Echo

Top 10 Great Lakes stories of 2009

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Dec. 31, 2009

Here’s Echo’s pick of 2009’s top Great Lakes environmental stories. How’d we do? Click the headline above to see the entire list of stories or to leave a comment. #1  Climate change
Perhaps it’s no surprise to see a global issue top a list of regional environmental stories of the year.  It’s Echo’s top choice not for its worldwide breadth but for its particular impact on the Great Lakes region.  The stakes are high for a region with nearly 20 percent of world’s fresh surface water.

Echo

Special Report: Cleaning Coal

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The Great Lakes states are home to 155 coal-fired power plants that discharge wastewater into local lakes and streams.  That wastewater can carry heavy metals and other dangerous contaminants, and has gone largely unregulated for the past 27 years.  Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to step in with new rules to fend off environmental concerns. Join the Great Lakes Echo for a four-day series unpacking the problems with power plant wastewater in the Great Lakes. Day 1. Great Lakes states spotty on coal limits; some water contaminants ignored. Day 2.

Echo

Opinion: Environmental hearings should be messy, inefficient and public

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By David Poulson
Dec. 14, 2009

Confession may be good for the soul but it sure makes for lousy public policy. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources last week dug out an old chestnut of a strategy for soliciting comment on a $600 million copper-nickel mine. Critics nickname this process the confessional style of public discourse. Usually government officials resort to it as an efficient way to handle hearings where hundreds of people are eager to express dissatisfaction, if not anger.

Echo

Emerald ash borer spreads through Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ontario, Quebec

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By Nick Mordowanec

Dec. 13, 2009

LANSING, Mich. — Ever since the emerald ash borer swept through Michigan in the summer of 2002, the state has spent tens of millions of dollars to subdue it. But the exotic beetle thought to have come to the United States through airplane or ship cargo remains rampant. Adult beetles cause minimal damage by nibbling on foliage, but the larvae feed on the inner bark of trees, disrupting nutrient and water flow.

Echo

Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota consider fire retardant ban

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By HYONHEE SHIN
Dec. 10, 2009

LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan lawmaker wants to phase out the use of a controversial fire retardant used in electronics and home furnishings. Soil scientists say deca-BDE and two related fire retardants are toxic, persistent and bioaccumulative. They build up in fish and water and can harm the human body and breast milk, as well as water quality.

Echo

Top Great Lakes environmental news stories

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The Echo staff is soliciting nominations for the top Great Lakes environmental news stories of 2009. Nominate or support nominations in the comments section below this post. Guidelines:

You need not cite a particular news story, although you can. Nominate an issue that’s been in the news. It should have occurred in 2009.

Echo

Michigan considers statewide ban on phosphorus fertilizer; Minnesota already has one

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By HYONHEE SHIN
Dec. 8, 2009

LANSING, Mich. — Some Michigan lawmakers are seeking to protect streams and lakes by restricting phosphorus lawn fertilizer use. Under a bill by Rep. Terry Brown, D-Pigeon, property owners wouldn’t be able to use lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus unless a soil test concludes the existing level of phosphorus is too low or they’re growing new turf. Allegan, Ottawa, Muskegon, Van Buren, Bay and Saginaw counties have adopted a ban, as has Ann Arbor, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Echo

Scientists: Mayflies may amplify oxygen and algae problems, but don’t blame the bugs

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By Jeff Gillies
Dec. 3, 2009

Lake Erie’s pollution in the ’60s and ’70s killed off its mayflies, insects that spend most of their lives underwater before flying off in huge hatches that carpet coastal towns. But the bugs have returned in a big way. “I’ve seen people out there with snow blowers, blowing them around,” said Justin Chaffin, a doctoral student in the University of Toledo’s biology department. “If you walk down the sidewalk or a parking lot it’s like you’re walking on bubble wrap.”

Echo

Nominate Great Lakes videos, win prizes

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We’re looking for the best of the best Great Lakes videos on the web. And you can help.  Send us a nomination and explain why it is worthy of recognition. The Great Lakes Echo staff will narrow the nominees to 10. Then we’ll ask readers to vote on their favorite of the finalists. It’s sort of like American Idol, but wetter.

Echo

Old fish makes new Great Lakes comeback

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By Mehak Bansil
Nov. 27, 2009

LANSING–Lake sturgeon, one of the oldest surviving species from prehistoric times, is making a small comeback in the Great Lakes region. “They’ve increased about a couple of percent since their lowest numbers, but at least the populations aren’t going down anymore,” said Bruce Manny, a fishery biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor. The increase is due in part to a spawning project in Black Lake, an inland lake in Cheboygan County. According to a report in the Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 40 percent of the lake sturgeon released into Black Lake as part of the project survived their first winter, but Manny said, there are no estimates on the actual number due to a lack of comprehensive studies.