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VIDEO: Beach monitoring faster, more accurate
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New methods of detecting contamination in waterways are more accurate and faster, allowing officials to warn public beachgoers on the same day of testing.
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New commissioners appointed to binational environment agency
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The International Joint Commission, the organization responsible for advising the U.S. and Canadian governments on boundary issues of water and air quality, welcomed two members to its ranks recently.
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Testing indicates Asian carp eDNA present near Great Lakes
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When the U.S. Army Corps posted new evidence of Asian carp eDNA found in several Illinois water samples near Lake Michigan Tuesday, they did so quietly.
Nevertheless, people noticed.
Nearshore
Great Lakes states struggle with unequal federal funding for beaches
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In the midst of summer beach season, some Great Lakes states are having to pick which beaches they’ll monitor for contamination with what critics say is an unfair distribution of federal funds.
Funding predicted for 2011 indicates that states with more beaches aren’t receiving substantially more funding to monitor them.
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Rabbit Island artist residency project reaches $12,500 goal
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With a week to go before the deadline of July 15, artists and Michigan natives Rob Gorski and Andrew Ranville have met their $12,500 goal for the artist residency on Rabbit Island. As of the afternoon of July 8, the funding page on Kickstarter.com had 131 backers who had pledged over $13,000 to the goal of establishing a permanent artist residency on the 91-acre island. Rabbit Island is located three miles off the Eastern shore of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, in Lake Superior. Although the goal was reached, people can still contribute to the project up until July 15. “People can continue to donate until time runs out,” Gorski said.
Nearshore
Great Lakes beach ranking disputed
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Great Lakes states once again dominated the bottom of a beach health and safety list released by the Natural Resources Defense Council before July 4 weekend.
But some Great Lakes beach and health experts say the council’s report inaccurately reflects monitoring methods and unfairly interprets state data.
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Michigan natives plan artist residency on Superior’s remote Rabbit Island
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When Rob Gorski bought a Lake Superior island on Craigslist he wanted to combine conservation with artistic creativity.
Beach status app expands to include more Great Lakes beaches
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An iPhone app that let users check the status of Lake Ontario beaches has been expanded to include 800 Great Lakes beaches in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and New York. Even more are on the way.
Krystyn Tully, vice-president of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, said the app also covers the entirety of the Lake Ontario watershed and the Vancouver area.
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Three Great Lakes politicos make anti-environment list
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It isn’t easy being green. Especially if you’re a Republican vying for the popular vote, according to a list on Grist.
The environmental website targets the top ten “brownwashing” Republicans. Three Great Lakes politicians made the list. In fact, these politicos dominate the top five. Ouch.
National beach report finds beaches open 95 percent
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There’s nothing more disappointing than heading to your favorite beach on a hot summer day, only to discover it’s closed. In 2010, the chance of that happening was about five percent of the time, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA’s recently released beach report found that the nation’s beaches remained open 95 percent of the time during the summer swim season – a trend that’s been persisting for the past six years.