Agencies To Sign Updated Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Sep 5: U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent announced they will sign an updated Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement on Friday, September 7. Administrator Jackson and Minister Kent will hold a short press availability following the signing ceremony.

 

    The agreement, last updated in 1987, addresses critical health issues in the Great Lakes region and is a model of binational cooperation to protect water quality. The two governments began negotiations in 2009 to strengthen the agreement. The signing ceremony is scheduled for 2 PM EDT, Friday, September 7, 2012, at the Embassy of Canada, 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.

 

    Access an announcement from EPA (click here). Access a live webcast of the signing (click here). Access EPA's GLWQA website for more information (click here). Access the IJC GLWQA review website (click here). Access the Binational.net website for additional information from the governments (click here). Access the GLWQA blog from Great Lakes United (click here).

 

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals

Reminder: Great Lakes Beach Association Conference

Sep 6: The 2012 Great Lakes Beach Association Conference will be held October 16-18 at Mission Point Resort on Mackinaw Island located in a beautiful area near the Straits between lakes Michigan and Huron. To take advantage of early registration rates, attendees must register by midnight on Friday, September 7. An updated agenda is available on conference website. More than 50 papers will be presented at the event, highlighting the newest, innovative beach monitoring projects and rapid testing methods.

 

    Access the conference website for details and online registration (click here).

 

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals

IJC Extends Comment On Great Lakes Water Levels Study

Aug 30: The International Joint Commission (IJC) announced that it is inviting public comment via a bilingual public hearing by teleconference on the final report of its International Upper Great Lakes Study Board, Lake Superior Regulation: Addressing Uncertainty in Upper Great Lakes Water Levels. The teleconference will be held at 7:00 PM (EDT) on September 19, 2012 and will provide an opportunity to be heard for those who were not able to attend one of the 13 public hearings that the IJC conducted in upper Great Lakes communities during July 2012. The deadline for comments has also been extended to September 30th, 2012. Comments may also be submitted by email, in writing or via an online form.

 

    The report examines whether the regulation of outflows from Lake Superior through the compensating works and power dams on the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie might be improved to take into consideration the evolving needs of users on Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie. The report also examines the potential future impacts of climate change, a management strategy to better anticipate and respond to future extreme water levels, the feasibility and implications of restoring water levels in lakes Michigan-Huron and multi-lake regulation and its impacts throughout the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system. 

 

    Access a release from IJC with additional details on commenting and the teleconference (click here). Access the report website for complete information and background (click here).

 

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals

EPA Announces $2.6 Million In Grants For Beaches In MI & WI

Aug 28: U.S. EPA announced seven Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grants, totaling over $2.6 million, to improve water quality at Great Lakes beaches in Michigan and Wisconsin. The grants were announced by EPA Region 5 Administrator and Great Lakes National Program Manager Susan Hedman at Samuel Myers Park in Racine, Wisconsin, at one of the beaches targeted for work under the grants. Hedman said, "These Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants will improve water quality, allowing people to enjoy more days at Great Lakes beaches. The projects will make beaches safer, by eliminating harmful bacteria and other sources of contamination."

    Over the last three years, GLRI has provided more than $29 million for 78 projects to protect and restore Great Lakes beaches. This funding has paid for sanitary surveys at 400 beaches, allowing beach managers to identify contamination sources and to implement projects that reduce or eliminate pollution. The GLRI has also funded eight projects to better forecast beach conditions and to develop technologies such as Smartphone apps to issue real-time alerts about swimming bans and beach closures. The seven projects announced include:

• $1 million (two grants of $500,000 each) to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh to redesign eight Wisconsin beaches to reduce bacteria levels, resulting in fewer swimming bans and beach closures. The beaches are: Red Arrow Park Beach, Marinette; Crescent Beach, Algoma; Red Arrow Park Beach, Manitowoc; Thompson West End Park, Washburn; Grant Park, South Milwaukee; Samuel Myers Park, Racine; and Simmons Island and Eichelman Parks, Kenosha.
• $179,700 to the City of Marquette, Michigan, to lower health risks and to improve water quality at two Lake Superior beaches in Marquette by using green management practices to reduce contamination.
• $500,000 to the City of Marysville, Michigan, to install rain gardens and other green infrastructure to reduce contaminated stormwater runoff and to deter geese at Chrysler Beach on the St. Clair River.
• $500,000 to the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority for green infrastructure to reduce contaminated stormwater runoff at Lake St. Clair Metropark (Metro Beach.)
• $217,015 to MDEQ to construct rain gardens, plant native grass and install a filtration system to improve water quality and reduce health risks at Sherman Park and Four Mile beaches in Sault Ste. Marie.
• $263,188 to MDEQ to build a green stormwater infiltration system at New Buffalo City Beach to reduce bacteria and nutrient levels.

    Access a release from EPA with further details on each project (click here).

 

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals

Asian Carp eDNA Found In Sandusky Bay Samples

Aug 28: On July 30-31, Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collected 150 water samples from the Sandusky Bay and Sandusky River. Analysis of these water samples indicated 20 samples out of 150 taken from throughout Sandusky Bay and Sandusky River have tested positive for the presence of silver carp environmental DNA (eDNA). The eDNA samples were collected as part of extensive sampling effort conducted earlier this summer for Asian carp in Sandusky Bay and Maumee Bay in western Lake Erie. No Asian carp were found through intensive electrofishing and test netting. Maumee Bay eDNA results are currently being analyzed.

    In response to the positive findings, both state and Federal officials have already started collaborative discussions to implement additional investigative work in early September, including additional eDNA testing. All parties continue to work together to assess the current status of bighead and silver carp within western Lake Erie bays and select tributaries. Researchers say eDNA analysis provides a tool for the early detection of Asian carp at low densities, and these latest positive results heighten concern about the presence of Asian carp in western Lake Erie. However, the analysis cannot provide or confirm information about the number or size of possible fish.

    At present, eDNA evidence cannot verify whether live Asian carp are present, whether the DNA may have come from a dead fish, or whether water containing Asian carp DNA may have been transported from other sources such as bilge water, storm sewers or fish-eating birds. The Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey are leading a two-year Asian Carp Environmental DNA Calibration Study (ECALS), funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to reduce the uncertainty surrounding Asian carp environmental DNA (eDNA) results.

    Access a release with additional details and links to more information (click here).

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals

Conservation Plan & EA For Great Lakes Wildlife Refuges

Aug 24: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announced in the Federal Register [77 FR 51552-51553] the availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and environmental assessment (EA) for the Great Lakes Islands National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) for public review and comment. The group of five national wildlife refuges includes Gravel Island and Green Bay National Wildlife Refuges, Door County, Wisconsin; Harbor Island National Wildlife Refuge, Chippewa County, Michigan; Huron National Wildlife Refuge, Marquette County, Michigan; and Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Charlevoix, Arenac, and Alpena Counties, Michigan. In this draft CCP/EA, the Service describes the proposal to manage the refuges for the next 15 years. To ensure consideration, the Service said it must receive written comments by September 24, 2012. Open house-style meetings will be held during the comment period to receive comments and provide information on the draft plan.

    Access the FR announcement (click here). Access the draft CCP/EA, information about the planning process and a summary of the CCP (click here).

 

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals

Annual Great Lakes Areas Of Concern Meeting

Sep 4: The annual Areas of Concern (AOC) meeting will be held in Cleveland, Ohio on September 12-13, 2012, as part of Great Lakes Week 2012, and will convene federal, state and local participants from the 30 U.S. and Binational AOCs to review accomplishments to date, as well as recent developments affecting the AOC program. Discussions at the conference will include: Recent achievements from around the Great Lakes basin to remove Beneficial Use Impairment (BUIs) and delist AOC's; Best practices to achieve BUI restoration targets; How to build state and local capacity to implement on-the-ground and in-the-water restoration actions; How to plan and implement AOC restoration priorities under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; How to improve linkages and develop better integration between the AOCs, LaMPs and other Great Lakes programs; and Potential actions that could strengthen the U.S. and Canadian AOC programs.

 

    Access a posted announcement and links to registration and additional information (click here).

 

GET THE REST OF TODAY'S NEWS (click here)
32 Years of Environmental Reporting for serious Environmental Professionals