April is the month of Earth Day, and every year there is one type of litter that knows no boundaries. Balloons. Read the full story by KPC News – Kendallville, IN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-balloons
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is attempting to use national defense policy legislation passed two years ago to force the U.S. Department of Defense into compliance with tough state pollution cleanup laws in Michigan. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-pfas-cleanup
The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois needs volunteers to prepare Montrose Beach for the return of Monty and Rose, the Great Lakes piping plover pair who use the beach as their springtime nesting ground. Read the full story by Block Club Chicago.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-piping-plovers
The Bay of Green Bay, Wisconsin is the world’s largest freshwater estuary and an effort is underway to declare it a national reserve. The designation would create opportunities, like a state-of-the-art Visitor & Research Center, to help study this important body of water. Read the full story by WFRV – TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-national-reserve
The Lake Express Ferry from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan will start making high-speed trips across Lake Michigan on May 7. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-muskegon-ferry
On Oct. 26, 1952, strong winds caused the ‘S.S City of Grand Rapids’ steamship to snap from its mooring and swing into the St. Joseph Channel, blocking traffic. Read the full story by WZZM -TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-stuck-ship
As Canadian officials lobbied a Michigan Senate committee in March to keep the Line 5 pipeline open, Michigan Sen. Winnie Brinks grew frustrated with a conversation that, up to that point, had focused mainly on the immediate economic and safety implications of a possible shutdown. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-line5
The 2021 shipping season has started in Thunder Bay. Tug Sharon M1 and Barge Huron Spirit arrived in the port late Friday evening. with the vessel combination coming to the Mission Pier entrance around 11:30 p.m. Read the full story by the Chronicle Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210401-shipping
With climate action on the state and national agenda, critics of Enbridge Line 5 warn that investing in new pipeline infrastructure undermines Michigan’s pathway to carbon neutrality. Experts say it’s not so simple.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/04/enbridge-line-5-tunnel-michigan-energy-future-or-bad-deal/
Scientists are looking at the diet of bank swallows to understand what is causing their population decline.
The post Diet may solve mysterious decline of Great Lakes shorebirds first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/04/01/diet-may-solve-mysterious-decline-of-great-lakes-shorebirds/
Chicago, IL (March 31, 2021) – In a speech this afternoon, President Biden announced the American Jobs Plan which proposes significant investments in infrastructure. Alliance for the Great Lakes Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Programs Molly Flanagan issued the following statement in response to the announcement.
“Our work at the Alliance for the Great Lakes is focused on protecting the fresh, clean, and natural waters of the Great Lakes, which supply drinking water to millions of Americans. Therefore, we are encouraged to see President Biden make major water infrastructure commitments today during his speech in Pittsburgh, to the tune of $111 billion. Specifically, lead pipe replacement (allocated at $45 billion) and the modernization of America’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure ($66 billion) are two critically important priorities for the Great Lakes region, and we look forward to seeing these investments in action. The American Jobs Plan plan also prioritizes natural infrastructure investments to better protect Great Lakes communities against some of the worsening impacts of climate change.
Due to decades of neglect, our current water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life, and the EPA has estimated that $188 billion over the next 20 years will be needed in improvements, upgrades, and repairs to these systems in the Great Lakes alone.
Simply put, it’s unacceptable that people don’t have access to safe, clean water in such a water-rich region due to the state of our infrastructure. The longer we wait to do something, the more expensive this problem becomes for taxpayers and the more vulnerable our waters are to the threats of climate change. Not only that, but the damage will continue to be disproportionately felt by the Great Lakes’ underserved rural communities and communities of color unless we create sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient solutions.
Today’s speech was an important first step for the United States to begin repairing our water infrastructure, a subject that regularly enjoys support from both sides of the aisle and will lead to job creation in addition to the environmental and public health benefits. We are excited to continue working with the Biden administration and members of Congress to create a water infrastructure plan that works for all Great Lakes residents.”
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Media contact: Jennifer Caddick, jcaddick@greatlakes.org
The post An Important First Step appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2021/03/statement-on-president-bidens-infrastructure-plan/
Plan recognizes importance of investing in Great Lakes restoration to protect communities from storms, flooding and other impacts from climate change.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (March 31, 2021)—The Biden Administration is releasing a sweeping national infrastructure plan today, drawing praise from the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition for its robust investment in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure that can help protect the health of communities and confront the worsening water affordability crisis in which millions of Americans are finding it difficult to pay for the essential service of water in their homes. The plan also emphasizes the importance of restoring aquatic and terrestrial habitats like the Great Lakes to help make our infrastructure and communities more resilient to flooding and other impacts from climate change.
“The Biden Administration’s plan will help millions of people in the Great Lakes region and across the country who are struggling to pay for higher and higher water bills and whose health is jeopardized by serious threats such as toxic lead contamination and sewage pollution,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “The plan recognizes that healthy and resilient waters pave the way for healthy and resilient communities. We look forward to working with the Biden Administration and U.S. Congress to provide the level of federal investment that is needed to restore the Great Lakes and fix the nation’s inadequate water infrastructure so that we can protect our drinking water, Great Lakes, public health, jobs, and quality of life. We need to take action now, because these problems will only get worse and more expensive to solve the longer we wait.”
The Biden Administration’s American Jobs Plan seeks to invest $111 billion to ensure clean, safe water is available to all communities. The plan prioritizes the replacement of all the nation’s lead pipes and service lines, addresses the growing threat of toxic contaminants like PFAS, and provides grants and flexible loans to our most vulnerable communities.
The Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin need more than $188 billion over 20 years to meet clean water objectives and to protect the health of local communities, according to the U.S. EPA. Further, between 6 million and 10 million homes nationwide continue to receive their drinking water through lead service lines, posing a serious risk to their health.
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has long championed a much more robust federal investment in our nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure to protect the health of people and to make water more affordable. Researchers estimate that by 2022, 1-in-3 Americans will have a difficult time paying their water bills. The growing water affordability crisis can be directly tied to a decades-long disinvestment by the federal government in water infrastructure. In 1977, investments from the federal government made up 63 percent of total spending on water infrastructure. By 2014, the federal government’s contribution had dropped to 9 percent.
With this lack of federal investment, local communities have been unable to keep up with the large maintenance costs for ageing systems. Many projects get delayed, and, in other cases, the costs of large infrastructure projects are passed on to rate-payers—leading to skyrocketing water bills. In some communities, water bills have tripled over the last 10 years, and when individuals cannot pay their water bills they face water shutoffs, which jeopardize their health and the health of their families.
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 160 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at www.healthylakes.org or follow us on Twitter @healthylakes.
The post Biden Infrastructure Plan Will Help Millions of People Struggling to Pay Water Bills, Threatened by Pollution appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Healing Our Waters Coalition
https://healthylakes.org/biden-infrastructure-plan-will-help-millions-of-people-struggling-to-pay-water-bills-threatened-by-pollution/
The queensnake, an endangered snake in Wisconsin, may cause delays in the reconstruction of a bridge in Racine. Read the full story by The Journal Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-queensnake
Residents living near the infamous Wolverine World Wide dump in west Michigan say they want a “real solution” to the issue of how to clean up the toxic chemical waste left buried in their neighborhood from leather manufacturing. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-wolverine
Restoring one of the rapids on the St. Marys River, which connects lakes Superior and Huron, is helping diverse fish species recover according to a recent study. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-rapids
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is partnering with the Michigan Learning Channel, a statewide distance-learning collaboration by public television stations, to provide environmentally focused instructional videos as part of the content on the new service. Read the full story by The Daily Mining Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-mlc
The governors of four Great Lakes states urged President Joe Biden to prioritize federal investments in long-neglected water infrastructure to advance environmental sustainability and climate resilience. Read the full story by WKZO – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-infrastructure
Officials from Sarnia, Ontario, answered questions from Members of Parliament about Enbridge’s Line 5, a pipeline that carries oil and gas to Sarnia from Western Canada, and spoke to the importance of keeping the pipeline running in Canada. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-line-5
As the international Lake Erie Committee meets to set 2021 commercial harvest limits on walleye and yellow perch, the group’s biologists are anticipating another phenomenal year of walleye fishing. Read the full story by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-walleye
After more than two years, Haldimand County in Ontario is getting up to $4,570,000 in provincial funds to offset costs to repair damages incurred after severe storms on Lake Erie in late 2019. Read the full story by Haldimand News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-storm
The Stannard Rock Lighthouse, a nearly 140-year-old structure in the middle of Lake Superior, is in need of major restoration. Read the full story by WBCK – Battle Creek, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-lighthouse
Michigan residents boating on the Great Lakes or adjoining federally monitored waterways will have a new federal engine cut-off switch requirement to follow beginning April 1. It will only impact boaters traversing U.S. Coast Guard-monitored waterways. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210331-boats
NEWBERRY, Mich. (AP) — Repairs and restoration are coming to three historic lighthouses in Michigan.
More than $126,000 in grant funding from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office have been awarded to the Crisp Point Light Historical Society, the North Manitou Light Keepers and St. Clair County Parks and Recreation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/ap-grants-repairs-rehabilitation-3-lighthouses/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/new-climatologies-added-world-ocean-atlas
Restoring one of the rapids on the St. Marys River is helping diverse fish species recover in the river that connects lakes Superior and Huron, according to a recent study.
The post Rapids return means fish returns first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/31/rapids-return-means-fish-returns/
Accurate information about murder hornets must be provided to the public to limit their spread and protect native bee populations, an entomology researcher told the Michigan Beekeepers Association.
The post Entomology researcher explains the dangers of murder hornets first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/31/entomology-researcher-explains-the-dangers-of-murder-hornets/
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/mkx/Tornadodrill2021
DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected a sudden effort to extend Monday’s deadline to register for a share of a $641 million Flint water lawsuit settlement.
U.S. District Judge Judith Levy said she won’t upset a well-publicized 60-day deadline that was baked into a settlement involving Flint, the state of Michigan, residents who were exposed to lead-contaminated water, and other parties.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/ap-judge-rejects-effort-to-extend-sign-up-for-flint-water-cash/
Several groups in Wisconsin hope to turn back the clock on Dunes Lake and restore it to its natural state of more than 100 years ago. Dunes Lake provides spawning habitat for fish and acts as a natural filter for the lake. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-dunes-lake
Ludington Harbor Tours’ Al Laaksonen said he is taking his tourship Princess to Manistee after being unable to find a location to dock in Ludington for 2021. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-ludington-tour
Ludington Harbor Tours’ Al Laaksonen said he is taking his tourship Princess to Manistee after being unable to find a location to dock in Ludington for 2021. Read the full story by the Ludington Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-ludington-tour
Repairs and restoration are coming to three historic lighthouses in Michigan. More than $126,000 in grant funding from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office have been awarded to the Crisp Point Light Historical Society, the North Manitou Light Keepers and St. Clair County Parks and Recreation. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-lighthouse-repairs
Repairs and restoration are coming to three historic lighthouses in Michigan. More than $126,000 in grant funding from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office have been awarded to the Crisp Point Light Historical Society, the North Manitou Light Keepers and St. Clair County Parks and Recreation. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-lighthouse-repairs
Ontario’s plan to grow the Green Belt was the topic of discussion for a recent webinar, focusing in part on how adding protection to the Paris Galt Moraine would affect Guelph’s water supply in the future. Read the full story by Guelph Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-guelph
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District has awarded a $6.5 million contract to Great Lakes Dock and Materials, L.L.C. for the construction of a beneficial use of dredged material placement area designed to handle approximately 400,000 cubic yards of dredged material. Read the full story by DredgeWire.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-buffalo
The M.S. Norgoma’s future in Owen Sound as a proposed tourist destination and floating commerce hub may be dead in the water. The plan to tow the 71-year-old ship to Owen Sound from Sault Ste. Marie was declined by Transport Canada. Read the full story by The Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-norgoma
A group dedicated to protecting Canada’s freshwater is looking for citizen scientists to keep an eye on Lake Erie. The Canadian Freshwater Alliance is seeking 40 volunteers to become Lake Erie Guardians who will test samples from the lake’s watershed. Read the full story by the Windsor Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-erie-testing
April 1st is always a big day for anglers — opening day of trout season. This year, April 1 doesn’t mark just the beginning of a new season, it marks the beginning of a new era. Last Wednesday, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the finalization of new regulations. Read the full story by The Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-trout
Michigan environmental regulators scheduled an online town hall meeting to update local residents with the latest information about the Grayling community’s PFAS contamination. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-pfas
Michigan has more than its fair share of lighthouses. In fact, the Great Lakes state, with its expansive shorelines, boasts the most in the country. While many men led the life as a lighthouse keeper, Michigan has a long, beautiful history of female lighthouse keepers. Read and listen to the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210330-lighthouse
For two straight summers, residents of Detroit’s Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood watched water pour into basements and pool in streets, a result of coastal flooding that will become increasingly common throughout the Great Lakes as climate change progresses.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/climate-change-flooded-michigan-neighborhoods-pay-sea-walls/
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/march-2021-regional-climate-impacts-and-outlooks
The Michigan Craft Beverage Council recently awarded $34,644 to study how to produce new varieties of apples for cider making.
The post Red-fleshed apples could keep Michigan cider makers in the black first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2021/03/30/red-fleshed-apples-could-keep-michigan-cider-makers-in-the-black/
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:
More than 8 of every 10 Illinoisans live in a community where brain-damaging lead was found in the tap water of at least one home during the past six years, a new Chicago Tribune analysis found.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/drinking-water-news-new-york-microplastics-pennsylvania/
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:
More than 8 of every 10 Illinoisans live in a community where brain-damaging lead was found in the tap water of at least one home during the past six years, a new Chicago Tribune analysis found.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/drinking-water-news-new-york-microplastics-pennsylvania/
The Great Lakes Now supervising producer, Rob Green, wants your help figuring out more about an old movie shot aboard a freighter. He’s done what he can to identify the ship, ports, time period and people in a mysterious black-and-white video he found in an online archive.
Green knows someone out there can help with more clues to answer: who shot this footage?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/freighter-mystery-identify-people-places-historic-film/
Amanda comes to the Commission from Michigan Technological University, where her work focused on the science and applications of Great Lakes mapping, with projects including wetlands, algae blooms, and coastal hazards.
Originally from metro Detroit, she is an ASPRS Certified Mapping Scientist (CMS), completed a Master of Science in natural resources and environment at the University of Michigan and also holds a Bachelor of Science in environmental biology/zoology from Michigan State University. Prior to graduate school, she held several natural resources and biology positions including roles at the Michigan DNR, Purdue University, Oakland County Parks & Recreation, and the US Forest Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/staff/amanda-grimm
The largest port on the Great Lakes is hoping for a rebound after cargo shipments dropped to their lowest level since 1938 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first ship of the 2021 season arrived in the Twin Ports last week after the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan opened Wednesday. View the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210329-shipping
It remains one of the great mysteries of the Great Lakes: how is it possible Toledo has next to no public access of its defining natural resource, Lake Erie? View the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20210329-metroparks
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said Thursday that the state will provide free bottled water to about 4,300 residents of French Island in La Crosse County due to concerns about groundwater pollution from PFAS “forever chemicals” that have been linked to causing cancer and a wide array of other illnesses.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/03/ap-pollution-concerns-bottled-water-french-island/
