Top Great Lakes Water Stories
Monday, June 20, 2011
To help you stay up-to-date on Great Lakes water quality issues,
Blue Water Satellite offers this free service providing weekly updates on the top
Great Lakes water quality stories and related stories of the past week.
Newsletter Subtitle
Month Year
From the Great Lakes...
Farmers asked to change farming practices
Heavy rains, fertilizer runoff contribute
to Lake Erie algae
Fremont News Messenger
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Blue Water Satellite
detects the presence,
location and
concentration levels of
Cyanobacteria,
Phosphorus (in water
and in surface
soils),Chl-a, total
vegetation, septic
Thanks to repeated downpours throughout the spring, the
pea-green slimy algae bloom on Lake Erie likely will be
worse this year than in the past, a research official said.
Heavy rains have caused plenty of runoff, sending
fertilizer and phosphorus -- an ingredient in fertilizer that is
largely blamed for the toxic blue-green algae so prolific on
the lake in recent years -- into rivers and streams that
dump into Lake Erie, said Jeff Reutter, director of Ohio
State University's Stone Laboratory on Gibraltar Island
leakage and oil, using
data from USGS
Landsat satellites.
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near Put-in-Bay. "It's basically getting a little bit worse
every year. We used to say it was just a Western Basin
problem, but now it's moving and expanding into the
western part of the Central Basin."
Millions of Great Lakes fish killed in power plant
intakes
Chicago Tribune
Despite decades of
efforts to restore and
protect the Great
Lakes, dozens of old
power plants still are
allowed to kill
hundreds of millions
of fish each year by
sucking in massive
amounts of water to
cool their equipment.
Despite decades of
efforts to restore and
protect the Great Lakes, dozens of old power plants still
are allowed to kill hundreds of millions of fish each year by
sucking in massive amounts of water to cool their
equipment. Records obtained by the Tribune show that
staggering numbers of fish die when pulled into the
screens of water intake systems so powerful that most
could fill an Olympic swimming pool in less than a minute.
Drilling in Lake Erie?
Ohio Senate passes bill allowing oil, gas drilling in
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Story for Publication
Toledo Blade
in Our Next Newsletter
A bill allowing drilling for oil and natural gas in parks,
forests, and other state-owned lands passed the Ohio
Senate Wednesday after the chamber again rejected an
Our collaborative
attempt to place Lake Erie off limits. Three Republicans,
partners
however, joined all 10 Democrats in support of an
amendment that would have exempted Lake Erie from the
bill. That amendment failed 19-13. The majority argued
that the amendment was unnecessary because Lake Erie
is already protected by a federal ban. "However, those
federal regulations can be removed at any time.'' said
Rep. Mike Skindell (D., Lakewood). "... It would be an
incredible ecological disaster should there be a leakage
similar to what we saw in the Gulf of Mexico in Lake Erie.''
Editorial
Halt lake sabotage bills
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Not all the invasive
species that
threaten the wellbeing of Lake Erie
are aquatic.
Some walk on two
legs.
State Sen. Tim
Grendell,
Republican of
Chesterland, and
GOP Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, of Napoleon in northwest
Ohio, are fast-tracking legislation that would let
businesses turn Lake Erie water into a revenue stream -and jeopardize the hard-won Great Lakes Compact.
Three conservation groups will hold 'mega-event' in Oct.
Detroit to host Great Lakes Week
The Detroit News
Detroit will host a first-of-its-kind environmental gathering
in October, when three major conservation groups bring
their annual or biennial meetings to the city to discuss the
health of the Great Lakes.
For three days beginning Oct. 12, hundreds of the
conservation-minded are expected to converge on Wayne
State University for meetings of the International Joint
Commission, the Great Lakes Commission and the
Healing Our Waters Coalition.
Hunt is on for Great Lakes Shipwrecks from War of
1812
Our
Amazing
Planet
Two
centuries
after a naval
arms race
introduced
more and
more
warships to
the Great
Lakes, the
search is on
for the
sunken
remains of two of the ships that fought in the War of 1812.
Researchers are digging the depths of Lake Ontario for
the remains of a frigate called the Mohawk and an
unnamed U.S. gunboat designed for amphibious attacks
and harassing British shipping. "Quite a few ships have
been excavated around the Great Lakes in the U.S. and
Canada from the War of 1812, but there are many that
haven't been found," underwater archaeologist Ben Ford
said.
And Elsewhere...
Oregon adopts strictest standard for
toxic water pollution in the nation
The Oregonian
Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission Thursday
adopted the strictest standard for toxic water pollution in
the United States. The changes, which drew thousands of
public comments, dramatically tighten human health
criteria for a more than 100 pollutants, including mercury,
flame retardants, PCBs, dioxins, plasticizers and
pesticides.
But improvements in water quality are expected to take
years, if not decades, and it's not clear yet how much the
rules will actually knock down pollution.
Elsewhere in Oregon...
Lost Creek Lake's toxic, scummy annual visitor may
be back
Mail Tribune
A green scum forming this week on Lost Creek Lake was
suspected to be the first outbreak of blue-green algae at
Jackson County's largest reservoir plagued by these
potentially toxic blooms annually. "I would expect it to
(trigger an advisory)," said Chad Stuart, the natural
resources manager at the Corps' facilities in the Rogue
River Basin. If so, it will mark the first such advisory in
Jackson County in 2011 and only the second so far this
year statewide. On Tuesday, the Oregon Department of
Human Services issued the first such advisory at Cougar
Reservoir in Lane County.
Florida hopes to block new federal water-pollution
rules by rewriting its own
Orlando Sentinel
The uproar over a federal effort to force Florida to clean
up its rivers and lakes kicks up a notch this week as state
officials air their strategy to avoid the controversial
pollution regulations by writing a new set of their own. In a
groundbreaking dispute between federal and state
officials, Florida officials want the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency to abandon its pollution-prevention
rules and give the state back legal responsibility for
cleaning up its waters, even though the state hasn't
rewritten its rules yet.
Historic drought
West Palm Beach water options drying up
The Palm Beach Post
As what's left of the
West Palm Beach
water supply dries up,
officials have two
options: use water from
the city's wellfield, a
possible violation of the
wellfield's permit; or get
an emergency permit to
use water from a
reservoir with
potentially harmful salt
levels. "We're entering into the unknown right now," said
Patrick Painter, the city's watershed resource manager.
"We've never been in this situation before."
Caloosahatchee algae causing turtle, fish kills
WZVN
(Watch Video Report)
The toxic algae in the Caloosahatchee is killing more
wildlife. We found fish and turtles choked out due to a lack
of oxygen. People who live near the water are praying for
the only thing that can help - rain.
Global Summit on Coastal Seas coming to Baltimore
EMECS
Baltimore is preparing
to host many of the
world's leaders in
costal seas
management and
restoration at this
year's EMECS 9 meeting. The conference will focus on
scientifically sound, sustainable restoration approaches,
ensuring accountability and effective communication for
successful integrated management of coastal seas.
Experts on the Japanese Tsunami, Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
and numerous restoration projects from the Chesapeake
Bay to the Seto Umi Sea will be featured at this
conference.
Swift Beef fined $1.3M for water pollution
UPI
Swift Beef Co. will pay $1.3 million to settle violations of
the federal Clean Water Act and state law at its
processing plant in Nebraska. "Swift will pay a significant
penalty for its illegal discharges of wastewater that caused
interference with the local water treatment system and
damage to the aquatic ecosystem of the Wood and Platte
rivers," said Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general for
the department's Environment and Natural Resources
Division. "The same industry that puts food on American
dinner tables must also comply with the Clean Water Act
that keeps our country's waterways healthy, safe and
clean."
World's third-largest salt-water lake at risk of drying
up
Lake Scientist
Iran's Oroumieh Lake is in crisis.
Dams and upstream diversions have lowered water levels
of the world's third-largest salt-water lake by a staggering
60 percent. To save this vanishing lake, officials are
moving forward with a three-part strategy to bring life back
to it. But the plan has been accused of sidestepping the
real source of the problem.