Standing Up for the Public Interest

Things are getting heated up north at Kennecott's Eagle Rock mine. Last week activist Cynthia Pryor was arrested near the site even though she was on public land. Now, Native American groups are camped on land that was leased to Kennecott by the state. They plan to stay there as long as it takes.

Everybody should give Cynthia Pryor a tip of the cap, there is clearly something sinister going on when people are getting arrested on public lands. People standing up for themselves for what they know is right is what has made this country great.

Being from the Detroit area this is all very similar to the public park that Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun put a fence around and had armed goons patrolling. In a court hearing about a month ago, the Metro Times reported that if the fence that was erected around the city park was torn down by city officials they would probably be shot. What is going on with our public lands?

Here is Cynthia's story on youtube:



This is the blog for the indian group camped at the Eagle Rock site

Michigan Messenger: Native Americans camp on land leased to mining company

Save The Wild UP

Clean Water Action Blasts Oakland County Resolution

***CWA Press Release***
Oakland Commissioners Sharply Criticized for Anti-Water Vote Resolution Opposes Bill That Would Prevent Outsourcing Waters

PONTIAC, MI—Clean Water Action sharply criticized a resolution approved today, by a panel of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, that opposes proposed state legislation that would strengthen water protections in the wake of government and corporate actions that threaten drinking water sources.

In a vote along party lines, the county board’s General Government Committee approved the resolution under pressure from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, an advocacy group financially supported by corporate and right-wing national funders.

“The message these Oakland County commissioners send with this resolution is exactly the message that China and CEOs want to hear, “said Cyndi Roper, Special Projects Director for Clean Water Action. “What the vote today says is that the groundwater that feeds Oakland County’s streams, keeps Oakland County lakes alive and is the circulatory system for our entire Great Lakes ecosystem doesn’t deserve to be safeguarded from a state government that is sometimes all too willing to allow our waters to be sold for profit and exported to thirsty countries like China.

“That’s not the message Oakland County should be sending to Lansing because the corporate lobbyists there are only too eager to kill any bill that keeps them from making more money for their CEOs.”

The county board panel’s resolution opposed House Bill 5319, which amends the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to classify groundwater as a public trust. Although lakes, rivers and streams have public trust protection, Michigan courts in recent years have eroded protections for groundwater as a result of suits filed by international water exporters like the Nestle Corporation. A nearly identical bill to HB 5319 passed the House with bipartisan support in 2008, but fell one vote shy of passing in the state Senate.

“We strongly urge the Board of Commissioner to reject those who want to turn Michigan’s waters over to corporate interests so, like our jobs, water can be outsourced in unlimited amounts to China and other places,” said Roper. “This is wrong, the people of Oakland County and Michigan know it’s wrong, and we hope their elected officials get the message and keep this resolution from being passed by the full board.”

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy claims the House bill is a threat to property rights, would require permits to use trout streams and would impose additional taxes and fines. None of that is true, said Roper.

“Some claim HB 5319 or public trust would require permits, taxes, and fees for withdrawal of groundwater,” said Roper. “There is nothing in HB 5319 that states or implies any such thing. Neither HB 5319 nor the public trust in water requires or authorizes permits, taxes, or fees. The public trust has nothing to do with groundwater regulation. It simply affirms and declares the overriding public trust interest in water so that government cannot interfere with or sell off or subordinate our rights of private reasonable use or public use and enjoyment of our water.“

Free Press Commentary about House Bill 5319 by lawyer/activist James Olson

Take Action: Flow For Water

Michigan House Bill 5319

Birds Eye Plant Poisons Fennville Wells

New Website Helps People Get Involved in Local Coastline Cleanups

The environmental organization Great Lakes United launched a new website called Find My Cleanup, which aims to connect community members to local cleanups going on their area.

The site already has several postings of spring cleanups going on around the Great Lakes. There is a listing for a Detroit area cleanup for Lake St. Clair on Sunday May 23, 2010. The event which is billed as the Nautical Coast Cleanup is presented by the St. Clair Shores Waterfront Environmental Committee. The event is in its 15th year and has gathered over 474 tons of debris over the years from the Lake St. Clair shoreline.

15th Annual Nautical Coast Cleanup

Find Local Cleanups in your community:
Find My Cleanup

Closing the Great Lakes Compact Loophole

Yesterday to observe World Water Day, Michigan activists held a press conference in Traverse City to bring Michigan House Bill 5319 back into the public spotlight. The bill would close the door on the Great Lakes Compact loophole. In a press release Traverse City attorney and water activist James Olsen said “the Compact left the door wide open for out-of-Basin exports of our water intended for consumers. If Michigan does not close it, global special interests will exploit global water scarcity at the expense of Michigan’s livelihood and quality of life.”

Take Action: Flow For Water

Press Release:
Michigan Water Protectors Push for Public Trust Protection

Michigan House Bill 5319

Report Shows Energy Industry Lacking in Mercury Emission Controls

A recent report released by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) ranked the nation's top fifty power plants based on mercury emissions. 16 of the 50 power plants were in the Great Lakes region. According to the report by the EIP, mercury removal is possible:

"Years of inaction and delay have prevented Americans from enjoying the power plant mercury cleanup that is required by the Clean Air Act. In 1990, Congress passed the Clean Air Act amendments that set in motion EPA’s requirement to regulate toxic emissions from power plants. But, in 2005, EPA backed away from a protective power plant mercury regulation and instead adopted a weak cap-and-trade scheme, a move that a federal Court of Appeals later overturned.

...Today’s power plant mercury emissions levels are no cause for celebration. When EPA adopted its weak cap-and-trade power plant mercury rule, during the Bush administration, the agency predicted that power plant mercury emissions would drop to between 31 and 34 tons per year by 2010. EPA also concluded that the use of available pollution controls aimed at reducing soot and smog pollution could reduce mercury by 70 percent, to 15 tons per year, and that even stricter cleanup requirements could reduce mercury by 90 percent, to 5 tons per year. The bottom line: Power plant mercury emissions remain unnecessarily high; emissions are significantly higher than the levels that would be achieved if power plants were required to install currently available pollution control technology like bag-houses, scrubbers, and sorbent controls."

This report comes at a time when there is much debate over whether to build new power plants. Here in Michigan there has been a lot of opposition to new coal plants in Bay City and Rogers City. While Michigan only has one power plant listed in the report, it ranked 8th in the nation for mercury emissions. The DTE Energy owned Monroe power plant emitted 1,147 lbs of mercury in 2008. That was an over 23 percent increase from 2007 and a third of Michigan's total mercury emissions for all of 2008.

EIP Report:
AMERICA’S TOP FIFTY POWER PLANT MERCURY POLLUTERS

St. Clair Shores Site Gets $864,000 for Cleanup

The Detroit Free Press reported yesterday that the EPA has awarded $864,000 for PCB cleanup in St. Clair Shores to clean up the 10 mile drain as well as contaminated parts of the Lange and Revere Street canals.

The EPA is installing 25 weirs which are small metal plates in the sewer line which will block sediment but allow water to still flow. They are hoping to follow a sediment trail to the source since they still do not know where the PCB's are coming from. In 2002 PCB's were removed but have since returned. On March 3 of this year upon finding more PCB's the site was recommended to be put on the National Priorities List but is still waiting approval.

Here is the EPA document describing the site as well as the EPA's findings

A Few Highlights From MSU's Great Lakes Conference

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending Michigan State University's 2010 Great Lakes Conference "Learning from the Past, Looking Towards the Future." The presentations had a broad range of interesting topics and challenges that are facing the Great Lakes as we move forward into the new millennium.

“Quagga Mussel Impact on the Nearshore Zone: Why Do Our Beaches Stink?” By Harvey Bootsma Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Water Institute

Harvey Bootsma of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Water Institute presented findings concerning the possibility that quagga mussels may be excreting phosphorous and thereby contributing to higher concentrations of near shore phosphorous. This coupled with more water clarity from the quagga mussels are perfect conditions for cladophora. Cladophora is algae that are known for contributing to unsightly muck on beaches. When cladophora die they can harbor botulism that get into fish and can lead to massive bird kills when the birds eat the fish.

While Bootsma concedes that there “is no smoking gun yet,” they suspect that quagga mussels are altering Lake Michigan’s phosphorous cycle. So far tests that they have conducted have indicated that quagga mussels are concentrating large amounts of phosphorus near the shore. The increased phosphorous acts as a nutrient source for the cladophora, while the increased water clarity of the quagga mussels also contributes to the growth of cladophora.

These findings are troubling, Bootsma says that while the knee-jerk reaction may be to limit phosphorous going into the lake, the problem is more complicated now. Further offshore, plankton need phosphorous so further limiting it could contribute to the decline of plankton that would lead to a decline of fish like alewives which feed off of plankton and in turn get eaten by bigger game fish like salmon and trout.

There is still much that needs to be known such as how the phosphorus mixes at the bottom of the lake and mussel bed, and how fast the phosphorus is at leaving the water table.

“Impacts of Climate Change on Great Lakes Ecosystems”

This talk by Dr. Kimberly Hall of the Nature Conservancy focused on how to anticipate and adjust conservation strategies based off of climate change.

According to Hall temperatures will be 6.5-7.5 degrees warmer by 2080 with increases in the winter minimum and summer maximum. There will also be more extreme heat events, and a longer growing season along with changes in wind and currents.

Hall’s talk focused on a climate adaptation clinic she took part in where they took the following approach in evaluating current conservation strategies in light of climate change:

-Estimate exposure to climate change
-Evaluate sensitivities/impacts
-Create system diagrams
-Create and revise hypotheses of change
-Evaluate conservation strategies

Other concerns related to temperature are that the warmer temperatures will broaden the range of other species in a northward push that will bring more invasive species to the region.

The other big problem will be phenological mismatches. Plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates all respond to temperatures at different rates. As they rely on each other for food, it will disrupt the food web as they respond to climate change differently.

The Nature Conservancy is currently working on making computer models to best figure out what ways are suitable to manage current ecosystems while accounting for climate change.

“Coastal Beaches: Status and Concerns” By Shannon Briggs Toxicologist MDNRE

Congress enacted the BEACH Act which appropriates $10 million per year to 35 different coastal states per year. According to Briggs Michigan does not get its fair share of funding despite having over 3,000 miles of coastline and 1183 public beaches.

When the EPA grants money, they focus more on the length of the beach season than the overall quantity of coastline. This is the reason that the American province of Samoa with its 126 miles of coastline gets the same amount of funding as Michigan. The Michigan’s coastline monitoring program has applied for some of the funds from the recent Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Otherwise the BEACH reauthorization act is threatened to be in a spending freeze until 2012.

Overall, Michigan’s beaches are doing really good despite the lack of funding for monitoring. Actions were reported only 2 percent of the time. Briggs still had concerns noting that you can’t report what wasn’t tested. They only have resources to test most beaches once a week during the swimming season. This will tell them if the water is safe to swim in or not, but it won’t tell them why the water has been fouled. One thing that they have done is to get volunteers to do routine beach sanitary surveys that ask questions like water color, if there are any smells, recent rainfall, or geese, etc. These surveys help provide a bigger picture of what is going on, giving a story behind the numbers and explaining the causes behind any pollution.

Here are some websites:

Has testing results of every Michigan public beach: Beachguard

Track CSO's and SSO's in your community


“Asian Carp: An Imminent Invasion?” By Dan O’ Keefe, Ph.D. Michigan Sea Grant

What more can anyone really say about the asian carp? O’Keefe compared the recent media hype to the Cuyahoga fire in Ohio that brought the Clean Water Act.

He highlighted some interesting facts including some of the ideal reproductive requirements of carp, which do need pretty specific conditions to reproduce:

-Temperatures above 64 degrees F
-A rise in water level
-Over 60 miles of free-flowing river that is upstream from a lake.
-Hard water

He did note that further study is needed and exceptions can apply.

O’ Keefe went on to show the areas of Michgan that are particularly vulnerable to asian carp. The lower western half of Michigan along the Lake Michigan coast is vulnerable as well as Saginaw Bay, and the southeastern part of Michigan from the St. Clair River down through Lake St. Clair and eastern Lake Erie.

O’ Keefe also pointed out that at the Lockport Lock and Dam there are three canals there. One of those canals is the old Illinois and Michigan Canal and there is the potential that the asian carp could bypass the electric barrier altogether and get through a culvert that empties into the Des Plaines River.

O’ Keefe advocated permanent ecological separation not only to stop the asian carp but a myriad of other invasive species that are found in the Chicago waterways but not the Great Lakes such as longspine daphnia, mottled fingernail clam, orangespotted sunfish, skipjack herring, and gizzard shad, just to name a few.

“Wind Farms and Coastal Communities” By Charles McKeown MSU Land Policy Institute

McKeown highlighted the current conflict that is currently going on with wind turbines and local communities and government. Michigan public act 295 required that 10 percent of Michigan’s energy should come from renewable resources. Michigan has a lot of untapped potential for wind resources, McKeown says that there is a 99 percent gap between Michigan wind power utilization and estimated capacity. Texas has already developed a third of its wind power capacity.

Mckeown compared wind power and public attitudes to puppies. Virtually everybody loves puppies and in Land Policy Institute surveys that asked the broad question of whether people were for wind power over 90 percent said they were.

There are no state guidelines for wind farms. It is an issue that is left to local planning committees. McKeown finds that the absence of local planning models, as well as the absence of knowledge for such a new technology in local governments leads to local fear and ultimately public opposition towards the issue. McKeown is looking to injecting science and rational thought to the debate.

The Land Policy Institute has been working on finding out what people like and don’t like about wind farms. In the slideshow the concerns were broke down into 5 different categories of environmental, visual, quality of life, economic, and fairness. Each issue has pros, cons, as well as the challenges of information gaps and remaining questions. The biggest issue seems to be the aesthetics and sheer enormity of the structures, as well as the feeling by some small towns that they are being exploited.

While these are all valid concerns McKeown said that renewable energy gets paid so much lip service on how it is going to help solve climate change, revitalize manufacturing, create energy security, and renew American innovation, while the reality is that we have a “wicked public policy program.”

McKeown had this following synopsis of the wicked problem in his presentation:

“A problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Moreover, because of complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems.”

MSU Land Policy Institute will be having a 2010 conference on April 23 at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.

Mining Update: Kennecott Exploring New Sites in the U.P, PolyMet Hearings in Minnesota

According to the website Save The Wild U.P. the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNRE) has announced that a public comment period has begun over the leasing of over 4000 acres of mineral rights to Kennecott in southern Marquette County, northern Dickinson County, and southern Houghton County.



In other mining news Minnesota's proposed PolyMet mine that would be in close proximity to the boundary waters had hearings this week in the Minnesota state Senate. According to the activist group Friends of the Boundary Waters, the meetings were productive and focused on earlier EPA criticisms over PolyMet's Environmental Impact statement. This was in the shadow of the damage deposit bill being withdrawn by the bill's author Sen. Jim Carlson. The damage deposit bill would have increased mining industry regulations.

Here our some recent press on the PolyMet mine from the past week:
If PolyMet meets its commitments, the DEIS suggests that its proposed mine poses no serious environmental impact

Mining industry's view: Benefits are enormous, risks addressed

This is the PolyMet Mine's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
PolyMet Mining Inc./NorthMet Project EIS

Pharmaceuticals are an Emerging Pollutant for the Great Lakes

A new report by the Alliance for the Great Lakes explores the emerging threat of pharmaceuticals in our drinking water. While many officials say that the levels of pharmaceuticals are low enough that they are not a public risk, it is still not known how these drugs will interact with existing chemicals in the Great Lakes.

There is also no way to really stop them at the moment. Wastewater treatment systems are not equipped to remove pharmaceuticals from the drinking water. There have been recent public campaigns to educate the public to not flush prescriptions down the toilet, as well as places you can bring unwanted prescriptions to be properly disposed of. Much of the waste products still come from secreted urine from patients on medications. Other pathways that pharmaceuticals get into the waterways are from landfills, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and health care facilities.

The report makes the following recommendations: creating drugs that degrade in the environment, introducing new measures for health care workers that can reduce pollution, more research in virtually every area, drug take back programs, and manufacturers being required to list their products' toxicity information.

See the report for yourself: Protecting the Great Lakes from Pharmaceutical Pollution

Alliance for the Great Lakes Press Release:
Drugs in Drinking Water: New Report Explores Emerging Great Lakes Threat, Solutions

Editorial: Will Michigan Put Funding for Toxic Cleanups on the November Ballot?

Today Detroit News reporter Jim Lynch highlighted the issue that Michigan's toxic cleanup program is completely out of cash. Don't act surprised. This is a story that has seemed to surface about once a year for the past few years and yet nothing has been done about it by lawmakers.

Funding to cleanup toxic sites have been through two voter approved bond issues, one in 1988 and the other in 1998. The program brought $1.3 billion to fund the program. That money will be gone this year. We have our lawmakers to thank for that. In 2008 the MDEQ tried and ultimately failed to persuade lawmakers to put a new bond on the 2008 ballot. This came amidst stories in the press about the MDEQ not having enough money to inspect all of Michigan's toxic sites and them basically warning that this crises was coming. Now, the question is whether lawmakers will have the guts to put the bond proposal on the November 2010 ballot.

Before we dive into a debate about how fiscally irresponsible it is to protect our natural resources, consider that a 2007 expose in the Kalamazoo Gazette in 2007 found that Michigan was dead last in natural resource spending compared to any other state, only spending 0.4 percent of the state's $8 billion budget to protect the environment.

While we're at it let's remember that when companies come in that put the environment at risk such as sulfide mining, or new coal plants, we have to remember that while it does produce economic benefit in the short-term, in the long-term the financial burden of cleanup ends up being the taxpayers problem. Environmental issues are often seen as a very progressive idealistic issue, but they are also a conservative issue. When dirty companies go out of business the tax burden always goes to the taxpayers. Now we are dealing with a full fledged expensive crises that compromises the health of thousands of Michiganders.

Here is another story from the 2007 Kalamazoo expose by Alex Nixon:
Toxic sites threaten valuable Great Lakes resource

Michigan Messenger story: There’s still no funding plan for cleanup at thousands of toxic sites

EPA Proposes St. Clair Shores site to National Priorities List

The EPA is considering putting the St. Clair Shores area at Bon Brae and Harper Avenue on the National Priorities List (NPL). The area has been plagued by PCB contamination since they were discovered in 2001 when officials were attempting to get a dredging permit. The good news is that the sites that get put on Superfund's NPL are eligible to get federal funds.

The St. Clair Shores Drain (SCSD) eventually drains into Lake St. Clair by way of the Lange Street Canal and Revere Street Canal. While drinking water is safe, according to the EPA the main pathways of exposure are through eating fish in the canals, surface water, soil, or the sediments in the canals especially in the areas where the drain discharges.

In 2002 sediment was removed from the two canals though they have been re-contaminated since then. In 2006 the EPA installed a liner in the portion of the storm sewer where the contamination is the heaviest. The storm sewer has also been re-contaminated as well.

Here is the EPA document describing the site as well as the EPA's findings

The Gratiot County Golf Course in St. Louis Michigan has been designated as a superfund NPL site. From 1956 to 1970 the Velsicol Chemical plant disposed of liquid hazardous waste by burning it at the site. In 1982 the site was put on the NPL and 68,000 cubic yards of soil was removed from the site and it was taken off of the NPL. In 2006 more contamonation of soil and groundwater was found so now the site is back onto the NPL.

Kennecott seeks to amend permit; Minnesota to Hold Hearings on PolyMet Project

The Kennecott Eagle Project has amended their wastewater treatment permit which may exempt them from having to get a federal permit which is the final regulatory hurdle that the company faces. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment will host a public meeting on Thursday March 11 at 7 PM at Westwood High School.

The proposal can be viewed here.

Associated Press reporter John Flesher broke the story:
Kennecott seeks to amend permit

In other mining news there are going to be mining hearings by the Minnesota Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee next week that will discuss the proposed Boundary Waters PolyMet mine as well as a bill that would strengthen Minnesota mining laws.

This comes after the EPA slammed the PolyMet mine proposal last week as "environmentally unsatisfactory."

The hearings are scheduled for Monday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 10. Details of the meetings are here.

The proposed "damage deposit" bill that will be discussed can be found here.

Asian Carp Roundup

The past week was a big week for the Great Lakes in terms of lobbying in Washington and for news on the asian carp. For the first time environmentalists and shipping industry representatives agreed that permanently separating the Chicago River would be feasible. The idea was that if the river was separated upstream from the locks, then shippers would still have access to the Chicago ports. The statement was said at an asian carp hearing before the Senate's Subcommittee on Water and Power.

Next week the Army Corps of Engineers will release their modified lock operation plan for the asian carp.

Water and Power Subcommittee Hearing

EPA Rates Boundary Waters Mine Proposal as "Environmentally Unsatisfactory"

The EPA has rated the proposed Boundary Waters mine as "environmentally unsatisfactory" and also said that the impact statement was "inadequate."

Star Tribune Story:
PolyMet Mine Can't Proceed as Proposed

New Report Puts Pressure on Obama to Regulate Coal Ash Waste Sites

The Environmental Integrity Project released a report this week finding that many coal ash waste sites across the country are emitting harmful toxins into groundwater that is exceeding federal limits on drinking water standards. There are no current federal laws against coal ash or combustion wastes. The report found that many of these unregulated waste sites contained levels of arsenic as high as 145 times the legal limit as well as other dangerous toxins such as sulfates, boron, and selenium.

The report found that the Consumers Energy Karn/Weadock coal ash waste site in Saginaw Michigan had concentrations of boron and arsenic in the groundwater near the site 99 times over the legal limit. They also found that the landfills are a major contributor to arsenic in the Saginaw Bay area.

The report comes at a critical time for Michigan as there are all kinds of plans for new coal plants including the contested proposed coal plants in Bay City and Rogers City. This comes after a recent study by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) found that Consumers Energy will not need any additional energy capacity until 2020. Environmentalists have been advocating for increased efficiency, renewable energy, and gas generated energy plants.

The Rogers City plant has been particularly controversial as the coals ash would be several thousand feet from Lake Huron. The other concern is that the geography in the area is full of sinkholes and karst formations which are cracked limestones formations that get filled with underground voids or underground streams. Critics of the plant fear that the toxic chemicals would leach into the groundwater and pollute Lake Huron. Officials with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) have drilled at the site and determined that the site is solid and safe for coal ash disposal.

At a recent public meeting most of the local residents were in favor of the local plant since it would bring desperately needed jobs. On the other side if something was to go wrong than it could be an expensive mess for taxpayers and export pollution to other communities. The state has yet to grant the final permits for the plant.

Critics of the recently approved Bay City power plant say the fight is far from over. They are also attacking the plan of toxic coal ash disposal. One group that owns stock in Consumers Energy is asking the company to better explain the plan to dispose of the millions of tons of toxic coal ash, while other groups are trying to persuade the MPSC to not grant consumers Energy their final certificate of need which is the final permit required before construction can begin.

Environmental Integrity Report:
Out of Control: Mounting Damages From Coal Ash Waste Sites

Asian Carp Supreme Court Case Delayed

An extension has been granted in the U.S. Supreme court case for Illinois' legal response to the case. While this is a normal legal filing it drags out the deadline until March 22. There is a sense of urgency in the asian carp case, according to Wayne State Law professor Noah Hall's blog "this increases the risk that asian carp will get into the Great Lakes before the court can even decide to take the case."

Michigan Senate holds hearing on Asian carp; briefing in Supreme Court case delayed

More Spring Flooding and Summer Drought for Great Lakes Region

A new climate model run by Purdue researchers shows that Great Lakes states could see up to 28 percent more precipitation by 2070. Much of that increase would be seen in the winter and spring and would likely lead to increased flooding. The model shows that though it may rain more overall, the summer and fall seasons will be drier This is troubling in that it could really have an adverse effect on agriculture by disrupting the planting season, while summer and fall droughts would also negatively impact crops and intensify water concerns.

Another serious issue is water quality. The increased heavy wet weather events could wreak havoc on local waterways from combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSO's happen when rainwater overwhelms local sewer capacity and rainwater and sanitary waste overflows onto the waterways. Last year was the worst year in awhile with 37.2 billion gallons of CSOs in the Metro Detroit area. While those numbers are bad, there is an increased focus by municipalities on green infrastructure which looks at ways to redirect and filter rainwater naturally rather than having it go into the sewer systems.

The model was based off of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that gave predictions from 1950-2099. The model assumes warmer winters ranging between 2.7 and 5.4 degrees, and warmer summers ranging from 3.6 and 10.8 degrees. The projections were put into the Variable Infiltration Capacity Model which simulates rain patterns in land environments.

One of the recommendations is that though there won't be a shortage of water, ways to store excess water may need to be found. Some municipalities such as Rochester Hills, MI are already considering measures such as this. Though it is less of a response to global warming than it is towards using the reservoir for lawn irrigation so they can avoid peak water rates from the City of Detroit. Still though, it is the same principle, and the infrastructure will be useful for the future.

The report is published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research:

Hydrologic impacts of projected future climate change in the Lake Michigan region

Science Daily
Projection Shows Water Woes Likely Based on Warmer Temperatures

Kennecott Fiasco is Playing Out in Minnesota's Boundary Waters

Will the same Kennecott fiasco be allowed to play out in Minnesota's boundary waters?

The Detroit News ran a good story today summarizing the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) 11th hour giveaway to Kennecott, effectively selling out native americans rights and the idea that we are public stewards. The controversy arose out of the fact that that the proposed sulfide mine was located at Eagle Rock which is sacred to the Anishnabe people. What was weird was how sudden the permit was granted. A week before the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) was merged into the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE), they ruled that the Anishnabe people's contention that Eagle Rock was a sacred place of worship could not be recognized by the state of Michigan. The MDEQ's reasoning was that the sacred Eagle Rock is not a place of worship, only buildings can be recognized as places of worship.

The Kennecott Eagle Project is scheduled to begin as early as this spring. Critics say that new mining laws known as Part 632 were not enforced and that a bad precedent has been set.

Now it seems that the floodgates have been opened for risky sulfide mining throughout the Lake Superior region. Sulfide mining is risky because when sulfide ore or the tailings are exposed to air and water it produces sulfuric acid and create havoc in an environment. It can lead to long-term consequences especially if the company goes bankrupt, then taxpayers get stuck with the bill.

Now new sulfide mines are being proposed in Minnesota's Boundary Waters. The proposed mine would be located in the geographic area known as the Duluth complex just south of the boundary waters. The Canadian company Polymet mining have proposed an adjacent open pit sulfide mine that would be located between Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt Minnesota on land in the Superior National Forest. Any contamination from the mine would go the St. Louis River that flows into Lake Superior.

Another mining company Franconia minerals is proposing another mine about 30 miles to the northeast right next to Birch Lake which is part of the boundary waters watershed.

On a personal note, I have enjoyed the epic splendor that is the boundary waters. We traveled 60 miles in a week. Canoeing and portaging from lake to lake. It is a place where you can go days without seeing anybody and the forest gets so thick in some places that you are literally walking on forest debris that is about 10 feet off of the ground. We had water purifiers but after awhile we just drank water straight from the lake with no ill consequences. Minnesota needs to be public stewards of their land for their own sake and for Canada's sake since the Boundary Waters go up into Canada.

Boundary Waters Mining Video



Precious Waters website against Minnesota Sulfide Mining

Links to the Kennecott ordeal:

Controversial Kennecott mine permits OK’d at 11th hour

Save The Wild UP

"Carpageddon" in Ypsilanti

It was yet another contentious asian carp meeting in Ypsilanti on Wednesday. There were busloads of shipping advocates from the Chicago passenger ferry industry and shipping industry. Their message was clear: any temporary or permanent closure of the locks would be in the words of a spokesperson for Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), "Absolutely devastating." The other messages that were hammered home was that the eDNA method by Notre Dame researchers was unproven and unreliable and that the locks are not water tight. Many also voiced concern that they did not have any industry representation involved n the process of developing a solution.

Almost the entire question session was dominated by shipping advocates. At one point an audience member yelled from the crowd "These are not technical questions, this is lobbying." Shortly after that outburst tensions remained high as a shipping advocate accused The Nature Conservancy's Lindsay Chadderton (who was representing the eDNA science) of laughing at him. "Your laughing, I'm just a common man," he then went on to ask how accurate the eDNA was percentage wise, when that answer couldn't be given the man retorted "so I'm supposed to take your word for it that it actually works?" Earlier on in Chadderton's presentation he explained how there was peer review of the science but that nothing has been published yet since everything is happening so fast. In last weeks Chicago carp meeting officials said peer reviews should be published by June.

Shipping industry advocates continued to dominate the first half of the public comment period giving the feeling that there was only one dominate viewpoint to the large group of assembled people. That changed in the second half of the public comment period as more environmentalists that advocated ecological separation began to get out their message. All in all I counted 23 comments for the shipping industry and 21 viewpoints for ecological separation of the locks and for more aggressive measures to be taken.

There was also a presence of charter boat captains that depend on the fishery that were concerned about their jobs but they were far less organized than shipping advocates.

Much of the environmentalist perspective focused on ecological separation, and the failures of the federal government in dealing with invasive species in the past. It was pointed out that the electric barrier was originally installed to stop the round goby from getting into the Mississippi watershed and ultimately failed to do so. One man with the Ohio Great Lakes Fishery Commission criticized the feds saying that they "Don't do anything until you can prove it's a problem." Other concerns pleaded that this is the chance to finally get it right and separate the invasive species pathway for good. It was pointed out that several other invasive species are in danger of using the pathway to get in the Great Lakes and vice versa.

The only two politicians that actually showed up to the meeting were Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Dingell said the "Very best thing we can do, is close the locks." Stabenow echoed that sentiment and urged a quicker emergency response to the situation.

The award of best new word of the day has to go to Port Huron's Judy Ogden for "carpageddon."

One man had a copy of former Muskegon Chronicle reporter Jeff Alexander's book Pandora's Locks that he said everyone should read to learn more. I agree. It is an excellent book that explains in a measured non biased way of how we are where we are with invasive species. It is a long complicated story that Alexander has referred to in interviews as a "slow motion wildfire."

Jeff Alexander's Website

Great Lakes Echo Interview with Jeff Alexander about Pandora's Locks

What actions have been taken recently?

According to Charlie Wooley who is Midwest Deputy Regional Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, they have 2 weeks access to a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to get biologists out to where they need to be to look for asian carp. They have 3 more additional boats out gill netting and electrofishing. They are focusing on warm water areas since the asian carp prefer warmer water. Commercial fishing boats are even helping out looking for asian carp.