Wildlife

Climate Change Forces Michigan Mammals Northward

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(MI) Environmental News Service – Some of Michigan’s forest mammals are expanding their ranges to the north, likely in response to climate change, a new study shows.  

The finding that historically southern species now are replacing the declining northern species by scientists at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Ohio’s Miami University, appears in the June issue of the journal “Global Change Biology.” “This study documents things that are happening right now, here at home,” lead author Philip Myers said today. More

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Critics argue new ballast water permits are inadequate

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(MN) Minnesota Public Radio – Critics of Minnesota’s new ballast water permit system will argue in court today that the system doesn’t do enough to protect Lake Superior from invasive species. They say with a deadly fish virus infesting every Great Lake except Lake Superior, the state needs to act more quickly and more effectively. As a result, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency now requires ships to install equipment to kill organisms in the ballast, but the equipment doesn’t have to be in place and working until 2016. The MPCA’s Jeff Stollenwerk said Minnesota’s system is a good one. He said Minnesota is the only state that has rules for all ships on its Great Lake — Wisconsin’s permit only covers ocean-going ships.  More

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Michigan gets nearly $2.7M to combat invasive species

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(MI) Booth Newspapers – Michigan has been awarded nearly $2.7 million to combat invasive species. The award was announced Thursday by U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, both Democrats from Michigan. They say invasive species pose a signifcant threat to Michigan’s environment and the funding will help eradicate them. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding has been designated for the Wildland Fire Management program.

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Crestwood water: Cancer victim’s widow sues village

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – The widow of a former Crestwood resident who died of lymphoma in 2003 sued the village and its former mayor Thursday, claiming that contaminated drinking water caused his death. John Maan De Kok, who lived in Crestwood from 1969 to 1990, received a diagnosis in 2000 of stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to the suit. He died three years later at age 39, leaving behind a wife and two young children, said attorney Michael Mertz. “I think it’s unconscionable that the Village of Crestwood and its leaders placed the health of their residents at risk, and I think this family paid the ultimate price,” Mertz said. More

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Study Halves Prediction of Rising Seas

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(NY) The New York Times – A new analysis halves longstanding projections of how much sea levels could rise if Antarctica’s massive western ice sheets fully disintegrated as a result of global warming. The flow of ice into the sea would probably raise sea levels about 10 feet rather than 20 feet, according to the analysis, published in the May 15 issue of the journal Science. More

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Congress pushed to OK Great Lakes aid

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(OH) Toledo Blade – Representatives of Great Lakes industry, environment, government, and policy groups yesterday called on Congress to approve President Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget plan because it contains a provision to set aside $475 million to restore the lakes, collectively the world’s largest source of fresh surface water.  

The breakdown would include $146 million for removing toxic sediment from tributaries and harbors polluted enough to be listed as “areas of concern”; $105 million to protect wildlife and their habitat; $97 million for near-shore health and pollution prevention that could, among other things, improve beaches; $65 million to evaluate and monitor overall progress, and $60 million to stave off the influx of exotic species. More

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EPA to fine Jeffersonville for river pollution

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(IN) The Indianapolis Star – Federal regulators are seeking $165,000 in civil penalties from this Ohio River city for repeated sewage discharges that violate the Clean Water Act. In a letter sent Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Jeffersonville’s penalties could have totaled more than $8 million for scores of incidents in recent years that sent untreated or inadequately treated sewage into the river. More

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Cottagers fume as Lake Huron sinks

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(ON) The Toronto Star – Erosion of the St. Clair River has caused the water level in Lake Huron to drop by 12 centimetres over the past half-century, but nothing should be done about it, a much-anticipated binational Great Lakes Water study concludes. That’s because — contrary to claims by a group of cottagers — the river’s erosion was caused naturally by one treacherous ice jam in 1984, not by dredging. And since then, the river’s flow has returned to normal. “Given the fact (the erosion) is not ongoing, it’s definitely stabilized and it’s not human-driven, there isn’t any real compelling case to go to remediation at this time,” said Ted Yuzyk, co-chair of the study on the St.

Land

Food Companies Are Placing the Onus for Safety on Consumers

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(NY) New York Times – The frozen pot pies that sickened an estimated 15,000 people with salmonella in 2007 left federal inspectors mystified. At first they suspected the turkey. Then they considered the peas, carrots and potatoes. The pie maker, ConAgra Foods, began spot-checking the vegetables for pathogens, but could not find the culprit. It also tried cooking the vegetables at high temperatures, a strategy the industry calls a “kill step,” to wipe out any lingering microbes.

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Unwarranted

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel – Clean Wisconsin is right about one thing when it comes to Waukesha and water: The city’s possible application for Lake Michigan water will be a test case that will set precedent for communities around the Great Lakes. It needs to be done right, and that includes making sure Waukesha has an appropriate conservation plan in place, as required by the Great Lakes compact. But the environmental group didn’t have to insert itself as an intervenor in the city’s current water rate request to the state Public Service Commission or to ask that the city pay for the intervention. The environmental group could have gotten the same results without intervening, which carries a cost, the possibility of delay and the potential of creating ill will. More