Year: 2000

For years, the rule of thumb for dealing with industrial waste wasexplained by a simple statement — ”the solution to pollutionis…dilution.” If a substance mixed with enough water, it was thoughtit would no longer be harmful. But it’s now clear that some toxicchemicals don’t just disappear in water. In fact, they can build upover time. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced a phase-outof a chemical dilution process called ”mixing zones” in the Great Lakesand the St. Lawrence River. The ban will serve as a test case forsimilar standards nationwide. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s DavidSommerstein reports:

Transcript

For years, the rule of thumb for dealing with industrial waste was explained by a simple statement — “the solution to pollution is…dilution”. If a substance mixes with enough water, it was thought it would no longer be harmful. But it’s now clear that some toxic chemicals don’t just disappear in water. In fact, they can build up over time.
(P)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced a phase-out of a chemical dilution process called “mixing zones” in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The ban will serve as a test case for similar standards nationwide. David Sommerstein reports for the Great Lakes Radio Consortium.

(P)

Picture the oil slick that trails an outboard motor or jet ski. It dilutes and, if you watch it long enough, it disappears in the surrounding water. That little bit of dirty water is a small example of a mixing zone. The Clean Water Act of the early 70’s used the same idea as a compromise between environmental and industrial concerns. Under the act, factories have been allowed to release some toxic chemicals directly into water at higher concentrations than law might otherwise permit. That meant they could avoid spending money to eliminate the chemicals. The practice was allowed because it was thought the chemicals would be diluted in the mixing zone. But regulators didn’t take into account
the fact that some chemicals don’t just disappear…
(P)
(sound of waves)
(P)
On a blustery day along the St. Lawrence River in northern New York, Ken Jock stands on Raquette Point. It’s Mohawk tribal land. Jock directs the environment division of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. He says his people were once trappers and fishermen. But when toxic fish advisories began popping up, it drastically altered their livelihood. Jock looks upriver to the smokestacks of the huge factories on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. He blames the discharge pipes from these plants for disrupting his people’s lifestyle.
(P)
“The solution to controlling the pollution is not to dilute it in a mixing zone. You have to cut it off right at the source.”
(P)
Earlier this month, the EPA agreed with Ken Jock. It announced a ban on mixing zones in the Great Lakes watershed for 22 of the most toxic chemicals. They’re called “bioaccumulative chemicals of concern”, or BCCs. They include PCBs, dioxin, and mercury. The EPA singled out these pollutants because they don’t dilute and disappear as once thought, but rather build up in fish and aquatic plants over time. Charles Fox is the assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Water.
(P)
“These are chemicals that might get into the Great Lakes through the air or the water, and they don’t really flush out of the system, and they can be accumulated into the food chain. So, ultimately, the fish that we eat on our kitchen tables could be contaminated with toxic chemicals.”
(P)
Most Great Lakes states have already banned mixing zones for these chemicals in an effort to protect the cleaner upper lakes — Superior, Huron, and Michigan. Only New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania still need to change.
(P)
The EPA says the ruling will reduce these toxic pollutants in the Great Lakes by 700,000 pounds in the coming years. But industry groups say the ban will have little practical effect because most BCCs, such as DDT, dioxin and PCBs, were banned years ago in all 8 Great Lakes states. The ban on Mercury, however, is where industry will feel the pinch. Mercury is a contaminant in the production process, not a raw material. Joe Mayhew, spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, which represents the chemical industry, agrees it’s important to reduce mercury levels in the water, but he says the ban places an undue financial burden on the factories.
(P)
“Mercury is just a trace contaminant in a lot of things. To comply with this rule, what you do is you treat your discharges down to, essentially, zero. And that is an extremely expensive proposition.”
(P)
The EPA estimates the ban will cost industry up to 35 million dollars to implement. Mayhew puts that figure closer to a billion dollars.
(P)
Mixing zones are still permitted in the U.S. for many other chemicals. Across the international border, Ontario and Quebec allow mixing zones as well. And with tens of thousands of different chemicals being produced in both countries each year, it’s tough to predict how much the ban of these 22 will improve overall water quality in the Great Lakes.
(P)
Meanwhile, the Great Lakes ban on mixing zones will serve as a test case for a national ban that the EPA is likely to propose later next year.
(P)
(sound of water)
(P)
Standing on the shores of the St. Lawrence, Ken Jock says the St. Regis Mohawk see the river’s health over a longer term than even the EPA’s timeline.
(P)
“I think the river can rebound. I think that it’s all a matter of time. 22 chemicals right now is just a start.”
(P)
Jock says despite the polluted water, his people still derive their spirituality from the river, as they have for generations. And he expects those beliefs to outlast even the legacy mixing zones leave behind.
(P)
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Sommerstein.

Despite some major obstacles, the trumpeter swan is making a comebackin the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reportson the restoration of North America’s largest waterfowl:

Transcript

Despite some major obstacles, the trumpeter swan is making a comeback in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on the restoration of North America’s largest waterfowl.

The trumpeter swan is a long-necked graceful bird with a memorable call.

(Sound of trumpeter)

Experts say there once were 100-thousand of these birds in the Great Lakes region. By 1900 they were gone, most killed to use their feathers for hats.
Since the mid-1980’s several states have been working to restore the bird. But setbacks to the effort include accidental and vandalistic shootings, and the low-flying birds sometimes hit power lines. Sumner Matteson heads up the state of Wisconsin’s swan repopulation effort. He says there’s one more problem.

“What we’re more concerned about over the long term, the long haul, is the effect of lead poisoning on birds and that’s more of an insidious problem. It only takes one or two spent lead pellets to sicken or kill a trumpeter swan.”

Lead in shotgun shells is now banned, but there’s a lot of old lead shot in wetlands where the trumpeter swans feed. For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.

For one hundred years, one distinct sound of nature had been missingfrom the Great Lakes region. However, in recent years that wild callhas returned and is growing in numbers. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Lester Graham reports… about this time of year a fewdozen pairs of trumpeter swans make their way from their northernnesting areas (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario) to theirwintering grounds (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York,Iowa, and Missouri):

Transcript

For one hundred years, one distinct sound of nature had been missing from the Great Lakes region. However, in recent years that wild call has returned and is growing in numbers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… about this time of year a few dozen pairs of trumpeter swans make their way from their northern nesting areas (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario) to their wintering grounds (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Iowa, and Missouri).

(Trumpeters trumpeting, loud and close)

Joe Johnson says this is the “clarion call of the trumpeter swan.” Johnson is a wildlife biologist at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. Johnson says these birds have a call that fits their size. They’re North America’s biggest waterfowl. The trumpeter swan is graceful looking as it flies low and slow. Its flying tendencies probably helped lead to its disappearance in the Great Lakes region. Johnson says the first European settlers, the French, found them easy to shoot …and easy to sell.

“So these were marketed for their flesh. They were marketed for their feathers. Huge trade in feathers back to Europe through Fort Detroit, where I assume they made pillows, and quilts, and mattresses, adornments for hats, writing pens, all those things that feathers could be used for 200 years ago.”

At that time in the Great Lakes region there were an estimated 100-thousand trumpeter swans. By 1900 they were wiped out in the area. In the mid-1980’s state agencies in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario decided to try to bring the bird back to the region. Joe Johnson and many of his colleagues went to Alaska where trumpeter swans could still be found and brought back a few swan eggs to incubate and raise. Those states had good luck with hand-rearing their swans so, a few years later state agencies in Iowa and
Ohio joined the trumpeter repopulation effort. In each state the birds seem to be doing well. Joe Johnson says the birds are breeding and producing more young cygnets than expected.

“We thought if each pair produced two young per effort that we would be doing real well. That’s basically their productivity in Alaska. But if we think of the Great Lakes as sort of the premier trumpeter swan habitat because of the length of our growing season, the productivity of our soils and our wetlands, then it’s not a surprise that they’re producing on average three young per nesting effort.”

Even with those kinds of successes, the trumpeter swan faces some hurdles.
Because the birds fly so low, some of them are killed flying into power lines. Others are killed by lead poisoning. Hunters used to use lead shot to shoot ducks and geese. A lot of those lead pellets are still in the mud where the trumpeter swans forage for underwater vegetation.

A few swans are also killed in accidental shootings by waterfowl hunters. In
Illinois Dan Holm watches out for the swans for the Department of Natural
Resources. He says hunters are told through hunting regulations, news releases, and briefings at state sites to watch out for the birds. But Holm says some hunters still blast away at the trumpeter swans mistaking them for snow geese.

“Well, there is a dramatic difference between a snow goose and a swan. Really, there is no good excuse for one being mistaken. You know, it happens. Mistakes happen in all aspects of life. But they’re– snow geese are a lot smaller than swans, any species of swans and snow geese have black wing tips where the swans are all white.”

And it’s not just conservation officials who think there’s no excuse for the accidental shootings. Bruce Batt is chief biologist with the conservation group, Ducks Unlimited.

“Hunters should not mistake trumpeter swans for snow geese. Both birds are very different. The trumpeter is just much bigger and it’s all white and has a very different call. And really anybody that’s responsible should not make a mistake in shooting a trumpeter swan and mistaking it for snow geese.”

But the most disturbing shootings are vandalistic killings. In 1999 in
Illinois, five swan carcasses were found on a road, four of them with their heads cut off, possibly to remove tracking collars. Recently in Wisconsin a
17-year-old boy was convicted and fined for killing a trumpeter swan. Sumner
Matteson heads up the trumpeter repopulation effort for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“Generally, a concerted effort is made to educate hunters about the differences between swans and geese. And really it comes down to wanton acts of vandalism, if you will, regarding the shooting of trumpeters. So, in other words, in most instances in my experience, it has not been the mistaken identity, but when you have birds that are killed at a close range, it’s clearly a case of a malicious act. And fortunately those are quite few and far between.”

(Trumpeter sound, loud and proud)

At the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, Joe Johnson says even with killings the trumpeter swan population has grown from a few dozen eggs in the mid-1980’s to a 1999 count of well over two thousand birds in the Great Lakes Region.

“The population is growing at about 17-percent per year despite the losses to lead poisoning, vandalistic and accidental shootings, high tension wires, they’re doing great.”

Johnson says now that nesting pairs are doinng well in northern areas, the next step is to start rearing birds in southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, to encourage the trumpeter swan to re-establish its migratory patterns from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi, Ohio, Wabash, and Illinois rivers. For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.

Walleye were once plentiful across the Great Lakes region, and were thefocus of a major sport fishing industry. But heavy over-fishing andotherproblems such as pollution depleted the walleye population. Now,researchersare trying to increase walleye stocks by drastically improving thesurvivalrate of small walleye stocked in lakes. The project focuses on teachingyoung fish how to use their sense of smell to avoid predators. Researchers say that if they are successful, the effect on themulti-million dollar sport fishing industry could be staggering. TheGreat Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bob Reha reports:

Transcript

Walleye were once plentiful across the Great Lakes region, and were the
focus of a major sport fishing industry. But heavy over-fishing and other
problems such as pollution depleted the walleye population. Now, researchers
are trying to increase walleye stocks by drastically improving the survival
rate of small walleye stocked in lakes. The project focuses on teaching
young fish how to use their sense of smell to avoid predators. And
researchers say that if they are successful, the effect on the multi-million
dollar sport fishing industry could be staggering. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bob Reha reports.

(sound of gulls over head)

Doctor Brian Whizenden and his students sit in front of the Detroit
Lakes Fish Hatchery waiting for a DNR tank truck loaded with walleye
fingerlings to show up.

(Sound of truck backing into fishers)

As DNR workers back the vehicke into a stall Doctor Whizenden and his
crew spring into action. Rubber containers are filled with water.

(Sound of cross fade up water sound into containers)

Oxygen is then pumped into the containers to make sure the fish will
survive the 45 minute drive back to the MSU campus.

(Sound of oxgen bubbling into the water spiked and then faded cross
fade of walleyes being dumped in containers, Dr. Whizenden counting fish)

Finally fifty walleyes, ranging from 6 to 8 inches in length
are transported by hand held nets into the containers, loaded and driven
back to the Moorhead campus and they’re new home in Doctor Whizenden’s lab…

(Sound from lab)

All of this effort is part of an experiment to determine if young
walleye can be taught to use their sense of smell to avoid predators in the
wild. If successful, Doctor Whizenden believes the survival rate of
fingerlings, fish that are stocked in lakes will rise. This could mean lowering the costs of keeping catchable populations of fish in lakes. Better
populations of catchable fish mean more anglers and tourism dollars
pouring into walleye country. Doctor Whizenden has done research that shows
some fish, like minnows have an alarm cell in their skin, when attacked the
cell releases a signal or scent, this acts like an alarm bell to other
minnows that a predator is in the area.

“For example minnows can smell not only their predator but the diet of the predator when they smell a predator when they smell the predator they know not only that its a pike or something but they can tell what that pike has been eating lately.”

Whizenden says not only do minnows have a great sense of smell, they’re quick learners.

“But at the same time they learn to associate fear or an anti-predator response with anything else they encounter at the same time so if they encounter both the skin extract and the predator odor at the same time they learn to associate fear with the predator odor and this association, this pairing takes only one exposure for them to learn that just one time.”

Whizenden says research indicates that while walleye don’t share the
same genetic makeup as minnows, they do react to the chemical or scent
release of other walleyes when attacked by a predator.

“So what we’re trying to do is see if we can use this research
that has been quietly being done on minnows now for a number of years to
see if we can apply it to this walleye situation where we take naive walleye,
train them to be afraid of pike odor which is a dominate predator and
see if that training translates into increased survival once they’re
stocked into the big lakes.”

Whizenden concedes there are a lot of ifs remaining to be answered and
that tracking the success of the theory in the wild will be difficult. But
the potential rewards has gotten the attention of DNR officials. Dave Friedal
is the area fisheries manager for the Detroit Lakes district.

“It could be a means of getting better survival on the fish we’re
stocking in lakes and it could mean a fairly easy treatment if all
it takes is some very dilute smells in the water in order to educate or
train or if their behavior is changeable by a simple exposure to a smell
that might be pretty easy to do it might be something we could put in our
fish tanks on the way out to the lakes.”

If the project shows that Walleyes can be trained to avoid predators
before being stocked in lakes, it could reduce the cost
of the stocking program. Wildlife managers say higher survival rates of
fingerlings in the wild mean more fish for the same amount of money. It
could also mean more fish for anglers, which in turn could mean more
business for resort owners and other tourist related businesses across
the Great Lakes. Doctor Whizenden says if preliminary experiments in the lab
are successful the next step will be to do a field test some time next
year. For the GLRC I’m Bob Reha in Moorhead Minnesota.

A cherry grower in Northern Michigan has farmed his last million poundsof tart cherries and is now pressing the fruit into service as a healthpill rich with anti-oxidants and other beneficial compounds. The GreatLakes Radio Consortium’s Michelle Corum reports from Traverse City:

Transcript

A cherry grower in Northern Michigan has farmed his last million
pounds of tart cherries and is now pressing the fruit into service
as a health pill rich with anti-oxidants and other beneficial
compounds. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Michelle Corum reports
from Traverse City.

Bob & Janet Underwood are working in a warehouse packing up cherry
pills. This is the first fall in years, they aren’t manning their orchard
market selling apple and cherry products.

“Last weekend would have been our busiest time of the
year.”

Now they buy their cherries from a local cooperative because as Bob
Underwood explains, they’re done farming.

“You know that’s history for us for now, we’re in another venture
that’s taking the fruit and putting it in a tablet form, giving the
public the chance to get whole fresh fruit in a diff way. Before it was in a cup, now its in a pill”

They call it “Cherry Rich”. Cherries fresh from the orchard are
only available for about 3 weeks. So Underwood came up with the
idea of putting cherries into tablets and chewable wafers so they
can be eaten year round. Making them is a region wide
production that sends the cherries around Lake Michigan: They’re
quick frozen in Traverse City, dried in northern Illinois, and
packaged in Watoma, Wisconsin, and marketed back in northern
Michigan.

The Underwoods say for years, customers have asked for their pure
cherry juice concentrate because they find it helps their
arthritis.

Michigan State University has taken note of anecdotal evidence like
that and done research on red tart cherries. Dr. Muralee Nair,
researcher in MSU’s department of Horticulture tells what they
discovered.

“What we found in the lab study is the cherry compound has the ability to inhibit the inflammation causing enzyme.”

And it’s the cherry’s red color which, he says, is superior to
other red-colored fruit.

“The red color in tart and sweet cherries are the same
compound. But the red color in raspberry is not the same as the red color
in tart cherries.”

He says eating about 20 tart cherries a day (and consuming its
compound called anthocyanin), could reduce inflammation and
headache, possibly better than aspirin.

Michigan State University researchers say their work is ongoing and
they don’t endorse any product. But “Cherry Rich” may not be
exclusive for long. Amway has rights to use patents from
Michigan State University research related to Tart cherries.
They’re developing their “Nutrilite” brand foods and supplements
involving cherries that they’re not ready to announce yet.

Nutriceuticals are compounds in plants that may have almost drug-
like properties. Research is only NOW finding out what these
properties are and how to extract them.

The Cherry Marketing Institute, (a promotion organization funded by U.S.
cherry growers) is doing it’s own research of the nutriceutical
properties of cherries. They say preliminary results of a
University of Texas Medical School study show cherries have high
levels of the anti-oxidant melatonin. Cherry Marketing President
Phil Corson says their studies are continuing.

“We’ve spent 40-80 thousand a year over five years, our goal is to
take a look at what’s there, and we feel we’ve only scratched
the surface.”

But although nutriceutical research is new and producing some
interesting results. David Schardt of the Center for Science in the
Public Interest in Washington DC expresses caution:

“Simply because a fruit has antioxidant value in a lab test
doesn’t mean it’ll have that same potency in a capsule.
It’s one thing to see something in the lab. It’s something else to
see it work inside our body when we’re under different
influences. It’s by no means assured that cherries
will have the terrific antioxidant capacity they seem to have in
the lab.”

Still, industry officials hope research can lead to more fruit
consumption and help a stunted market that hasn’t been a bowl of
cherries lately. Underwood’s plan is to bottle the positives
of cherries, and hopefully sell others on the pill’s convenience
and health. For the GLRC, I’m Michelle Corum, in Traverse City, Michigan.

Researchers are finding that crops planted near wild areas appear tobenefit more from nature than first thought. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’sLester Graham reports:

Transcript

Researchers are finding that crops planted near wild areas appear to benefit
more from nature than first thought. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Lester Graham reports.

Researchers at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station are
studying the effect of nature on crops. They’ve found woods or overgrown
fence rows near farms can be home to beneficial insects. Kay gross is a
plant ecologist. She says farmers might even be helped by certain kinds of
weeds- but only certain kinds.

“And i do not want to say weeds are not a bad thing. In fact, when I
talk to farmers, I say ‘you know, ecologists, we think diversity is good.
and i say to you as a farmer, you don’t always want diversity. What you want
is a specific kind of community there.’ The question is how do you enhance
some of these species that will have beneficial effects and not the negative
effects.”

Gross says it will take years of study to find those benefits- but she and
other researchers say it’s already clear that nature can play a greater role
in increasing crop yields and reducing pesticide use.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.