Gao: Great Lakes Need Better Monitoring

  • The Government Accountability Office says Lake Ontario and all the other Great Lakes should have more coordinated monitoring between the states as well as between the U.S. and Canada. (Photo by Kevin Smith)

A new report says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lacks the information it needs to assess the overall health of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports:

Transcript

A new report says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lacks the information it needs to assess the overall health of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports:


A water quality agreement between the U.S. and Canada requires the two countries to reduce pollutants in the lakes and monitor progress in restoration.


But the Government Accountability Office report says coordinated monitoring between the two countries has not been fully developed. The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress. The reports says disparate agencies – at the federal, state, provincial and local levels – are monitoring the lakes, but it says information from those groups does not provide an overall assessment of the lakes. The GAO is recommending that EPA develop a system to ensure complete, accurate and consistent information.


In its response to the report, EPA said it agreed with that recommendation and is taking steps to coordinate, monitor, and develop standards for measuring the health of the Great Lakes.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Sarah Hulett.

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Big City Cooler With Great Lakes Water

The city of Toronto is using the deep, chilly waters of a Great Lake as “green” air conditioning for some of its skyscrapers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein explains how:

Transcript

The city of Toronto is using the deep, chilly waters of a Great Lake as
“green” air conditioning for some of its skyscrapers. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s David Sommerstein explains how:


Toronto and a provincial pension fund joined forces to form a company
called Enwave. It plunged three new intake pipes 3 miles out and 270 feet
deep into Lake Ontario. The pipes suck up near-icy water, which is used to
cool other water that’s pumped to air conditioning systems around the city.
The original water is re-used as drinking water.


Chris Asimakis is Chief Operating Officer of Enwave. He says the project
saves energy and reduces pollution.


“Literally you’re offsetting between 75 and 90 percent of the electricity that
you would have otherwise used and paid for to run a traditional type chiller.
And as a result, the air in Toronto is cleaner because we’re displacing
electricity generation from coal-fired plants, as an example.”


The project has the capacity to air condition 100 office buildings or 8,000
homes. Current clients include some of Toronto’s most prominent
landmarks, including the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Sommerstein.

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