Echo

South Bass Island sewer rules aim to stop repeat of ’04 ailments

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(OH) The Toledo Blade – By tightening the rules on private septic systems, state health and environmental officials hope to prevent a repeat of a bacterial outbreak here that caused 1,400 people to have stomach cramps and diarrhea in the summer of 2004.  

The agreement among the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ottawa County commissioners, the Ottawa County Board of Health, and Put-in-Bay Township will make it harder for South Bass Island to be developed without sewer lines in place. More

Echo

Deep budget cuts in Macomb County compromise water safety

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(MI) The Michigan Messenger – But here in the state’s third most populous county, downsizing the budget means supersizing the risk of contaminated water, among other public health calamities. “We have an extremely serious revenue problem,” Thomas Kalkofen, director of the Macomb County Health Department told Michigan Messenger last week. Already, the county has shed all of its parks employees. Over several rounds of budget cutting this year, 79 full-time positions have been eliminated overall, including 27 layoffs, from a county workforce that currently counts 2,200 workers. More

Water

Sewage work should be the No. 1 priority for the Great Lakes

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(MI) Bay City Times – To think we are receiving $475 million to help repair our precious Great Lakes, but not being able to use the money to clean up the sewage that is dumped into those same Great Lakes every time we get a heavy rain is ridiculous.I cannot believe in good conscience why this problem isn’t a No. 1 priority. I don’t care about the cost! More

Echo

Professors find clue to dead zone in lake

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(OH) Toledo Blade – For decades if not centuries, a portion of Lake Erie’s central basin has been so depleted of oxygen that it has not supported life. Two Bowling Green State University researchers believe they have uncovered cold-weather diatoms, or microscopic pieces, of algae that contribute to the lake’s infamous dead zone.  
The research that Michael McKay and George Bullerjahn have done into Aulacoseira islandica (pronounced All-LE-sa-SY-ruh Eye-LAND-icka) is not likely to solve the dead zone’s mystery. More

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Iron Range copper mine project inches ahead

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(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Minnesota’s first copper mine took a step forward Wednesday as state officials released a 1,500-page environmental impact study for the Iron Range proposal. The $600 million project, to be built by PolyMet Mining Inc., would include an open-pit mine near Babbitt and a processing plant near Hoyt Lakes, connected by an existing 6-mile railroad spur. Company officials said the mine would create 400 permanent jobs for more than 20 years, and would produce nickel, cobalt, platinum and other valuable metals. More

Echo

U.S. Steel gets OK for benzene water fix

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(IN) The Post-Tribune – U.S. Steel Gary Works will begin treating benzene-laden groundwater leaking into Lake Michigan from north of its coke plant by the end of October. In August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved U.S. Steel’s plan for treating the groundwater in a well system. The plan involves testing the system during and after startup to make sure it performs properly. More

Echo

No pure water, no ‘Pure Michigan’

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(MI) Traverse City Record-Eagle – Who hasn’t been riveted by the spectacular images of Michigan in the award-winning Pure Michigan ads? Many of these spots focus on our state’s most defining feature — water. Each of us has a favorite stream, river, lake or Great Lake — the inland seas that make Michigan one of the world’s most easily identifiable places. As the stewards of the world’s largest fresh water reservoir, we know there is no pure Michigan without pure water. More

Water

Feds cut cheque for Great Lakes clean-up

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(ON) The Standard – Niagara’s portion of the Great Lakes got just a bit greater Saturday. The federal government gave a $326,000 financial boost for seven ‘areas of concern’ in Niagara as part of Environment Canada’s Great Lakes Sustainability Fund. The money will go towards habitat improvement, cleaner water, and other issues identified by biologists, technicians and trained volunteers. “We can’t forget the Great Lakes,” said Niagara Falls MP Rob Nicholson during the announcement at Table Rock. “They are a crucial eco system that contains 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply.” 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

Echo

Michigan waterways enriched with 600,000 pounds of toxic chemicals

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(MI) The Bay City Times – This just in: A report from Environment Michigan says industrial facilities dumped 575,930 pounds of toxic chemicals into Michigan’s waterways in 2007. The “Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act,” also details chemical discharges across the United States. “While nearly half of the rivers and lakes in the U.S. are considered too polluted for safe fishing or swimming, our report shows that polluters continue to use our waterways as dumping grounds for their toxic chemicals,” Shelley Vinyard, environmental associate with Environment Michigan, said a statement.  More