GLMRIS 90-Day Interim Report To Congress; Legislators Irate

Oct 5: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) 90-Day Interim Report, transmitted by the Secretary of the Army, Civil Works, to Congress. The 90 Day Interim Report outlines anticipated milestones, required resources and a plan for the completion of the GLMRIS Report, which will evaluate a range of options and technologies to prevent the transfer of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins by aquatic pathways, by December 2013, as required by Section 1538 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). 

    GLMRIS indicated in a release that initiation of any action beyond the study is contingent upon a decision by the Secretary of the Army that a project is justified. USACE anticipates that the GLMRIS Report will identify additional requirements that must be completed after its release, including detailed design analyses, completion of the environmental compliance analysis and required internal and agency reviews. If the Secretary of the Army determines that a project is justified and consistent with USACE missions, the additional requirements will be completed as part of the effort leading into preconstruction engineering and design of an ANS control alternative.

    GLMRIS Program Manager Jack Drolet said, "Though the expedited timeframe will be challenging, we will make the GLMRIS Report as comprehensive as possible." During the study, USACE will be actively engaged in numerous activities to deter the transfer of ANS. Drolet emphasized that, "Active prevention projects are ongoing and effective, such as operation of the electric barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and partnering with other members of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee to aggressively monitor the canal to determine location and abundance of fish." 

 

    The 90-day report concludes, "The Corps will complete the GLMRIS Report in December 2013. The GLMRIS Report will provide Congress and other stakeholders with an analysis of potential alternatives, as well as additional pertinent information for decision makers. The GLMRIS Report may identify additional studies needed to finalize the analyses prior to proceeding to preconstruction engineering and design, including completion of the environmental compliance analysis and required public and state/agency reviews. Initiation of PED is contingent upon a decision by the Secretary that a particular plan is justified."

 

    Although, USACE indicates in a release and in the 90-day report that it "will complete the GLMRIS Report in December 2013," U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), co-author of the Stop Invasive Species Act [See WIMS 7/2/12] that was recently signed into law by President Obama in July, made a statement after she said "the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it will not complete its plan to stop Asian carp entry into the Great Lakes by 2013." She said, "The Army Corps of Engineers' refusal to follow the law and submit a complete plan to stop Asian carp is completely unacceptable. Temporary fixes have proven inadequate, with evidence of Asian carp now being detected in the Great Lakes. Asian carp could completely devastate the Great Lakes and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that depend on them. We authored and passed a bipartisan law to require the Corps to finally make stopping Asian carp a top priority, and the Corps needs to follow the law and complete their work."

 

    Representative David Camp (R-MI) the other co-author of the law, also issued a statement saying the Corps said it will not complete the report on time. He said, "As Asian carp draw closer to the Great Lakes every day, the Army Corps of Engineers has chosen to work even slower on developing a solution, in direct contravention to the law Congress passed earlier this year. This is unacceptable. The 700,000 people whose jobs depend on the Great Lakes fishery cannot continue to wait on the Corps. I plan to hold the Corps accountable for openly flouting the direction given to it by Congress." Rep Camp said that instead of the required plan, the Corps will offer a report "on the range of options for combating the invasive carp. . ." 

    Access a release from GLMRIS and link to the complete 19-page report (click here). Access the statement from Sen. Stabenow (click here). Access the statement from Rep. Camp (click here). Access legislative details for S.2317 (click here); and H.R.4406 (click here). 

 

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$1.6 Million For Projects On Mercury Exposure & Fish Consumption

Oct 4: U.S. EPA announced two Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grants totaling almost $1.6 million for projects to protect women and children from mercury exposure through Great Lakes fish consumption. The funding will be used to improve health screening and to develop more effective fish consumption advisories. 

 

    The University of Illinois at Chicago will receive $192,258 for a project to recruit Great Lakes area health care providers and their pregnant patients to participate in a study evaluating the link between fish consumption and mercury levels in blood. The project will determine whether a single question about fish consumption is an effective screening tool to predict which women are likely to have elevated mercury levels and a related increase in potential health risks to their children. Data will also be analyzed to determine whether recreational anglers and tribal members have higher levels of mercury in their blood than the general population. 

 

    A second, major grant to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for $1.4 million will fund a project to improve health screening and to develop more effective fish consumption advisories in the Lake Superior Basin. A previous EPA-funded study found that nearly one in 10 infants in the basin had mercury levels higher than those recommended as safe by EPA. The Grand Portage Chippewa Tribe and the Sawtooth Mountain Clinics in Grand Portage and Grand Marais, Minnesota will participate in the MDH project. Physicians affiliated with the clinics will survey consenting female patients of childbearing age about fish consumption and test blood mercury levels. Patients will also be counseled to promote safe fish consumption choices. 

    Access a release from EPA and link to more information on GLRI and the grants (click here).

 

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Two Major Great Lakes Protection Fund Grants

Oct 5: In September of 2012, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo assumed the chairmanship of the Great Lakes Protection Fund (GLPR) and selected Matthew Driscoll to serve as Chair of the Board. At the meeting the Board of Directors also awarded two grants that commit more than $1.2 million to teams that further the Fund's mission to identify, demonstrate, and promote regional action to enhance the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

    One grant of up to $449,000 was awarded to a team (comprised of 8 organizations) led by the Council of Great Lakes Industries to create, through pilot testing, a new water stewardship toolkit specific to the Great Lakes region, that will prevent or reduce ecosystem impacts from water use, and be compatible with industry needs. A second grant of up to $823,000 was awarded to a team (comprised of 8 organizations) led by Wayne State University to develop, test, and implement an automated shipboard sampling system that will enable real-time verification of the efficacy of ballast water treatment systems and reduce the likelihood of new invasive  species entering the Great Lakes.

    GLPR is a private, nonprofit corporation formed in 1989 by the Governors of the Great Lakes states. It is a permanent environmental endowment that supports projects that lead to tangible improvements in the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem; promote the interdependence of healthy ecological and economic systems; and are innovative, creative, and venturesome.

 

    Access the announcement from GLPR and link to more information on the grants and the Driscoll appointment (click here).

 

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