GLRI To Expand Great Lakes Watershed Database

May 3: The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) has announced that NOAA's existing Great Lakes Query Manager database is being expanded under the GLRI to help expedite the development, implementation, and monitoring of sediment cleanup and restoration projects throughout the Great Lakes.  According to a GLRI posting, historically, data available at any given project site have been from various agencies and programs that have kept data in different formats. This has often resulted in substantial time being expended to compile, analyze, and interpret the data. To address this problem, the GLRI expansion of the Great Lakes Watershed Environmental Database will incorporate additional environmental sediment chemistry, biota contaminant-residue chemistry, and environmental contaminant toxicity data from all Great Lakes States and federal partners. The database will serve as a centralized repository for all Great Lakes Basin environmental contaminant-related data. 

 

    GLRI indicates that having data in one compiled, standardized form will decrease the time necessary to interpret the data, thereby, helping to speed cleanup and restoration. All agencies will benefit through increased volume and accessibility of the data as well as the technical input provided by the coordinating agencies. Establishing a more comprehensive Great Lakes Query Manager database will also provide partner agencies with a powerful outreach tool that can be used to share information with the public in an easy to use format. NOAA currently maintains Query Manager databases for several Great Lakes sub-watersheds and a Basin-wide Query Manager database for the NOAA National Status and Trends Mussel Watch data.

    Query Manager is a relational database that has been used in the cleanup and restoration of contaminated sediment sites throughout the coastal United States. It is routinely used throughout the Great Lakes in investigation and sample plan design, ecological risk assessment, cleanup level derivation, development and evaluation of remedial alternatives, development of mitigation strategies, sediment and soil remediation design–including time-critical removal actions, natural resource damage assessment (pathway evaluation, injury determination, and restoration project development and scaling), and long-term effectiveness monitoring programs and other management activities needed to cleanup and restore the Great Lakes ecosystem.

    Access the GLRI announcement and link to additional information about NOAA's Query Manager database application, or to obtain a copy of the desktop version (click here).

MI AG Says Asian Carp Issue Now In President's Hands

Apr 26: In the wake of the latest decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny Michigan and six other states their day in court on the Asian carp crisis [See WIMS 4/26/10], Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said that "thousands of Michigan jobs now depend on the willingness of President Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid to protect the Great Lakes over the narrow interests of the President's home state of Illinois." Michigan's lawsuit calling for a permanent separation of the Great Lakes basin from the Mississippi River basin was supported by Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and the Province of Ontario. 

 

    Cox said, "The fight to protect Michigan's jobs and environment now falls to President Obama and Congress. While President Obama has turned a blind eye to the millions of Great Lakes residents who do not happen to live in his home state of Illinois, it is now up to him to save thousands of Michigan jobs and our environment. Unfortunately, very little of the President's incomplete plan has even been implemented at this point. Michigan and all other Great Lakes residents should contact the President immediately and tell him the future of our region requires immediate action."

    In a release, Cox said residents can make their voices heard by calling the White House at 202-456-1414, signing an online petition to protect the Lakes at www.StopAsianCarp.com, and posting comments at the stopasiancarp.com page on Facebook. Cox also called on Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid to quickly advance critical legislation sponsored by Congressman Dave Camp (H.R. 4472) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (S. 294). The CARP Act will allow immediate action to protect the Great Lakes' ecosystem and $7 billion per year fishing industry from invasive Asian carp, much like what was called for in Michigan's suit. Cox praised the bi-partisan efforts of Governor Granholm, the Michigan DNRE, and Michigan's Congressional delegation and said their continued efforts are critical to stopping Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. 

 

    Access a release from AG Cox (click here).

Supreme Court Final Denial In Great Lakes Carp Case

Apr 26: The U.S. Supreme Court for the third time declined to address the debate between Great Lakes states on issues and actions necessary to control the spread of Asian Carp into the Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes [See WIMS 4/20/10]. 

 

    In its brief denial, the High Court said, "The motion of Michigan to reopen and for a supplemental decree is denied. The alternative motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied." While the Supreme Court had previously denied the Michigan request for a Motion for Preliminary Injunction on March 22 [See WIMS 3/22/10] the Attorney General also filed a petition requesting the Court to reopen the ongoing legal case -- 1, 2 , 3 Original -- with the State and Illinois on issues related to diversions of water from the Great Lakes, through various Chicago waterworks and into the Mississippi River basin. The Attorney General argued that, "since by law, this Court [Supreme Court] has 'original and exclusive jurisdiction of all controversies between two or more states,'  there is no other forum in which Michigan may obtain the equitable relief it seeks." [See WIMS 3/23/10].

 

    Henry Henderson, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC's) Midwest Program, who filed an amicus brief with the Court on behalf of the Michigan case issued a statement said, "This fight is not over, it is simply shifting. By choosing not to engage, the Justices have opened other venues for addressing the invasive species threat. Sadly, the Court has stepped away from nearly a century of effective engagement with the important intersection of the Chicago Waterway System and the health of the Great Lakes. With all that is at stake, it is likely that we will see this action moved to another legal venue. In the meantime, NRDC and the other NGO groups will be working to help bring about an effective, permanent solution to protect the Great Lakes and the community that depends upon them." 

    Access the Supreme Court Order (click here, top of page 2). Access a release from NRDC (click here). Access various media reports (click here). Access links to Michigan's filings in the case (click here). Access all of the filings in the case (click here).

Groups Say Great Lakes Under Siege From Toxic Pollution

Apr 21: A report released by Great Lakes-area environmental groups -- Partners in Pollution 2:  An Update on the Continuing Canadian and United States Contributions to Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Ecosystem Pollution -- indicates that reporting facilities released just over 460 million lbs (209 million kg) of pollutants in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin in 2007. The report numbers are based on a matched dataset of 2007 data compiled by the Canadian National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) and the U.S. Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Among the pollutants, over 34 million lbs of known reproductive/developmental toxins were released by 1,834 facilities in the Great Lakes basin. The report was prepared by PollutionWatch, a collaborative project of Environmental Defence and Canadian Environmental Law Association.
 
    John Jackson, Director of Clean Production and Toxics at Great Lakes United (GLU) said, "Imagine 17,000 dump trucks pulling up to your beach and tipping their toxic load straight into the drinking water of 40 million people. These ongoing toxic discharges are a smear on one of the world's greatest sources of freshwater. We need to move beyond promises and put more serious effort into stopping this pollution in the first place." Lake Michigan basin had the second largest number of facilities in the basin (25% of all facilities) that reported to the U.S. TRI and contributed a fifth (approximately 21%) of total releases of pollutants in the Great Lakes basin. 
 
    Meanwhile, the Lake Erie basin is being particularly hard hit. Including the industrial facilities that straddle the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River, Lake Erie had the most facilities (over 1,300 facilities representing 35% of all facilities) that reported to Canada's NPRI and U.S. TRI. These facilities contributed half of the total releases that affect this watershed. The groups said, "This is particularly troubling considering that Lake Erie is the smallest, shallowest, but most biologically productive lake in the Great Lakes system."
 
    Lin Kaatz Chary, Project Director of the Great Lakes Green Chemistry Network said, "We need to shift away from an 'end of pipe' mentality and toward a strong commitment to pollution prevention. This includes an emphasis on the promotion of 'green' chemistry to help companies design and manufacture products that eliminate or reduce the toxicity of chemicals used in production, while also preventing unnecessary waste." The groups said the prevention focus has long been a principle of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), an historic pact between Canada and the U.S. to curb pollution to the lakes. Pollution Watch 2 is being released as the United States and Canadian governments renegotiate this landmark agreement, which sets goals for reducing pollution on both sides of the Great Lakes basin.

 

    Access a lengthy release with summary table and additional information (click here). Access the 65-page report (click here). Access the Pollution Watch website for extensive background information (click here).

GLRI Modeling Of Mercury Loadings To Great Lakes Begins

Apr 19: The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) reports that mercury contamination in the Great Lakes is an ongoing concern, with both public health and wildlife health impacts. According to a posting, atmospheric deposition likely contributes more mercury to the Lakes and their watersheds than any other loading pathway. However, the amount, form, spatial distribution, and source attribution for this deposition is not well known. To address this knowledge gap, a project funded by GLRI to estimate the amount of mercury deposited to the Great Lakes from the atmosphere is now beginning. The project will use the NOAA HYSPLIT atmospheric fate and transport model to make these estimates and also the amounts coming from different source regions and source types. It is hoped that the information will be useful in prioritizing local, regional, national, and international actions to reduce mercury loadings to the Great Lakes. GLRI Funds to support the project have just been received by the Air Resources Laboratory (~April 19, 2010) and so work on this project will now commence. This first phase of the project is expected to take approximately one year to complete.

    In the project, mercury released to the air from local, regional, national, and global sources will be modeled from emissions to eventual deposition. The modeling will be carried out using a special version of the NOAA HYSPLIT atmospheric fate and transport model enhanced to simulate atmospheric mercury. Gridded meteorological data from NOAA and other agencies will be used to drive the HYSPLIT model. Mercury emissions inventories from EPA, States, and international agencies / institutions will be used as inputs to the model.

    Access the complete announcement with more details (click here).

No Action By Supreme Court On MI Chicago Locks Case

Apr 19: The U.S. Supreme Court did not take up the Michigan Attorney General's request for hearings to develop a "long-term solution to the crisis that will protect the ecology and economy of the Great Lakes." According to earlier information from Michigan Attorney General Michael Cox the High Court was to consider Michigan's request on April 16th. However, media reports indicate that the matter was not considered and a spokesman "declined to say whether justices intend to consider the issue at conference this week, or push it back further."

 

    While the High Court denied the Michigan request for a Motion for Preliminary Injunction on March 22 [See WIMS 3/22/10] the Attorney General also filed a petition requesting the Court to reopen the ongoing legal case with the State and Illinois and issue a Supplemental Decree. Michigan has asked the Court to declare that to the extent the facilities created, operated, and maintained by Illinois et al, in connection with the diversion now allow the introduction of harmful aquatic invasive species into Lake Michigan and other connected waters and they constitute a public nuisance. Michigan asserts that, "Those facilities create a threat of irreparable injury to natural resources held in trust by the State of Michigan, as well as riparian and other rights of Michigan and its citizens."

    Michigan indicates that the State of Illinois "was and remains an indispensable party in any proceeding to resolve the present dispute between Michigan and the other parties concerning the existence of a continuing public nuisance and the equitable relief sought by Michigan to prevent and abate it. Accordingly, since by law, this Court has 'original and exclusive jurisdiction of all controversies between two or more states,'  there is no other forum in which Michigan may obtain the equitable relief it seeks." [See WIMS 3/23/10].

    Access a report from Chicago WGN News (click here). Access a Detroit Free Press editorial (click here). Access links to Michigan's filings in the case (click here). Access all of the filings in the case (click here).

Groups Concerned About New Berlin Diversion Compliance

Apr 13: A joint release from a number of Great Lakes environmental organizations indicates that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) gave notice to the City of New Berlin that the city had failed to meet its commitments under the terms of the Lake Michigan Diversion Approval it was granted last year, on May 21, 2009. They raised the question of whether the "New Berlin Compliance [is] A Foreshadowing of Worse to Come?" The City of New Berlin was the first community within any of the eight Great Lakes states to receive approval for a diversion under the historic Great Lakes Water Resources Compact enacted December 8, 2008.  The groups issuing the release included: Alliance for the Great Lakes; Clean Wisconsin; Milwaukee Riverkeeper; Midwest Environmental Advocates; New Berlin Land Conservancy; Sixteenth Street Community Health Center; Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

 

    The groups reported that WDNR had given the City 30 days from March 30, 2010, to provide the required information called for under the terms of the Diversion Approval, and to include reporting on: Water quantities sold within the city limits and within the approved diversion area; Water amount diverted to the diversion area on a monthly basis; Water quantity pumped from municipal wells; and Estimates of sewerage return flow by category.

　Attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin, Of Counsel to Midwest Environmental Advocates, Wisconsin's only non-profit environmental law center said, "The City of New Berlin's failure to meet the terms of its Diversion Approval is actually not a first for the city, as New Berlin was five months late on an earlier required dead-line to provide details on its Water Conservation Program." New Berlin was required to submit additional water conservation information by August 21, 2009, but the City did not, in fact, comply until January 12, 2010.

    Other groups around the Great Lakes region also find New Berlin's failure troubling. Ed Glatfelter, Director of Water Conservation Programs for the Alliance for the Great Lakes said, "Communities, like the City of New Berlin, seeking diversions under the Great Lakes Compact should know that they have a duty to comply with the law in its entirety and honor their long-term commitments under any diversion approval granted."

    Access a joint release from organizations (click here).