Echo

U.S./Canadian commission examines inconsistent water quality monitoring

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By Rachael Gleason
rachaelkaygleason@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Oct. 6, 2009
Editors note: This is part of a series relevant to the International Joint commission’s biennial meeting in Windsor on Wednesday and Thursday. More than 20,000 beaches closed last year when water samples tested positive for harmful bacteria. But inconsistent sampling methods have Great Lakes officials questioning those results. The International Joint Commission, a binational organization that advises the U.S. and Canada on Great Lakes issues, examined problems with beach testing methods and advisory systems in a report released last month.

Echo

International Joint Commission flags inconsistent U.S./Canadian regulation of fire retardant linked to health concerns

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By Alice Rossignol
rossign1@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Oct. 5, 2009
Editors note: This is part of a series relevant to the International Joint commission’s biennial meeting in Windsor on Wednesday and Thursday. An international commission that advises policymakers on Great Lakes environmental issues is questioning why the U.S. is making a fire retardant that Canada has banned. The use of the substance is part of a report that will be discussed at the International Joint Commission’s biennial meeting in Windsor, Ontario on Wednesday. The commission is responsible for upholding the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the U.S. and Canada.

Echo

What should be the International Joint Commission’s top priority?

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Vote

The U.S./Canadian International Joint Commission meets Wednesday and Thursday in Windsor to discuss advice on Great Lakes environmental issues that it will give to those governments. That happens only once every two years. Six reports are on the commission’s agenda. Details are here. Which of these issues should be the top priority for Great Lakes policymakers and scientists?

Echo

Great Lakes biologists brace for hydrilla, the next big invasive water weed

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By Jeff Gillies
jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Oct. 1, 2009
Editors note: This story is part of a series relevant to the International Joint Commission’s Oct. 7 and 8 biennial meeting in Windsor. When Matt Preisser thought he saw a photo of a potential Great Lakes invasive species in a Michigan newspaper, he tracked it down and checked it out. “The plants in the photo were suspiciously similar to hydrilla,” said Preisser, who works for Michigan’s Aquatic Nuisance Control Program.

Echo

Study: Winter road salt pollutes Great Lakes streams

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By Rachael Gleason
Great Lakes Echo
rachaelkaygleason@gmail.com
Sept. 29, 2009

Winter road safety is adding salt pollution to Great Lakes streams, according to a recent government study. The U.S. Geological Survey examined approximately 100 streams in 19 northern states for road salt and other sources of chloride. Of the 52 streams tested in Great Lakes states, a quarter had chloride levels that exceeded federal standards designed to protect drinking water supplies. Levels higher than 250 milligrams per liter give water a salty taste, according to the study.

Echo

Something foul in standards for septic systems?

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(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Carver County is skirting the same issue — a lack of adequate separation between drain field and groundwater — at a $2.5 million ballroom it bought at a park near Lake Waconia. The controversy has been roiling Carver for most of the year and heated up during the summer, when Workman insisted his that fellow commissioners do something about it. More

Echo

Sewage-sniffing dogs protect lakes, beaches

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – When Scott Raymond saw Sable, a German shepherd mix, on a video at an animal shelter in 2006, he knew the dog was right for the job he had in mind. Raymond’s plan was to train Sable to sniff out illegal sewer connections, which dump billions of gallons of bacteria-filled water into rivers, lakes and streams each year, shuttering beaches, contaminating fish and costing millions in cleanups and lost tourism and recreation. After a year of training and successful work in the Kawkawlin River in Bay County and in Genesee County, Sable, now top dog at Environmental Canine Services, has earned fame and praise for sniffing out contamination from leaky septic tanks and illicit sewer hookups. More

Echo

Obama Seeks National Oversight of Waters

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(NY) The New York Times – The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals. The recommendation, outlined in an interim report by a panel appointed in June by President Obama, said regulators should consider marine regions as a whole when issuing rules rather than, say, regulating fishing one species at a time. More

Echo

Farm runoff woes: Can voluntary programs alone keep dirt out of the water?

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By Jeff Gillies
jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 17, 2009

The Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay both field noxious summer algae blooms fueled by dirt and nutrients from farm fields. The six northeastern states that drain into the Chesapeake Bay have a patchwork plan to curb it. It doesn’t work and never will, says a recent report by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit lobbyist and research group. The report claims runoff prevention programs fail because they’re voluntary — farmers that don’t want to participate don’t have to.

Echo

Canadian Coast Guard Commissions New Research Vessel

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(ON) The Gov Monitor – Canadian Coast Guard’s newest science research vessel CCGS Kelso will be based at the Canadian Centre of Inland Waters, where it will support researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada gathering information about the biological, chemical and physical properties of Canada’s Great Lakes. The vessel, classified as a Near Shore Fisheries Research Vessel, has been in service since June 2009, and will assume the duties of the soon-to-be-retired CCGS Shark. CCGS Kelso is named after the late Dr. John Kelso, a Canadian scientist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, who dedicated his life to advancing freshwater science. More