A scientist who monitors the annual algal bloom in Sandusky Bay has noticed a big surprise: The bloom hasn’t shown up yet. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-algal-bloom
As severe weather hits parts of the East Coast, some parts of Western New York are seeing their own wild weather. A waterspout on Lake Erie on Tuesday evening was caught on video. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-waterspout
It appears a big boat party is on for this weekend in metro Detroit, despite the pandemic. Muscamoot Bay, known as a hotspot on Lake St. Clair on summer weekends, is the site of the annual “Raft Off” the first Saturday in August every year. Read the full story by WWJ- Southfield, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-boat-party
A company that owns two mid-Michigan dams that failed in May has filed for bankruptcy. By filing for Chapter 11, the company’s creditors and those seeking damages will face another obstacle. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-dam-bankruptcy
According to a recent report from the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) Great Lakes Science Advisory Board, there has been a decline in the fish populations in the offshore regions of Lakes Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior, while Lake Erie’s overall fish numbers are strong. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-Mussels
Michigan’s new standards for seven per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) compounds in drinking water — some of the toughest, most comprehensive standards on the chemicals anywhere in the country — took effect Monday. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-PFAS
With the exception of Lake Superior, each of the Great Lakes have likely reached their peak water levels for the year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-water-level
As Ohio farmers in Lake Erie’s Western Basin watershed face declining crop prices, increased media scrutiny and the looming threat of stricter regulations on the industry’s use and release of nutrients, they are in a constant battle to reduce their footprint on the lake and to stay in business. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200805-conservation
By Kristoffer Tigue, Nicholas Kusnetz, Judy Fahys, Ilana Cohen and David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News
This story originally appeared in InsideClimate News and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
In many ways, Maleta Kimmons defines her neighborhood by what it lacks.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/communities-minnesota-new-york-environmental-justice/
Fish and Wildlife Service News
Fish and Wildlife Service News
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=welcome-a-familiar-face:%C2%A0charlie%C2%A0deutsch-joins-the-team-at%C2%A0two-rivers-&_ID=36751
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/08/05/as-toxic-algal-blooms-impact-lake-erie-michigan-sees-agriculture-as-main-culprit/
Lake County, Illinois
CCO Meeting – CCO Meeting Presentation [.pdf]
Thursday, August 13, 2020
The CCO meeting was held online.
Open House Meeting:
Tuesday, September 22 from 4-7pm CST
Wednesday, September 23 from 10am-1pm CST
See Open House Flyer for meeting details. [.pdf]
Great Lakes Coastal Flood Study
Great Lakes Coastal Flood Study
https://www.greatlakescoast.org/2020/08/04/lake-michigan-community-consultation-officers-meeting-and-open-house-for-lake-county-illinois/
The Oswego, IL Village Board Tuesday night will consider hiring a consultant to do an analysis concerning alternative water supply sources in the village as projections showing the aquifer that the region’s municipalities rely on for well water is depleting. Proposed new sources include Lake Michigan water through the DuPage Water Commission. Read the full story by Aurora Beacon-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-illinois-water-quality-source
The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy is looking to protect a 166-acre property identified as of the highest priority for permanent protection in the Platte River Watershed Management Plan. The proposed preserve would protect a total of more than 6,000 feet of water frontage Platte River watershed and dubbed the Embayment Lakes Nature Preserve. Read the full story by Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-nature-preserve-watershed
As sand deposits grow higher in the federal navigation channel of Waukegan Harbor, potentially imperiling shipping, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has developed a plan to use the sand recovered from dredging the port to combat erosion at area beaches. Read the full story by Lake County News-Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-waukegan-dredge-beaches
In a bid to protect fish stocks and natural habitat in Nipissing from the harmful impacts of double-crested cormorants, the Ontario government is introducing a fall harvest for the species. Read the full story by BayToday.ca
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-ontario-cormorants
Water levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron have set record monthly highs each month so far in 2020 with water levels currently two inches from a record high level. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-wisconsin-lake-levels
The International Joint Commission has released a report identifying why there are reduced fish populations in four of the five Great Lakes, including Huron, citing invasive species, algal blooms, and other aspects affecting water quality. Read and listen to the full story by Blackburnnews.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-fish-ijc
Michigan’s new PFAS drinking water standards went into effect this week; the restrictions include seven more common chemicals from the PFAS family. Michigan’s regulations are among the strictest in the U.S. Read and listen to the full story by Michigan Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-michigan-pfas
Thumb Land Conservancy acquired the 42-acre Bidwell Sanctuary in Burtchville Township, MI last month in a proposal to join this property with other nearby nature preserves, creating a nearly 4.5 mile continuous park to be called Southern Lake Huron Coastal Park. Read the full story by Port Huron Times Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-michigan-preserve
Fishing on the Great Lakes is in limbo right now, with legislation in the state Senate to change commercial fishing regulations, and five Michigan Native American tribes are in negotiations with the state over fishing rights. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-fishing-great-lakes
In an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act is a provision that would require the Department of Defense to use the most stringent applicable standard when cleaning up PFAS contamination. Read and view the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-pfas-contamination
The Montreal Port Authority is launching a public procurement process for the construction of a new container terminal in Contrecoeur that’s valued at $750 million to $950 million and is scheduled to be ready by 2024. Building the South Shore facility will allow Quebec’s biggest port to boost capacity by about 50 per cent. Read the full story by the Montreal Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200804-montreal-port
As Ohio farmers in Lake Erie’s Western Basin watershed face declining crop prices, increased media scrutiny and the looming threat of stricter regulations on the industry’s use and release of nutrients which cause algal blooms in the lake and its tributaries, they are in a constant battle to reduce their footprint on the lake and to stay in business.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/cost-conservation-agriculture-lake-erie/
CHICAGO (AP) — The variety of fish swimming in Chicago’s rivers have increased in recent decades, which authorities attribute to a decline in pollution, according to a sampling study released Monday by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
The report claims there are nearly 60 different types of fish swimming in the Chicago and Calumet rivers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/ap-fish-types-chicago-waters-increases/
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.
Guy O. Williams knew very little about the Great Lakes growing up in Lanham, Maryland, about 10 miles northeast of Washington, D.C.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/great-lakes-moment-guy-williams-environmental-justice/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F5DB2D814.LakeshoreFloodAdvisory.125F5DC00B60WI.GRBCFWGRB.f1498d515ccab59293d89bdc43b08825
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that includes money to restore the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-funding-bill
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is using acoustic telemetry to study fish movements in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Iron Mountain Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-acoustic-telemetry
The state of Michigan and five Ottawa and Chippewa tribes will have more time to renegotiate their expiring agreement governing fishing in the Great Lakes after a recent court ruling extending the negotiation timeline. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-fishing-rights
A study of salmon and trout in Lake Michigan showed a shift in their diets as they adapt to a decline in their prey, non-native alewives. Read the full story by Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-fish-diet-study
Experts from Quebec’s Department of Forests, Wildlife and Parks are closely monitoring the Richelieu River, which flows from Lake Champlain into the St. Lawrence River, after a sport fisher caught a grass carp there on July 16. Read the full story by the Montreal Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-grass-carp
An elk skull with antlers discovered in a lake near Fenton, Michigan, is around 220 years old and may be from an extinct subspecies of elk. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-extinct-elk-skull
Clean water activists hope that public water suppliers will remove an industrial pollutant, 1,4-Dioxane, from the New York public water supply under new water standards adopted by the state’s Public Health and Health Planning Council. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-drinking-water-pollutants
A third inspector is expected to be hired for Michigan’s Dam Safety Program, with the hopes that a new senior environmental engineer will improve the safety of state-regulated dams. Read the full story by The Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-dam-inspector
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has scheduled a public webinar for this for August 6 to help keep the public informed about the application permitting process for Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 tunnel project. Read the full story by WILX-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-pipeline-webinar
Biology experts are warning beachgoers and swimmers of harmful algae blooms that have been springing up throughout the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WNEM-TV – Saginaw, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200803-algae-blooms
Great Lakes Now is hosting a live chat about invasive species with the Belle Isle Conservancy on Friday, Aug. 7. Check out the event page here for more details.
Since the 1800s, at least 25 non-native fish species – like the sea lamprey, zebra mussel or round goby – have entered the Great Lakes, changing the Great Lakes ecosystem in a variety of ways.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/invasive-species-quiz-great-lakes/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F5DB22C98.LakeshoreFloodAdvisory.125F5DC00B60WI.GRBCFWGRB.f1498d515ccab59293d89bdc43b08825
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F5DB14940.LakeshoreFloodAdvisory.125F5DC00B60WI.GRBCFWGRB.d2d37d944ebabad2ccdfaa9ab064c276
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/08/03/short-drive-to-the-wilderness/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F5DB059CC.LakeshoreFloodAdvisory.125F5DC00B60WI.GRBCFWGRB.d2d37d944ebabad2ccdfaa9ab064c276
What does it mean to live near a hazardous waste facility? Many residents of Detroit and Hamtramck know the answer all too well. From being nauseated and suffering a loss of appetite due to fumes and odors, to high levels of dust particles aggravating asthma and denying families the ability to open their windows to enjoy fresh air, the impacts are real and severe.
Worse is the unequal distribution of the risks inherent to hazardous waste arriving at facilities in Michigan every year. In its 2007 follow up to the seminal “Race and Toxic Waste,” researchers found Michigan to have the most egregiously disproportionate toxic waste burden in the nation.
Little has changed since. In 2017 316,548 tons of hazardous waste was received by Michigan’s eight hazardous waste facilities accepting offsite hazardous waste. While only 25% of the statewide population, minorities make up 65% of the communities residing within 3 miles of one of the eight facilities. Seven of eight are licensed in a location where the percentage of minorities within a three-mile radius is at or above the statewide average.
In effect, the continued siting of hazardous waste facilities among communities of color has labeled their neighborhoods as sacrificial zones, bearing the burden of society’s collective generation of hazardous waste.
The most recent siting decision highlights the ever-mounting threats to the health and justice of Michigan’s communities of color. The U.S. Ecology North facility is situated in Detroit near the city’s border to southeast Hamtramck. 80% of residents within a 3-mile radius are minorities, the highest of any facility in the state. At the same time, the area encompasses some of the most densely populated immigrant communities in the state.
U.S. Ecology North received over 22,000 tons of hazardous waste in 2017. 98.7% was imported from outside of Wayne County. Yet, after five years of community resistance, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) granted a license alteration that allows the facility to expand its storage capacity from 76,118 tons to 676,939 tons, a nearly 9-fold increase. Additionally, the license enables U.S. Ecology to convert three 30,000-gallon pits for the treatment of hazardous waste.
On Monday, July 27, the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center submitted a discrimination complaint to EGLE on behalf of community members seeking to finally put an end to the practices that have allowed this discriminatory burden to mount. At its core, this complaint seeks not only to ensure compliance with the federal civil rights law to which it is bound but also to aid EGLE in achieving its mission of assuring environmental justice for all Michiganders.
The complaint includes firsthand testimony of victims, scientific studies, and analysis of dozens of datasets, as well as historical and legal context. In all, the complaint builds an eye-opening case for our state to alter its practices to protect the people, no matter their race or national origin, from predatory corporations perpetuating our nation’s history of racist practices in pursuit of millions of dollars for executives at the expense of Michigan’s people of color.
Through this complaint, we hope to be one step closer to standing side-by-side with EGLE and state leadership in unwaveringly putting into practice a deeply held belief that black and brown lives do matter.
News - Great Lakes Environmental Law Center
News - Great Lakes Environmental Law Center
https://www.glelc.org/our-blog/2020/8/2/community-residents-environmental-justice-advocates-call-on-the-michigan-department-of-environment-great-lakes-and-energy-to-address-discrimination-in-location-of-hazardous-waste-facilities
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F5DA3AD44.LakeshoreFloodAdvisory.125F5DC00B60WI.GRBCFWGRB.d2d37d944ebabad2ccdfaa9ab064c276
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/2020/07/pfas-new-compound-artic-seawater-michigan-rules/
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 ory:
Indiana:
The White River Alliance, the premier organization for regional water resource protection in Indiana, is going virtual for the third annual Indiana Water Summit, a forum developed to examine the complex interests and issues that face Indiana’s water supply.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/drinking-water-lead-pittsburgh-ny-stream-protection/
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Clean water activists hope that water suppliers will remove an industrial pollutant under new water standards adopted Thursday in New York.
The state’s Public Health and Health Planning Council adopted standards that set a maximum level for how much of the hard-to-remove chemical 1,4-Dioxane can be in drinking water: 1 part per billion.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/ny-activists-rules-pollutants-drinking-water/
Chicago, IL (July 31, 2020) – Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Defense, Commerce, Justice, Science, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2021. The bill includes provisions that would advance efforts to keep invasive Asian Carp from reaching the Great Lakes. Funding and language urging the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to use the funds for the next phase of work at Brandon Road Lock and Dam (Preconstruction, Engineering and Design) is included in the bill.
Alliance for the Great Lakes Vice President for Policy Molly Flanagan released this statement in response:
“Today’s action shows Congress is serious about preventing invasive Asian Carp from reaching the Great Lakes. These harmful fish would damage our regional economy and devastate the Great Lakes ecosystem. Building additional protection measures at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, which is located near Joliet, IL, and a critical choke point in the waterways leading to the Great Lakes, is the best chance to stop these aggressive fish. We look forward to quick action by the U.S. Senate.
We urge Illinois Governor Pritzker to immediately sign the Design Agreement that would allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed to the next phase of the project—Preconstruction, Engineering and Design. Continued delay unnecessarily puts the Great Lakes at risk.”
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For media inquiries contact Jennifer Caddick, jcaddick@greatlakes.org.
The post House Action on Appropriations Bills Moves Great Lakes Region One Step Closer to Preventing Invasive Asian Carp appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
News – Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2020/07/house-action-on-appropriations-bills-moves-great-lakes-region-one-step-closer-to-preventing-invasive-asian-carp/
A major grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation will allow Great Lakes Now to further increase television programming and digital news coverage of the Great Lakes, drinking water safety, infrastructure and affordability issues across the region.
“Protecting the Great Lakes has always been a cornerstone of Mott’s Environment program, and this grant will help to advance that cause,” said Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Foundation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/mott-foundation-fund-great-lakes-now/
