Great Lakes News

<> Groups: Permanent Solution to Invasive Species Crisis Needs to Remain Priority for Army Corps, States and Congress - Only viable solution is to physically separate Great Lakes, Mississippi River basins Conservation groups are urging the Obama Administration and U.S. Congress to maintain their focus on a permanent, long-term solution. . . Groups submit comments.

Great Lakes News

<> Great Lakes Month in Review: Tar sands, Great Lakes Day, water retail - At the end of each month Current State checks in with Great Lakes commentator and journalist Gary Wilson for updates on environmental stories from around the Basin.

• More on issues surrounding potential tar sands shipping on the Great Lakes

<> Water Center Awards $214,600 Grant for Development of New Great Lakes Ecosystem Management Tools

Great Lakes News

<> Great Lakes ice cover update: See Lake Michigan ice disappear, and where records were set - Peak ice has been reached on the Great Lakes and now the ice is rapidly disappearing.

<> Great Lakes shipping industry to inject $500 million into infrastructure - The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway system is spending $500 million over the next four years to rebuild lock walls and gates and automate the system that connects the eastern Great Lakes with the St. Lawrence River.

Great Lakes News

<> Lake Michigan oil spill estimate doubles in size, possibly up to 1,600 gallons, BP reports - Company representatives now estimate between 630 and 1,638 gallons of oil were recovered since the spill at BP's Whiting Refinery on Monday.

<> UM plans study on adapting to changing water levels - Associated Press - The University of Michigan is planning a wide-ranging study of how people and businesses in the Great Lakes region can adapt to changing water levels.

<> Effort to restore Lake Michigan's yellow perch population needs fresh ideas - The Lake Michigan Perch Summit was held Saturday in Chicago, Ill. outlining changes to Lake Michigan's ecosystem which have affected Yellow Perch as well as different state's programs to protect the fish.

<> Freighter ships out, ushering in Great Lakes maritime season - The Great Lakes shipping season began on Tuesday with the opening of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Wednesday afternoon, Erie's first freighter of the season, departed the Erie shipyard, where it had been dry-docked. . .

<> Expert: Runoff spurs Lake Erie algal blooms - Dr. Jeffery Reuter of the Stone Laboratory called for a 40 percent reduction in phosphorus loading at Tuesday's Lake Erie farm forum saying 2013 and 2011 have been the only algal blooms known to last through October. . .

<> Kasich's Great Lakes pledge $10M - Ohio Gov. Kasich administration's plan to spend $10 million over two years on possible alternatives to continued open-lake dumping of channel dredging was lauded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's top Great Lakes. . . 

Great Lakes News

<> U.S. EPA Continues Response to the BP Whiting Oil Spill - For Immediate Release No. 14-OPA80 Chicago (March 26, 2014) -- The U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were on site at the BP Refinery in Whiting, Indiana today to oversee a second day of cleanup 

• Coast Guard, EPA respond to oil discharge in Lake Michigan from BP Whiting Refinery - Editor's Note: This is the second news release to inform the media and public about the status of cleanup efforts. The first news release was released Tuesday. Pollution response teams discuss cleanup plans along the Lake
• Senator Stabenow Statement on BP Oil Spill in Lake Michigan - U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow today made the following statement on reports of an oil spill in Lake Michigan. The spill occurred at BP's Whiting, IN refinery. 'I am deeply concerned about today's news.

<> Mercury remediation in the North Harbour of Thunder Bay - A Remedial Action Plan for the Thunder Bay Area of Concern held a meeting on the Thunder Bay campus on March 19 to specifically talk about a project to clean up mercury contamination in the North Harbour.

Great Lakes News

<> Obama Administration Rule Will Help Protect Great Lakes - HOW Coalition indicates that a proposed rule to clarify which waters of the United States are protected by the Clean Water Act from pollution and destruction. The rule will be a big step forward in the effort to restore the Great Lakes streams and wetlands and, ultimately, the health of the Lakes themselves.

<> Lake Michigan oil spill expected to have 'minimal' environmental impact, officials say - BP representatives expect to provide an estimate Wednesday on the amount of crude oil discharged into Lake Michigan when a malfunction occurred at a refinery in Indiana.

• U.S. EPA Response to the BP Whiting Oil Spill

• Levin statement on Lake Michigan oil spill

Great Lakes News

<> GLMRIS Report Public Meeting Transcripts Posted - The public meeting transcripts for the GLMRIS Report are now available; Eleven public meetings; 600 people at the meetings, and more than 180 oral comments were received. Comment period for the GLMRIS Report closes March 31, 2014.

<> Grass carp: the overlooked Asian carp - There are many types of fish that fall under the Asian carp umbrella. Each brings their own unique peril to the Great Lakes basin.

<> Maps show spread of aquatic invasive species over time - By Evan Kreager Great Lakes Echo   The Nature Conservancy has animated how six invasive species have spread across the Great Lakes over time. The group has created six maps that show population increase and spread. . . 

<> Wayne State University receives grant from USGS to advance ecological restoration efforts in the Great Lakes - Foreign mussels hitchhiking to the Great Lakes in the ballast water tanks of international freighters are becoming one of the most vexing environmental problems facing the Great Lakes.

<> Spill response 'inadequate' for tar sands crude on Great Lakes - It has been more then three years since the Kalamazoo River oil spill in Michigan. Now, in 2014, there is still oil in the river and current methods are "inadequate" to find and recover submerged oil. . .

<> Letter supporting GLRI ends on Friday - We're beginning this week with 21 co-signers to the letter supporting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding at $300 million in 2015. The letter now includes support from Reps: John Dingell (D-Mich.), David Joyce (R-Ohio)...

<> Oil leaks from BP Whiting refinery into nearby Lake Michigan - NEW YORK (Reuters) - An unknown volume of oil leaked from BP Plc's Whiting, Indiana, refinery into nearby Lake Michigan on Monday afternoon, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management confirmed on Tuesday.