Bluff Collapses Into Lake Michigan At We Energies' WI Plant

Nov 1: A detailed article in the Milwaukee Journal (MJ) reports, "A large section of bluff collapsed Monday next to the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant, sending dirt, coal ash and mud cascading into the shoreline next to Lake Michigan and dumping a pickup truck, dredging equipment, soil and other debris into the lake. There were no injuries, and the incident did not affect power output from the plant." MJ reported that, We Energies spokesman Barry McNulty said, "Based on our land use records it is probable that some of the material that washed into the lake is coal ash. We believe that was something that was used to fill the ravine area in that site during the 1950s. That's a practice that was discontinued several decades ago." We Energies confirmed later in the day that the coal ash was likely in the debris.

 

    Sierra Club issued a release saying, "A partial retaining bluff collapse Monday at the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant in Wisconsin sent toxic coal ash spewing into Lake Michigan. This collapse comes just weeks after the U.S. House voted to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from protecting Americans from coal ash" [i.e. the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R.2273)] [See WIMS 10/14/11]. A similar bill, S.1751 is now before the Senate for consideration.

 

    Sierra Club said, "We want to thank the first responders, cleanup and safety workers for their courage in helping to clean up this mess. We are very grateful that no one appears to have been injured. Unfortunately, residents of Southeast Wisconsin have been victims of We Energies negligence for years. The burning of coal is a public health menace. This incident underscores that as long as we are still mining and burning coal someone somewhere is paying the price."

 

    Access the MJ article with picture (click here). Access the Sierra Club release (click here). Access legislative details for H.R.2273 (click here). Access legislative details for S.1751 (click here). [*Energy/Coal, *Solid, *Haz]

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Impacts Of Power Plants On Great Lakes Water Resources

Nov 1: Approximately 90 percent of the electrical power in the basin is produced by thermoelectric plants, which use 26 billion gallons of water a day for cooling. A recently completed research project by the Great Lakes Commission (GLC), as part of the Commission's Great Lakes Energy-Water Nexus (GLEW) Initiative, sponsored by the Great Lakes Protection Fund, examined how water withdrawal or consumption associated with power production could impact the health of the Great Lakes basin's rivers and streams. Findings from the 18-month effort are summarized in the report entitled, Integrating Energy and Water Resources Decision Making in the Great Lakes Basin: An Examination of Future Power Generation Scenarios and Water Resource Impacts.
 
    Dr. Vincent Tidwell, principle member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories and a technical adviser to the project said, "Although most water used for power generation in the basin comes directly from the Great Lakes, about one-quarter uses water from groundwater or a Great Lakes tributary. That's not insignificant." The report synthesizes several background reports examining technical and policy aspects of power and water in the Great Lakes basin. The technical analysis examines how changes in the type of power generation could affect sensitive watersheds in the future. That analysis is complemented by a review of relevant water and energy policies that identifies gaps and opportunities for improvements.
 
    According to a release from GLC, new metrics developed as part of the project revealed that approximately one-quarter of all of the watersheds in the Great Lakes basin may be ecologically vulnerable to water withdrawals under certain "low-flow" conditions – conditions that are likely to be more frequent in the future as the impacts of climate change become more severe. Additionally, more than half (57 percent) of the 102 watersheds studied were found to be at moderate to high risk of degrading ecological health due to additional thermal impacts, and 36 percent have water quality that is moderately to highly impaired according to U.S. EPA and state reports. All told, one-fifth of the Great Lakes basin's sub-watersheds rank high for two or more of these risk factors.
 
    Professor Mark Bain of Cornell University, another project partner, said, "Because of the Great Lakes Energy-Water Nexus project, we now know which areas in the basin are most susceptible to ecological impairment from new water uses, including power production." Using a model developed by Sandia National Laboratories, five future power scenarios were analyzed for the period 2007 to 2035: 1) Business as usual, including use of open-loop cooling where water used for cooling is returned to the river, lake or aquifer from which it was withdrawn; 2) no new open-loop cooling; 3) open-loop cooling totally prohibited; 4) a renewable energy portfolio with 50 percent wind, 25 percent biofuel and 25 percent natural gas; and 5) that same portfolio with carbon capture and sequestration.
 
    For all five scenarios, water withdrawals would decrease, but by far the largest decreases (87 percent) would occur where there is no open-loop cooling at all. In every case except the open-loop cooling prohibited, thermoelectric water withdrawals would continue to be the basin's predominant water use through 2035. In contrast, consumptive water use would increase under all five scenarios with the largest increase in consumptive use (24 percent) occurring under the carbon capture and sequestration scenario, in part due to increased water required for this process.
 
    The lowest increase in consumptive use (7.6 percent) would occur under the renewable energy portfolio, reflecting the considerably lower water use associated with natural gas combined cycle technologies as well as wind power generation, which uses no water. Under all scenarios, consumptive uses from the thermoelectric power sector would be lower when compared to industrial and municipal water use sectors. Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission said, "The GLEW project takes us one step further in our understanding of how our energy choices today could impact our water resources in the future."

 

    Access a release from GLC (click here). Access the summary report and background papers (click here).

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Back To The Supreme Court On Asian Carp Issue

Oct 26: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced he has filed a request for appeal with the United State Supreme Court to review a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that denied the request of five Great Lakes states for an immediate injunction requiring a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study on ecological separation to be greatly sped up and the installation of nets to stop the advancement of Asian carp toward Lake Michigan. Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin originally filed the suit in July 2010 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Chicago Water District in Federal court. Schuette said, "We need to close the Asian carp superhighway, and do it now. Time is running out for the Great Lakes, and we can't afford to wait years before the federal government takes meaningful action."

    On August 24, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago issued a ruling on the preliminary injunction request concluding that Michigan's lawsuit had "a good or even substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their public nuisance claim." [See WIMS 9/6/11]. Despite the recognition of the real threat posed by Asian carp, the Court denied the states' request. The states then decided to appeal. Schuette's office today submitted a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari also signed by the attorneys general of Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The petition asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 7th Circuit decision and order the following:

• Require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install block nets in the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet rivers, two open pathways between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins that are vulnerable to Asian carp invasion; and
• Require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite the completion of its study of permanent ecological separation between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins, so that the part of the study focused on the Chicago Area Waterway is completed within 18 months, not five years. 

    The filing with the Supreme Court poses two questions to be decided as follows: "This multi-sovereign dispute involves the imminent invasion of Asian carp into the Great Lakes ecosystem. Although the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that catastrophic harm has a "good" or "perhaps even a substantial" likelihood of occurring, Pet. App. 4a–5a, it affirmed the district court's denial of even the plaintiffs' most modest requests for injunctive relief. The Seventh Circuit's opinion raises two questions for this Court's review: 1. Whether a request for multiple types of preliminary-injunctive relief requires a balancing of harms with respect to each form of relief requested[; and] 2. Whether a party's statement that it is 'considering' implementing the relief requested in a motion for injunction is a ground for denying the injunction."

   

    On April 26, 2010, 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 4/26/10].

 

    Schuette noted a recent study commissioned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and conducted by independent scientists at the Center for Aquatic Conservation at the University of Notre Dame identified the Chicago Waterway as a "major pathway" for the spread of invasive species, concluding that "the canal represents a potential highway to environmental havoc for many species that pose a high risk to both the Great Lake and the Mississippi basins."  

 

    In addition to his ongoing legal efforts to combat the threat of Asian carp, in September 2011, Schuette organized a national coalition of 17 attorneys general who urged Congress to act on a legislative solution to the threat posed by invasive species traveling through the Chicago Waterways. The coalition called on congressional leaders to support the Stop Asian Carp Act, introduced earlier this year by sponsors Representative Dave Camp (R-MI) (H.R.892) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) (S.471).  

 

    Access a release from Attorney General Schuette (click here). Access the 32-page Petition for a Writ of Certiorari (click here). Access the complete opinion from the Seventh Circuit (click here). Access multiple postings on the Supreme Court's consideration of the Asian Carp issue on the WIMS Great Lakes Environment Blog(click here).

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Economic Study Of Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System

Oct 18:  October 18, the marine industry released the results of a year-long study of the economic impacts of the entire Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system. According to a release, for the first time, the economic impacts have been measured for both the U.S. and Canada, at the same time, using the same methodology. The purpose of the report is to provide the navigation community, transportation planners, government policy makers and the general public with a realistic assessment of the contributions made by the Great Lakes-Seaway system to federal, state/provincial and local economies.

    The study found that maritime commerce supported 227,000 jobs; contributed $14.1 billion in annual personal income, $33.5 billion in business revenue, and $6.4 billion in local purchases; and added $4.6 billion to federal, state/provincial, and local tax revenues. North American farmers, steel producers, construction firms, food manufacturers, and power generators depend on the 164 million metric tons of essential raw materials and finished products that are moved annually on the system. Additionally, marine shipping saves companies approximately $3.6 billion per year in transportation costs compared to the next least-costly land-based alternative.

    The study was commissioned by members of the marine shipping industry, in partnership with U.S. and Canadian government agencies. Martin Associates of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a global leader in transportation economic analysis and strategic planning, was retained to conduct the study. In order to ensure defensibility and accuracy, the study methodology and results of the analysis was peer reviewed by leading U.S. and Canadian economists in academia and the private sector.

The impacts of 2010 cargo movements were calculated at 32 U.S. and Canadian ports along the system. Chapter 1 lays out study methodology; Chapter 2 presents the system-wide impacts; Chapter 3 breaks down those economic impacts by vessel flag; Chapter 4 evaluates the data exclusively for commerce utilizing the St. Lawrence Seaway; Chapter 5 reveals the impact from the perspective of the New York ballast water regulations; and Chapter 6 presents information on related users along the system.

    Access a release on the study and link to an executive summary and the complete 98-page study (click here).

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Climate Change May Increase Great Lakes Water Levels

Oct 19: Previous studies of future climate change scenarios on the Great Lakes have pointed to falling water levels, but a new study by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, gives a more optimistic outlook. Researchers have devised a new approach to modeling future water levels. Their work, now available online in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, predicts either a smaller drop or an actual rise in lake water levels under varying climate change scenarios. The impact of climate change on Great Lakes water levels is a critical question for the region's economy and environmental resources, as well as for one of the nation's key shipping corridors.

    Brent Lofgren, Ph.D., a GLERL scientist and lead author of the study said, "Even small drops in lake water levels create problems for shipping and navigation, hydroelectric energy production, and recreational boating. While there are still many unknowns about how climate change will unfold in the Great Lakes region, our results indicate less loss of water than earlier studies." The researchers used a different method than previous studies to account for how water evaporates into the atmosphere from the soil and plants in the drainage basin that surrounds the lakes, i.e. evapotranspiration. Earlier studies used air temperature alone to estimate this variable. The new GLERL study uses an "energy budget-based approach" to better reflect the balance between energy coming in from the sun and energy given off from the Earth, which drives evaporation.

    Access a release from NOAA and link to information on obtaining the article online (click here).

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Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife Restoration RFP

Oct 18: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or Service) has issued request for proposal (RFP) from interested entities for restoration, research and Regional Project proposals for the restoration of the Great Lakes Basin fish and wildlife resources, as authorized under the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (16 USC 941c). The purpose of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (GLFWRA) is to provide assistance to States, Indian Tribes, and other interested entities to encourage cooperative conservation, restoration and management of the fish and wildlife resources and their habitats in the Great Lakes Basin. Regional Projects are authorized activities of the Service related to fish and wildlife resource protection, restoration, maintenance, and enhancement impacting the resources of multiple States or Indian Tribes with fish and wildlife management authority in the Great Lakes Basin.

 

    The Service will be responsible for accomplishing Regional Projects on behalf of the State and/or Tribal agencies submitting the Regional Project proposal. Supported in part by President Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), a total of $2 million will be available to support projects this fiscal year. Available funding and project awards are subject to final Congressional appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012. Up to 33% of the total Congressional appropriation to the GLFWRA is eligible to fund Regional Projects.

 

    Restoration and research projects require a 25% non-federal match. Regional projects selected shall be exempt from cost sharing if the Service Director determines that the authorization for the project does not require a non-Federal cost-share. The two page pre-proposals and Regional Project proposals are submitted to the Service for review. Successful restoration and research applicants are invited to submit full proposals, which are reviewed and ranked. Successful restoration and research projects have ranged from $2,300 to $2,000,000 with the average project at $102,908. Pre-proposals and Regional Project proposals are due on Monday, December 12, 2011, by 10:00 PM EST.

 

    Access links to the complete RFP, Pre-Proposal and Regional Project application (click here).

 

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IJC Report On Great Lakes Water Quality Since 1987

Oct 14: The International Joint Commission (IJC) released a draft report that is a preliminary effort to describe changes in the health of the Great Lakes over the past quarter century. The report, released during the IJC's Biennial Meeting on Great Lakes Water Quality at Great Lakes Week in Detroit, measures some of the progress made by the U.S. and Canada in fulfilling their respective commitments to protect and restore their shared waters under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), first signed in 1972 and amended in 1987. At present, the governments of Canada and the United States are working to renew this Agreement to better meet current challenges facing the Great Lakes. IJC is accepting comments on the report until November 30, 2011.

    Canadian Section Chair Joseph Comuzzi said, "Our two countries have made major investments to restore and maintain Great Lakes water quality over the decades. We need to take stock of the results as we set goals for the coming decades. Although the results are mixed, they show that there has been progress and there is a clear need to update the Agreement to better address emerging threats." U.S. Section Chair Lana Pollack said, "The Great Lakes are at the heart of our economy and quality of life. We need good up-to-date-science based information to assess how well Canada and the United States are protecting these waters. This draft report is an important step toward understanding the larger picture."

    The draft report indicates that levels of many older chemicals have decreased in herring gulls, fish and sediments, especially from 1987-2000. However, results differ for some newer chemicals, such as PBDE (flame retardants) levels in fish increased considerably from 1987 to 2000. In addition, 34 non-native aquatic species were introduced into the Great Lakes, but none have become established since 2006. The burrowing mayfly and lake sturgeon have started to return, but lake trout populations have not changed measurably. Diporeia, a small shrimp-like crustacean that is a key part of the aquatic food web has almost disappeared.

    The draft report uses seven measures of biological integrity, six measures of chemical integrity, and one measure of physical integrity, to assess changes in the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. It draws on the best indicators of ecosystem trends available from government agencies and the academic research community. The Commission plans to publish a report in 2012 based on comments received and subsequent research.   

    One observation of the report is that while the Commission reviewed the 2009 SOLEC (State of the Lake Ecosystem Conference) indicators to see to what degree they can be used to evaluate progress since 1987 and to see how well they address the Commission's Task Force recommendations to address swimmability, fishability and drinkability. The Commission found only several of the 80 indicators were useful for evaluating progress since 1987. Several of the sources for this report came from outside of SOLEC. The Commission continues to be concerned that excessive effort is expended on too many indicators that have limited utility. Selecting and reporting on a smaller and continued set of core indicators should be the priority. The core set should include some with historical data back to 1987, some on the nearshore and some on human health. The indicators and a report assessing progress based on those indicators should be provided by the governments in the next reporting period.

        Access an announcement with commenting instructions and link to the complete 173-page report (click here).