Great Lakes News

<> Great Lakes Fishery Commission Annual Meeting - The Great Lakes Fishery Commission Annual Meeting will take place June 3-4 in Chicago, Ill. The meeting includes a welcome from U.S. EPA Region 5 Administrator Sustan Hedman, and more. . .

Great Lakes News

<> Great Lakes governors take aim at invasive species - The governors of eight states surrounding the Great Lakes and the leaders of two Canadian provinces have agreed at a meeting in Chicago to join forces to combat invasive species including Asian Carp.

<> Great Lakes ice currently highest amount for this late date; Superior could have ice still in June - Lake Superior is still over 60 percent covered in ice as of yesterday Saturday April 26, 2014. . .

<> Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder: 'atmosphere of crisis' needed for faster action on Asian carp - Great Lakes Echo commentator Gary Wilson sat down with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in Chicago for a one-on-one interview Friday. Snyder urged a quicker solution to the carp crisis, said he was worried about storing pet coke. . .

<> Coast Guard completes investigation into BP oil spill - A hearing officer will decide within 30 days whether BP will face any fines, penalties or corrective actions for the oil spill that occurred in Lake Michigan in March. . .

<> Chicago Receives Two U.S. EPA Grants to Improve Lake Michigan Water Quality - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the award of two Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants totaling $1 million to fund green infrastructure projects in Chicago. . .

WIMS SPRING BREAK

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REMINDER: WIMS will not be publishing this week during our Spring Break. Regular daily publication will resume on Monday, April 28, 2014.

 

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Waste Information & Management Services, Inc. (WIMS)
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Great Lakes News

<> Great Lakes whitefish shortage comes on heels of record-high prices in 2013 - Lower supplies and increased demand pushed wholesale whitefish prices to record levels last year, and a late start to the 2014 Great Lakes fishing season could place further pressure on prices.

Great Lakes News

<> Dozens of ships at Soo Locks await ice cutter convoy to cross Lake Superior - There are currently more than 40 ships waiting to get through the Soo Locks due to the lingering ice cover on the water.

<> Call: 10th Annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference - The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has issued a reminder call for presentations and field trips for the upcoming conference to be held in Grand Rapids, Mich., Sept. 9-11. Deadline for submission is tomorrow, April 18.

<> Corps Releases Latest GLMRIS Newsletter - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has release the latest issue of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS ) newsletter with a number of articles related to the GLMRIS Report release.

<> Invaders in the Ballast Water - One GLPF-Sponsored Project to Keep Invasive Species Out of the Great Lakes Photo: Dr. Jeffrey Ram When ships enter the Great Lakes region, these vessels can transport new "passengers" that are unwelcome, in the form of . . .

Great Lakes News

<> Lack of Vitamin B1 Killing Great Lakes Fish - Summary: Great Lakes fish in the salmon family that rely on the fish "alewife" as part of their diet face a major obstacle in restoring naturally reproducing populations, according to new U.S. Geological Survey research

<> Why it's a big deal that half of the Great Lakes are still covered in ice - As the Great Lakes slowly lose their historically large ice covers over the next few months, the domino effects could include lingering cold water, delayed seasonal shifts, and huge jumps in water levels

<> COMMENTARY: Tar sands expansion poses risk to Great Lakes - Expanding proposals for more pipeline capacity by Canadian pipeline company Enbridge, as well as plans to ship tar sands crude oil across Lake Superior and other Great Lakes, are astonishing in their sheer scale.

Great Lakes News

<> U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Great Lakes Region) Web-based Sediment Tools Training Sessions - A series of one-day training workshops on the Corps' web-based sediment tools to be held at various locations around the Great Lakes Basin. Free of charge to all participants.

<> Planned nuclear waste facility raises fears for Great Lakes - Some materials that would be stored in a proposed underground nuclear waste facility less than a mile from Lake Huron are hundreds of times more radioactive than was told to Canadian government officials considering the. . .

Great Lakes News

<> Canada narrows list of possible locations for nuclear waste facility - Canada is a step closer to picking a place to store spent nuclear fuel underground for the next 100,000 years, a project that's backfired on some of the world's other nuclear economies. One of four sites, Schreiber, ON, is on the Northshore of Lake Superior

• Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization 

<> Lake Michigan and Lake Huron water levels are rising, but how big a jump is expected?

Great Lakes News

<> Lake Superior ice still slowing commercial ships, Coast Guard ice-breakers to stay into May - Warming temperatures are improving shipping schedules on the Great Lakes, though the effects of winter's icy fury still remain.

<> 2014 Great Lakes Beach Association Conference - Save the date November 12-14 at the Novotel Toronto Centre in downtown Toronto, Ontario.

Great Lakes News

<> Coalition to Testify at House Hearing on Great Lakes Efforts - Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition Policy Director Chad Lord will be testifying today before a U.S. House subcommittee responsible for funding environmental programs

<> Congress expands Great Lakes dredging; 16 projects planned in Michigan, Wisconsin - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District had planned nine dredging projects in Michigan and Wisconsin for 2014 worth $13.2 million. But Congress recently allocated an additional $17.8 million and the number hit 16. . .

<> Great Lakes BIOTIC Symposium - The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network is hosting the Great Lakes Briefs on Invasive Organisms Traded in Commerce (BIOTIC) Symposium in Milwaukee, WI on June 3-4. The project is being led by the Wisconsin and Minnesota Sea Grant Programs, and aims to advance knowledge and understanding of the organisms in trade invasion pathway. . .

<> Lakewood launches pilot sewer project in hopes of reducing expensive sewer upgrades - To help solve the problem of sanitary sewer overflows that pollute the Rocky River and Lake Erie,, Lakewood, Ohio, plans to dye-test and use video cameras on sewers leading from nearly 300 homes, many of which may have. . . 

Great Lakes News

<> Coalition Supports House, Senate Efforts to Boost Great Lakes Programs - The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition today issued its support to U.S. House and Senate leaders who are pushing to restore funding to Great Lakes programs.

<> Council of Canadians, environmental groups push Great Lakes protection - Environmental groups across the province of Ontario are calling for adoption of key legislation that was introduced last February to protect and improve the health of the Great Lakes

Great Lakes News

<> Lake levels hold steady as cold hangs on - Water levels in Lake Michigan held steady compared to last month, but are above last year and expected to rise as more snowpack melts with the warmer spring weather

<> New plan needed for Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River; water levels likely to be higher this summer - A new plan -- one that regulates the water levels for Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River -- is needed soon because of the recent rise in water levels.

<> Crews finish cleanup after BP oil spill on Lake Michigan, trace amounts of oil remain - A shoreline assessment team made up of representatives from the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency and BP has decided that no further cleanup efforts are needed for the oil spill.

Great Lakes News

<> Levin leads Great Lakes senators in pushing for funding for the lakes in Congressional spending bills

<> See melting from space as spring takes hold in southern Great Lakes; Lake Superior still frozen - See how the satellite images show spring progressing as warmer temperatures have taken away a lot of ice on Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario, but not on Lake Superior

Great Lakes News

<> Corps Meeting On dredging in Cleveland Harbor and Cuyahoga River - Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District will host a public information open house about proposed open lake placement of sediment dredged from the upper federal navigation channel of the Cuyahoga River.

<> Addressing the Great Lakes Prescription Drug Problem - The following student post is by Karinne Marcolini (B.A., Michigan State University; J.D., Wayne State University Law School, expected 2015). While in law school, Karinne has worked at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern. . .

Great Lakes News

<> Chemicals take various routes to Great Lakes - Scientists discovered that Toronto exports polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, to Lake Ontario mostly through the air. But its flame retardants and combustion pollutants reach the lake through tributaries.

<> Mayors Make Case for Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Protection in Ottawa - Mayors are meeting with decision makers in Ottawa in the first ever Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Day on Parliament Hill, to bring attention to urgent issues facing shoreline communities and the waters of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence basin.

Great Lakes News

<> Groups: Permanent Solution to Invasive Species Crisis Needs to Remain Priority for Army Corps, States and Congress - Only viable solution is to physically separate Great Lakes, Mississippi River basins Conservation groups are urging the Obama Administration and U.S. Congress to maintain their focus on a permanent, long-term solution. . . Groups submit comments.

Great Lakes News

<> Great Lakes Month in Review: Tar sands, Great Lakes Day, water retail - At the end of each month Current State checks in with Great Lakes commentator and journalist Gary Wilson for updates on environmental stories from around the Basin.

• More on issues surrounding potential tar sands shipping on the Great Lakes

<> Water Center Awards $214,600 Grant for Development of New Great Lakes Ecosystem Management Tools