MI To Sue To Close Canal; No Asian Carp Found

Dec 8: Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced that his office will file suit in Federal court to force the closure of Chicago-area locks that separate the Great Lakes from Illinois waters shown to contain Asian carp. In a release Cox indicated that the fish are an aggressive invasive species that could quickly destroy Great Lakes fish populations, causing severe damage to Michigan's economy by ruining our $7 billion fishing and tourism industries.

Cox said, "Asian carp must be stopped now because we will not have a second chance once they enter Lake Michigan. The combination of finding carp and carp DNA so close to Lake Michigan is something that should cause great concern for us all.The Great Lakes are our greatest natural resource and we have a duty handed down to us from past generations to preserve them for future generations. They are also essential to our economy, our national image, and our way of life. We will do whatever is necessary to protect them," Cox continued.

The Attorney General indicated that his office spent recent weeks reviewing legal options to force authorities responsible for the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal to take more aggressive action to stop the carp from entering Lake Michigan at Chicago. The suit, which will be filed soon, will seek to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Illinois, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to close the locks and present a comprehensive, long-term solution to the crisis.

Cox said, "While this week's actions based on DNA evidence may be a step forward toward protecting the Great Lakes, they fail to provide a long-term solution to this crisis. Instead of having to sound the emergency alarms again one month or six months from now, authorities responsible for this situation must seize this opportunity to once and for all solve the problem." Last week the Attorney General sent a letter to these authorities demanding a full explanation of their plans to protect the Great Lakes from this looming threat. He said to date, none have responded.

Meanwhile, on December 8, U.S. EPA, the Army Corps, Illinois EPA and the Coast Guard issued a joint release indicating that no Asian Carp were found above electrical barrier designed to halt the migration before entering Lake Michigan. The release indicates, "The Asian Carp Rapid Response Workgroup has completed fishing operations near the T.J. O’Brien Lock in an attempt to locate Asian carp after eDNA sampling in the area tested positive for the invasive species. The Workgroup used commercial fishermen and federal fisheries personnel to deploy nearly 3,000 yards of fishing nets along a 5.5-mile stretch of the Cal-Sag Channel. While the nets were successful in collecting more than 800 fish, no Asian carp were found. The catch included more than 700 common carp and 10 other species."

Access a release from the AG (click here). Access a release from the workgroup (click here). Access the Asian Carp Management website for extensive information (click here).

Great Lakes Initiative RFP Webinars

Dec 7: U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) has announced two webinars about the Great Lakes Request for Proposals (RFP) scheduled for December 9, 2009 and December 16, 2009. On November 23, EPA announced the issuance of the RFP [79 pages, Announcement No: EPA-R5-GL2010-1] which solicits proposals from eligible entities for grants and cooperative agreements to be awarded pursuant to a portion of the $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative included in Public Law 111-88, and which is in furtherance of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (the Initiative) announced in February 2009 [See WIMS 11/23/09]. Proposals must be received by EPA by noon Central standard time on January 29, 2010.

The webinar schedule includes: 10:00-10:30 Introduction, How Webinar will work, Overview/General Information; 10:30-10:45 Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern; 10:45-11:00 Invasive Species; 11:00-11:15 Nearshore Health and Nonpoint Source Pollution; 11:15-11:30 Habitat and Wildlife Protection and Restoration; 11:30-11:45 Accountability, Education, Monitoring, Evaluation, Communication and Partnerships; and, 11:45-Noon Wrap-up. Once registered participants will receive an email confirming registration and including with information needed to join the Webinar.

Access information on registering for the webinars (click here). Access complete information on the RFP (click here).

Michigan & Groups Call For Asian Carp Legal Action

Dec 2: Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Lt. Governor John Cherry urged Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to vigorously pursue every legal means to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. In a letter delivered to Cox, Granholm and Cherry said, "The Great Lakes' ecosystem is at risk and because of the importance of the Great Lakes to Michigan's economy, we urge you to vigorously pursue every legal tool at your disposal as Michigan's attorney general to prevent the ecological disaster that will occur if Asian carp are allowed into the Great Lakes. Michigan's $4.5 billion sport and commercial fishery is in jeopardy."

The letter continued, "We believe that emergency action to close the Chicago Sanitary Shipping Canal locks, and ultimately, the permanent biological and/or hydrological separation of the Great Lakes from the Mississippi system via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal must be fully explored and appropriate legal action pursued as quickly as possible."

According to a release from the Governor, Lt. Governor Cherry recently wrote the Undersecretary of the Army to urge additional actions to protect the Great Lakes, including the completion of the second portion of the new barrier, full utilization of the existing barrier now operating at minimal levels, creating a physical barrier to block carp from entering via other waterways during flooding, and using all existing congressional authorities to block the carp's entry.

Attorney General Cox also issued a release saying, that his office has contacted authorities responsible for overseeing Illinois waterways infested with Asian Carp and demanded a full explanation of their immediate plans to protect the Great Lakes from this looming threat. Cox said, "With Asian Carp literally at the front door of the Great Lakes, we will not get another chance to protect our greatest natural resource. The Great Lakes are a vital part of our economy, our way of life, and our future. They are an essential part of turning Michigan around. Allowing the lakes to be decimated when authorities knew of the danger for years would be a colossal failure."

Cox said that his office in recent weeks has been reviewing its legal options to force authorities responsible for the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal to take more aggressive action to stop the Carp from entering Lake Michigan at Chicago. He said he sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Illinois, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago demanding that they take action in the immediate and long term, including, potentially, the closing of the locks to ensure the Carp never enter the Great Lakes. In the letter, Cox indicated that he is prepared to take whatever legal action is necessary to protect the Great Lakes. On December 1, the State of Illinois announced that A task force of Federal, regional state and local agencies had developed a Rapid Response Plan to address Asian Carp threat to the Great Lakes [See WIMS 12/2/09].

Cox also sent a letter to Governor Granholm requesting additional information about the effect closing the locks would have on Michigan's faltering economy and about the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' cooperation with the state of Illinois in efforts to eliminate the Carp [See WIMS 12/1/09].

Conservation groups, including Alliance for the Great Lakes, Great Lakes United, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, and National Wildlife Federation; in a separate letter to Attorney General Cox, said, "We support Governor Granholm's request that you take legal action to close, at least temporarily, all Illinois locks providing access to Lake Michigan until the state of Illinois and federal agencies can demonstrate that Asian carp will not swim into Lake Michigan."

Additionally, Henry Henderson, Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Midwest Program (and a former Commissioner of the Environment for the City of Chicago) said, “We support the call from Governor Granholm of Michigan to re-open the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of threats posed by the Chicago Diversion to the well-being of the Great Lakes ecosystem. The other Great Lakes states should join Michigan in pursuing all available legal steps to permanently separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River watershed. There are legitimate shipping and business concerns about the impact that this would have on barge traffic. You would hope that these would be short delays -- but frankly the interests of the multi-billion dollar fishing industry and the quality of 1/5 of the world’s fresh water should really take precedence.”

Access a release from the Governor (click here). Access a release from AG Cox (click here). Access a release from the interest groups (click here). Access a release from NRDC with links to additional information (click here). Access the Asian Carp Management website for extensive information (click here). Access the Great Lakes United website to track the Asian Carp emergency situation (click here).

Asian Carp "Rapid" Response Workgroup & Plan

Dec 1: A task force of Federal, regional state and local agencies has developed a Rapid Response Plan to address this impending threat to the Great Lakes. According to information posted on the Plan website, the increasing threat of the Asian carp expansion toward the Great Lakes and these fish placing greater pressure on barriers already in place to restrict their movement, prompted the creation of the Asian Carp Rapid Response Workgroup. The purpose of the Workgroup was to assess the current situation and recommend courses of action should a rapid response be necessary to deal with Asian carp in areas of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Des Plaines River, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal. In preparation for such a response, the Asian Carp Rapid Response Plan was created. At the request of partner agencies, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has agreed to coordinate response actions and to serve as lead agency during response Operations.

The purpose of this plan is to establish, coordinate, and document actions by IDNR and its partner agencies to reduce the vulnerability of the Great Lakes to an Asian carp invasion via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) and nearby bodies of water including the Des Plaines River and the Illinois & Michigan Canal (I&M). In the short term the purpose of rapid response measures, i.e. piscicide treatment, will accompany barrier maintenance; relieve pressure on Electric Barrier I (within the Lockport Pool); confirm presence of Asian carp previously detected through eDNA sampling and analysis; evaluate the feasibility and utility of applying piscicide in the CSSC to reduce or eliminate Asian carp populations; and validate the effectiveness of utilizing NIMS ICS concepts and principles of response for this type of effort via a multijurisdictional approach. In the long term permanent tools, such as piscicide treatment, would need to be implemented to mitigate the risk of Asian carp accessing Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes.

Access a release from IDNR (click here). Access the Asian Carp Management website for extensive information (click here).

Council of Great Lakes Governors Newsletter

Dec 1: The Council of Great Lakes Governors announced that the December 2009 edition of its newsletter, The Compass, is now available. Highlights in this issue include: A Message from Council Chair Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle; Asian Carp Breach Barrier; Congress Fully Funds Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; Council Staff Testify before Federal Leaders; Joint Trade Mission announced for Brazil, Chile and Peru; and Great Lakes of North America holds annual German/Swiss Sales Mission.

Access links to the latest issue and past issues (click here).

Compact Bodies Post Agendas & Meeting Materials

Dec 1: The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body (Regional Body) which previously announced its upcoming conference call meeting for December 8, 2009, at 2:00 PM EST [See WIMS 11/6/09] has now posted an agenda and materials to be discussed. Included in the information is: Draft December 8, 2009 Regional Body Meeting Agenda; Draft Resolution #13--Adoption of Water Use Reporting Protocols; Draft Resolution #14--Adoption of Fiscal Year 2010 Budget--Third and Fourth Quarters (January 1-June 30, 2010); Draft Chair's Proposed Invitation List to Regional Body's Advisory Committee, Resource Group and Observers; Draft Water Management Program Review Document; Draft Water Conservation and Efficiency Program Review Document; and Draft September 22, 2009 Regional Body Meeting Summary. Additionally, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council (Compact Council) is meeting via conference call following the Regional Body meeting has posted similar documents for discussion.

Access the agenda and materials for the Regional Body meeting (click here). Access the agenda and materials for the Compact Council meeting (click here).

EPA Responds To Groups' BP Whiting CAA Petition

Nov 25: U.S. EPA issued a Federal Register announcement [74 FR 61678-61679] announcing that the Administrator has responded to a petition submitted by the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Hoosier Environmental Council, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Save the Dunes, Sierra Club, Susan Eleuterio, and Tom Tsourlis (petitioners) asking EPA to object to an operating permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to the BP Products North America, Inc., Whiting Business Unit (Whiting) [See WIMS 10/20/09]. According to the announcement, the Administrator granted the petition in part and denied it in part. Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the Act, a petitioner may seek in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit judicial review of those portions of a petition which EPA denied. Any petition for review shall be filed within 60 days from the date the Federal Register notice, pursuant to section 307 of the Act.

Specifically, the Petitioners allege that: (1) The permit application lacks emission information and calculations critical for determining applicable requirements and setting appropriate limits and conditions; (2) the minor source permit fails to comply with New Source Review requirements because the project is a major modification when all project emissions are properly included; (3) the permit does not include applicable Best Available Control Technology and Lowest Achievable Emission Rate limits for flares and other sources; (4) BP and IDEM failed to conduct the proper greenhouse gas Best Achievable Control Technology analysis; and (5) the permit omits compliance schedules that Title V requires to ensure compliance with all applicable requirements, as supported by the Notice of Violation issued by EPA to BP for its Whiting refinery.

In part, the Administrator rules, "I find that the Petitioners have not demonstrated that the title V operating permit does not comply with the Act. Petitioners have failed to demonstrate that the BP Whiting facility is out of compliance with the requirements addressed in the NOV [Notice of Violation], and that the permit must include a compliance plan and schedule with regard to such requirements. I therefore deny the petition with respect to this issue."

Access the FR announcement (click here). Access the 8/19/08 petition (click here). Access the Administrator's response (click here).