Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/echo/page/65/)
Calumet Specialty Products is considering moving its oil by tanker across Lake Superior.
The company says it needs more shipping options to meet demands now that an oil boom in North Dakota and Canada is underway.
Pennsylvania has the largest amounts of penalties for facilities violating air quality standards in 2012 among the Great Lakes states, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Michigan has the smallest. The figures come from an EPA map that reports state compliance with regulations. The map’s dashboard allows users to choose different measures and different years. Here are the amounts of penalties incurred by major facilities with air quality violations for each state along with the number of major facilities for each state:
Pennsylvania: $3,646,379; to 591 major facilities.
Hiker Chris Hillier is set to blaze a new trail from southeast to northwest Michigan.
Michigan government, tourism and business officials hope the route cements the state as the number one trail state and boosts local economies.
An increasing number of workers from Eastern Europe are finding jobs in the farm industry in Michigan, but the increase isn’t enough to allay concerns of labor shortage.
Turkeys that were a nuisance in southern Michigan were captured by the Department of Natural Resources and released in northern Michigan, where there is better turkey habitat and a need to repopulate the flock.
Spiny water fleas are invasive in all Great Lakes and can withstand great environmental stress. The flea population grows quickly and is difficult to control, partly because their barb-like spines make them resistant to predators. Researchers think that Great Lakes fishing equipment can spread the fleas between different lakes and streams, and stricter cleaning regulations may help.
There are more than 2,600 dams in Michigan, many of which are not maintained and no longer serve a purpose.
The state recently targeted six for removal or repair.
The Michigan Sea Grant is producing videos to teach students and anglers about salmon in the Great Lakes. The idea began as a way to keep up with the growing popularity of Michigan’s Salmon in the Classroom program, which allows students to raise salmon in their schools and eventually release them in a local watershed. The program is a great opportunity for young people to learn about the life cycles of fish, said Dan O’Keefe, the southwest district educator for Michigan Sea Grant. “It’s amazing what these classrooms have accomplished,” O’Keefe said. “But when these groups were looking for additional resources or speakers to come talk to them, it was just impossible to make it to every school.
Porous pavement allows rainwater to flow through and reach the soil below, helping clear ice and snow in the winter and reduce polluted runoff from surface streets.
It has already been used in cities like Ann Arbor, Battle Creek and Detroit.
The Great Lakes appear through the clouds in this photo taken from the International Space Station by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. He posted it recently on his Twitter account as part of a social media campaign to promote his team’s mission. Hadfield is the commander of Expedition 35, marking the first time a Canadian astronaut has been in command of the station, according to the Canadian Space Agency.