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Canada Announces Funding for Great Lakes Clean-Up Projects

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(ON) Benzinga – On behalf of Canada’s Environment Minister Jim Prentice, Jeff Watson, Member of Parliament for Essex, today announced $410,000 in funding from the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund for four projects to clean up the Detroit River Area of Concern. Thirty-seven projects throughout the Great Lakes are receiving $2.2 million in funding this year. “The Government of Canada is using the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund to support partnered projects to restore water quality in the Canadian Areas of Concern,” said M.P. Watson. “Locally, the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund is supporting projects like the LaSalle Riverfront Park Habitat Restoration. These types of projects represent real action to ensure that Canada’s communities and families can thrive in a healthy environment.”

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Great Lakes: Protecting Michigan’s Treasure

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(MI) The Michigan News – Michigan is defined by the Great Lakes. Our two peninsulas border four of the five Great Lakes and we are
the only state completely within the Great Lakes watershed. As Attorney General, one of Mike Cox’s
primary environmental priorities has been protecting our Great Lakes. Michigan is surrounded by the Great Lakes, “great” because they contain approximately 20% of the Earth’s –
and 95% of the United States’ — fresh water. More than 40,000 square miles of Michigan’s surface area is
water.

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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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DNR/DEQ marriage good idea

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(MI) The Daily Mining Gazette – Last week, Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued an executive order creating the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, effective Jan. 17, 2010. Granholm’s order will abolish the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and reverse an action by former Gov. John Engler to create the DEQ in 1995. In a news release, Granholm said, “The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is a new department for the 21st Century.” More

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Thirteen Great Lakes Ships Get Environmental Exemption

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(NY) The Wall Street Journal – Thirteen Great Lakes steamships would be exempted from tougher federal air-quality standards under a provision tacked on to a government spending bill by a leading Democratic lawmaker, a move that has prompted protests from environmentalists. Ship owners who would benefit from the exemption called the provision a common-sense measure that would protect jobs in a region reeling from high unemployment. More

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Conferees Vote to Increase Agency Funding by 36%

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(NY) The New York Times – House and Senate conferees yesterday approved a $10.3 billion spending plan to fund U.S. EPA for fiscal 2010, a 36 percent boost over last year’s levels. Included in the conference report are significant boosts over fiscal 2009 for EPA programs to address climate change, drinking water and Great Lakes restoration. More

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Deal struck to exempt some ships from pollution regulations

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(MI) The Detroit News – Congressional negotiators reached a deal Tuesday that would effectively exempt 13 shipping companies that haul iron ore, coal and other freight on the Great Lakes from a proposed federal rule meant to reduce air pollution. The Lake Carriers’ Association, which represents the 55 U.S.-flagged vessels that operate on the lakes, had asked for at least a partial exemption from rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that would require large vessels operating within 200 miles of a U.S. coast to use cleaner — and costlier — fuel and improve engine technology. More

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Slaughter announces stimulus funds for clean water planning projects

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(NY) MPNnow.com – Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Perinton, today announced that almost $366,000 in federal stimulus funds will go towards the planning of clean water projects for Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes. “The freshwater from the Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes is one of our greatest local resources,” said Slaughter. “I’m pleased that federal stimulus dollars are going towards grants used to help us keep local waters clean.” More

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Obama’s EPA cracks down, orders more tests for BP refinery

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – The Obama administration is cracking down on BP as the oil company overhauls its massive refinery in northwest Indiana, one of the largest sources of air pollution in the Chicago area. In response to a petition from environmental groups, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday ordered Indiana regulators to revamp a new operating permit for the Midwest’s biggest refinery. The groups, along with elected officials in Illinois, contend Indiana had allowed the oil giant to avoid stringent requirements under the federal Clean Air Act. More

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Obey feared to have jumped sides

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(WI) Green Bay Press Gazette – Environmentalists are scratching their heads and wondering if Rep. Dave Obey has abandoned them. They worry that the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee who has been an ally, is using his clout to weaken or delay implementation of a rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency to limit emissions from large ships within 200 miles of coasts. More