superior along several of Duluth’s popular beaches, including Park Point. The beach testing is unique to Lake Superior beaches, and supports findings from earlier tests showing the risk of coronavirus transmission through water to be extremely low. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200828-superior-covid
Today is part two in our series on Great Lakes Priorities that both major party Presidential candidates must pledge to address in order to truly stand with Great Lakes communities. Last week we looked at the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and the wonderful work it continues to do for the Great Lakes and the 30 million Americans who call the region home. This week we’ll be looking at water infrastructure and the ways that communities are impacted by a lack of funding for basic infrastructure.
Safe, affordable drinking water is a basic human need, but too many Great Lakes communities suffer from a lack of access. Among the many cracks in our infrastructure that COVID-19 has revealed, the humanitarian crisis that afflicts millions of Americans – the lack of access to safe, affordable drinking water – must be addressed by the next President.
Our current water safety and affordability woes stem from decades of under-investment in the nation’s water infrastructure. Over the past forty years, federal investments in local wastewater and drinking water infrastructure have dropped precipitously. And the results are tragic. Upwards of 16 million Americans have experienced a water shutoff, and one study predicts that by 2022, more than one-third of people in the United States will have trouble paying their water bills.
As federal funding dropped off, local authorities have had to pick up the slack, and, too often, they cannot keep up. This has resulted in cracked pipes, lead and heavy metal exposure, along with soaring maintenance costs and skyrocketing water bills for local people. Great Lakes communities, particularly low-income communities and communities of color, feel the brunt of this disinvestment through higher costs and less safe water.
The EPA estimates that fixing, updating and modernizing the region’s crumbling water infrastructure will cost up to $188 billion over the next 20 years, and that backlog grows every year that we fail to invest in our nation’s water infrastructure.
The Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition is calling on the next president to create and fund an equitable plan that addresses our region’s $188 billion backlog in drinking water, wastewater and storm water infrastructure to ensure that all people have safe, clean and affordable drinking water.
America is at a crossroads, and together we can choose to bequeath to future generations a thriving water system where access to clean water is something that no one has to go without. That future can be ours with equitable investments that make sure that communities that have borne the brunt of decades of disinvestment are heard first and foremost.
But time is of the essence. Every year that passes without a solution is one more year of risk for thousands of water systems that are in need of maintenance. Sewage overflows, corroded pipes, and lead poisoning are just some of the consequences that communities are dealing with and will continue to deal with, so long as this infrastructure backlog is left unaddressed.
It’s time for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump to pledge to stand with Great Lakes communities and communities across America. It’s time for them to pledge to work with Congress on a realistic, actionable and equitable plan to deal with what America has put off for too long, including a tripling of federal investments, to start. America’s communities can’t wait.
The post A Great Lakes Water Infrastructure Plan for the 2020s appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/a-great-lakes-water-infrastructure-plan-for-the-2020s/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F5F2F59D8.FlashFloodWatch.125F5F301620WI.GRBFFAGRB.3e48530399edd3ee5a2f2e60adee93d9
Ohio far and away leads all states when it comes to spending money on the fight against harmful algae, with $815 million in documented expenses over the past decade, 70 percent of what all 50 states have spent, according to a report issued Wednesday by a national environmental group. Read and view the full story by Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-ohio-algae
The city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, was recently awarded a $137.1 million dollar loan from the federal government for its construction project to switch the city’s municipal water source to Lake Michigan, due to high radium levels. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-wisconsin-water-supply
The deepwater Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan is unloading the primary shipments for a $1 billion power plant at the Indeck Niles Energy Center in Niles, Michigan. Stevedores at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor are handling more than 600 individual pieces of cargo, some of which are 100-feet long and weigh more than 600,000 pounds. Read the full story by The Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-indiana-harbor-power-plant
After approving hundreds of wind turbines and solar arrays, the state of Michigan is looking to bolster its renewable energy offerings by seeking proposals for up to $200,000 in matching funding for the creation of an energy storage roadmap for the state. Read the full story by dbusiness.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-michigan-renewable-energy
The Detroit Zoological Society’s Piping Plover Captive Rearing Program began nearly 20 years ago, but never has it had the impact it did in 2020, when 39 of Detroit Zoo-reared shoreline birds were released in Northern Michigan. Read the full story by the Mlive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-piping-plover
Under the Great Lakes revitalization program and after four decades and $460M of expenditures, the Rochester embayment area once deemed ‘severely polluted’ is improving; the revitalization of the Rochester embayment is one out of 43 locations on the Great Lakes that were first identified nearly four decades ago as severely polluted by the governments of the United States and Canada. Read the full story by Democrat and Chronicle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-lake-ontario-pollution
The Dearborn (Michigan) City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday aimed at reducing air pollution from industrial debris after a nearly two-year push by members of the community; the ordinance seeks to limit the amount of airborne dust from industrial sites and trucks hauling industrial materials. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-michigan-air-pollution
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Surface Water Assessment Section (EGLE) developed a work plan to sample algae blooms and shoreline deposits in an effort to help better understand water quality issues and factors affecting the beaches’ quality. Read to the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-water-quality-michigan
Stantec is undertaking the next stage of a multi-year planning, preliminary design and environmental assessment process to determine how to best overhaul or replace the declining century-old swing bridge that connects Manitoulin Island to the mainland of Ontario. Read the full story by Northern Ontario Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-manitoulin-bridge-ontario
The Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan has been allotted $205,000 for the goal of delisting the Ontario harbour that spans between Burlington and Hamilton as an area of concern due to environmental degradation. Read the full story by Simcoe Reformer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200827-ontario-waterfront-restoration
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F5F204100.SpecialWeatherStatement.125F5F20648CWI.GRBSPSGRB.37d3280660d800ccc87a1b7b0d248350
Trash picked up anywhere can help us have cleaner beaches and lakes everywhere.
While the journey of a piece of trash can be as short as a few feet – from a hand to the beach – some trash can travel miles via storm sewers before it hits the shore. Storm sewers throughout the region that drain toward the Great Lakes can become highways for the bottle caps, cigar tips, cigarette butts, and straws that are among the top 10 items found at Adopt-a-Beach cleanups.
While the majority of beach litter is left by beach goers, research has found that rivers and streams flowing into the Great Lakes also transport trash.
During storm events, litter left on streets is washed into storm drains. Those drains don’t always go to wastewater treatment plants. Sometimes they empty directly into nearby streams and rivers or even into the lakes. Especially likely to become traveling trash are the small broken bits of plastic and styrofoam that are the number one item Adopt-a-Beach volunteers find.
This year Adopt-a-Beach volunteers have the option to join cleanups on the beaches of the Great Lakes and in their own neighborhoods, whether that’s a city block, suburban cul-de-sac, country road, or anywhere in between.
For some, the COVID-19 pandemic is one reason to organize a neighborhood cleanup. Many people have a desire to volunteer, but this year they have to balance that desire with keeping themselves and their families safe.
“But organizing community cleanups is about more than the pandemic,” says Tyrone Dobson, the Alliance’s Senior Volunteer Engagement Manager. “It’s also the result of broader thinking about stopping litter at its source.”
Others around the country are also thinking about litter more broadly. For example, this year the California Coastal Commission declared “beach cleanups start at your door,” encouraging participants to clean their neighborhoods to help protect the Pacific coast.
“Very few good things have come out of the past year,” says Volunteer Engagement Associate Olivia Reda. “But one positive is that the pandemic has made us think about how we can share the good with the most people. If neighborhood cleanups are a way we do that, then that’s a victory.”
The post Trash picked up anywhere can help clean beaches everywhere appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2020/08/trash-picked-up-anywhere-can-help-clean-beaches-everywhere/
