Posted August 26, 200519 yr Might as well start a thread on this. The meeting mentioned in the article already happened, obviously. From the 8/23/05 PD: Comment sought on lakes cleanup Tuesday, August 23, 2005 John C. Kuehner Plain Dealer Reporter A task force wants to hear your comments about a proposed $20.5 billion cleanup and restoration plan for Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes. The group will hold a public meeting from 6:30 to 9 p.m. today at the Cleveland Public Library Auditorium, lower level, Louis Stokes Wing, 525 Superior Ave., Cleveland. This is the fifth of six meetings held in the Midwest by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, a partnership of federal, state and local governments, tribes and other parties. The task force, created by an executive order signed by President Bush in May 2004, has put together 37 recommendations for protecting, restoring and cleaning up the Great Lakes. Actions include controlling invasive species, restoring wetlands and stopping sewage from overflowing into the lakes... http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1124789661156911.xml&coll=2
August 27, 200519 yr And from the 8/24/05 Toledo Blade: Great Lakes plan draws praise Environmentalists predict $20 billion for restoration By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER A broad spectrum of sportsmen, environmentalists, and politicians are lining up in support of President Bush's master plan for restoring the Great Lakes. There may be more than 20 billion reasons why. Called Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, the plan is the latest of several attempts to get local, state, and federal officials to agree on a common strategy for the lakes. It's resulted in unusual harmony between the White House and some major environmental groups - in large part because environmentalists see it as a way of getting at least $20 billion of improvements funded, mostly through additional sewage upgrades. Federal officials won't confirm the figure, but won't deny it, either... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/NEWS06/508240404/-1/NEWS
October 30, 200519 yr From the 10/29/05 Toledo Blade: Bush still committed to Great Lakes Feds never intended to be sole source of funds for $20B-plus plan, aide says By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER A Bush Administration spokesman said yesterday the White House has not backed off its commitment to help fund one of the most ambitious Great Lakes restoration plans drafted. And she claimed it might not have been clear to everyone that the President never intended to have the federal government be the sole source of funding that could exceed $20 billion. "It's important to know what this report is," Eryn Witcher, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesman, said in reference to a Cabinet-level task force report sent to the White House yesterday. "It's a progress report."... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051029/NEWS06/510290371/-1/NEWS
November 6, 200519 yr From the 11/5/05 Toledo Blade: Regional officials rip Bush task force for opposing Great Lakes renewal aid By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER Several Great Lakes leaders fired back this week at senior White House officials who have advised President Bush not to follow through with $20 billion for projects aimed at restoring the world's largest source of fresh surface water. A joint letter sent to the White House yesterday by 41 members of Congress expressed "disappointment by the limitations" that several Cabinet-level members of a presidential task force have attempted to place on the Great Lakes restoration. The letter, obtained by The Blade and signed by 11 U.S. senators and 30 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, said the Great Lakes region was "led to believe that the administration would consider some new budget initiatives."... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051105/NEWS17/511050399/-1/NEWS
November 22, 200519 yr From the 11/18/05 Detroit Free Press: Plan to restore Great Lakes appears sunk EPA recommends against funding November 18, 2005 BY HUGH McDIARMID JR. FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Federal officials say they won't pay for the $20-billion plan President George W. Bush sought last year to improve the health of the Great Lakes by restoring coastal wetlands and keeping out sewage and invaders like zebra mussels. A bipartisan coalition of elected leaders says it was stunned when an Environmental Protection Agency report recommended that Bush focus on "improving the efficiency and effectiveness of existing programs" instead of launching expensive new efforts. Grosse Ile resident Bob Burns, who lives along the Detroit River and has fished and boated his entire life, said the news was discouraging... http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051118/NEWS06/511180443/1008
December 3, 200519 yr From the 11/30/05 PD: Great Lakes plan hits fiscal snag White House rejects $20 billion tab for cleanup effort Wednesday, November 30, 2005 Stephen Koff Plain Dealer Bureau Chief Washington -An ambitious plan to restore the Great Lakes, embraced in concept last year by President Bush, risks unraveling before work even starts because of federal money problems. In less than two weeks, governors, mayors, Indian tribes and others along the lakes are to lay out a 15-year plan to clean up pollution, restore oxygen-depleted dead zones and reduce the risk of Asian carp devouring other aquatic life, among other things. It's the result of a yearlong public collaboration with environmentalists, maritime interests and others, and the White House had cheered the effort. But with a final plan scheduled for release Dec. 12 in Chicago, the Bush administration is rejecting a request for up to $20 billion for the cleanup effort. Congress members, governors and others who dreamed of revitalizing the lakes say federal spending on Hurricane Katrina and other budget matters have made it difficult to convince the White House to find extra money... http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1133343158258910.xml&coll=2
December 16, 200519 yr From the 12/9/05 PD: Can the Great Lakes be saved? Scientists warn waters near ecological collapse Friday, December 09, 2005 John C. Kuehner and Stephen Koff Plain Dealer Reporters Scientists anticipating a massive Great Lakes restoration effort warned Thursday that if drastic measures don't start soon, the lakes could suffer irreversible damage affecting human health, fishing and beaches. Alfred Beeton, former director of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and a researcher of the lakes for 50 years, said the Great Lakes "are near the tipping point." Beeton and researchers from the University of Michigan, Ohio State University and institutions across the Great Lakes region issued their warning in advance of next week's historic announcements on efforts to overcome the lakes' long-term problems... http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1134121431194270.xml&coll=2
December 17, 200519 yr From the 12/11/05 Toledo Blade: PHOTO: Environmentalists and some government officials are concerned that the Bush Administration will not deliver on promises to help clean up the Great Lakes. ( U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ) Questions continue over who's to pay Meeting to discuss restoration of Great Lakes By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER Temperatures are plunging. Snow is falling. And so are hopes among environmentalists and many federal and state officials that President Bush will live up to his proposal to spend millions cleaning up and restoring the Great Lakes. With winter setting in, Lake Erie is weeks away from once again being covered by several feet of frozen ice. Those passionate about the Great Lakes believe the cold and gray weather these days is commensurate with the view that exists in Washington these days of the nation's largest collective source of fresh water... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051211/NEWS06/512110322/-1/NEWS
December 17, 200519 yr From the 12/13/05 Toledo Blade: LAKES RESTORATION PLAN Great Lakes group wants $300M soon Cleanup money to start proposed $20B project By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER CHICAGO — A partnership of government agencies and private groups yesterday announced a request for $300 million next fiscal year from Washington to start cleaning up the Great Lakes, the source of drinking water for 30 million people. Ohio Gov. Bob Taft found himself in the awkward position of staying loyal to an ambitious lakes restoration plan without soft-pedaling the disappointment he and others share over the likelihood that President Bush’s funding will fall short of the $20 billion the cleanup is expected to cost. Mr. Taft, co-chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, noted a report issued last week that said the lakes may be on the verge of irreversible damage if a strong, unified plan to restore them is not implemented soon... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051213/NEWS06/51213002/-1/NEWS
December 21, 200519 yr From the 12/16/05 Toledo Blade: Voinovich vows to push for Great Lakes funds Senator wants hearing on raising $20B for upgrades BLADE STAFF WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R., Ohio) yesterday vowed to follow up on this week's release of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy report with a committee hearing in which senators can discuss funding for the plan. The report - the most comprehensive of its kind - outlines a need for an estimated $20 billion of work, including better sewage treatment, more harbor cleanups, expanded wetlands, more environmental buffers, and more barriers to stop exotic species. The projects are intended to protect human health and enhance wildlife diversity... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051216/NEWS24/512160341/-1/NEWS
February 8, 200619 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060208/NEWS06/602080363/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published February 8, 2006 Bush budget may sink Great Lakes plan By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER President Bush's proposed budget cuts have some people wondering if his administration's master plan for restoring the Great Lakes is sunk less than two months after it was adopted. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy, a $20 billion set of priorities with no new sources of federal funding to do the work, was once called little more than a public relations stunt by U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D., Dearborn) before it was finalized in Chicago on Dec. 12. Yesterday, attention turned to Mr. Bush's proposal to cut nearly $200 million more from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water State Revolving Fund during the 2007 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1...
February 8, 200619 yr Did anyone really think Bush would carry through on his big idea? For a "straight-shooter" it seems he has quite a capacity to say one thing and then do the exact opposite. When are we going to Mars?
February 8, 200619 yr Don't you know? The reason we are going to Mars is to colonize it, dig some wells, and build oil refineries! LOL
March 17, 200619 yr Taft asks Congress for Great Lakes aid Friday, March 17, 2006 Jonathan Riskind THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH WASHINGTON — Great Lakes cleanup efforts need a multimillion-dollar congressional funding boost and billions of dollars more in the future, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft said yesterday. Taft was on Capitol Hill to testify before a Senate committee about the need for more federal dollars and as part of a Great Lakes lobby day held by a coalition of states, cities, conservationists and other advocates. In the long run, advocates for the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition are seeking $20 billion from a variety of sources, not all of them federal, for initiatives such as halting sewage contamination, restoring wetlands and preventing invasive species from entering the lakes. But this year Great Lakes advocates are looking for about $134 million from congressional spending bills. President Bush proposed spending $49.6 million on cleanup efforts in his 2007 budget, but that falls far short of what Taft and others are seeking, which includes $50 million to clean up abandoned industrial waterfront properties, $6 million to build a carp barrier and $28.5 million for wetlands restoration. At a Capitol Hill news conference, Taft said protecting and restoring the Great Lakes is a "moral obligation" and an "economic imperative." Sen. Mike DeWine, an author of a Great Lakes restoration bill, told the Senate environment and public works committee — in a hearing chaired by fellow Ohio Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich — that he is pushing for more money as well. [email protected] http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/17/20060317-A5-01.html
March 21, 200619 yr Senate panel hears plea for Great Lakes cleanup Environmentalists say delay will prove even more costly to nation By Matthew Chayes Washington Bureau Published March 17, 2006 WASHINGTON -- The Great Lakes are ecologically ill, environmentalists told a Senate committee Thursday, pleading with lawmakers to help fund a $20 billion, long-term effort to restore and protect the nation's five Great Lakes. But the advocates won no support from Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. He called the proposal too ambitious in the current debt-ridden fiscal climate. While conceding that the federal budget is stretched, the environmentalists said the requested money was a necessary investment in an ecosystem that constitutes 20 percent of the globe's fresh water... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0603170288mar17,1,6391422.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
April 7, 200619 yr From the 4/6/06 Toledo Blade: $20B Great Lakes restoration plan given to Congress By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER A $20 billion restoration plan for the Great Lakes - the nation's largest for a single ecosystem - was introduced in Congress yesterday. To nobody's surprise, the two bills containing the plan were wholeheartedly endorsed by the region's congressional delegation, its mayors, and countless environmentalists. The question for opponents and supporters of the plan is whether there are enough votes in Congress to get it enacted as legislation. The bills are an offshoot of a master plan called Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy that President Bush initiated with an executive order in May, 2004... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060406/NEWS06/604060364/-1/NEWS
May 8, 200619 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060508/NEWS06/605080310/-1/NEWS -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article published May 8, 2006 Landmark lakes treaty may be reworked The water quality of the Great Lakes faces new challenges By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER The landmark U.S.-Canada treaty that kept Lake Erie from dying is expected to be renegotiated once an extraordinary review of the document is completed some 18 months from now. Many people believe the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement needs updating so that it can be more effective in protecting the world's largest collection of fresh surface water from modern issues ranging from urban sprawl to global warming. "The environment is not static. There are new challenges to the water quality of the Great Lakes," said Dennis Schornack, U.S. section chairman of the International Joint Commission...
September 9, 200618 yr From the 9/8/06 PD: Ohio EPA unveils plans for Lake Erie cleanup Friday, September 08, 2006 John C. Kuehner Plain Dealer Reporter Elyria - Ohio will push ahead with the cleanup of Lake Erie, with or without federal help. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Joe Koncelik announced Thursday a list of projects that the state will pursue over the next two to three years to continue restoring the lake. "The great thing about it is these are not hypothetical projects," Koncelik said after releasing the plan at the quarterly meeting of the Lake Erie Commission in Elyria. "It's real action and activities on the ground." The Ohio Lake Erie Action List ranges from completing a plan to deal with invasive species to mapping all the wetlands in Ohio. Other projects include designing and installing new fish-friendly bulkheads on the Cuyahoga River and adopting legislation that would ban items containing mercury... http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lorain/1157704231124680.xml&coll=2
September 21, 200618 yr From the 9/20/06 Toledo Blade: Advocates 'cautiously optimistic' $20M Great Lakes bill will pass House By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER WASHINGTON - Great Lakes advocates are closely monitoring developments on Capitol Hill today, hoping the U.S. House gets behind a 16-year-old law to restore the region's fish and wildlife habitat with $20 million a year in potential funding. The Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2006, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) and U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Ohio), received the Senate's nod for reauthorization earlier this year with a potential increase of $12 million a year. The previous limit was $8 million a year, although the full amount was never allocated... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060920/NEWS06/609200390/-1/NEWS
September 24, 200618 yr From the 9/23/06 Toledo Blade: GREAT LAKES 2 cleanup bills could play role in '08 elections Taft: Congress can't ignore need By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER CLEVELAND - Gov. Bob Taft said yesterday that a pair of congressional bills calling for an unprecedented $20 billion in Great Lakes cleanup funds could become a key election issue this fall and in the 2008 presidential election. Though the federal budget has been spread thin by the response to Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq, Mr. Taft said Congress cannot bypass the needs of 40 million Great Lakes residents in the United States and Canada by letting the Bush Administration back off its once-assumed commitment to fund the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act. "No new money is not an acceptable answer, especially when state and local governments have been investing more heavily in the Great Lakes than the federal government," the outgoing Republican governor told a packed ballroom in downtown Cleveland's Crowne Plaza, where 250 scientists, activists, and government officials are attending a three-day Great Lakes conference... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/NEWS06/609230412/-1/NEWS
October 5, 200618 yr From the 10/2/06 Port Clinton News Herald: Coalition pushes for Great Lakes restoration CLEVELAND -- Citing scientific evidence that the Great Lakes are collapsing due to threats from sewage contamination and aquatic invasive species, a major coalition recently urged Congress to ramp-up its efforts to restore the lakes. "Unless we invest in a solution to restore the Great Lakes today, the price we pay tomorrow will be much higher and future generations may never experience the lakes as we know them," said Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association and co-chairman of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. "Congress has a solution to protect our drinking water, economic future and way of life. It's time our elected officials pass the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act." The intensified effort to restore the Great Lakes comes as Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, and Ohio Senators Mike DeWine and George Voinovich visit Cleveland, Ohio, for the second annual Great Lakes restoration conference, sponsored by Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition... http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061002/NEWS01/610020331/1002/rss01
October 5, 200618 yr From the 10/3/06 Toledo Blade: Congress OKs $16M for Great Lakes wildlife act BLADE STAFF WASHINGTON - Congress reauthorized the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act at $16 million a year Saturday, twice the original $8 million annual spending cap. The bill has gone to President Bush to be signed into law. The Senate had authorized up to $20 million a year in July. The House recently waived spending rules that limited increases to 10 percent, agreeing to a $16 million cap. The Senate concurred with the House figure just before the electoral recess. The act, good for five years, first was authorized in 1990. It provides money for habitat projects that support the region's fish and wildlife. It was co-sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Ohio) and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), and by Michigan and Illinois congressmen in the House. http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061003/NEWS06/610030342/-1/NEWS
December 28, 200618 yr Outlook murky as U.S., Canada work out pact on Great Lakes Environmental, industry groups are lobbying to strike balance BY JOHN FLESHER | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS December 28, 2006 CLEVELAND - When Canada and the United States approved the first version of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972, the running joke in Cleveland was that anyone unlucky enough to fall into the Cuyahoga River would decay rather than drown. The Cuyahoga, which meanders through the city before reaching Lake Erie, helped inspire the cleanup initiative by literally catching fire three years earlier. The lower end of the 112-mile-long waterway was a foul brew of oil, sludge, sewage and chemicals. It made embarrassing worldwide headlines when its surface burned for about 30 minutes. Today the river is being nursed back to health under a plan developed through the water quality agreement. Pollution levels have fallen. Nearly 70 fish species have been detected in areas once considered virtually lifeless. Just this year, bald eagle nests were spotted in the area. But much remains to be done... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/NEWS01/612280362/1056/COL02
December 28, 200618 yr A related article... New strategy for water quality Pay some now for prevention or a whole lot more later for cleanup BY JOHN FLESHER | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS December 28, 2006 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - About five years before zebra mussels launched their invasion of the Great Lakes in the mid-1980s, Canadian researchers warned that it was coming. But neither Canada nor the United States took steps to stop the tiny mollusk from hitchhiking to the lakes from Europe inside ballast tanks of oceangoing freighters. Now, controlling the pest costs taxpayers hundreds of millions a year. "We're paying many times the price we would have had to pay if we'd taken a preventive approach," says Cameron Davis, executive director of the Alliance for the Great Lakes... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/NEWS01/612280363/1056/COL02
February 10, 200718 yr From the 1/29/07 Blade: IN THE PUBLIC EYE Environmental group to tackle Great Lakes By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER CHICAGO - The Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the nation's largest environmental groups, set up shop in the Great Lakes region Jan. 16 from an office at 101 North Wacker Drive here. Established in 1970, the NRDC claims a membership of 1.2 million people and online activists, including 217,526 in eight Midwestern states. Based in New York, its other offices are in Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Beijing. According to its Web site, the NRDC is a not-for-profit group that spent about $60 million in 2005. So why has it come to the Great Lakes region?... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070129/NEWS06/701290314/-1/NEWS
February 10, 200718 yr From the 2/8/07 DDN: Great Lakes protection not in budget By Steve Bennish Staff Writer Thursday, February 08, 2007 A coalition of environmental groups took aim at President Bush's proposed budget Wednesday, saying it doesn't go far enough to protect the Great Lakes from outdated public sewage treatment plants and invasive species and doesn't adequately help restore aquatic wildlife. "The short story is that the president's budget leaves Great Lakes programs treading water, when what's needed is a full-scale rescue," said Jeff Skelding, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. The coalition includes the National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club and the National Parks Conservation Association... http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/02/07/ddn020807lakes.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=16
February 10, 200718 yr From the 2/9/07 Blade: Panel: Lakes need accelerated action Group says more accountability needed By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER The stakes are high for the Toledo area and other parts of the Great Lakes basin as a 98-year-old international board pushes for greater accountability in managing the world's largest collection of fresh surface water. The health of western Lake Erie, the basin's warmest, shallowest, and most fruitful for fish reproduction, affects the raw source of Toledo's drinking water, the tourism-based sector of its economy, and much more. The International Joint Commission, in its 13th biennial report on Great Lakes water quality that was released in Chicago yesterday, said the United States and Canada have been "good, but not exemplary, stewards of our lakes."... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070209/NEWS06/702090349/-1/NEWS
February 12, 200718 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070212/NEWS06/702120331/-1/NEWS -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article published February 12, 2007 Maumee River to get $5M in aid Foundation will fund projects to combat polluted sediment By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER A Chicago-based foundation is expected to announce today that it will fund $5 million worth of environmental projects along the 130-mile Maumee River and portions of three tributaries. The Joyce Foundation funds will go toward projects that will try to keep polluted sediment out of the Maumee along its length from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Toledo, as well as three tributary rivers: the St. Joseph, Tiffin, and Blanchard rivers. The 8,316-square-mile Maumee watershed is the largest river system in the Great Lakes region and is Lake Erie's largest source of water other than what flows down from other Great Lakes via the Detroit River...
April 24, 200718 yr Ban ocean vessels in lakes? Some are floating the idea As invasive species multiply, plan no longer looks radical By DAN EGAN [email protected] Posted: April 21, 2007 The idea of banning oceangoing vessels from the Great Lakes to halt the onslaught of invasive species would have been universally dismissed as nonsense just a few years ago. Not anymore. Frustrated with ocean freighters dumping invasive species that are ravaging native fisheries, despoiling prized beaches and costing water-dependent industries billions of dollars, the conservation group Great Lakes United proposed an overseas-freighter ban in late March, the day before the St. Lawrence Seaway was rousted from its winter slumber for its 49th season... http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=594384&format=print
April 24, 200718 yr In a possibly related story, my friend recently found a dead octopus wash up on the beach in Lakewood.
April 25, 200718 yr Wow! How awesome would it be if there were fresh water octopus! The fresh water octopus could be the key to future ecotourism for the city, ha ha. Since the great lakes are so screwed with invasive species already, it's probably time to bring in some of the cooler non native species like dolphins, whales and manatees. No sharks though.
April 25, 200718 yr A few years ago I had a dream that there were dolphins or seals (can't remember which) in Lake Erie. I was so bummed when I woke up and realized it wasn't real.
April 25, 200718 yr Dolphins? We could just cram little squeekboxes down the throats of some walleye. Same thing, really.
June 16, 200717 yr From the 5/24/07 PD: Raw sewage dumped in lake Imagine '3 billion toilets flushing' Thursday, May 24, 2007 Aaron Marshall Plain Dealer Bureau Columbus - More than 10 billion gallons of untreated raw sewage were dumped into Lake Erie from dozens of communities in 2005, according to a report an environmental group released Wednesday morning. "Ten billion gallons of sewage floating into Lake Erie is equivalent to 3 billion toilets flushing into the lake," said Amy Gomberg, a spokeswoman for Environment Ohio, a nonprofit group that presented its study at a Statehouse news conference. "Sewage contamination poses an environmental threat to Lake Erie and a health threat to the millions who swim, boat and fish in it each year." The problem stems from sewer overflows that allow the raw sewage to pass into waterways during heavy rains. Cleveland, Toledo, Fremont, Sandusky and Akron were the top offenders in the report, with Cleveland's regional sewer system alone dumping almost 5 billion gallons of untreated sewage into Lake Erie in 2005. In all, 38 communities in the Lake Erie water basin are built with combined sewer systems, which discharge untreated sewage and storm water into waterways when it rains... http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1179996005315830.xml&coll=2
June 16, 200717 yr Here's a link to that EPA report that the article mentions: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/solec/ From the 6/8/07 Blade: Great Lakes restoration effort receives mixed review CHICAGO - Efforts to restore the Great Lakes got mixed reviews in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report released here yesterday. The agency said in its biennial Great Lakes Highlights Report that there is less air pollution and a decline in the lakes' overall abundance of toxins. But smog remains a public health issue in several metropolitan areas, the agency said, and medical waste and harsh chemicals from fire retardants and personal health-care products are being detected more often. Pollution remains high enough for advisories on fish consumption to remain in effect. Invasive species continue to threaten the biological food web of native fish. And more water is expected to be lost to evaporation as climate change continues to drive up temperatures and reduce winter ice cover, the report said. But nearly three-quarters of the monitored U.S. and Canadian beaches were clean enough for swimming. The report was released at the International Joint Commission's biennial meeting. The commission is a U.S.-Canada governmental agency that helps the two countries address boundary-water issues. http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070608/NEWS06/706080365/-1/NEWS
August 15, 200717 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/NEWS24/708150401 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published August 15, 2007 Ohio bill seeks controls on ballast discharge Ships on Lake Erie would need permit BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS - Ohio would be empowered to regulate the discharge of ballast water from oceangoing ships into portions of Lake Erie under state control under a bill to be introduced today in the Ohio House. Designed to compensate for a lack of federal action to control the spread of exotic invasive species like the zebra mussel, the bill would require the state Department of Natural Resources to develop a permitting and ship inspection system. The move follows the lead of Michigan, which enacted similar legislation that took effect Jan. 1. Ohio's bill, to be introduced by Rep. Mike Skindell (D., Lakewood) would require Ohio to act on its own while simultaneously working with other Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces to develop a uniform standard for the entire lake...
August 17, 200717 yr Ship ballast law posts victory Suit against Michigan dismissed, opening door for states aiming to protect Great Lakes By DAN EGAN [email protected] Posted: Aug. 16, 2007 Fed up with an industry blamed for trashing some of the Great Lakes' finest beaches and ravaging its native fish populations, two years ago the State of Michigan stopped waiting for Congress to act. It passed its own law ordering oceangoing vessels operating in state-controlled waters to stop discharging contaminated ballast water. Many in the shipping industry considered the Michigan law that kicked in this year as largely symbolic - so little cargo is shipped from Michigan ports that the regulation would have very little effect on overall Great Lakes shipping patterns. But symbols can have power. The shipping industry sued, arguing among other things that the law put an unreasonable crimp on interstate commerce... http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=648445&format=print
September 7, 200717 yr Report says Great Lakes cleanup would boost economy By JOHN FLESHER | Thursday, September 06, 2007 Quad City Times TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - A proposed restoration of the Great Lakes would generate at least $50 billion in economic gains, twice as much as the cleanup would cost, according to a report issued Wednesday. The analysis by the Brookings Institution said healing the ecologically ailing lakes would help industries such as tourism and outdoor recreation. It also would boost property values, reduce wastewater treatment costs and attract new residents. In addition to such long-term benefits, pumping government money into the region for the cleanup would have a temporary ripple effect worth $30 billion to $50 billion as contractors pay workers and make purchases, said economists with the research and policy institute in Washington, D.C. http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/09/06/ap-state-il/d8rfknhg2.txt
September 7, 200717 yr "Among other proposals: cleansing heavily polluted sites; restoring wetlands; preventing release of toxic chemicals; restoring habitat; and halting exotic species invasions..." I would like to hear more about restoring wetlands and habitat here in Cleveland. So far the proposals for Lakefront Development completely ignore these important issues.
September 7, 200717 yr I wouldn't say that. One of the ideas in the Lakefront Plan is to create islands off of the existing breakwalls that would serve as a defacto shore habitat with wetlands. There are also plans for Dike 14 to be a nature preserve, and for mush of the existing lakefront to be given a green edge with aquifers. There is the proposal for "green bulkheads" along the Cuyahoga River's banks. They would both retain the banks and provide "shelfs" for habitat. Has any of this happened yet? No, but we are only about 3 years into a 50 year plan, and reconfiguring a shoreline will take a lot of time and resources. The Great Lakes cleanup initiative can provide a good chunk of the resources hopefully, but that doesn't mean people haven't previously been looking at the potential solutions.
September 12, 200816 yr A fish's life not much fun Pollution, habitat loss threaten 39 species in Great Lakes region Friday, September 12, 2008 3:16 AM By Spencer Hunt THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The number of fish species threatened by pollution, invasive species and loss of habitat in Ohio and across North America is growing, according to a new report. This week, the U.S. Geological Survey and American Fisheries Society listed 700 fish species in the United States, Canada and Mexico as vulnerable, threatened or endangered. The list includes 61 species considered extinct. A similar survey in 1989 listed 364 vulnerable, threatened or endangered species and 50 considered extinct... http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/12/Ohfish.ART_ART_09-12-08_B1_IOBA6JD.html?print=yes&sid=101
October 4, 200816 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081004/NEWS06/810040358/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 4, 2008 Bush signs Great Lakes pact into law Measure is designed to prevent water grabs By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER President Bush yesterday followed through on his pledge to sign the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact into law. The legislation recognizes the eight Great Lakes states as a regional water compact for managing withdrawals from the world's largest source of fresh surface water. Large-scale diversions or bulk exports of Great Lakes water will be forbidden without approval from a regional water council the states are expected to form...
November 8, 200816 yr Environmentalists: Obama and Emanuel likely to make Great Lakes priority http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081106/NEWS16/811060215 Environmentalists say Barack Obama's election and his appointment of Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff are good signs for the effort to heal the Great Lakes. Obama and Emanuel both are from the Lake Michigan city of Chicago. Cameron Davis, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, says both have worked in Congress to protect the lakes. Davis says Emanuel is, in his words, "the godfather of Great Lakes restoration" for introducing a wide-ranging cleanup package in 2003. During his presidential campaign, Obama pledged to spend $5 billion on a Great Lakes restoration program. Davis said Thursday he expects Obama and Emanuel to make the lakes a priority, but acknowledged the economic slump and budget deficit will present funding challenges.
November 12, 200816 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081112/NEWS24/811120393/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published November 12, 2008 Closing of 6 water links urged to save Great Lakes ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO - Waterways engineered more than a century ago to connect the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds should be altered to stop the exchange of invasive species that can cause irreversible damage, an environmental advocacy group says. A 106-page feasibility study to be released today by the Alliance for the Great Lakes says separating the watersheds is the only way to stop the transfer of some invasive species - including the voracious Asian carp that is within 50 miles of Lake Michigan. "If you want to protect the Great Lakes, this is what you have to do. Invaders like Asian carp are unpredictable, but their effects are catastrophic and irreversible," said Joel Brammeier, Alliance president and lead author of the study. "You've got to remove their pathway."...
Create an account or sign in to comment