The Sault Star - Ontario, CA
No new sites being considered for nuclear plant construction, Huron Shores learns
Posted By Chad Beharriell
Posted 7 hours ago
The Municipality of Huron Shores has received a reply to its inquiry concerning the feasibility of a nuclear generating station along the north shore of Lake Huron.
And there are no promises. The Nuclear Supply Branch of the provincial Ministry of Energy said that only existing nuclear sites are being considered for construction of new nuclear plants. The ministry did indicate the possibility of additional nuclear sites to meet demand in the future.
Meanwhile, council committed $2,750 toward upgrading or extending the runway of the Thessalon Municipal Airport. Huron Shores will be a co-applicant with Thessalon for costs to be met under the provincial Rural Economic Development Program
Bayfield Ontario
Monday, February 11, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Lake levels sinking to new lows
Lake levels sinking to new lows
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Lake levels sinking to new lows
Continued slump spells summer woes for boaters
Jim Lynch / The Detroit News
The next few months will be crucial for Michigan boaters hoping to see a rise in Great Lakes levels -- levels that have been in a slump for the last few years.
The most recent statistics provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show only Lake Superior is above the level posted 12 months ago, by 8 inches. The rest of the Great Lakes, as well as Lake St. Clair, are beneath last year's levels. And all of the lakes are below their historical averages.
It will take large amounts of snow and rainfall in the remaining months of winter and spring to bring the water back to where it used to be. This is the first look at projected lake levels through the summer and peak boating season.
For Brad Adams there are few things uglier than the 100-foot wall of vegetation that has cropped up between the beach at his property in Forestville, on Lake Huron in Michigan's Thumb. Low water levels have allowed sunlight to penetrate to the bottom of the lake near the shore, spurring the growth of phragmites.
"We used to have a portable dock," said Adams, a retired AAA agent. "Now, there's no way you can even get a boat close to shore."
Boaters in many parts of the Great Lakes Basin have had to adapt to lower levels that they hope are just part of a cycle. In places like Harrison Township, residents who once had access to Lake St. Clair on their own property or through canals now must keep their boats at nearby marinas. Experts, however, say a late-winter and spring with large amounts of rainfall could go a long way toward getting the lakes closer to their historical levels.
"Each lake has its annual variations," said Keith W. Kompoltowicz, a meteorologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit office. "They start out with their lowest levels in late winter and rise through the spring. We've been through periods in the past where we've spent years above the historical levels. Right now, we've been below those levels for the last few years."
So far in 2008, Mother Nature appears to be doing her part.
"This wet January did help to push lakes Michigan and Huron higher than where we thought it was," he said. "Considering that we are still expecting a fairly wet February things could still improve."
The most recent figures, through January, show:
• The Lake Michigan/Huron system is down between 10 and 11 inches.
• Lake Erie is down 15 inches from last year.
• Lake Ontario is down 17 inches from last year.
• And Lake St. Clair, not considered a "Great Lake," is also down 11 inches from last year.
The drop is the result of decreased precipitation and snow accumulation in recent years. The snowpack is the main recharging element for Superior and Huron. When the snows melt, they regularly bring the lake levels back up.
The U.S. Army Corps makes six-month projections on where the lake levels will be. By July, forecasters predict Lake Michigan/Huron will be 20 to 22 inches below their historical averages. Lake St. Clair will be within 5 to 12 inches of its all-time average and Erie will be within 2 to 9 inches, as will Superior.
Lake Ontario should fare the best, coming within "a few inches" of its historical levels. That's something many residents would like to see more of.
You can reach Jim Lynch at (586) 468-0520 or jlynch@detnews.com
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
London Free Press - Entertainment - Exhibition brings artists into the open
London Free Press - Entertainment - Exhibition brings artists into the open
Exhibition brings artists into the open
Tue, February 5, 2008
The fruits of their after-work labour are on display.
By KATHY RUMLESKI, FREE PRESS REPORTER
They are marketing specialists, communicators and Web designers. However, they're also painters, photographers, sculptors and weavers.
A group of 11 closet artists will realize a dream tonight when they open their first exhibition at the Arts Project.
Dubbed the Five to Nine Group because they have day jobs and work on their art at night, the members have spent more than a year planning and organizing this show.
"It's always been a dream for all of us to do art and have it exhibited in a gallery," said Jim Gruber, 57, a Beal art graduate who picked up his brushes again about 10 years ago.
"Ultimately everyone hopes they'd be able to leave work and be a full-time painter."
Gruber is a landscape painter, whose work for this show is concentrated on the Ipperwash and Kettle Point areas along Lake Huron.
The Five to Nine Group decided to create new work for this exhibition. There are between 50 and 60 works, all created during the last year.
"Setting a deadline for yourself is a little different," Gruber said.
Gruber said as much as the artists love their pieces, they are hoping to sell them.
"That's part of the process."
Besides their love of art, Gruber said the other connection between the artists is that all 11 work or worked at MC Group, a local advertising agency.
Through water cooler conversations they learned about each other's art interests.
"We started getting together at lunchtime," and then they began planning the show, Gruber said.
"Last year we got serious and booked the space. Some of us took classes together."
The opening reception is tonight at 6 p.m. The show runs until Feb. 16 and Gruber hopes many people will come to check it out.
"It's pretty amazing to see all the talent."
IF YOU GO
What: Opening reception, Five to Nine Group exhibition.
When: Tonight, 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: The Arts Project, 203 Dundas St.
Exhibition: Until Feb. 16
Exhibition brings artists into the open
Tue, February 5, 2008
The fruits of their after-work labour are on display.
By KATHY RUMLESKI, FREE PRESS REPORTER
They are marketing specialists, communicators and Web designers. However, they're also painters, photographers, sculptors and weavers.
A group of 11 closet artists will realize a dream tonight when they open their first exhibition at the Arts Project.
Dubbed the Five to Nine Group because they have day jobs and work on their art at night, the members have spent more than a year planning and organizing this show.
"It's always been a dream for all of us to do art and have it exhibited in a gallery," said Jim Gruber, 57, a Beal art graduate who picked up his brushes again about 10 years ago.
"Ultimately everyone hopes they'd be able to leave work and be a full-time painter."
Gruber is a landscape painter, whose work for this show is concentrated on the Ipperwash and Kettle Point areas along Lake Huron.
The Five to Nine Group decided to create new work for this exhibition. There are between 50 and 60 works, all created during the last year.
"Setting a deadline for yourself is a little different," Gruber said.
Gruber said as much as the artists love their pieces, they are hoping to sell them.
"That's part of the process."
Besides their love of art, Gruber said the other connection between the artists is that all 11 work or worked at MC Group, a local advertising agency.
Through water cooler conversations they learned about each other's art interests.
"We started getting together at lunchtime," and then they began planning the show, Gruber said.
"Last year we got serious and booked the space. Some of us took classes together."
The opening reception is tonight at 6 p.m. The show runs until Feb. 16 and Gruber hopes many people will come to check it out.
"It's pretty amazing to see all the talent."
IF YOU GO
What: Opening reception, Five to Nine Group exhibition.
When: Tonight, 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: The Arts Project, 203 Dundas St.
Exhibition: Until Feb. 16
Monday, February 4, 2008
Cheboygan Tribune
Cheboygan Tribune
DNR issues new baitfish regulations
By MARK SPENCLEY
Tribune Staff Writer
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is warning ice fishermen to be aware of the species and origin of the baitfish on their hook.
For several months now the DNR has been instituting a program to halt the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHSv, a deadly fish virus that was first discovered in a Clare County lake last June.
The program is designed to suppress the spread of the virus by regulating the species of baitfish that can be used for fishing. Anglers can visit the DNR Web site www.michigan.go/dnrfishing to find an updated list of prohibited baitfish species.
Gary Whelan, DNR fish production manager, is urging fishermen to check the Web site often because the prohibited species list will be updated regularly.
In addition, Whelan is reminding anglers that the regulations vary based upon designated management areas, which have been identified to help in controlling the spread of VHSv throughout Michigan's waters.
State waters have been broken down into three basic management areas, which include the VHSv Free Management Area, the VHSv Surveillance Management Area and the VHSv Positive Management Area.
The VHSv Free Management Area includes Lake Superior and all the waters within the Lake Superior watershed.
Waters of the VHSv Positive Management Area include the Great Lakes from Lake Huron to Lake Erie, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River, as well as all tributary streams up to the first barrier that blocks the movement of Great Lakes fish into inland waters. VHSv was found earlier in fish off Cheboygan County shores.
Many waters are covered by the VHSv Surveillance Management Area, including all waters in the Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie watersheds above the first barrier that blocks the movement of Great Lakes fish into inland waters, as well as the St. Mary's River and the waters of Lake Michigan up to the first barrier that blocks the movement of Great Lakes fish into inland waters.
For fishermen, these three management areas dictate which baitfish can be used inside each of the three established areas. This all hinges on where the baitfish were collected and whether they received disease-free certification.
If baitfish have been certified as disease-free they can be used in any waters across the state. A key issue arises though, when anglers collect their own baitfish.
Baitfish that are collected in the VHSv Free Management Area are free to be used in all state waters, but the same does not apply for baitfish harvested in the other two management areas, noted Whelan.
He went on to explain that baitfish collected within the VHSv Positive Management Area, they have to be used within that management area. Baitfish harvested in the surveillance area can be used in both the surveillance and positive management areas.
“An easy way to determine the management area classification of a particular water body is to determine if Great Lakes fish such as Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, walleyes or suckers can get to that water body. If so, then that location has the same classification as the Great Lake water into which it flows.” said Whelan.
He also said fishermen should carry receipts to verify the certification of their baitfish.
If anglers purchase bait from a retail shop, they will need to carry receipts for any species of baitfish or roe that is found on the Prohibited Species list, said Whelan. Some of the key baitfish species that anglers will need to have receipts for include: emerald shiners, spottail shiners, and white suckers, as well as for roe from Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead.
Each receipt should contain five pieces of vital information.
€ The name of the licensed retail bait dealer and dealer's license number.
€ The date of sale.
€ The prohibited fish species sold and amount.
€ A transaction number.
€ Whether the bait is certified or not.
The information on the receipt is essential to allow DNR staff a chance to trace back any problems, such as a VHSv outbreak.
“Anglers are likely to see a variety of ways the information is provided on or attached to a receipt, since we are trying to be as flexible as possible in working with retailers. As long as the information is made available to the angler, everything will work out just fine,” said Whelan. “Anglers may see cash register printouts with all of the information, cash register printouts that have some of the information on an attached sticker (such as an address or photo slide-sized label) or ink stamp, or cash register printouts with some of the information and a second piece of paper attached to the receipt with the rest of the information.”
DNR officials are also warning anglers to be skeptical of large price increases attributed to testing requirements, citing that the price to test each fish in nominal.
“It is critical that anglers follow these regulations because we need their help in preventing the movement of fish diseases. Without their help, their fisheries could suffer avoidable losses,” said DNR Fisheries Division Chief Kelley Smith.
DNR issues new baitfish regulations
By MARK SPENCLEY
Tribune Staff Writer
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is warning ice fishermen to be aware of the species and origin of the baitfish on their hook.
For several months now the DNR has been instituting a program to halt the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHSv, a deadly fish virus that was first discovered in a Clare County lake last June.
The program is designed to suppress the spread of the virus by regulating the species of baitfish that can be used for fishing. Anglers can visit the DNR Web site www.michigan.go/dnrfishing to find an updated list of prohibited baitfish species.
Gary Whelan, DNR fish production manager, is urging fishermen to check the Web site often because the prohibited species list will be updated regularly.
In addition, Whelan is reminding anglers that the regulations vary based upon designated management areas, which have been identified to help in controlling the spread of VHSv throughout Michigan's waters.
State waters have been broken down into three basic management areas, which include the VHSv Free Management Area, the VHSv Surveillance Management Area and the VHSv Positive Management Area.
The VHSv Free Management Area includes Lake Superior and all the waters within the Lake Superior watershed.
Waters of the VHSv Positive Management Area include the Great Lakes from Lake Huron to Lake Erie, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River, as well as all tributary streams up to the first barrier that blocks the movement of Great Lakes fish into inland waters. VHSv was found earlier in fish off Cheboygan County shores.
Many waters are covered by the VHSv Surveillance Management Area, including all waters in the Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie watersheds above the first barrier that blocks the movement of Great Lakes fish into inland waters, as well as the St. Mary's River and the waters of Lake Michigan up to the first barrier that blocks the movement of Great Lakes fish into inland waters.
For fishermen, these three management areas dictate which baitfish can be used inside each of the three established areas. This all hinges on where the baitfish were collected and whether they received disease-free certification.
If baitfish have been certified as disease-free they can be used in any waters across the state. A key issue arises though, when anglers collect their own baitfish.
Baitfish that are collected in the VHSv Free Management Area are free to be used in all state waters, but the same does not apply for baitfish harvested in the other two management areas, noted Whelan.
He went on to explain that baitfish collected within the VHSv Positive Management Area, they have to be used within that management area. Baitfish harvested in the surveillance area can be used in both the surveillance and positive management areas.
“An easy way to determine the management area classification of a particular water body is to determine if Great Lakes fish such as Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, walleyes or suckers can get to that water body. If so, then that location has the same classification as the Great Lake water into which it flows.” said Whelan.
He also said fishermen should carry receipts to verify the certification of their baitfish.
If anglers purchase bait from a retail shop, they will need to carry receipts for any species of baitfish or roe that is found on the Prohibited Species list, said Whelan. Some of the key baitfish species that anglers will need to have receipts for include: emerald shiners, spottail shiners, and white suckers, as well as for roe from Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead.
Each receipt should contain five pieces of vital information.
€ The name of the licensed retail bait dealer and dealer's license number.
€ The date of sale.
€ The prohibited fish species sold and amount.
€ A transaction number.
€ Whether the bait is certified or not.
The information on the receipt is essential to allow DNR staff a chance to trace back any problems, such as a VHSv outbreak.
“Anglers are likely to see a variety of ways the information is provided on or attached to a receipt, since we are trying to be as flexible as possible in working with retailers. As long as the information is made available to the angler, everything will work out just fine,” said Whelan. “Anglers may see cash register printouts with all of the information, cash register printouts that have some of the information on an attached sticker (such as an address or photo slide-sized label) or ink stamp, or cash register printouts with some of the information and a second piece of paper attached to the receipt with the rest of the information.”
DNR officials are also warning anglers to be skeptical of large price increases attributed to testing requirements, citing that the price to test each fish in nominal.
“It is critical that anglers follow these regulations because we need their help in preventing the movement of fish diseases. Without their help, their fisheries could suffer avoidable losses,” said DNR Fisheries Division Chief Kelley Smith.
Botulism is killing Great Lakes birds
Botulism is killing Great Lakes birds
Botulism is killing Great Lakes birds
Some 8,000 died in 2007, including 2,000 loons
February 4, 2008
BY TINA LAM
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Counting dead birds along Lake Michigan's Upper Peninsula shoreline last November was mind-numbing, even emotional for wildlife biologist Joe Kaplan. Hundreds of loons, cormorants, gulls, long-tailed ducks and grebes were scattered across the sand, washed up and rotting.
Then he spotted a familiar bird. The yellow band on its lifeless leg showed it was C3, a loon that had lived for 14 seasons at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The adult male was 22 miles from the refuge, headed for his warmer winter home, when he was caught in a botulism plume spawned by foreign invaders -- two species of mussels and round gobies, a fat minnow-length fish.
Advertisement
Kaplan and other researchers say as many as 8,000 native and migrating waterfowl -- including 2,000 loons, cherished for their haunting, sweet calls -- may have died of toxic type E botulism along the lake's northeast shore last fall, the second die-off in two years on Lake Michigan from the neurotoxin.
The outbreak also claimed four endangered piping plovers and at least one bald eagle.
The creatures likely ate botulism-infected gobies, a bottom-feeder susceptible to E botulism. Scientists say they think the botulism, which is native to the Great Lakes, comes to life in rotting cladophora algae and is absorbed by invasive zebra and quagga mussels that have taken over the lake bottom. Gobies eat the toxic mussels, and the birds eat the gobies.
Until 2006, there hadn't been a major bird die-off from E botulism in Lake Michigan in more than two decades.
The interaction of the algae and the three invaders, which came from their native Black Sea in ocean ships' ballast water, has given birth to a new cycle of deadly botulism. As the critters spread, so does E botulism.
Scientists say the die-off in Lake Michigan is likely to be repeated this year and to spread to areas including Lake Huron.
More than 50,000 birds have perished in E botulism die-offs on Lakes Erie and Ontario since 1999. No humans have been affected -- cooking the meat of fish or ducks, for example, kills the botulism -- nor has the problem spread to inland lakes.
The life of C3
Doting father C3 had stayed behind at Seney as other loons left, to tend to his chick, hatched in July -- late for a loon chick.
He'd been banded in 1993 as an adult at Seney and spent each spring, summer and early fall through 2005 there with the same mate, the longest pairing ever recorded at Seney, said biologist Damon McCormick.
They broke up between 2005 and 2006 when he found a new mate (his ex took up with one of their sons). Loon parents share chick care equally, and C3 helped raise 17 chicks before his death, a refuge record.
To see the much-studied C3 as one of the botulism victims was moving for Kaplan.
"It gives you an odd sense," he said, "that something is wrong in the lake."
Something is wrong, said Tom Cooley, wildlife biologist for the Department of Natural Resources, who analyzes bird carcasses to verify that they died of E botulism.
"Once you have the right conditions, the botulism becomes more prevalent," he said. "There's no way to stop it."
In 2006, biologists and volunteers counted 2,900 dead birds in a 14-mile stretch at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
In 2007, the bird carcasses were spread over 400 miles of shoreline from Empire to Escanaba and on islands like South Fox and North and South Manitou.
No one knows the ultimate effect on bird populations. Many dead waterfowl likely were migrating from Canada, but some, like loon C3, were Michigan-based. Just how many loons were lost won't be known until spring, when they should return to Seney and other nesting areas.
Spreading invaders
The unchecked spread of gobies and mussels, along with warmer water and lower lake levels, has created a dangerous soup, the biologists say. Lake Superior remains too cold for mussels.
But in the shallower, protected waters of Lake Michigan, gobies are so abundant they're like ants on the lake bottom, said Mark Breederland, an educator with Michigan Sea Grant. Near the mouth of the Platte River, where the 2006 botulism die-off occurred, there are an estimated 40 million gobies.
Quagga mussels have created huge beds on the lake bottom, even outcompeting zebra mussels. While Lake St. Clair is infested with the invasive mussels and gobies, the botulism hasn't been as big a problem because currents keep the water moving. The algae tend to grow best in still waters.
Cladophora algae bloomed in the Great Lakes in the 1960s and '70s, nourished by phosphorus from fertilizer runoff and poor sewage treatment. Bans on phosphorus and improved sewage treatment reduced algae growth in the 1980s and '90s.
Now, invasive mussels filter so much water they've made the water clearer, allowing the sun to penetrate deeper into the water and the algae to flourish. The mussels add another important ingredient to the mix -- their feces fertilize the algae.
"There are a whole bunch of things happening on the lake bottom that are scary to a biologist," said Ken Hyde, wildlife biologist for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. "When birds start washing up onto the beach, it's scary to the public."
Contact TINA LAM at 313-222-6421 or tlam@freepress.com.
Botulism is killing Great Lakes birds
Some 8,000 died in 2007, including 2,000 loons
February 4, 2008
BY TINA LAM
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Counting dead birds along Lake Michigan's Upper Peninsula shoreline last November was mind-numbing, even emotional for wildlife biologist Joe Kaplan. Hundreds of loons, cormorants, gulls, long-tailed ducks and grebes were scattered across the sand, washed up and rotting.
Then he spotted a familiar bird. The yellow band on its lifeless leg showed it was C3, a loon that had lived for 14 seasons at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The adult male was 22 miles from the refuge, headed for his warmer winter home, when he was caught in a botulism plume spawned by foreign invaders -- two species of mussels and round gobies, a fat minnow-length fish.
Advertisement
Kaplan and other researchers say as many as 8,000 native and migrating waterfowl -- including 2,000 loons, cherished for their haunting, sweet calls -- may have died of toxic type E botulism along the lake's northeast shore last fall, the second die-off in two years on Lake Michigan from the neurotoxin.
The outbreak also claimed four endangered piping plovers and at least one bald eagle.
The creatures likely ate botulism-infected gobies, a bottom-feeder susceptible to E botulism. Scientists say they think the botulism, which is native to the Great Lakes, comes to life in rotting cladophora algae and is absorbed by invasive zebra and quagga mussels that have taken over the lake bottom. Gobies eat the toxic mussels, and the birds eat the gobies.
Until 2006, there hadn't been a major bird die-off from E botulism in Lake Michigan in more than two decades.
The interaction of the algae and the three invaders, which came from their native Black Sea in ocean ships' ballast water, has given birth to a new cycle of deadly botulism. As the critters spread, so does E botulism.
Scientists say the die-off in Lake Michigan is likely to be repeated this year and to spread to areas including Lake Huron.
More than 50,000 birds have perished in E botulism die-offs on Lakes Erie and Ontario since 1999. No humans have been affected -- cooking the meat of fish or ducks, for example, kills the botulism -- nor has the problem spread to inland lakes.
The life of C3
Doting father C3 had stayed behind at Seney as other loons left, to tend to his chick, hatched in July -- late for a loon chick.
He'd been banded in 1993 as an adult at Seney and spent each spring, summer and early fall through 2005 there with the same mate, the longest pairing ever recorded at Seney, said biologist Damon McCormick.
They broke up between 2005 and 2006 when he found a new mate (his ex took up with one of their sons). Loon parents share chick care equally, and C3 helped raise 17 chicks before his death, a refuge record.
To see the much-studied C3 as one of the botulism victims was moving for Kaplan.
"It gives you an odd sense," he said, "that something is wrong in the lake."
Something is wrong, said Tom Cooley, wildlife biologist for the Department of Natural Resources, who analyzes bird carcasses to verify that they died of E botulism.
"Once you have the right conditions, the botulism becomes more prevalent," he said. "There's no way to stop it."
In 2006, biologists and volunteers counted 2,900 dead birds in a 14-mile stretch at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
In 2007, the bird carcasses were spread over 400 miles of shoreline from Empire to Escanaba and on islands like South Fox and North and South Manitou.
No one knows the ultimate effect on bird populations. Many dead waterfowl likely were migrating from Canada, but some, like loon C3, were Michigan-based. Just how many loons were lost won't be known until spring, when they should return to Seney and other nesting areas.
Spreading invaders
The unchecked spread of gobies and mussels, along with warmer water and lower lake levels, has created a dangerous soup, the biologists say. Lake Superior remains too cold for mussels.
But in the shallower, protected waters of Lake Michigan, gobies are so abundant they're like ants on the lake bottom, said Mark Breederland, an educator with Michigan Sea Grant. Near the mouth of the Platte River, where the 2006 botulism die-off occurred, there are an estimated 40 million gobies.
Quagga mussels have created huge beds on the lake bottom, even outcompeting zebra mussels. While Lake St. Clair is infested with the invasive mussels and gobies, the botulism hasn't been as big a problem because currents keep the water moving. The algae tend to grow best in still waters.
Cladophora algae bloomed in the Great Lakes in the 1960s and '70s, nourished by phosphorus from fertilizer runoff and poor sewage treatment. Bans on phosphorus and improved sewage treatment reduced algae growth in the 1980s and '90s.
Now, invasive mussels filter so much water they've made the water clearer, allowing the sun to penetrate deeper into the water and the algae to flourish. The mussels add another important ingredient to the mix -- their feces fertilize the algae.
"There are a whole bunch of things happening on the lake bottom that are scary to a biologist," said Ken Hyde, wildlife biologist for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. "When birds start washing up onto the beach, it's scary to the public."
Contact TINA LAM at 313-222-6421 or tlam@freepress.com.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
EPA: 2008 will be a year for algae action - Michigan, Great Lakes Environmental & Conservation Issues - MLive.com
EPA: 2008 will be a year for algae action - Michigan, Great Lakes Environmental & Conservation Issues - MLive.comEPA: 2008 will be a year for algae action
by Jeff Kart | The Bay City Times
Friday February 01, 2008, 1:46 PM
Saginaw Bay residents are tired.
Tired of beach muck. Tired of studies. Tired of invasive phragmite plants and zebra mussels, and ongoing discharges of partially treated sewage. And some think too much attention is being paid to dioxins in the watershed, to the detriment of more pressing issues.
''Everybody's getting sick and tired of hearing promises,'' said Bob McKie, a Huron County resident.
''The bay's being used as a septic field.''
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials say progress takes time, and scientists will get a better handle on how to manage the muck after studies this year to map phosphorus inputs to the bay and examine existing levels of the nutrient.
Last year, with prompting from the EPA, ''hot spots'' of dioxins in the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers were cleaned up by Dow Chemical Co. for the first time in more than a quarter century, said Ralph Dollhopf, associate director for the Superfund Division of EPA's Regional Office in Chicago. The work cost the company more than $20 million, Dollhopf said.
The same kind of methodical, scientific examination needs to be done to characterize and deal with muck and other problems in the bay, he said. And hopefully, it won't take 25 years.
EPA officials held a community meeting on Thursday at Saginaw Valley State University. There was standing room only, as close to 200 people packed a room at Curtiss Hall for a two-hour meeting that ran 30 minutes over.
The meeting was to discuss the state of the bay ecosystem - the most polluted in the Great Lakes, based on its listing under the EPA's Area of Concern program - and EPA's involvement in a cleanup of Dow dioxins.
Jamie Schardt, with the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office in Chicago, said phosphorus levels, from products like lawn fertilizers, actually have dropped in Lake Huron in the last six to seven years, largely due to zebra mussels, which are filtering out the nutrient.
So it's ''shocking'' to see such a great increase in algae washing up along the bay shoreline, he said.
The mess likely is due in part to the concentration of zebra mussels in near-shore areas, he said. They filter the water, allowing more sunlight to penetrate and algae to grow in new places. Their feces also act as a concentrated fertilizer.
''These problems are big,'' Schardt said. ''They're huge problems, but at least the next steps seem pretty clear.
''I think 2008 is going to be a very important year for Saginaw Bay.''
By the fall, the EPA should have the results of a phragmite control study being done in Bay County's Hampton Township, along with results of sediment samples taken from the bay in 2007 to further characterize dioxin levels, Schardt said.
A $100,000 phosphorus study, to map inputs to the bay, also should be well under way, along with a $4 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study of bay nutrient levels.
''We definitely don't know enough,'' Schardt said of how pervasive the muck is and how it can be managed.
''The work over the summer will expand upon what we know.''
Gary Gulezian, director of the EPA's Great Lakes office, said the NOAA study is designed to be complete in one year, so the results can be applied quickly. Schardt said Bay County's decision to restrict the application of lawn fertilizers beginning in 2009 is a good first step.
But some audience members are weary of more delays.
''Many of these problems seem like the problems I read about in the 1980s as a high school kid,'' said Laura Ogar, a Bay County environmental director and Bay City resident.
''I'm just curious. I would like to see a little bit more action.''
Gulezian said the EPA was taken by surprise when the algae started coming back in the bay about five years ago.
Gulezian said a new set of phosphorus restrictions may be needed for the lakes, such as eliminating the nutrient in dish-washing detergents. The source of the muck problems could be old phosphorus, too, cycled up from sediments by the mussels.
by Jeff Kart | The Bay City Times
Friday February 01, 2008, 1:46 PM
Saginaw Bay residents are tired.
Tired of beach muck. Tired of studies. Tired of invasive phragmite plants and zebra mussels, and ongoing discharges of partially treated sewage. And some think too much attention is being paid to dioxins in the watershed, to the detriment of more pressing issues.
''Everybody's getting sick and tired of hearing promises,'' said Bob McKie, a Huron County resident.
''The bay's being used as a septic field.''
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials say progress takes time, and scientists will get a better handle on how to manage the muck after studies this year to map phosphorus inputs to the bay and examine existing levels of the nutrient.
Last year, with prompting from the EPA, ''hot spots'' of dioxins in the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers were cleaned up by Dow Chemical Co. for the first time in more than a quarter century, said Ralph Dollhopf, associate director for the Superfund Division of EPA's Regional Office in Chicago. The work cost the company more than $20 million, Dollhopf said.
The same kind of methodical, scientific examination needs to be done to characterize and deal with muck and other problems in the bay, he said. And hopefully, it won't take 25 years.
EPA officials held a community meeting on Thursday at Saginaw Valley State University. There was standing room only, as close to 200 people packed a room at Curtiss Hall for a two-hour meeting that ran 30 minutes over.
The meeting was to discuss the state of the bay ecosystem - the most polluted in the Great Lakes, based on its listing under the EPA's Area of Concern program - and EPA's involvement in a cleanup of Dow dioxins.
Jamie Schardt, with the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office in Chicago, said phosphorus levels, from products like lawn fertilizers, actually have dropped in Lake Huron in the last six to seven years, largely due to zebra mussels, which are filtering out the nutrient.
So it's ''shocking'' to see such a great increase in algae washing up along the bay shoreline, he said.
The mess likely is due in part to the concentration of zebra mussels in near-shore areas, he said. They filter the water, allowing more sunlight to penetrate and algae to grow in new places. Their feces also act as a concentrated fertilizer.
''These problems are big,'' Schardt said. ''They're huge problems, but at least the next steps seem pretty clear.
''I think 2008 is going to be a very important year for Saginaw Bay.''
By the fall, the EPA should have the results of a phragmite control study being done in Bay County's Hampton Township, along with results of sediment samples taken from the bay in 2007 to further characterize dioxin levels, Schardt said.
A $100,000 phosphorus study, to map inputs to the bay, also should be well under way, along with a $4 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study of bay nutrient levels.
''We definitely don't know enough,'' Schardt said of how pervasive the muck is and how it can be managed.
''The work over the summer will expand upon what we know.''
Gary Gulezian, director of the EPA's Great Lakes office, said the NOAA study is designed to be complete in one year, so the results can be applied quickly. Schardt said Bay County's decision to restrict the application of lawn fertilizers beginning in 2009 is a good first step.
But some audience members are weary of more delays.
''Many of these problems seem like the problems I read about in the 1980s as a high school kid,'' said Laura Ogar, a Bay County environmental director and Bay City resident.
''I'm just curious. I would like to see a little bit more action.''
Gulezian said the EPA was taken by surprise when the algae started coming back in the bay about five years ago.
Gulezian said a new set of phosphorus restrictions may be needed for the lakes, such as eliminating the nutrient in dish-washing detergents. The source of the muck problems could be old phosphorus, too, cycled up from sediments by the mussels.
EPA: Zebra mussels may increase beach muck - Michigan, Great Lakes Environmental & Conservation Issues - MLive.com
EPA: Zebra mussels may increase beach muck - Michigan, Great Lakes Environmental & Conservation Issues - MLive.comEPA: Zebra mussels may increase beach muck
by Justin Engel | The Saginaw News
Friday February 01, 2008, 7:42 AM
Environmental Protection Agency officials updated a mid-Michigan crowd on plans to explore nutrient levels in the Saginaw Bay.
About 100 people attended the Saginaw Valley State University-hosted forum that included a recap of dioxin dredging in the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers in 2007.
Much of the meeting focused on zebra mussels and other invasive species that are changing the makeup of Lake Huron and its connecting waterways.
James Schardt, a scientist with the EPA's Chicago office, said the emergence of zebra mussels has "created a real nutrient problem" in Lake Huron.
"They're really sucking up nutrients," Schardt said, "and making the water clearer."
The translucency is allowing sunlight to reach depths of the water previously left in the dark, he said. That's resulted in more algae that some refer to as "muck" to form along shorelines.
Scientists aren't as clear how much of a problem that has created for the Saginaw Bay.
Schardt said EPA and state Department of Environmental Quality officials plan to collaborate on a study this summer to examine the algae levels on the bay.
Gary Gulezian, another EPA scientist, said the Great Lakes and its connecting waterways are "changing in a way we haven't seen before" because of the invasive species.
"Scientists are questioning what they used to believe," he said.
The meeting came less than a month after the EPA cut off cleanup talks with Dow Chemical Co. over decades-old dioxin contamination in the Tittabawassee River system.
Officials didn't add much to that discussion Thursday other than to say they couldn't disclose the reasons for the abandoned negotiations because of a confidentiality agreement.
The meeting also included a recap of the completed clean-up efforts of four dioxin "hot spots" dredged in 2007, including a contaminated spot in the Saginaw River near Wickes Park in Saginaw.
Meanwhile, officials with the DEQ are preparing for the next quarterly dioxin meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw Township.
The meeting will include updates on Tittabawassee River studies and plans for 2008.
Dow, which typically co-hosts the meetings, will not participate.
Officials with the Midland chemical complex cited a lack of new information since a November meeting as the reason for the absence.
by Justin Engel | The Saginaw News
Friday February 01, 2008, 7:42 AM
Environmental Protection Agency officials updated a mid-Michigan crowd on plans to explore nutrient levels in the Saginaw Bay.
About 100 people attended the Saginaw Valley State University-hosted forum that included a recap of dioxin dredging in the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers in 2007.
Much of the meeting focused on zebra mussels and other invasive species that are changing the makeup of Lake Huron and its connecting waterways.
James Schardt, a scientist with the EPA's Chicago office, said the emergence of zebra mussels has "created a real nutrient problem" in Lake Huron.
"They're really sucking up nutrients," Schardt said, "and making the water clearer."
The translucency is allowing sunlight to reach depths of the water previously left in the dark, he said. That's resulted in more algae that some refer to as "muck" to form along shorelines.
Scientists aren't as clear how much of a problem that has created for the Saginaw Bay.
Schardt said EPA and state Department of Environmental Quality officials plan to collaborate on a study this summer to examine the algae levels on the bay.
Gary Gulezian, another EPA scientist, said the Great Lakes and its connecting waterways are "changing in a way we haven't seen before" because of the invasive species.
"Scientists are questioning what they used to believe," he said.
The meeting came less than a month after the EPA cut off cleanup talks with Dow Chemical Co. over decades-old dioxin contamination in the Tittabawassee River system.
Officials didn't add much to that discussion Thursday other than to say they couldn't disclose the reasons for the abandoned negotiations because of a confidentiality agreement.
The meeting also included a recap of the completed clean-up efforts of four dioxin "hot spots" dredged in 2007, including a contaminated spot in the Saginaw River near Wickes Park in Saginaw.
Meanwhile, officials with the DEQ are preparing for the next quarterly dioxin meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw Township.
The meeting will include updates on Tittabawassee River studies and plans for 2008.
Dow, which typically co-hosts the meetings, will not participate.
Officials with the Midland chemical complex cited a lack of new information since a November meeting as the reason for the absence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)