Some worry that the barrier to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp may not be as effective as previously imagined. Asian carp eggs can be brought in with ships' ballast water. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
By summer’s end, officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and the
state of Illinois hope to finish an underwater electric barrier in a canal just south
of Chicago. The barrier is designed to repel invasive fish such as the Asian Carp.
But some environmentalists fear the barrier won’t be enough to keep the voracious,
non-native species out of Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shawn Allee reports:
Transcript
By summers end, officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Illinois hope to finish an underwater electric barrier in a canal just south of Chicago. The barrier is designed to repel invasive fish such as the Asian Carp. But some environmentalists fear the barrier won’t be enough to keep the voracious, non-native species out of Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shawn Allee reports:
Some conservationists worry Asian Carp may someday enter the Great Lakes by simply hitching a ride.
These critics say leaky ships passing through the electric barrier could hold carp eggs inside their ballast tanks and deposit them on the other side. But local officials say that scenario is unlikely.
Steve Stuewe is with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
He says Asian Carp eggs need turbulent water, and if they do find their way into rusty ballast tanks…
“They will probably be dead because they’ve settled out into the bottom of the hull and they’ve either suffocated or they’re down there, mixed in with the iron oxidate. So, they sink. They have to float.”
The research on egg viability is still sketchy, but a federal study of the issue may settle the question once and for all early this summer.
A new electric barrier is being built, but some worry that flooding might help Asian carp to sneak past it into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (photo courtesy of USGS)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is building a nine million dollar electric barrier to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. But now the Corps is warning the fence in Romeoville, Illinois, might not be enough. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lynette Kalsnes reports:
Transcript
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is building a nine million dollar electric barrier to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. But now the Corps is warning the fence in Romeoville, Illinois, might not be enough. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lynette Kalsnes reports:
The Army Corps is building the electric barrier in the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal. But the Des Plaines River runs near the canal, and it often floods in the spring. Chuck Shea is the project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers. He says they might need to build a flood wall or levee so high waters can’t sweep fish past the new barrier.
“It’s possible that water from the Des Plaines River could run into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. And if it was a large enough flood and there were fish in the right place, they might be able to use that as a pathway to enter the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.”
Shea says while this possibility is unlikely, it still will be an important issue to study down the road. He says the more pressing concern is that an existing temporary barrier could wear out before construction on the permanent barrier is finished.
Asian carp have been spotted about twenty miles downstream from the electric fence. The giant fish are considered a threat to sport and commercial fishing. Shea says state officials are working to find money for the last phase of the electric barrier project.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Lynette Kalsnes.
A new barrier is being constructed to prevent the Asian carp
from getting into the Great Lakes. But this year, a Congresswoman
will seek money to keep an existing barrier in operation, as well. The
Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
A new barrier is being constructed to prevent the Asian carp
from getting into the Great Lakes. But this year, a Congresswoman
will seek money to keep an existing barrier in operation, as well. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
The permanent underwater electronic barrier that’s being built in a canal near
Chicago is close to a temporary barrier that’s wearing out. But Illinois Republican
Judy Biggert
contends the new electronic fence will not be enough to keep out the voracious
invasive species
known as the Asian carp.
“Now I wish that I could say that with the construction of this permanent barrier
that our work
would be finished and the carp would never again threaten the Great Lakes, but I
cannot.”
Biggert wants to make the temporary barrier permanent, too. She also wants to make
sure there’s
federal money to operate and maintain both underwater fences over the long term.
So, Biggert is
seeking co-sponsors for a barrier bill that she says she plans to introduce early
this session of
Congress.
Her aides say she may also try to get the several million dollars needed for the
project put in the
budget for the Army Corps of Engineers. But many new domestic spending proposals
could face
a tough time in Congress, if conservatives try to reduce the federal budget deficit.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.
A recent report indicates many of the problems troubling the Great Lakes are due to poor governance of the lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham talked with the chief author of the report, Restoring Greatness to Government: Protecting the Great Lakes in the 21st Century. Dave Dempsey is a policy advisor with the Michigan Environmental Council, which published the report:
Transcript
A recent report indicates many of the problems troubling the Great Lakes are due to poor
governance of the lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham talked with the
chief author of the report Restoring Greatness to Government: Protecting the Great Lakes in
the 21st Century. Dave Dempsey is a policy advisor with the Michigan Environmental
Council, which published the report:
Dave Dempsey: “Well, we have sick Great Lakes in part because we have a sick governance
system. We have an array of 21st century problems facing the lakes from climate change to
continued degradation of some of our waters with toxic chemicals, but we have a 19th century
system of government that’s trying to protect them and failing.”
Lester Graham: “Now, the International Joint Commission, which is a body made up of
appointees by the Canadian government and the U.S. government, is to watch over the water
quality agreement and the treaty between the U.S. and Canada as to how we treat the Great Lakes.
And the Great Lakes Commission is another group that’s made up of representatives from the
eight Great Lakes states and the two provinces in Canada that surround the Great Lakes. And
these are all 21st century people, I know some of them, and they’re bright folks, they’re doing an
earnest and fairly decent job. What’s holding them back? They’re not 19th century people.”
DD: “No, but the structures and the systems they use are 19th century. There’s two problems: with
several of the commissions, they’ve become very politicized. The International Joint Commission
used to have a tradition of independence from political pressures and looking at the long-term
health of the Great Lakes. That’s been compromised since the ’90’s. But maybe more
importantly, with all these institutions, they’re relying on the old fashioned way of dealing with
public input. We think, in the environmental community, that the way to restore healthy Great
Lakes is to make sure the citizen voice is heard. These institutions cover a Great Lakes basin
that’s hundreds of thousands of square miles, and they’re expecting people to show up at public
hearings, perhaps traveling hundreds of miles to get there. Today, what we need to do is take
advantage in governance of the Internet, and other ways of involving people that don’t require
that kind of commitment or sacrifice because people frankly don’t have the time.”
LG: “How would increased participation of the public help the health of the Great Lakes?”
DD: “Well, looking at the history of the Great Lakes, every time the public voice is heard
strongly in the halls of government, the Great Lakes recover. Every time the voices of special
interests are drowning out the public voice, the lakes begin to deteriorate and that’s what we see
happening now.”
LG: “The Great Lakes Commission has had some success recently in getting more money from
the government for the Great Lakes recovery, the IJC has done a good job recently of working
with the media to bring public awareness to invasive species because of the Asian black carp. So,
are those moves the kind of thing you’d like to see to solve this problem?”
DD: “I think it’s helpful. Both of these commissions can use their bully pulpit to publicize
problems and call attention. But if you took a poll of the average Great Lakes residents, very few
of them would ever have heard of these commissions. We need bodies that look out for the Great
Lakes that are really plugged into individual communities, and that doesn’t exist right now. The
Great Lakes Commission specifically was set up to promote commercial navigation in the Great
Lakes, and while it has broadened its agenda to look at ecosystem issues, it has been an advocate,
for example, for the Great Lakes review of navigation that could result in more invasive species
coming into the Great Lakes by allowing more ocean-going vessels. We need an institution that’s
looking at the health of the Lakes first, not at the health of the industries that sometimes exploit
them.”
LG: “Bottom line, what would you like to see done?”
DD: “I’d like to see a Great Lakes citizens’ commission building on the existing institutions that
plugs into the individual states and provinces around the Great Lakes and brings people and their
voices together so that their vision of healthy Great Lakes can be carried out by government.”
Host Tag: Dave Dempsey is chief author of a report on governance of the Great Lakes issued by
the Michigan Environmental Council. He spoke with the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester
Graham.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Canadian Department of Transportation are studying the navigational system in the Great Lakes and along the Saint Lawrence River. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports, the groups are holding public hearings on the issue this summer:
Transcript
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Canadian Department of
Transportation are studying the navigational system in the Great Lakes and along the
Saint Lawrence River. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports,
the groups are holding public hearings on the issue this summer:
The study will evaluate current conditions in the Great Lakes and determine what is
required to maintain the navigational routes at the existing size and capacity.
Tim Eder is the director of Water Resources for National Wildlife
Federation. He says any plans for Great Lakes navigation must address current problems
of invasive species and habitat destruction, not make them worse. Eder says only a
handful of ships come in from foreign ports on a daily basis…
“But each ship brings with it the risk of another invasive species and right now, our
fishery in the Great Lakes region is teetering on the brink of collapse because of zebra
mussels, because of sea lampreys, because of Asian carp that are knocking on the door
trying to get into the Great Lakes… most of which, not all, but most of which come in the
ballast tanks of ships from foreign ports.”
The public hearings are being held at various locations through July 14th.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Celeste Headlee.
President Bush says he wants the federal government to help coordinate clean-up of the Great Lakes. The Environmental Protection Agency will spearhead the so-called Great Lakes Interagency Task Force. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bettina Kozlowski has more:
Transcript
President Bush says he wants the federal government to help coordinate
clean-up of the Great Lakes. The Environmental Protection Agency will
spearhead the so-called Great Lakes Interagency Task Force. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bettina Kozlowski has more:
The Task Force is charged with coordinating existing federal, state and
local programs and presenting a unified plan to the President next
spring.
EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt will head the task force.
He says the central body will coordinate strategies to attract more
federal funding.
“We can do a better job at managing the 140 programs we already have
and bring a better payload to the Great Lakes. The role of the federal
government is to simply join with the cities, with the other states and
to become a convener and then to step back into our place as a full
participant.”
Leavitt hopes the partnership will tackle the problems with
contaminated water, fish and wildlife, and curb the spread of invasive
species such as the Asian carp.
U.S. Congressman Rahm Emanuel and environmentalists say the plan is a
smoke screen.
They say the Administration is trying to distract voters from its poor
record on the environment. Illinois Democrat Emanuel says the Great
Lakes need funding, not another study.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bettina Kozlowski.
Another major piece is about to fall into place in the battle to contain the Asian Carp from spreading into the Great Lakes. Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources is set to slap a ban on importing the invasive carp. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Transcript
Another major piece is about to fall into place in the battle to contain the Asian Carp from
spreading into the Great Lakes. Ontario’s ministry of natural resources is set to slap a ban on
importing the invasive carp. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Toronto has a large appetite for the Asian carp. They’re imported to fish markets here live, so
they can be cooked fresh. But David Ramsay, Ontario’s minister of natural resources, says that’s
going to stop. He says he doesn’t know when the ban will go into effect. But it could be only
weeks that people will be able to enjoy their fresh carp.
The carp can grow up to eight feet in length, weigh more than one hundred pounds and consume
huge amounts of food….and they have no natural predators. Experts have warned that the Asian
carp could eat its way through the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Ramsay says the previous Ontario government did nothing about this invasive species, but he
says this government won’t wait.
“I’m very concerned about the invasive carp. We found one at the mouth of the Don River in
December. There’s a danger here, or a potential danger if these species of fish that are imported
into this country ever got loose in the Great Lakes, it could really put our Great Lakes ecosystem
in grave danger.”
This isn’t the first Asian carp to surface here. In the past two years one was found in Lake Erie,
and another in a fountain in downtown Toronto.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
Biologists are trying to prevent invasive species such as the Asian carp, from traveling between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin. The latest plan proposed by some scientists is to remove all the oxygen from a section of the Chicago River. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Annie MacDowell has more:
Transcript
Biologists are trying to prevent invasive species such as the Asian carp from traveling between
the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river basin. The latest plan proposed by some scientists is to
remove all the oxygen from a section of the Chicago river. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Annie Macdowell has more:
Scientists say killing part of the river would create a barrier no fish could swim through and live.
Removing the oxygen is against the Clean Water Act, but biologists think it might be worth it.
Jerry Rasmussen is a river biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He says the
potential economic and ecological disaster from the invasive species justifies creating this dead
zone.
“The real problem has been reluctance of everyone, including myself, to take a measure like this
because of the implications of it and the precedents it sets, but the concern is significant enough
with these Asian Carp that a significant problem may require significant measures to stop it.”
Rasmussen says killing a section of the river buys engineers time to work on a long-term solution
to the invasives problem, such as building a second electric barrier. He says the river would be
shut down for a minimum of two years and then re-oxygenated so that living things could return.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Annie MacDowell.
Emergency money is being spent to stop an exotic invader. Some experts think the Asian carp could be a ecological disaster for Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports on recent measures to stop the fish:
Transcript
Some emergency money is being spent to stop an exotic invader. Some
experts think the Asian Carp could be a ecological disaster for Lake
Michigan. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports
on measures to stop the fish:
The only thing keeping the Asian Carp from leaving the Mississippi River
system and entering Lake Michigan through a canal is an electrical barrier.
That barrier repels the fish, but a power outage could shut off the barrier, and
allow the carp to enter the Great Lakes.
The International Joint Commission and three federal agencies, including the
Environmental Protection Agency, put together 300-thousand dollars for a
back-up power source.
Tracy Mehan with the EPA says it’s important to act quickly.
“It’s a modest investment with a huge payoff in terms of avoiding, yet
another scourge to the Great Lakes fisheries. We’ve got 160 exotic species
that weren’t here in the last century and we didn’t need another one
especially something with such a high impact as the Asian Carp can have.”
Asian Carp grow up to 4-feet long and 100 pounds. They eat native fish,
and have no predator in this part of the world.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mike Simonson.
Some worry that the barrier to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp may not be as effective as previously imagined. Asian carp eggs can be brought in with ships' ballast water. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)