Echo

Live Stream from Great Lakes Week Conference in Cleveland

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Activists, scientists and government representatives have converged in Cleveland this week for the second annual Great Lakes Week. For those who cannot make it to Ohio, a live stream and commentaries on the event are available online from Detroit Public Television and WVIZ/PBS ideastream®. One of the commentators is Great Lakes Echo’s own Gary Wilson. You can hear Gary talk about key issues such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and algae blooms.

Gary also was interviewed here by WBEZ in Chicago. Agencies including the International Joint Commission, the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency worked together to put on the conference.

Water

Compact fight shifts to tributaries, groundwater

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Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s proposal on Great Lakes water withdrawal comes after his veto last year of a plan with controversial withdrawal rates. The new debate may focus on what water falls under the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Water Compact.

Echo

New blog tracks Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement negotiations

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Those interested in the Great Lakes now have a new outlet to learn about negotiations regarding the water quality agreement between the U.S. and Canada. Great Lakes United, a coalition of environmental groups and citizens dedicated to protecting and restoring the lakes, has launched a blog, Agreement Watch. It hosts periodic updates of the binational proceedings. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement is a formal pact between the two governments specifying shared goals and objectives for protecting and restoring Great Lakes water quality. The governments are renegotiating the terms of the agreement to keep up with new threats.

Breaking the seal of the electronic confessional

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Awhile back in this space I groused about Minnesota officials resurrecting the “confessional style” of public hearings. That’s the one where the public shows up and one at a time people privately give comments about controversial issues to representatives of the decision makers. My beef is that such a process robs people of interaction and the synergy that real discussions often produce. It also insulates decision makers from the people affected by their decisions. Now the magic of digital communications has apparently created an electronic version of this wayward attempt to generate input into crtiical public decisions.

Water

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Ship-source pollution

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To contribute to the discussion about the ship-source pollution section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, post your thoughts below. If you want the U.S. and Canadian governments to consider your input, send it to the official website. Requirements for the Parties under the current GLWQA related to ship-source and shipping-related discharges and emissions are specified in separate Annexes:
Annex 4 — Requirements for Oil and Hazardous substances discharges
Annex 5 — Garbage, Sewage and Cargo Residues
Annex 6 — The potential for discharge of Aquatic Invasive Species from ballast water is mentioned, as well as the requirement to review and report on pollution from shipping sources, consult with the IJC, and study any potential pollution problem from ships identified by the Parties
Annex 8 — sets out requirements for Onshore and Offshore Oil Handling Facilities but specifically exclude vessels
Annex 9 — sets out requirement for a joint contingency plan in response to oil spills
1. Ship Air Emissions
The current GLWQA deals with the following ship-source discharges that could have negative effects upon the water quality of the Great Lakes: Annex 4 for Oil and Hazardous Pollution Substances; Annex 5 for Sewage and Garbage (Ship Generated Garbage and Cargo Residues); and Annex 6 for Invasive species in Ballast Water. Both Canada and the United States have compatible regulations for the discharges that are identified in the current GLWQA that are based on International Conventions.

Water

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Toxic substances

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To contribute to the discussion about the toxic substances section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, post your thoughts below. If you want the U.S. and Canadian governments to consider your input, send it to the official website. Both Canada and the United States recognize that improperly managed chemicals pose unacceptable risks to health and the environment in their jurisdictions. Both countries are committed to managing chemicals effectively and to reducing risks from chemicals to acceptable levels. While certain persistent toxic substances (PTS) have been significantly reduced in the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem over the past 30 years, they continue to be present at levels above those considered safe for humans and wildlife, warranting fish consumption advisories in all five lakes and connecting channels.

Time is short to OMG the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

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Commentary
By Jane Elder

If, in casual conversation, I were to turn to you and say, “OK, you have a month to carefully identify, consider, and recommend all the major elements of a framework that two nations will use to protect the water quality of the largest freshwater ecosystem in the known galaxy and by the way, that framework should be designed to last a few decades or more” you would laugh at me out of incredulity, or ask if this was some wacky reality show to boost summer ratings, or you would tell me to come back in two years after I’d secured a grant to help fund you to do this well and ask you then. But, none of those responses will change the fact that the people of the United States and Canada (and any other gentle observers on the water planet) will have until June 21st to provide their ideas, concerns, strategies, O-M-Gs and whatever else constitutes “input” into the ongoing re-negotiation process between the U.S. and Canada. Then, the negotiating team will begin to re-write the binational framework to protect the waters of the Great Lakes ecosystem. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement is the public declaration of the shared goals, objectives and strategies of two great democracies for safeguarding the vital capacity of one of the world’s most important ecosystems. So maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to rush this. I’m not saying it isn’t urgent that we bring this framework into the realities of 21st Century environmental threats and challenges — that, we desperately need to do, and rapidly.