White House Carp Summit Date Set

The White House has set a date for the carp summit for Monday, February 8.

The meeting announcement comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox's request to close the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal locks. The same day that the U.S. Supreme Court denied Cox's request, carp DNA was found beyond the barrier in Lake Michigan. In response to the new DNA finding Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm along with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle requested to meet with White House officials on the matter.

The meeting will be closed to the public and will be between Granholm, Doyle, and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, as well as Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and top officials from the EPA, Department of the Interior, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Three days ago Cox and four other attorneys general requested to have a seat at the table and have been denied. Despite the denial they are still proceeding with the lawsuit that could close the shipping canal linking the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.

Michigan legislators Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) have introduced legislation called the CARP ACT (Close All Routes and Prevent Asian Carp Today) to the U.S. Senate. The CARP ACT would immediately close the locks until a new strategy could be developed. The CARP ACT would also require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install new barriers in the North Shore Channel and and the Grand and Little Calumet Rivers to help stop the carp migration. They would also have to conduct two studies. One would have to find ways to lessen the negative impact on commerce in the canals, while the other would address how best to deal with flooding concerns.

The CARP ACT would grant authority to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to apply fish toxicants, or allow commercial fishing and netting to help eradicate the carp. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would also be granted the authority to acquire any real estate that they need to install the barrier systems.

Michigan Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) is also in on the issue asking the Obama Administration for money to poison all of the waterways where the carp could enter the lake.

Even rocker Ted Nugent is in on the issue with a plea on Cox's website stop asian carp.