Environmental Law & Policy Center » Great Lakes http://elpc.org Protecting the Midwest's Environment and Natural Heritage Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:02:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Statement from Howard Learner: Separating the Chicago Area Waterway System is an Important Step to Protect the Great Lakes’ Ecology and Economy http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/statement-from-howard-learner-separating-the-chicago-area-waterway-system-is-an-important-step-to-protect-the-great-lakes%e2%80%99-ecology-and-economy http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/statement-from-howard-learner-separating-the-chicago-area-waterway-system-is-an-important-step-to-protect-the-great-lakes%e2%80%99-ecology-and-economy#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:59:25 +0000 Kcoleman http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/statement-from-howard-learner-separating-the-chicago-area-waterway-system-is-an-important-step-to-protect-the-great-lakes%e2%80%99-ecology-and-economy Today, the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative released its Chicago Area Waterways Study (CAWS), which offers recommended action steps to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp and other invasive species. ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner released this statement about the study and its recommendations.

“Separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River Basin is a key step to protect both the ecological and economic value of the Great Lakes. More than 30 million people live in the Great Lakes Basin and rely on its abundance of freshwater, which is under increasing threat from Asian carp and other invasive species. The release of this important study and action framework today advances important Great Lakes values.

“The Study shows that strong and effective action is needed sooner than later to protect Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes. We have to get this right from the start. There are no do-over ‘Mulligans’ if invasive species get into our Great Lakes.”

Mr. Learner served as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Chicago Area Waterways Study project.

]]> http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/statement-from-howard-learner-separating-the-chicago-area-waterway-system-is-an-important-step-to-protect-the-great-lakes%e2%80%99-ecology-and-economy/feed 0 New Report Demonstrates that Permanent Physical Barriers to Stop Asian Carp at Chicago are Feasible http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/new-report-demonstrates-that-permanent-physical-barriers-to-stop-asian-carp-at-chicago-are-feasible http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/new-report-demonstrates-that-permanent-physical-barriers-to-stop-asian-carp-at-chicago-are-feasible#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:57:16 +0000 Kcoleman http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/new-report-demonstrates-that-permanent-physical-barriers-to-stop-asian-carp-at-chicago-are-feasible Strategies for restoring the natural divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes – and, in the process, modernizing the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) – are identified in a report released today by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.

“Physically separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds is the best long-term solution for preventing the movement of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species, and our report demonstrates that it can be done,” said Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission.

The threat of Asian carp looms large for communities in the Great Lakes region. The lakes provide over 35 million residents with drinking water, contain 20 percent of the Earth’s fresh surface water, and support a thriving tourism industry and world-class fishery, which generates an estimated $7 billion in economic activity annually.

Voracious feeders that can grow up to 90 pounds, Asian carp have overrun other ecosystems and could cause irreversible damage to the Great Lakes if allowed entry. Once established, invasive species are nearly impossible to eliminate.

“This is a unique opportunity for both protection of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River and for a Chicago waterway system for the 21st century and beyond,” said David Ullrich, executive director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. “No single use of the CAWS, including transportation, flood control and wastewater treatment, can be considered individually. The system requires an integrated approach and that is what we have taken.”

The three separation alternatives include a down-river single barrier between the confluence of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Cal-Sag Channel and the Lockport Lock; a mid-system alternative of four barriers on CAWS branches between Lockport and Lake Michigan; and a near-lake alternative of up to five barriers closest to the lakeshore. All three include measures to improve the CAWS’s role in flood management, wastewater treatment and maritime transportation, as well as stopping the interbasin movement of aquatic invasive species.

The three separation alternatives in the report were developed by the engineering firm HDR, Inc., which considered some 20 possible barrier locations in its analysis. No recommended alternative is identified. However, one alternative, the mid-system solution, is the least costly and offers other advantages.

The analysis concludes that preventing just a single invasive species from entering the Great Lakes can save as much as $5 billion over 30 years. The Corps of Engineers has identified 10 species that are poised to invade the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River.

According to the report’s economic analysis, the cost of the barriers themselves is as low as $109 million. The addition of all improvements to address water quality, flood prevention and transportation brings the cost to between $3.2 billion and $9.5 billion, depending on the location and the degree to which the wastewater treatment plants on the system are improved to meet future Clean Water Act requirements.

The analysis also finds that households in the Great Lakes basin would have to be willing to pay, on average, about $1 a month from now through 2059 to cover the cost of the mid-system alternative, based on a projected cost of $4.27 billion. The Great Lakes Commission and the Cities Initiative point out that the construction costs to build the current CAWS in today’s dollars would be $11 billion.

Asian carp have been migrating up the Mississippi River system since the early 1990s and were detected in 2009 to have breached electronic barriers operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the CAWS. In 2010 a live Asian carp was captured in Lake Calumet just six miles from Lake Michigan.

“The current efforts by the state of Illinois, the Corps of Engineers and others to monitor and slow the carp migration are critical and are buying us time to implement a long-term solution,” said Eder.

“While we recognize and support the work being done by others to find solutions to the Asian carp threat, we need to appreciate fully the urgency of this matter,” Ullrich emphasized.

The Great Lakes Commission, representing the eight Great Lakes states plus the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec, and the Cities Initiative, a coalition of U.S. and Canadian mayors, embarked on the accelerated study in 2010 believing separation to be the best strategy for preventing the movement of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species between the two watersheds via the CAWS. The $2 million project was funded by a collaboration of six regional funders: the Joyce Foundation, C.S. Mott Foundation, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, Wege Foundation, Great Lakes Protection Fund and Frey Foundation.

To provide guidance and input for the project, a bipartisan Executive Committee was established and a diverse Advisory Committee was convened among stakeholders from the Great Lakes region, with an emphasis on interest groups in the Chicago area. In addition, a Resource Group made up of governmental and quasi-governmental entities with a direct interest in the project also participated.

The report and all supporting materials are available at www.glc.org/caws.

Download this news release.

]]> http://elpc.org/2012/01/31/new-report-demonstrates-that-permanent-physical-barriers-to-stop-asian-carp-at-chicago-are-feasible/feed 0 Chicago Tribune Editorial by Howard Learner: Mercury Pollution Reduction Standards Protect Children’s Health and the Great Lakes http://elpc.org/2011/12/29/chicago-tribune-editoral-by-howard-learner-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards-protect-childrens-health-and-the-great-lakes http://elpc.org/2011/12/29/chicago-tribune-editoral-by-howard-learner-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards-protect-childrens-health-and-the-great-lakes#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:35:33 +0000 Kcoleman http://elpc.org/2011/12/29/chicago-tribune-editoral-by-howard-learner-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards-protect-childrens-health-and-the-great-lakes In the Chicago Tribune’s lead editorial on Dec. 28th, ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner discusses why the EPA’s recently announced federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standard is good for public health, the environment and the economy. Illinois enacted strong state standards in 2006 and has proven that it’s possible to control pollution from coal plants. The new federal rules will level the playing field among coal plants in all states. Read the editorial.

]]> http://elpc.org/2011/12/29/chicago-tribune-editoral-by-howard-learner-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards-protect-childrens-health-and-the-great-lakes/feed 0 New Federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Will Protect Children’s Health and the Environment http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/new-federal-mercury-and-air-toxics-standards-will-protect-children%e2%80%99s-health-and-the-environment-2 http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/new-federal-mercury-and-air-toxics-standards-will-protect-children%e2%80%99s-health-and-the-environment-2#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:02:23 +0000 Kcoleman http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/new-federal-mercury-and-air-toxics-standards-will-protect-children%e2%80%99s-health-and-the-environment-2 Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the first-ever federal standards to reduce mercury, arsenic, chromium and other toxic air pollutants from power plants. EPA estimates that these standards will prevent thousands of hospitalizations and emergency room visits and 17,000 premature deaths each year. Implementing the standards, which were called for in the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments and are now long overdue, creates a level playing field for the energy industry after more than 20 years of uncertainty and delays

“These standards mean power plants will invest in modern pollution controls, and that investment will create jobs, cleaner air and better public health,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “Illinois adopted mercury pollution reduction standards in 2006 and modern control equipment has been installed at almost all coal plants in the state.  The technology works, the lights have stayed on, mercury pollution has been reduced and children’s health is better protected.  It’s time for the holdout utilities to stop crying wolf, stop stalling and clean up their pollution to protect children’s health and our rivers and lakes.”

“Illinois and other states have led the way and shown that these federal standards are reasonable and attainable,” said Learner. “With federal standards in place, all Americans will gain the benefits of better health and cleaner and safer water.”

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can harm fetal brain development, reducing children’s IQ and their ability to learn.  According to EPA estimates, about 300,000 babies are born in the U.S. every year at risk of neurological damage because of mercury.

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards set a 3-5 year timeline for power plant owners to install widely available modern technology to reduce mercury pollution by 91% and drastically reduce arsenic, chromium, acid gases and other toxic air pollutants which are known or suspected of causing cancer and other serious health effects. The new standards will create thousands of jobs around the country as power plant owners hire people to build, install and operate modern pollution control equipment needed to reduce mercury and other toxics from their plants.

]]> http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/new-federal-mercury-and-air-toxics-standards-will-protect-children%e2%80%99s-health-and-the-environment-2/feed 1 U.S. EPA Announces Final Mercury & Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/u-s-epa-announces-final-mercury-air-toxics-standards-for-power-plants http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/u-s-epa-announces-final-mercury-air-toxics-standards-for-power-plants#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:08:25 +0000 Kcoleman http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/u-s-epa-announces-final-mercury-air-toxics-standards-for-power-plants The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard that will greatly reduce the amount of mercury, acid gases and other toxic pollution emitted from coal plants. This landmark move by EPA will reinforce the important Clean Air Act public health standards enacted more than 20 years ago. Read the EPA’s announcement and final rule.

]]> http://elpc.org/2011/12/21/u-s-epa-announces-final-mercury-air-toxics-standards-for-power-plants/feed 0 ELPC Science Advisor Dr. Knute Nadelhoffer Testifies Before House Panel on Climate Science http://elpc.org/2011/03/08/house-testimony-of-dr-nadelhoffer http://elpc.org/2011/03/08/house-testimony-of-dr-nadelhoffer#comments Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:56:35 +0000 HLearner http://elpc.org/?p=5454 On Tuesday, March 8, 2011, Dr. Nadelhoffer testified before the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing entitled “Climate Science and EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations.” As a scientific advisor to the ELPC, Dr. Nadelhoffer addressed the ecological impacts of climate change specifically within the Great Lakes basin.

Read Dr. Nadelhoffer’s testimony here.
]]> http://elpc.org/2011/03/08/house-testimony-of-dr-nadelhoffer/feed 0 BP’s Gulf Spill Heightens Concerns Over Whiting Refinery http://elpc.org/2010/08/06/bps-gulf-spill-heightens-concerns-over-whiting-refinery http://elpc.org/2010/08/06/bps-gulf-spill-heightens-concerns-over-whiting-refinery#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:33:28 +0000 Kcoleman http://elpc.org/2010/08/06/bps-gulf-spill-heightens-concerns-over-whiting-refinery ELPC worked with a coalition of environmental and citizen groups to successfully challenge the air permit for an expansion of BP’s Whiting, Indiana oil refinery that would enable the facility to process more oil from Canadian tar sands, and create huge amounts of new global warming pollution in the process. An article in Greenwire and The New York Times looks at how BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico might affect the planned refinery expansion.

“Putting economics above public safety and the environment appears to be a pervasive practice” at BP, said ELPC senior attorney Faith Bugel. “If there’s a loophole, the practice appears to be to find their way through it. Our concern is that what happened in the Gulf doesn’t happen here.”

Read the full article in the New York Times

]]> http://elpc.org/2010/08/06/bps-gulf-spill-heightens-concerns-over-whiting-refinery/feed 0 ELPC Commends New EPA Mercury Pollution Reduction Standards http://elpc.org/2010/04/30/elpc-commends-new-epa-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards http://elpc.org/2010/04/30/elpc-commends-new-epa-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 18:00:15 +0000 jgeiger http://elpc.org/2010/04/30/elpc-commends-new-epa-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards The Environmental Law & Policy Center commends the Obama Administration for proposing new federal air pollution reduction standards today that would sharply reduce mercury and other toxic pollutants from industrial boilers and solid waste incinerators. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the proposed rules would reduce mercury pollution by more than 50 percent from about 200,000 industrial boilers, heaters and solid waste incinerators across the country.

“The US EPA is stepping up to protect children’s health, the Great Lakes and our environment by reducing toxic mercury pollution from major sources,” said Howard A. Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “Mercury is a neurotoxin that can pass through a pregnant woman’s placenta and harm fetal brain development. Coal plants and these industrial smokestacks are the largest sources of mercury pollution.  Today’s announcement leads the way to better protection for children’s health and the environment.”

]]> http://elpc.org/2010/04/30/elpc-commends-new-epa-mercury-pollution-reduction-standards/feed 2 Chicago Reader Features Series on Asian Carp and Possible Impacts on the Great Lakes http://elpc.org/2010/04/02/chicago-reader-features-series-on-asian-carp-and-possible-impacts-on-the-great-lakes http://elpc.org/2010/04/02/chicago-reader-features-series-on-asian-carp-and-possible-impacts-on-the-great-lakes#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:29:32 +0000 HLearner http://elpc.org/2010/04/02/chicago-reader-features-series-on-asian-carp-and-possible-impacts-on-the-great-lakes The Chicago Reader recently published three articles on the “The Carp Issue”, including impacts, solutions, and its possible effect on the Great Lakes.

Asian carp—particularly silver carp and bigheads— have invaded the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries, including the Illinois and Chicago Rivers, disrupting the ecosystem by starving out native fish. If they reach Lake Michigan, they could do the same to the Great Lakes, causing a decrease in biodiversity and severe economic impacts.

]]> http://elpc.org/2010/04/02/chicago-reader-features-series-on-asian-carp-and-possible-impacts-on-the-great-lakes/feed 0 ELPC and Coalition Ask EPA to Fix Indiana’s Water Rules http://elpc.org/2009/12/21/elpc-and-coalition-ask-epa-to-fix-indianas-water-rules http://elpc.org/2009/12/21/elpc-and-coalition-ask-epa-to-fix-indianas-water-rules#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:07:54 +0000 Kcoleman http://elpc.org/?p=2387 On December 17, ELPC, the Hoosier Environmental Council and the Sierra Club submitted a petition asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to correct serious flaws in the Indiana water pollution control program, which is administered by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

The groups have worked with IDEM for years in an attempt to improve Indiana’s water pollution rules, but the regulations still do not meet standards of the federal Clean Water Act. Large coal mines are currently allowed to pollute many of Indiana’s lakes and streams while pollution from industry and agriculture has contaminated over 800 Indiana Waterways with e coli bacteria.

The petition asks EPA to take back the authority for enforcing the Clean Water Act if IDEM does not improve its water pollution control program.

Read ELPC’s press release.

 Read coverage in the Indy Star.

Read the editorial “In Defense of Clean Water” by the Indy Star’s editorial board.

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