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Clean Water Action announces Great Lakes awards

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(MI) The Saginaw News – Clean Water Action, billed as the state’s largest environmental organization, plans to honor eight Michiganders at a Great Lakes Awards Celebration tonight in East Lansing. “Clean Water Action has chosen this year’s award recipients because they are leading the way in renewing Michigan’s economy, protecting its natural resources and reducing public exposures to toxic chemicals,” Cyndi Roper, Michigan director of Clean Water Action, said in a statement. More

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Cougar sighting confirmed in U.P.

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – The Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday it confirmed that an animal in a photo taken last month by a trail camera in Chippewa County, in the eastern Upper Peninsula, is a cougar. The DNR also said it had verified two sets of cougar tracks found recently in the UP — one near DeTour in late October and the other this week near Gulliver in Schoolcraft County. More

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U.S. Steel permit meeting tonight

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(IN) The Post-Tribune – U.S. Steel Gary Works will host an informational open house about its 2009 draft wastewater permit tonight at Indiana University Northwest. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in the IUN Library Conference Center, Room 105, located at 3400 Broadway in Gary. More

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City may use water to lure businesses

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Milwaukee, which has a lackluster record in luring new industry with tax breaks or subsidies, has a new plan up its sleeve: giving deeply discounted water to new companies that create jobs. At a time when regions such as metro Atlanta and the Southwest face acute water shortages, the Milwaukee Water Works operates at only a third of its capacity. And it draws off the Great Lakes, which hold a fifth of the world’s surface supply of freshwater. That means the city, which operates the utility, can add new water customers at marginal cost – even if they guzzle prodigious volumes of water. More

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Report: US getting better at conserving water

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(GA) Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Americans are using less water per person now than they have since the mid-1950s, thanks to water-saving technologies and a nationwide push to safeguard dwindling supplies. A report released Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey also shows that industries as well as the general population are sucking up less water overall than in 1980, when the nation’s thirst for water peaked. More

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Congress OKs $475M for Great Lakes

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(MI) The Detroit News – Congress approved legislation Thursday that includes $475 million to restore the Great Lakes by combating invasive species, cleaning up highly polluted sites and expanding wetlands. The bill also includes $131 million to finance wastewater and drinking water projects in Michigan, $11.2 million for 14 projects in the state, and $1 million for mass marking of hatchery fish in the Great Lakes. “This legislation provides a significant boost to protect and clean up the Great Lakes, improve Michigan’s parks and lands, provide communities with safe drinking water and improved wastewater infrastructure, and preserve key facets of Michigan’s heritage,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit. More

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Oceans panel visits Great Lakes

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(MI) Traverse City Record-Eagle – A White House panel developing a strategy for managing oceans and their coastlines is including the Great Lakes in its plan, which will propose ways to protect the environment while preventing conflicts among users. The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, which President Barack Obama established in June, convenes the last of six regional public meetings Thursday in Cleveland. It will be the only gathering devoted specifically to the Great Lakes. More

Air

Polluted spray ‘big surprise’

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(IN) The Post-Tribune – For the past week, U.S. Steel has been spraying contaminated wastewater collected from the bottom of its hazardous waste landfill into the air over the landfill. The landfill holds sediment dredged from the Grand Calumet River contaminated with mercury and possible cancer-causing pollutants, such as benzene, naphthalene and polychlorinated biphenyls. The 20-foot tall landfill is located within a quarter of a mile of residential neighborhoods. The announcement was a shock to several attendants at U.S. Steel’s quarterly citizens meeting in Gary Thursday, who didn’t know about the project. More

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Salties not included in new clause

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(MN) Duluth News Tribune – An exemption from low-sulfur fuel rules for Great Lakes ships would not apply to saltwater vessels. Any salties calling on the Great Lakes still would be required to use low-
sulfur diesel, which has some people in the industry concerned that the added fuel costs could discourage visitors from abroad from calling on the Twin Ports. More

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DNR working to clarify Walleye order for Mullett Lake

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(MI) The Petosky News Review – The Department of Natural Resources is trying to inform the Northern Michigan community about an order for a zero-bag limit for Walleye on Mullett Lake in Cheboygan County and the complicated numbers surrounding the tentative decision. After issuing a memo earlier this week, stating that the five tribes under the 2007 Inland Consent Decree were requesting their full allocated amount Walleye fishing and thus causing the state to close walleye fishing on Mullett Lake, the DNR is attempting to correct its choice of words. More