Echo

Dissolved copper may be causing rusting of Duluth harbor steel

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(MN) Minnesota Public Radio – A new study of rusting steel supports in the Duluth-Superior harbor points to dissolved copper in the water as a contributing factor. Duluth shipping officials raised the alarm a few years ago about accelerating corrosion eating away an estimated 50,000 of tons of steel a year. Steel supports several miles of harbor walls and shipping docks. The study cites a combination of factors including bacteria, dissolved copper and scouring by ice. Jim Sharrow, with the Duluth Port Authority, said the damage has been evident where ice forms. More

Echo

Michigan’s Thumb could be in line for water technology project

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(MI) The Mudpuppy – Two Israeli companies have agreed to start water technology pilot projects in Michigan, says Lt. Gov. John D. Cherry Jr.

Cherry recently returned from a week-long overseas trade mission to the Middle East, making stops in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Dubai, and bringing back news of the deals. More

Echo

Wisconsin man accused of killing wolf in Michigan’s UP

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(MI) MLive.com – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says a Wisconsin man illegally killed a wolf in Iron County earlier this month. DNR conservation officers found the animal dumped at the edge of a field south of Iron River on Nov. 17. Evidence at the scene led the officers to a nearby hunting camp where a possible suspect was identified. More

Echo

EPA warned of lawsuit over runoff pollution

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – The threat of a potential lawsuit could set the stage for new regulations of a pair of pollutants responsible for algae blooms and poor drinking water. Lawyers for several environmental groups notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday of its intent to file suit against the agency for failing to protect state water from two forms of nutrient pollution – phosphorus and nitrogen. More

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Asian carp worries fishermen

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – The fishermen along the Illinois and Indiana shore don’t mind the cold when yellow perch flirt with a line like they did Monday. They don’t mind much of anything if the fish are biting. And that’s why they’re worried about the Asian carp. “We’d sure hate for some of those fish to get in Lake Michigan,” said Eddie Hudson, 60, fishing near where the Cal-Sag Channel meets Lake Michigan. “They would kill off practically everything.”

Wildlife

Walleye in Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay carry less PCB contamination than a decade ago

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By Jeff Gillies
Nov. 24, 2009

Walleye swimming in Michigan’s largest watershed are 80 percent less contaminated with PCBs than they were in 1997, according to a study published recently in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. PCBs are toxic, potentially cancer-causing chemicals that were used in electrical insulators, hydraulic equipment and some paints. The U.S. and many other countries banned PCB production in the 1970s and 1980s

PCB levels in Saginaw Bay walleye have dropped 80 percent since 1997, said study author Chuck Madenjian, a fishery biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center. He credits the drop to a dredging project in 2000 and 2001 that pulled more than 340,000 cubic yards of polluted sediment out of the Saginaw River, the bay’s main tributary.

Echo

Michigan DEQ details goals for water protection

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has released details of five major goals for its water protection programs.

The “Measures of Success” document focuses on ensuring safe drinking water; protecting groundwater; enhancing recreational waters; ensuring safe consumable fish; and protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems.  More

Echo

Grants to fund county water projects

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(MI) Battle Creek Enquirer – Three grants totaling nearly $700,000 will fund three planning and restoration projects that will reduce flooding, improve water quality and help plan for the future, according to Calhoun Conservation District officials. The district, whose offices are in Marshall, received the following grants:

– Rice Creek Floodplain Reconnection Project, a Clean Michigan Initiative through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The grant is $247,803, with a $143,426 local match, for a total of $391,229. It’s a three-year project in Marengo and Sheridan townships that began Oct. 1.

Echo

Long commutes, high gas prices spur creation of more commuter lots

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By Emily Lawler
Nov. 22, 2009

LANSING, Mich. – Look for more car pool lots in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on the 2010 state road map. The state added four car pool lots in the Upper Peninsula this summer and fall as U.P. residents are becoming more interested in the option. “They have generally a longer travel distance between jobs, so there’s definitely a need for carpool lots in the U.P.,” said Niles Annelin, car pool lot coordinator for the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Echo

Recycling rates drop while Michigan pushes for a green economy

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By Vince Bond Jr.
Nov. 21, 2009

LANSING, Mich. – Even as the state strives to transition to a green economy, recycling doesn’t appear high on residents’ to-do lists. Michigan recycling rates have fallen by 28 percent in the last 10 years – dropping from .36 tons per resident in 1998 to .26 last year, according to a report by Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants. In contrast, Michigan’s 72 percent landfill rate is second only to Ohio among Great Lakes states.