May 2010 Sampling Finds No Asian Carp In Little Calumet River

Dec 7: A rotenone rapid response, known as Operation Pelican, was completed on a 2.6-mile section of the Little Calumet River in Chicago immediately downstream of the T. J. O'Brien Lock and Control Works during May 19-28, 2010. The treatment zone measured 173 surface acres and it included the river main stem from O'Brien Lock and Dam to the Beaubien Woods Forest Preserve boat launches, the mouth of the Grand Calumet River, and the Marine Services Corporation Marina. The primary purpose of the response was to determine the abundance of bighead and silver carp (Asian carp) in this portion of the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) that had previously produced multiple positive detections for Asian carp environmental DNA.  The Fish Identification and Enumeration Branch processed all fish recovered during the operation. No bighead or silver carp were recovered or observed during the operation.

 

    Access an overview and link to maps of the sampling site (click here). Access the 7-page report of the sampling (click here).

Asian Carp Prevention & Control Act Goes To President

Dec 1: The U.S. House of Representatives gave approval to a bill authored by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), which would aid in the fight against the further spread of Asian carp in the United States. The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act, S.1421, would add the bighead carp species of Asian carp to a list of injurious species that are prohibited from being imported or shipped in the United States under the Lacey Act. The Senate passed the bill in November [See WIMS 11/18/10], and it now goes to President Obama for his signature. Levin introduced the bipartisan bill in July 2009 with Senator George Voinovich (R-OH). Levin and Voinovich co-chair the Senate Great Lakes Task Force. 

    Levin said, "The U.S. Congress took an important step today in the effort to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. These fish pose a real, clear and growing threat to the Great Lakes and I will continue working with my colleagues to ensure tools like the Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act and others will be available as we counter this threat. The devastating effects Asian carp could have on the Great Lakes are not fully known, and I want to make sure they are never realized."

    The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act would list the bighead carp as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act, which was originally passed by Congress in 1900 and amended in 1981. Listing the bighead species of Asian carp under the Lacey Act would help prevent the intentional introduction of the species by prohibiting the interstate transportation or importation of live Asian carp without a permit. This legislation would not interfere with existing state regulations of Asian carp, and it would allow states to issue permits to transport or purchase live Asian carp for scientific, medical or educational purposes. The Fish and Wildlife Service has already listed other species of Asian carp as injurious under the Lacey Act. 

 

    Access a release from Senator Levin (click here). Access legislative details on S.1421 (click here).

Latest Council Of Great Lakes Governors Newsletter

Dec 1: The Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) has released the December 2010 edition of its newsletter, The Compass. Highlights in the issue include: A Message from Council Co-Chair Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle; Regional Body and Compact Council to Hold Meetings on December 8th; Council Trade Mission Targets South Africa; Great Lakes Exporters Assist in Chile Mine Rescue; Great Lakes of North America Participates in German-Focused Trade Show; Council on the Move-December 2010; and Strickland Completes Successful Co-Chairmanship.

 

    Access links to the current and back issues (click here).

Senate Passes Asian Carp Prevention & Control Act

Nov 17: The U.S. Senate gave approval to a bill authored by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), which would aid in the fight against the further spread of Asian carp in the United States. The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act, S.1421, would add the bighead carp species of Asian carp to a list of injurious species that are prohibited from being imported or shipped in the United States under the Lacey Act. Senator Levin introduced the bipartisan bill in July 2009 with Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) his co-chair on the Senate Great Lakes Task Force. A companion bill introduced in the House by Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL), is currently pending in the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. The bill must be approved by the House before signed into law by the president.

    Levin said, "Asian carp pose a real, clear and growing threat to the Great Lakes, but this bill will add to the arsenal of tools we have to combat them. The devastating effects Asian carp could have on the Great Lakes are not fully known, and I want to make sure they are never realized. I will work with my House colleagues to ensure this bill is sent to the president as soon as possible so it can take effect expeditiously."

    The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act would list the bighead carp as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act, which was originally passed by Congress in 1900 and amended in 1981. Listing the bighead species of Asian carp under the Lacey Act would help prevent the intentional introduction of the species by prohibiting the interstate transportation or importation of live Asian carp without a permit. Levin indicated in a release that the legislation would not interfere with existing state regulations of Asian carp, and it would allow states to issue permits to transport or purchase live Asian carp for scientific, medical or educational purposes. The Fish and Wildlife Service has already listed other species of Asian carp as injurious under the Lacey Act.

    Access a release from Sen. Levin with additional information (click here). Access legislative details on S.1421 (click here). Access legislative details on H.R.3173 (click here).

Groups Say Company Is Misleading On Nuclear Shipments

Nov 15: A release from the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and several U.S. non-governmental organizations accuses Bruce Power (BP) of misleading the public, the media and decision-makers about the kind of contamination inside the cargo of 16 radioactive steam generators it plans to ship to Sweden [See WIMS 9/17/10], by neglecting to state that it is mainly plutonium. The company proposes to ship the sixteen, 100 tonne steel radioactive steam generators, from Owen Sound, through Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence and out into the Atlantic to Sweden for reprocessing.

 

    The proposal has been met with concerted opposition from over 100 municipalities and aboriginal communities along the route, as well as from more than 70 NGOs. In response to this public outcry, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) held a public hearing in September with 79 intervenors. According to the release, the outpouring of concern at that hearing led CNSC to extend the comment period for intervenors to give added input until November 22 -- an unexpected and unprecedented development.

 

    Most of the intervenors want Bruce Power to cancel the shipment and return to the original plan as laid down in a 2006 Environmental Assessment -- to store the steam generators on site indefinitely as radioactive waste along with all the other radioactive waste materials produced by the Bruce reactors.

 

    The groups said if the company insists on pushing forward with its proposal, intervenors feel strongly that there must be an environmental assessment of the entire project, including "not only the initial transport to Sweden but the recycling of the radioactive metal and the return back to Canada of up to 30 percent of the original waste."

 

    Access a release from the groups (click here).

Corps Announces EIS Process For ANS Control Interbasin Study

Nov 16: The Chicago District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced in the Federal Register [75 FR 69983-69985] its intent to: (1) prepare a Draft EIS; (2) accept public comments; and (3) host a public scoping meeting in Chicago for the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). In collaboration with other Federal, state, and local agencies as well as non-governmental entities, USACE is conducting a feasibility study of the options and technologies that could be applied to prevent or reduce the risk of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) transfer between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins through aquatic pathways. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping period ends on February 28, 2011. The first NEPA Public Scoping meeting for GLMRIS is scheduled for December 15, 2010 in Chicago. Additional scoping meetings in other cities will be announced later.

 

    According to the announcement, the Mississippi River and Great Lakes Basins are connected by man-made channels that, in the past, exhibited poor water quality, which was an impediment to the transfer of organisms between the basins. Now that water quality has improved, these canals allow the transfer of both indigenous and nonindigenous invasive species. Potential ANS controls may include, but are not limited to, hydrologic separation of the basins, waterway modifications, selective barriers, etc. USACE will accept comments related to GLMRIS until February 28, 2011.

 

    Access the FR announcement (click here). Access the GLMRIS project website for further information and to submit comments (click here).

Great Lakes Commission Urges OMB To Continue Base Funding

Nov 12: The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) has called on the Obama Administration to maintain a strong foundation for ongoing management and conservation of the Great Lakes in its FY 2012 budget proposal. In correspondence sent to the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), GLC Chair James Tierney emphasized that both the Administration and Congress have stated clearly that special funding provided under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is intended to supplement, not supplant, base funding for regional and national programs that support continued management of the Great Lakes [emphasis in original].

 

    The Commission continues to strongly support the GLRI, which is implementing a comprehensive restoration plan built on the priorities of the region's governors and broadly endorsed by local governments, tribes, business and industry, and conservation groups. The Initiative addresses specific restoration priorities, however, and does not take the place of, or lessen the need for, base Federal programs that ensure the effective use and conservation of the Great Lakes. The President's FY 2012 budget proposal is being prepared by OMB and will be submitted to Congress in February 2011. The GLC letter asks that OMB and the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force honor the "clear intent of Congress and the Administration that funding for base Great Lakes programs be maintained at 2009 levels as the GLRI moves forward."

 

    GLC points out that when Congress approved FY 2010 appropriations it directed U.S. EPA to "work with the other Federal agencies to ensure [GLRI] funds supplement and expand, not supplant, base Great Lakes programs when compared to fiscal year 2009 levels." Similarly, the GLRI Action Plan, adopted by the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force in February 2010, states that "agencies must assure that they continue to support their existing base program activities in the Great Lakes and that added Initiative support will not be used to supplant their existing base funding."

 

    Access a release from GLC (click here). Access more information on the GLC's regional advocacy program for the Great Lakes (click here).