An oil refinery is expanding in part to meet growing demand for gasoline. The
refinery planned to dump more waste into the Great Lakes. Laura Weber reports
the refinery company is now delaying those plans:
Transcript
An oil refinery is expanding in part to meet growing demand for gasoline. The
refinery planned to dump more waste into the Great Lakes. Laura Weber reports
the refinery company is now delaying those plans:
British Petroleum plans to expand its Indiana refinery near Lake Michigan.
State and federal authorities have given BP permission to dump more ammonia
and sludge into the lake.
This is the first time a company has been allowed to dump more pollution into the
Great Lakes since the Clean Water Act was passed in 1977.
But BP is putting its plans on hold after meeting with Congressional leaders.
US Senator Debbie Stabenow says Congress wants to make sure BP will dump the
least amount of waste possible:
“There is a real question in my mind, particularly, when we’re talking about a Great
Lake that’s impacted by a variety of state actions. I think this is an important thing
to look at.”
The expansion plans are delayed until September. A BP spokesman says if there is
additional dumping, it will not harm the Great Lakes ecosystem.
A poisoned seagull on a Lake Erie Beach. Type-E botulism is spreading up the food chain and killing birds on the endangered species list. (Photo by Lester Graham)
A toxin that has killed tens of thousands of shorebirds throughout
the Great Lakes is back. Type-E botulism is spread up the food
chain by invasive species. And as Bob Allen reports, the toxin
recently killed four birds on the endangered species list:
Transcript
A toxin that has killed tens of thousands of shorebirds throughout
the Great Lakes is back. Type E botulism is spread up the food
chain by invasive species. And as Bob Allen reports, the toxin
recently killed four birds on the endangered species list:
There are just 60 pairs of piping plovers known in the Great
Lakes. Many of them breed along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Wildlife officials protect nesting plovers by putting up fences to
keep predators away, but they can’t keep the tiny shorebirds from
eating insects as they skitter up and down the beach. The insects
can pass on Type E botulism to the endangered birds.
Biologist Ken Hyde says the toxin gets into the food chain
through fish – primarily round gobies – that feed on algae and the
invasive zebra and quagga mussels.
“Yeah, we’ve got some pretty good evidence that it’s this cycle of
the algae and then the mussels and the gobies feeding on them
and then primarily gobies coming to the surface that our native
water birds are feeding on.”
Wildlife officials expect to see a lot more dead shorebirds as
the summer progresses.
Near record low water levels on Lake Superior are causing some headaches for
boaters. Mike Simonson reports:
Transcript
Near record low water levels on Lake Superior are causing some headaches for
boaters. Mike Simonson reports:
Great Lakes water levels have been low. It’s partially due to evaporation from
lack of ice cover in the winter. Two years of drought around Lake Superior hasn’t
helped. That lake is a foot and a half below its long-term average, and the lowest
since 1926. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Superintendent Bob Krumenaker
says they’ve got problems:
“Our docks are generally high out of the water. Some of them
are hard to reach from a small boat. Some of them have spaces underneath that
none of us have ever seen before that are really not friendly places for small
boats.”
Except for taking the unusual step of dredging, Krumenaker says there’s not a lot
they can do:
“We’re all getting a good education this year that the old phrase “the Lake is the
boss” is indeed true.
Boaters can find the shallow water spots on the National Park Service Apostle
Islands website.
Ocean vessel loading grain at elevator in Superior, Wisconsin. Nine foreign ships have been identified in the lawsuit against international shipping companies. (Photo by Jerry Bielicki, USACOE)
Even if ballast water is pumped out of ships, puddles and sediment usually remain at the bottom of the tank, both of which can contain non-native living organisms. (Photo courtesy of NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory)
For decades foreign ships have brought tiny stowaways – called invasive
species – into the United States. And once they get loose, they upend
ecosystems and cause billions of dollars in damage. The shipping
industry has yet to seriously address the problem, and now conservation
and environmental groups are suing the companies they say are most at
fault. Mark Brush has more:
Transcript
For decades foreign ships have brought tiny stowaways – called invasive
species – into the United States. And once they get loose, they upend
ecosystems and cause billions of dollars in damage. The shipping
industry has yet to seriously address the problem, and now conservation
and environmental groups are suing the companies they say are most at
fault. Mark Brush has more:
In 1988, the now infamous zebra mussel slipped out of a ship’s ballast
tank near Detroit. It didn’t take long for it to spread, first
throughout the Great Lakes, then through the Ohio and Mississpi rivers,
then on to Alabama and Oklahoma, and now it’s as far west as Nevada.
The mussels clog up intake pipes at water and power plants and mess up
the food chain. In some places in the Great Lakes, they’ve severely
damaged the sport fishing industry.
And that’s the damage just one foreign pest can do. More than a
hundred have gotten in and more are on the way. The government has
done little to stop the spread of these pests from foreign ships. In
2005, a federal court in California ordered the EPA to set up a system.
The EPA appealed that ruling.
Andy Buchsbaum is the Director of the National Wildlife Federation’s
Great Lakes office. He says ballast water from foreign ships should be
regulated:
“The law is very clear. The Clean Water Act says you cannot discharge
pollution into navigable waters, like the Great Lakes, without first
obtaining a permit. Period. Any discharge without a permit
is illegal.”
So, instead of waiting for the EPA to act, several environmental and
conservation groups, including Buchsbaum’s group, say they are planning
to sue several shipping companies that operate ocean-going boats on the
Great Lakes. They’re targeting nine boats they feel are the biggest
violators.
Industry representatives have said that ballast water regulations would
hurt international shipping, but in the Great Lakes, it’s estimated
that ocean-going ships make up only 6% of the overall tonnage.
Joel Brammeier is with the Alliance for the Great Lakes, one of the
groups that intends to sue the ship owners. He says a few ocean-going
boats have caused a lot of damage:
“The cost savings that we’re seeing from allowing unregulated ocean
shipping on the Lakes pales compared to the economic burden that
invasive species are placing on the Lakes. That’s stunning. The
ocean-going shipping industry is actually bringing in less than the
region is losing because of the things that ocean going ships
unintentionally bring in.”
The environmental and conservation groups who intend to sue say there
are ballast water cleaning technologies available now. The National
Wildlife Federation’s Andy Buchsbaum says they’re willing to back off
their lawsuit if the ship owners promise to clean up their ballast
water:
“This legal action is not designed to shut down the shipping industry
in the Great Lakes. That is not our intention. Our intention is to
get these guys to comply with the Clean Water Act. And that means
putting on treatment technology and getting permits.”
The shipping industry says it needs more time. Steve Fisher is with
the American Great Lakes Ports Association. He concedes there are some
technologies to clean up ballast water:
“I’ll be very frank with you. There’s technologies out there that will
do something.”
(Brush:) “So, why not use those?”
“Because a ship owner needs to know how high the bar is before he jumps
over it.”
In other words the ship owners won’t clean up their ballast water until
the federal government tells them how clean is clean, and so far, the
federal government hasn’t done that.
The EPA and the shipping industry say they’re working on the decades
old problem, but the groups that intend to sue say they’re not moving
fast enough. More invasive species are getting in. They’re hoping the threat of a
lawsuit will help force more action sooner.
In 1998, people became outraged when a company tried to ship Great
Lakes water to Asia. Politicians said they wanted the Lakes protected.
Now – almost a decade after the event that sparked the controversy –
officials say the effort to protect to the Great Lakes is picking up
steam. Noah Ovshinsky has more:
Transcript
In 1998, people became outraged when a company tried to ship Great
Lakes water to Asia. Politicians said they wanted the Lakes protected.
Now – almost a decade after the event that sparked the controversy –
officials say the effort to protect to the Great Lakes is picking up
steam. Noah Ovshinsky has more:
Two years ago officials from the eight Great Lakes states and two
Canadian provinces agreed on a plan that largely bans the diversion of
water outside the basin. The plan, known as the Great Lakes Compact,
went to each state’s legislature for debate.
Pete Johnson is with the Council of Great Lakes Governors. He says
even though it’s been two years the effort is starting to gain
momentum:
“We’re no longer at the beginning. There are still a number of states
that still need to pass the legislation but we feel that we’re well on
the way of actually turning this thing into law.”
Minnesota has officially signed onto the Compact. Illinois is expected to sign on soon. The legislation remains under consideration in the six other Great Lakes states.
For the Environment Report, this is Noah Ovshinsky.
The International Joint Commission will be studying water levels to find out why Lake Michigan (pictured) and the other upper Great Lakes have been lower. (Photo by Lester Graham)
If Great Lakes levels continue to decline, docks and marinas might be forced to dredge or relocate to stay open to boaters. (Photo by Lester Graham)
The IJC will try to determine how much climate change and the engineering of the channels between the lakes are affecting the water levels in the Great Lakes. (Photo by Lester Graham)
A five year, 15 million dollar study will look at water levels of the Great Lakes.
Chuck Quirmbach reports on some of the concerns:
Transcript
A five year, 15 million dollar study will look at water levels of the
Great Lakes. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Since 1911, the U.S.-Canadian International Joint Commission, or IJC, has
regulated how much water flows out of Lake Superior and eventually into
the rest of the Great Lakes.
Currently, Lake Superior is near its record low level, and Lakes
Michigan and Huron are relatively low. That’s triggering several
problems, including forcing many ships to carry less cargo.
The IJC study will look into the potential reasons for the water level
changes. Study co-chair Eugene Stakhiv says it might not be a simple
matter:
“It’s a whole series of issues that we’re going to have to untangle and
then sort of resolve almost independently and then put the puzzle back
together again.”
Stakhiv says the study will look at big-picture topics, like the role
of climate change and how the channels between the lakes are
engineered.
The external bleeding on this freshwater drum fish is a result of VHS. The disease is spreading beyond the eastern Great Lakes region. (Photo by John Lumsden, University of Guelph)
A virus that’s been killing fish in the Great Lakes is spreading to
other waterways in the US. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
A virus that’s been killing fish in the Great Lakes is spreading to
other waterways in the US. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Viral hemorrhagic septicemia has been limited to the eastern Great
Lakes region, but now it’s gotten into a forty-mile long lake in
Wisconsin. Lake Winnebago draws anglers from a wide area.
Mike Schmal is a local tourism official. He says the fish-killing
virus could be very disruptive.
“There’s numerous bait shops and numerous businesses that depend on the
lake and this is our summer leisure season… when the boating season
begins and when sportfishing begins.”
Scientists say it appears to be impossible to get the virus out of
infected waters, so natural resource officials are trying to stop VHS
from being spread to more lakes and rivers in other states.
It’s not clear how VHS got into the US, though contaminated
ballast water from international ships is one possibility.
Two sea lampreys attached to a large fish. This predatory parasite is wiping out freshwater salmon and trout in Lake Champlain. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
Scientists are experimenting with other methods of controlling the lamprey, including nest destruction, release of sterilized males, and trapping. (Photo by Lee Emory, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
Government biologists working on Lake
Champlain, between New York and Vermont, say
they’re losing the fight against the sea
lamprey, a parasite that targets freshwater
salmon and trout. The lamprey population has
surged in recent years. Brian Mann reports
scientists say the best solution might be to
turn the fight over to federal biologists
who have had greater success fighting
lamprey on the Great Lakes:
Transcript
Government biologists working on Lake
Champlain, between New York and Vermont, say
they’re losing the fight against the sea
lamprey, a parasite that targets freshwater
salmon and trout. The lamprey population has
surged in recent years. Brian Mann reports
scientists say the best solution might be to
turn the fight over to federal biologists
who have had greater success fighting
lamprey on the Great Lakes:
On a gorgeous April morning, charter boat captain Richard
Greenough went fishing. He didn’t like what he found on his line:
“I went out this morning, I got one fish. Looked like it had been
sitting in front of a machine gun. It was skinny. It looked sick.
And that was a good one, because it’s alive.”
Lake Champlain’s freshwater salmon and trout are being wiped out by a
predator called the sea lamprey. The parasites are awful creatures – long and slimy
with circular suckers used to clamp onto the side of fish.
Back in the early 90s, New York and Vermont partnered with the US Fish
and Wildlife Service on an experimental project to kill lamprey, but
since 1998, the parasites have come roaring back. Speaking at a sea lamprey summit
in Burlington, Vermont, Captain Greenough says his customers regularly catch fish
that are half-eaten and scarred:
“It’s almost an embarrassment right now. Two years ago, I thought it
was bad with a 13-inch lake trout with three lampreys on it. Well, it’s
got so good we got a 12-inch with five on it last year.”
State biologists in Vermont and New York concede that the lamprey
response here simply isn’t working. Doug Stang is chief of fisheries
for New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation:
“You see in our current effort, even though substantial and
significant, just isn’t cutting it. We need to put forth more effort. Or
we need to pick up our toys so to speak and go home.”
Government biologists say abandoning an intensive lamprey program
would mean a complete crash of lake salmon and trout populations.
The fish are in danger of being wiped out by the lamprey. Biologists also say the parasites would likely begin feeding on other
species. One possible solution, Stang says, is turning the lamprey battle over
to the federal government, modeling the effort here after a much larger
lamprey program on the Great Lakes:
“This would provide us with a more centralized approach and this would provide us with a more a coordination for funding
and sea lamprey control efforts.”
The sea lamprey program on the Great Lakes isn’t a complete success.
The program is struggling with proposed funding cuts… and some
critics say the lamprey population in the Great Lakes is still too high.
Despite those concerns, Dale Burkett says the feds are ready to do more on Lake Champlain.
He heads sea lamprey control operations for the Great Lakes Fishery
Commission and works for the US Fish and Wildlife Service:
“The expansion in dollar amount would be somewhere around $310,000 more than is
currently being spent by the collective. I think the Fish and Wildlife
Service has indicated that they are willing, if tasked with that
responsibility, to step up to the plate.”
Federal scientists say that new investment would help to save a $250 million sport fishery.
Even so, the Federal takeover would be controversial. The main weapon
in this fight is a kind of poison called TFM that’s used to kill sea
lamprey larva in rivers.
On the Great Lakes, the use of TFM has a long track record, dating back
to the 1950s, but in New York and Vermont the practice is still
controversial. Joanne Calvi is with a group called the Poultney River
Committee. She says the toxins could affect other native species, including
several varieties of freshwater mussels that are considered endangered or threatened by state biologists:
“I’m opposed to chemical treatment with TFM to control native sea
lamprey in the Poultney River. I feel it should be prohibited.”
A new wrinkle here is the growing scientific consensus that the lamprey are a native species
and might not be invasive at all. Green groups say the parasite’s growing numbers reflect a larger problem with Lake Champlain’s eco-system.
Rose Paul is with the Vermont Chapter of the Nature Conservancy:
“We need to manage the lake’s species and habitats in a more holistic
way, that would help us identify root causes of problems.”
Scientists are experimenting with other methods of controlling lamprey including nest destruction, the release of
sterilized males, and trapping. But in the short term, government resdearchers say lampricide poison is
the only cost-efficient way to prevent the parasite from destroying Lake Champlain’s fishery.
For the Environment Report, I’m Brian Mann in Burlington.
Some environmentalists are calling for a moratorium on foreign ships entering the Great Lakes. Foreign ships are believed to be responsible for many of the invasive species causing billions of dollars of damage to the Great Lakes economy and ecosystems. (Photo by Lester Graham)
Environmentalists are trying to ratchet up pressure on the shipping
industry over invasive species. They’re calling for a moratorium on
allowing ocean-going ships into the Great Lakes. David Sommerstein
reports:
Transcript
Environmentalists are trying to ratchet up pressure on the shipping
industry over invasive species. They’re calling for a moratorium on
allowing ocean-going ships into the Great Lakes. David Sommerstein
reports:
Foreign freighters account for about 25% of overall tonnage on the
Great Lakes.
Jennifer Caddick says those ships’ ballast water bring a new invasive
species into the region, on average, every six months. Caddick’s
group, Save The River, has joined Great Lakes United in a petition
campaign for a moratorium:
“There is continuous talk, you know over the past 10 or 15 years, about having new, stronger ballast regulations
to stem the flow of invasive species, and unfortunately, nothing has
happened. Frankly, we have said enough is enough.”
Caddick admits a moratorium is unlikely. The agency that runs the
shipping lanes says it would violate a 1909 treaty with Canada.
Invasive species do billions of dollars of damage in the Great Lakes.
There are five bills in Congress to address the problem, but none has made
it out of committee.
For The Environment Report, I’m David Sommerstein.
The Fish and Wildlife service ruled that wolves in certain states no longer need protection, but some groups feel that decision might put wolf populations at risk again. (Photo by Katherine Glover)
Wildlife groups have gone to court, seeking to reverse a recent federal
decision that took the grey wolf off the list of protected
species. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
Wildlife groups have gone to court, seeking to reverse a recent federal
decision that took the grey wolf off the list of protected
species. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
The Fish and Wildlife Service ruled in February that the wolf
population was strong enough in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan that
the wolves no longer had to be listed as endangered or threatened. The
states can euthanize problem wolves or even develop a wolf hunt.
But three groups have just filed a lawsuit over the federal action.
Rebecca Judd is an attorney with the Humane Society of the United
States. she says the door has been opened to large attacks on the wolf
population.
“We don’t think that the wolf’s recent progress toward recovery should now
be squandered by exposing them to killings and state-authorized hunting
and trapping programs.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service says the states in the western Great
Lakes region have good plans for protecting the grey wolf, but the
federal agency is preparing a five year monitoring effort.
