ELPC Press Release
The Great Lakes form the largest freshwater system on Earth, providing drinking water to 42 million people. With 4,530 miles of U.S. shoreline, America’s inland coast is also its longest. The lakes are home to a vibrant local economy of tourism, recreation, and industry. Fishing alone supports a $7 billion economy, and the lakes form rich ecosystems of fish, birds, and other species.
Despite all of their power, majesty, and importance, the Great Lakes are not impervious to harm. In the past, they have been put under tremendous strain and mistreated for short-term economic gain. But today, we know that healthy lakes mean healthy communities and healthy economies. Today, the lakes are facing new challenges from pollution to climate change, but Midwestern communities are finding creative ways to clean up old pollution, build resilient infrastructure, and create jobs in the green economy.
ELPC is a watchdog for the Great Lakes, keeping an eye on major facilities and holding the EPA accountable for monitoring and enforcement in Region 5. In one major victory, For example, ELPC and allies recently reached a consent decree with the Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill in Burns Harbor, Indiana, formerly owned by ArcelorMittal. We filed suit after finding over a hundred Clean Water Act permit violations affecting Lake Michigan, including discharges for ammonia and cyanide that killed thousands of fish and shut down beaches in nearby Indiana Dunes National Park in 2019. Learn more about our watchdog work to protect this area in our Northwest Indiana Protector Project.
More recently, ELPC sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Federal Court to stop construction of a vertical disposal facility at Lake Michigan on Chicago’s Southeast Side that would store toxic waste dredged from the Calumet River, which is checkered with heavy industry along its shores. Higher Lake Michigan water levels and storm impacts could result in a toxic release from the proposed waste dump (and one that already exists there), spewing contaminated materials into Lake Michigan and potentially impacting drinking water supplies for the Southeast Side, an environmental justice community already overburdened with pollution.
In the summer of 2014, Toledo’s drinking water supply to nearly half a million people was shut down for 72 hours, crippled by deadly microcystin bacteria. The green clouds of harmful algae plaguing Lake Erie for more than a decade are fueled by phosphorus pollution from the growing number of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the Maumee river watershed. ELPC is engaged in its fourth lawsuit against the U.S. EPA to clean up Lake Erie as required under the Clean Water Act. But this issue extends far beyond Ohio, as CAFO pollution fuels toxic algae in several states across the Midwest. ELPC has been monitoring CAFO pollution, fighting in the courts to hold pollution control agencies accountable, and pursuing stronger policies to protect safe, clean water in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
The Great Lakes face many challenges, with outdated infrastructure, threats of invasive species, and eroding habitat. Since GLRI was instituted in 2010, a key study showed that each dollar spent in restoration nets $3.35 in additional economic activity through 2036. Yet Republicans have proposed zeroing-out or cutting GLRI funding multiple times during the Trump administration and we were part of the chorus that helped thwart those efforts. Congress has continued to reauthorize critical Great Lakes funding each year. In 2024, Congress authorized spending $450 million on the program for FY 2025 .
Under the Straits of Mackinac lies a ticking time bomb. The 60+ year old Enbridge Line 5 carries over 20 million gallons of unrefined oil every day along the lakebed between Lakes Michigan and Huron. A rupture could impair the drinking water of millions and pollute a wide swath of those lakes. We are working with a regional coalition to stop approval for construction of a tunnel Enbridge has proposed to build at the lakebed to encase new pipelines that would replace the outdated ones. ELPC is fighting to save the Midwest’s precious waterways and protect the taxpayers from funding polluters’ cleanup.
Climate change is already warming the Midwest faster than the rest of the nation, exacerbating toxic algae, eroding shoreline communities, and causing many other impacts. ELPC is working to amplify the science, including a state-of-the-science report assessing climate risks around the Great Lakes, by experts from the region. We are also advocating for toxic cleanup and green infrastructure to build resilient communities, while working to shift the Midwest to cleaner transportation and energy solutions. Taking action on climate change is essential for the long-term health and economic strength of our region.
Detrimental species like bighead & silver carp have come to dominate streams along the southern Mississippi watershed, but we can stop them from reaching the Great Lakes if we act now. ELPC was part of a coalition of environmental, conservation, and advocacy groups that celebrated an announcement in July 2024 by Illinois Governor Pritzker, Michigan Governor Whitmer, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) that they signed a historic Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) to begin construction on the Brandon Road Project to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes.