OH & WI Legislators Team Up To Challenge Compact Approval

Feb 14: According to a release from Ohio Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland, OH), he and Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch (R-West Salem, WI) have teamed up to propose "modification" of the Great Lakes Compact and say they "will move expeditiously to pass legislation in their respective chambers." The release from Harris indicates the version they support was introduced as Senate Bill 291 in the Ohio Senate by State Senator Tim Grendell (R-Chesterland). A companion bill will be introduced in coming days by Representative Scott Gunderson, chairman of the Wisconsin Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.

The legislators say the bills seek to protect the Great Lakes from future diversions outside the Basin, while making two clarifying changes that they say "will address fatal flaws within the existing language that threaten private property rights, and that grant participating states unilateral authority to block one another from future intra-Basin water transfers." The legislators said they hope that if given a viable alternative to "the problematic wording in the Compact," the other Great Lakes states will follow suit and pass a Compact which they say "is stronger and a more accurate reflection of the participating states’ intent."

Until now the assumption has been that the Compact language, approved by eight Great Lakes Governors and two Canadian Provinces in 2005 is not up for negotiation. Thus far, Minnesota and Illinois approved the compact; Indiana and New York legislators have approved and sent legislation to their Governors for signing expected very soon [See WIMS 2/13/08]; and approval bills are pending in the Michigan and Pennsylvania. However, the Ohio and Wisconsin legislators say that, "While the goals are commendable, many experts have begun to raise concerns that, in the haste to ratify the Compact, the language agreed to at that time by the Governors is ambiguous and conflicts with current Ohio law when it comes to traditional protections for private property owners."

Ohio Senator Grendell noted that the current language states that “The Waters of the Basin are a precious natural resource shared and held in trust by the states.” He said, "While that sounds reasonable on its face, devil is in the details. The problem is that 'waters of the Basin' is defined as not just the Great Lakes, streams and navigable surface waters, but also includes groundwater and wells, that run under and supply the homes of private property owners throughout the 35 counties in Ohio that are part of the Basin. We support passage of a multi-state Compact to protect the Great Lakes. What we cannot support is ambiguous language that would call into question for example, the rights of private property owners to use or tap into groundwater on their own land. As it stands today, the Compact we are being asked to approve would be in direct conflict with Ohio’s tradition of strong private property rights.”

While alternative language is suggested, there appears to be a larger concern with the overall Compact. According to the release, "Grendell and Harris, backed by the opinions of other attorneys who specialize in these areas, are concerned that intent language alone is insufficient for protecting Ohio private property rights. As the governing document, the multi-state Compact would trump any assertions made only in Ohio law by the members of the 127th General Assembly. Harris said, “If clarifying language is needed to explain the intent of the Compact, then the language is too ambiguous.The only way to address this concern is to fix the Compact itself.”

Additionally, the legislators are suggesting additional changes in the basic structure of the Compact. Their release indicates that, "Another change supported by the group of legislators from Ohio and Wisconsin is to ensure that in the future if any of the Great Lakes states petitions to increase intra-Basin water transfers for things like economic development projects, the decision would be made by a majority vote of the Great Lakes states. By contrast, the existing Compact would allow any one of the participating states to unilaterally veto such transfers."

Access the release from Senator Harris (click here). Access details on individual state activity in enacting the Compact from the Council of Great Lakes Governors website (click here). Access various media reports on the Ohio and Wisconsin efforts (click here). Access the WIMS Great Lakes Environment Blog for links to additional information and background or to comment on this article (click here).

Indiana & New York Close To Compact Enactment

Feb 12: The Alliance for the Great Lakes (formerly the Lake Michigan Federation) issued a release applauding the Indiana legislature for endorsing the Great Lakes Compact, and urged that the Governor sign it into law promptly and that those states that have yet to pass the legislation move quickly toward adoption. The Alliance said that following a 91-8 vote in the House and an earlier unanimous vote in the Senate, Indiana and New York are now poised to become the third and fourth states in the region to adopt the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. The compact is also headed to New York Governor Eliot Spitzer after passing that State’s Assembly February 11. Minnesota and Illinois were the first of the eight Great Lakes states to adopt the compact and the critical protections it provides.

Sharon Cook, water conservation program director for the Alliance said, “The states all across the Great Lakes are keeping a watchful eye on each other’s legislatures. The compact’s passage by the Indiana General Assembly should prompt other states to adopt the compact now. The compact will set consistent, reasonable standards that all states within the basin must use. With predicted drops in congressional representation, locking water protections in now is the best defense against unsustainable use of the Great Lakes.”

Endorsed by the region’s eight state governors and two Canadian premiers in 2005, the compact must pass in each Great Lakes state before heading to the U.S. Congress for ratification. Legislatures in the remaining states are in varying stages of acting on compact, with bills pending in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Wisconsin’s legislation is still being drafted, which the Alliance said was a noticeable lag in a state where recent polling shows an overwhelming majority -- 80 percent -- of residents support the compact’s passage. Adopting the compact, as well as companion laws in the provinces of Ontario and Québec, would provide a first-of-its-kind model for a consensus-based, basin-wide approach to decisions about how much and how far away Great Lakes water can be used.

Access a release from the Alliance (click here). Access details on individual state activity in enacting the Compact from the Council of Great Lakes Governors website (click here). Access links to various media reports (click here).

ATSDR Great Lakes AOCs Report Held Up 7 Months

Feb 7: According to the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), "For more than seven months, the nation’s top public health agency has blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states, reportedly because it contains such potentially “alarming information” as evidence of elevated infant mortality and cancer rates."

CPI says the 400-plus-page study, Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in the Twenty-Six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern, was undertaken by a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the request of the International Joint Commission (IJC), an independent bilateral organization that advises the U.S. and Canadian governments on the use and quality of boundary waters between the two countries. The study was originally scheduled for release in July 2007 by the IJC and the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

CPI has obtained the study, which it says "warns that more than nine million people who live in the more than two dozen 'areas of concern' [AOCs] -- including such major metropolitan areas as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee -- may face elevated health risks from being exposed to dioxin, PCBs, pesticides, lead, mercury, or six other hazardous pollutants."

Access a brief article on the report and link to the report which is marked throughout "do not quote or cite" (click here). Access links to various Internet citations to the report (click here). Access various Blog posts regarding the report (click here). Access various news media reports (click here). Access complete information on Great Lakes AOCs (click here).

Upcoming Upper Great Lakes Study Meetings In SE Michigan

Feb 4: The Public Interest Advisory Group (PIAG) of the International Upper Great Lakes Study (IUGLS) -- a binational team of researchers studying whether possible physical changes in the St. Clair River are contributing to record low levels in the Great Lakes -- has scheduled two public meetings in the Detroit area for February 19-20, 2008. PIAG co-chair Kay Felt and researchers will present an overview of the Study, highlighting the latest findings and focusing on the importance of public input and collaboration with local governments. Attendees will have an extensive opportunity to present their views and ask questions. More broadly, the Study is examining whether regulation of outflows from Lake Superior might be improved to take into consideration changing climate and evolving interests of property owners, local governments, the shipping industry, and the recreation/tourism industry.

On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, from 7 to 9 PM, PIAG will meet at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, 32 Lakeshore Drive, Grosse Pointe Farms. On Wednesday, February 20, 2008, from 1 to 3 PM, PIAG will meet jointly with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), at 535 Griswold St., Suite 300, Detroit, Michigan.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) appointed the International Upper Great Lakes Study Board in February 2007 to examine whether the regulation of Lake Superior outflows can be improved to address the evolving needs of the upper Great Lakes. The study area includes lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie, and their interconnecting channels (St. Mary's River, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River and Niagara River), up to Niagara Falls.

Major topics for investigation include determining the factors that affect water levels and flows, developing and testing potential new regulation plans and assessing the impacts of these potential plans on the ecosystem and human interests. Physical changes in the St. Clair River will be investigated early in the study as one factor that might be affecting water levels and flows. Depending on the nature and extent of the physical changes, and their potential impact on water levels and flows, the study may also explore potential remediation options.

On November 1, 2007, the IUGLS released preliminary results that did not appear to support the theory that an eroding river bed is responsible for causing the Lake Michigan-Huron system to "hemorrhage" 2.5 billion gallons of water a day [See WIMS 11/2/07]. On August 14, 2007, an analysis from a consultant for the Georgian Bay Association (GBA), indicated that the channel drainage in the St. Clair River was causing the extensive loss of water from the Lake Michigan-Huron system. However, the preliminary results from the extensive IUGLS indicate that the so-called "armour layer" in the upper part of the St. Clair River is considered to be stable and therefore, the bed cannot be eroding.

Access the IUGLS website for details and further information (click here).

HOW Coalition Looks At Great Lakes Funding

Feb 6: The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (HOW) has released a preliminary review of the President's proposed budget released on February 4, and how it relates to Great Lakes programs. They said the White House budget "leaves the Great Lakes on thin ice and underscores the need for Congress and the next President of the United States to do more to restore a national resource that millions of people depend on for their jobs, public health and quality of life.” HOW said the biggest single cut is to a program to help communities modernize old wastewater treatment facilities to prevent sewage contamination.

Jeff Skelding, National Campaign Director for HOW said, “Absent leadership from this President, we urge the U.S. Congress to fund the manageable solutions we have at our disposal to restore the Great Lakes now, because every day we wait, the problems get worse and the solutions more costly. We need strong federal leadership to partner with the region’s states and cities to restore the largest source of surface freshwater in the world. Instead, the White House budget cuts programs to stop sewage contamination and confront the threat of aquatic invasive species. Most of the leading presidential candidates have signed a pledge to restore the Great Lakes. We can’t wait until January. Now is the time to increase funding to restore the Great Lakes as called for in the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. Congress must act to restore the cuts in this short sighted budget.”

Access a release from HOW (click here). Access a table comparing FY08 & FY09 funding levels (click here). Access a table comparing funding levels by individual Great Lakes states (click here). Access the HOW Coalition website for additional information (click here). Access a detailed, 78-page FY09 EPA Budget summary (click here, search Great Lakes for detailed information).

Five New Great Lakes Fishery Commission Research Projects

Feb 4: The Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) has completed five separate research projects related to the Great Lakes fishery, invasive species, and management. The projects deal with the possible factors leading to the dramatic decline of the American eel; luring the round goby into traps by the scent of male round goby urine; the ecology of a diverse and highly threatened group of fishes called the deepwater ciscoes; improving the inclusion of stakeholders in decisions affecting fisheries; and estimating the diets of the sea lamprey, one of the most devastating invasive species in the Great Lakes.

Access a release with a brief summary of each project and links to further information of each (click here).

On-Line Great Lakes Chemicals Fate Model

Jan 29: Syracuse Research Corporation (SRC) has produced an online, interactive modeling application for predicting the fate of chemicals within the Great Lakes environment. The project, led by Dr. Mario Citra of SRC, set out to produce an easy-to-use application that would allow users to determine several important factors relating to how chemicals behave once they have been released into the Great Lakes environment. These include: Where in the environment does the chemical tend to accumulate (such as in water, soils, sediments, air or fish)? How long is the chemical retained in the Great Lakes environment before it degrades or is transported to another region? What concentration in the environment would be produced by a given level of emission? What is the potential for a chemical to travel to the Great Lakes region from far away? And more.

By providing this capability through an online interface that is easy to access and use, the model gives users a powerful tool for answering their questions about the behavior of a given chemical in the Great Lakes system. The modeling program may be run with as little input as the chemical’s Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) identification number (of which 33 million are available) although more detailed characteristics may be input as well. The model’s ease of use and availability over the Internet make it a great tool for use in educational settings.

While much information can be generated by the model without specifying chemical quantities, knowing how much of a chemical is emitted into the environment allows a user to obtain even more information, such as predicted concentrations in air, water, soils, sediments and fish. It also allows the user to determine the likelihood that a certain concentration known to be a high-risk level would be exceeded. While users can enter their own emissions information, the website also includes links to pesticide application data from the CropLife Foundation and air emissions data from the Great Lakes Regional Toxic Air Emissions Inventory, which together provide useful release information on more than 350 toxic substances.

The model is configured to represent each of the five Great Lakes basins (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior). The user is able to choose which of these five they would like to use as the basis for the model. While other models may be more complex or offer additional capabilities, this modeling program has the advantage of being easy to access and use. Potential applications include investigating the behavior of new or unstudied chemicals; comparing emissions and monitoring data; and calculating expected concentrations of chemicals in the environment or the likelihood that such concentrations will exceed known risk values.

Access an announcement on the model (click here). Access the model on the SRC website (click here). Access additional model documentation (click here).