GLIN

It’s (almost) official. The recently discovered site thought to be the oldest known shipwreck in Lake Erie is almost certainly that: the Lake Serpent. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. View the full article

It has been a good spring, summer and early fall for the central basin of Lake Erie. That is the consensus of public health officials in Lake and Lorain counties whose duties include daily monitoring of the chemistry of Lake Erie water used by millions of Ohio residents for recreation and as the primary source of treated tap water. Read the full story by The News Herald. View the full article

It has been a good spring, summer and early fall for the central basin of Lake Erie. That is the consensus of public health officials in Lake and Lorain counties whose duties include daily monitoring of the chemistry of Lake Erie water used by millions of Ohio residents for recreation and as the primary source of treated tap water. Read the full story by The News Herald. View the full article

Congress passed legislation on Wednesday that will “dramatically restrict major source” of PFAS contamination in drinking water in Michigan by allowing commercial airports to switch to firefighting foams that do not contain PFAS. Under the current law, airports were required to use firefighting foams containing PFAS, which have been linked to cancer, kidney disease and other health problems. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI. View the full article

Ontario, in partnership with Nipissing First Nation, will be conducting research and data collection on Lake Nipissing this fall. This project will allow for the collection of important fish population information to help manage the whole lake ecosystem, as well as help in the recovery of the walleye population in Lake Nipissing. Read the full story by Bay Today. View the full article

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to hold a roundtable in Kalamazoo on Friday, October 5th with state and local stakeholders on drinking-water contamination by a potentially harmful class of fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS. Read the full story by The Detroit News. View the full article

Wisconsin’s Peninsula State Park recently received a $750,000 donation to build a new Eagle Tower, which will include an approximately 850-foot ramp snaking through forest to reach the observation platform overlooking Lake Michigan. Read the full story by Wisconsin’s State Journal. View the full article

In Michigan, several Flint community leaders said Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Schuette ignored 15 complaints in 2015 from residents reporting bad water quality in Flint. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio. View the full article

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday it has finalized its plan to remove lead-contaminated soil from about 28 residential properties in lowertown, New York. The area is part of the Eighteen Mile Creek Corridor Superfund site, which is undergoing a multi-phase, extensive remediation effort. Read the full story by The Niagara Gazette. View the full article

The International Lake Superior Board of Control on Wednesday said Lake Superior now sits 7 inches above its long-term average but 4 inches below the Oct. 1 level in 2017. That’s when storms combined with high water to cause major shoreline flooding and erosion issues around the lake. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune. View the full article

Dominion Energy and Western Reserve Land Conservancy gave out $37,500 in mini grants, an annual program since 2015 to help organizations working to protect and improve land around rivers, lakes and streams throughout Ohio. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. View the full article

News Indianapolis, Ind. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) today called on President Trump and the U.S. Congress to fully fund the construction of a new large lock at the Soo Locks complex. Currently there are only two operational locks at the Soo Locks – the Poe and MacArthur – and only the Poe Lock is large enough to handle 85 percent of the cargo that passes through the Locks, including nearly all the iron ore needed for U.S. steel production. The GLC called for the funding in a resolutionpassed at its 2018 Annual Meeting, held Tuesday and Wednesday in Indianapolis. “The Soo Locks are critical for our economy and an unplanned closure of the Poe Lock alone would result in a severe recession for our nation,” said John Linc Stine, chair of the GLC and commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “We urge the President and Congress to get a new lock built – and soon.” There have been no comprehensive improvements to the Soo Locks facility in nearly 50 years. The Department of Homeland Security has projected that a six-month, unplanned closure of the Poe Lock would result in a nearly complete shutdown of regional steel production, 11 million job losses in the United States and 5 million in Canada and Mexico, a severe recession, and a $1.1 trillion decrease in national GDP. In June the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a Soo Locks Economic Validation Report that established an updated benefit-cost ratio of 2.42 from the construction of a new Soo lock, clearly confirming its economic benefit and setting the stage for a new Congressional authorization for the project and its inclusion in the President’s budget. Congress is poised to provide the necessary authorization in upcoming water resources legislation, leaving a funding commitment from the President the key outstanding need to move forward with the project. At its meeting in Indianapolis, the GLC also heard from experts on maritime transportation and coastal resiliency, discussed the economic impact and future direction of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and unanimously re-elected Stine as its chair and Sharon Jackson, deputy general counsel for Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, as its vice-chair. The GLC will next convene in spring 2019 in Ann Arbor, MI. Additional information will be available at www.glc.org. ← Previous news release The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair John Linc Stine, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, is an interstate compact agency established under state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and its residents. The Commission consists of governors’ appointees, state legislators, and agency officials from its eight member states. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission office is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org. Contact For questions or media inquiries, please contact Beth Wanamaker, [email protected]. Recent GLC News Great Lakes Commission calls on President and Congress to provide full funding for new Soo Lock New study shows every dollar spent on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will produce at least $3.35 of additional economic activity in the Great Lakes region Concerned citizens can now directly invest in improving Lake Erie water quality Position available: Help Desk Specialist (Part-Time) Upcoming GLC Events 2018 Great Lakes Commission Annual Meeting October 2 - October 3 View GLC Calendar > View the full article

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration and Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge have agreed to replace twin 65-year-old crude oil pipes in a channel linking two of the Great Lakes with another that would run through a tunnel far below the lake bed, officials told The Associated Press. Read the full story by the Daily Freeman. View the full article

Efforts to clean up Lake Ontario near Toronto Islands in Ontario have yielded some surprising finds, including a fully-intact golf cart. Read the full story by the Globe and Mail. View the full article

Cub Scouts in Bay Village, Ohio teamed up with the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District to mark storm drains in an effort to draw awareness to the connections of the drains to Lake Erie and the impact of dumping on water quality. Read the full story by the West Lake Bay Village Observer. View the full article

The Island Loop Route National Water Trail in Port Huron, Michigan offers a scenic tour of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River and the chance to see Michigan’s Blue Economy at work. Read the full story by MLive.com. View the full article

Pennsylvania installed 60 artificial structures to improve fish habitat near Presque Isle State Park. These structures will help improve local fish populations by providing areas for fish to breed and escape predation. Read the full story by Erie News Now. View the full article

Intense rainfall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin resulted in a record number of combined sewer overflows this year. Residents and advocacy groups in Milwaukee are calling for more green infrastructure installations to reduce the amount of stormwater run-off and combined sewer overflow events. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. View the full article

Thanks to an $800,000 grant from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Superior Watershed Partnership will now be able to protect more than 1,000 feet of coastal land at Eagles Nest and a more than 2,000 feet section in Alger County. Read the full story by WLUC-TV-Marquette, MI. View the full article

Several environmental groups are stepping up their efforts against an expected plan to build a tunnel for an oil pipeline that passes through the Mackinac Straits. Read the full story by Michigan Radio. View the full article

The largest Great Lakes cruise ship carrying 420 passengers, 170 employees, all 15–thousand tons anchored in the water with many Alpena, MI locals waiting to catch sight of the MS Hamburg Cruise Ship. Read the full story by WBKB-TV-Alpena, MI. View the full article

A new study concludes that every federal dollar spent on Great Lakes Restoration Initiative environmental and preservation projects from 2010-2016 will generate $3.35 in additional economic activity in the Great Lakes region through 2036. Erie, Pennsylvania, was among eight cities cited as case studies in the report. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News. View the full article

If caretakers of the Great Lakes aren’t careful, thirsty people from all corners of the world could come calling for our abundant supply of fresh, clean water. So warns Peter Annin’s book “The Great Lakes Water Wars,” first published in 2006, and now out with a major new update. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio. View the full article

Other Ohio lawmakers representing the Great Lakes, including U.S. Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown have pressed for a February 2019 release of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chief’s Report on the Brandon Road Study, which would improve efforts to halt Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The News-Herald. View the full article

Steve Salmons, the port authority’s recently appointed president and CEO, unveiled a concept drawing for the community outdoor space that will commemorate the port’s history back to its Indigenous roots. Read the full story by the Windsor Star. View the full article