Healing Our Waters Coalition » Uncategorized

GLRI Funds Now Available: Up to $20 Million Under EPA Request for Applications

Celia Haven — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:22:27 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is now accepting applications for funding under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for 2012. Applications are due at 11:59 PM on May 24, 2012

EPA is requesting applications for projects in the following categories:

Toxic Substances
Invasive Species
Nearshore Health and Nonpoint Source Pollution
Accountability, Education, Monitoring, Evaluation, Communication, and Partnerships

EPA will host two webinars before the applications are due. To submit comments or questions for the webinar, send an email to glri2012rfa@epa.gov or use the comment form found at http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/fund/contact.html.

Webinar 1: Thursday, May 3, 2012
2-4 pm Central Daylight Time
Register for the May 3 webinar
Webinar 2: Monday, May 14, 2012
10 am-12 pm Central Daylight Time
Register for the May 14 webinar

More information about the GLRI Request for Applications can be found here: http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/fund/2012rfa01/

More information about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative can be found here: greatlakesrestoration.us

Ohio residents fear repeat of Lake Erie algae bloom

Jeff Alexander — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:46:06 +0000

One year after a toxic algae bloom covered 10 percent of Lake Erie, Ohio residents are on edge about what this summer might bring the state’s most popular tourist attraction.

The 2011 algae bloom, which covered 990 square miles of Lake Erie’s surface area, was the largest in the lake’s history. Experts have said the algae bloom was fueled by excessive amounts of phosphorus washing into the lake from farms, urban areas and municipal sewage treatment facilities; stronger storms driven by climate change and invasive mussels also contribute to the problem. (See video of it here)
Elevated concentrations of phosphorus in Lake Erie, coupled with an unusually warm spring, has anglers, tourism officials and scientists fearing this could be another bad year for toxic algae blooms.

This satellite image shows the 2011 toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie. At its peak, the bloom cover 990 square miles of the lake's surface area.

“There’s a lot of phosphorus in the water, a lot more than there should be. It’s not good news,” said Roger Knight, Lake Erie fisheries program manager at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Knight said the algae blooms are hurting walleye and perch populations in the western and central basins of Lake Erie, but there is no evidence toxins in the algae are contaminating fish. Perch and walleye are the backbone of the lake’s multibillion dollar fishery. (Watch a video of Lake Erie angler discussing algae crisis)

“Pea soup” water threatens fishing, tourism, jobs
The unsightly algae blooms, which make the lake look like pea soup and are large enough to be seen from space, scare away anglers and tourists. Lake Erie accounts for $10 billion annually in tourism spending, one-quarter of all tourism spending in Ohio; the lake also supports 114,000 jobs in Ohio and $2.8 billion annually in wages, according to tourism officials.

Toxic algae blooms coated parts of Lake Erie last year with a fluorescent green scum. The algae is unsightly and poses health threats to humans and animals.

“All of those things are at risk if we don’t have a healthy Lake Erie,” said Larry Fletcher, executive director of Lake Erie Shores & Islands West tourism organization. “Our message isn’t beware of the lake: We have this challenge with algae but the fishing is still good.”

Algae blooms stigmatize Lake Erie … again
The algae blooms that began surfacing in the mid 1990s are similar to those plagued the in the 1960s and ’70s, before Congress enacted laws that curbed water pollution.

Excessive amounts of phosphorus causes rampant algae growth, which leads to surface blooms and contributes to biological dead zones beneath the surface. The toxic algae poses health threats to humans and animals who come in contact with it. (Learn more about how foreign mussels and excessive phosphorus are disrupting the Great Lakes)

Sandy Bihn, the Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper, said she fears the latest algae blooms will resurrect the stigma that plagued Lake Erie in the 1960 and ’70s. Back then, some media outlets reported — incorrectly — that Lake Erie was dead. Comedian Johnny Carson said the lake was “the place fish go to die.”

Lake Erie recovered in the 1980s and supported one of the world’s best walleye fisheries. The lake still supports more fish than the other four Great Lakes combined.

“Lake Erie wasn’t dead in the 1960s and it’s not dying now,” Bihn said. “The lake is sick and we need to heal it.”

We’re all part of the problem
Solving Lake Erie’s algae crisis will require changes by farmers and urban residents who use phosphorus to fertilize crops and feed lawns and golf courses. Bihn said Detroit’s massive wastewater treatment facility also must clean up its act.

Detroit discharges tens of billions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage each year into the Detroit River, which is the major source of water in Lake Erie. Detroit in recent years has also dumped sewage sludge into the Detroit and Rouge rivers, Bihn said. (Learn how curbing sewer overflows in the Great Lakes could create jobs)

Detroit’s sewage treatment facility has been in violation of the federal Clean Water Act for most of the past three decades, according to government data.

“Detroit officials say they can’t afford to fix their sewage treatment equipment, but we can’t afford to have their sewage in our lake,” Bihn said.

Innovative project boosts sturgeon population

Jeff Alexander — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:06:10 +0000

The lake sturgeon population is growing in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, thanks to a streamside fish-rearing facility that gives these special fish a jumpstart on life.

Volunteers and government scientists collected sturgeon eggs from the river and raised a new generation of fish in a facility stationed near the river. What made this approach unusual was that the sturgeon eggs were nurtured in tanks of water collected from the river.

Sturgeon swim in a tank of water collected from the Kalamazoo River.

Raising the fish in water from the river allows them to imprint on their native stream and, eventually, return to spawn in the Kalamazoo River. Biologists recently released 100 tiny sturgeon into the river, and more will be released this year.

The Kalamazoo River project, and a handful of others like it, could eventually bolster sturgeon populations across the Great Lakes. Read more here.

Great Lakes now a model for ecosystem restoration

Jeff Alexander — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:21:34 +0000

Efforts to restore the Great Lakes are a model for other large ecosystems across the United States, according to an Obama Administration official.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is proving to be more effective than similar federal programs focused on restoring the Florida Everglades, Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound, said Jay Jensen, associate director for Land and Water Conservation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Jensen made his comments at Great Lakes Days in Washington, D.C.

“The GLRI is the most organized and arguably the most effective large-scale water restoration program in the United States,” Jensen said. “You should be proud and celebrate the model that you are to the country.”

President Obama and Congress have provided $1 billion for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative during the first three years of the program. The program is funding about 600 projects aimed at cleaning up toxic sediments, reducing polluted runoff, restoring wetlands and preventing new invasive species.

The GLRI is a rare example of bipartisan cooperation in Congress recently, said Jeff Skelding, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.

“Everything you hear about Washington is that it’s broken — the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is the exception to that,” Skelding said.

Cleanup removes tons of toxins from Milwaukee River

Jeff Alexander — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:26:34 +0000

State and federal agencies on Friday announced the completion of a $24.6 million sediment cleanup that moves the Milwaukee Estuary closer to being removed from a list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

The $24.6 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative project removed about 140,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PCBs and PAHs. The contamination led to limits on eating fish caught in the river, as well as loss of habitat and other environmental problems.

Completion of the project was announced by officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Milwaukee County.

“Thousands of cubic yards of harmful contaminated sediment were removed to help boost human, ecological and local economic health,” said Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator. “But we can’t stop here. We’re looking for new partners to match funds to accelerate cleanups in other Areas of Concern in Wisconsin and around the Great Lakes.”

Crews dredged 140,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the Milwaukee River. (Milwaukeee Riverkeeper photo)

The GLRI’s Legacy Act covered $16 million of the project cost; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources contributed $8.6 million. The result was the cleanup of the largest known deposit of PCB-contaminated sediment in the Milwaukee River Area of Concern.

“We are making major strides cleaning up the Milwaukee River Estuary,” said WDNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. “With our partners we will continue to work to bring the Milwaukee River back to provide recreational and economic benefits for the Milwaukee area.”

The Milwaukee River section of the Area of Concern extends from Cedar Creek downstream through the Outer Harbor. It includes Cedar Creek, Lincoln Creek and portions of the Menomonee, Little Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers.

In the 1980s, the U.S. and Canada identified 43 highly degraded shoreline areas along the Great Lakes. Today there are 30 AOCs wholly in the U.S. or shared with Canada.

The Great Lakes are the largest source of surface freshwater on the planet. The lakes provide drinking water for 30 million people and support one of the world’s largest regional economies.

Past studies have shown that every $1 invested in restoring the Great Lakes produces $2 of economic activity in the region.

President Obama to Release Budget February 13

Jordan Lubetkin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:34:18 +0000

The Obama Administration will release its fiscal year 2013 budget Monday, February 13, according to reports in media including the Washington Post, National Journal, USA Today, Politico, Bloomberg News and Reuters. By law, the president is to release its budget the first Monday in February.

The president’s budget serves as a framework for congressional budget process and helps set national priorities. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition will analyze the budget to determine the support of Great Lakes programs such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The coalition will host a briefing for reporters on the budget Wednesday, February 15. (Time to be determined.)

The coalition has worked to maintain funding for essential clean water programs. Congress approved $300 million for the fiscal year 2012 budget. President Obama’s previous three budgets have contained substantial funding for Great Lakes programs.

Commenting on the upcoming release of the President Obama’s budget, Jeff Skelding, campaign director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said:

“The nation cannot afford not to protect the Great Lakes—they supply drinking water to more than 30 million people. Great Lakes restoration programs are already producing results, but there is more to do. If we cut funding now, it will only cost more later because projects will become more difficult and expensive the longer we wait.”

Dam removal improves Michigan river, creates fishery

Jeff Alexander — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:40:57 +0000

The Paw Paw River is flowing freely again in southwest Michigan, thanks to a $1.1 million project that removed two obsolete dams in the city of Watervliet.

A coalition of local, state and federal groups coordinated by the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission directed the project, which removed dams that blocked fish passage and posed safety hazards to boaters, anglers and swimmers in the river. Go here for more details on this successful Great Lakes restoration project.

The dams were built in 1918 to support a paper mill in the small town of Watervliet, located in the district of Congressman Fred Upton, R-Michigan. The paper mill closed in 1968 and the dams fell into disrepair.

Removing the dams liberated and restored a stretch of the Paw Paw River that had been submerged by dam impoundments for five decades. The project also reconnected 100 miles of free-flowing stream to Lake Michigan, created new fish and wildlife habitat and increased recreational opportunities for anglers and paddlers.

Dams pose problems in scores of Great Lakes tributaries. The structures often block fish passage and disrupt the natural flow of sediment and nutrients.

Removing the Watervliet dams is expected to create a thriving sport fishery in Watervliet. Salmon from Lake Michigan have already been spotted in the river.

The project also eliminated a financial drain on Berrien County, which owned the dams and was required by law to maintain the structures.

Local leaders can now focus on developing a more robust recreational economy that is focused on the restored Paw Paw River.

GLRI grants will use trees to heal the Great Lakes

Jeff Alexander — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:06:58 +0000

Trees will play an important role in restoring the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded $3.7 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants to seven Great Lakes states. The grants will expand urban forests, use trees to remove toxic waste from soils and replace trees damaged by the Emerald ash borer, an invasive insect species.

Trees are a type of green infrastructure. They reduce stormwater runoff, one of the main sources of Great Lakes pollution, by capturing rain and snow that would otherwise fall on the ground and drain into the nearest waterway. Trees also absorb toxins in soil.

Urban forests protect the Great Lakes by reducing storm water runoff and absorbing toxins in soils.

The USDA projects were divided into five focus areas: Expanding urban and community forests; cleaning up toxic substances from abandoned industrial facilities; replacing trees killed by the Emerald ash borer; and managing nuisance weeds that harm trees. The grants were distributed to 22 city, county, state and non-governmental organizations across the region.

Here is the USDA’s state-by-state breakdown of the individual grants:

Wisconsin: The Department of Natural Resources received $31,627 for the Expansion of First Down for Trees Program; the City of Milwaukee received $100,000 to assess the city’s urban forest; Memononee Valley Partners received $74,875 for stormwater treatment; Landen Consulting received $220,000 for the Turnkey Green Infrastructure project; and the Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department and Southeast Wisconsin received $24,500 and $48,871 respectively for non-native invasive plant species control.

Michigan: The Genesee Conservation District received $60,658 for restoration of Flint’s urban forest and street trees; the Downriver Community Conference received $113,700 for forest restoration at the Detroit International Wildlife Refuge Gateway; the Greening of Detroit received $473,020 for the city’s model project using trees to clean up toxins in soil and water; the Delta Institute received $203,733 for its project to use hybrid poplar tree farms to reduce toxics in the environment; the city of Grand Rapids received $210,000 for its emerald ash borer recovery project; the Calhoun Conservation District received $99,960 for forest restoration; the Alliance of Rouge Communities received $374,980 to restore trees in Rouge River’s urban watershed.

Illinois: Openlands received $50,000 in grants for habitat tree planting in Chicago parks; the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus received $500,000 for Illinois urban forest restoration projects; and the City of Chicago received $72,020 to help restore urban forests affected by the emerald ash borer.

Ohio: The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources received $498,276 to help clean up brownfields in Toledo; and the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization received $73,040 to restore forest habitats impacted by the emerald ash borer.

Indiana: The Department of Natural Resources received $50,000 for its use of existing urban forestry tools.

New York: The Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper received $397,396 to reforest parts of Riverbend and Griffon parks; and the state Department of Environmental Conservation received $24,500 to help control non-native invasive plant species.

Pennsylvania: The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy received $48,900 to help control non-native invasive plant species.

Go here for more information on the USDA’s urban forestry programs.

Bipartisan Group Led by Reps. Sander Levin, John Dingell and Louise Slaughter Urge House Appropriators to Support Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Jordan Lubetkin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:19:50 +0000

Members of the Great Lakes Congressional delegation are working to ensure that essential Great Lakes programs don’t get slashed in the 2012 federal budget. Yesterday a bipartisan group of 25 U.S. representatives led by Reps. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) sent a letter urging House appropriators to sustain funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

In a letter to House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) and Ranking Member Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) and Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Chairman Michael Simpson (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member James Moran (D-Va.), federal officials from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin advocated for continued federal investment to restore the Lakes:

“As Members of Congress who support the investment in the economic and environmental health of the Great Lakes region, we respectfully request that you include sustained funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative as you finalize the Fiscal Year 2012 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill.”

Signatories to the letter include: Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.), John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), John Dingell (D-Mich.), Robert Dold (R-Ill.), Sean Duffy (D-Wis.), Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.), Kathleen Hochul (D-N.Y.), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.), Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Dan Lipinski (D-Ind.), Sander Levin (D-Mich.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Bill Owens (D-N.Y.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Betty Sutton (D-Minn.), and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.).

The letter points out that the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $50 million dollar increase for the program in July, bringing the fiscal year 2012 funding level to $300 million. The Senate’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding recommendations is also at $300 million for the current fiscal year.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has supported the efforts of U.S. House and Senate leaders to maintain restoration funding. Responding to the letter from Great Lakes lawmakers, Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the coalition said:

“The Great Lakes congressional delegation has been instrumental in making Great Lakes restoration a national priority. The letter led by Reps. Sandy Levin (Mich.), John Dingell (Mich.) and Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) underscores the bi-partisan and continuing support for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which is essential to protect and restore the Lakes that supply drinking water to more than 30 million people. This restoration effort is producing results, but there is more to do. If we cut funding now, it will only cost more later because projects will be harder and more expensive the longer we wait.”

Signatories to the letter deserve a huge thanks for continuing to make restoration a national priority.

You can read press releases from the offices of Reps. Levin and Dingell—as well as see how Rep. Slaughter is pushing for restoration programs in New York’s Tonawanda News.

Here’s the list of signatories by state. If your member signed on to the letter, please thank him or her. If not, let your representative know how important the Great Lakes are to you – and that you expect their support!

ILLINOIS:
Danny Davis
Robert Dold
Luis Gutierrez
Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Mike Quigley
Janice Schakowsky

INDIANA:
Dan Lipinski

MICHIGAN:
Hansen Clarke
John Conyers, Jr.
John Dingell
Dale Kildee
Sander Levin
Gary Peters

MINNESOTA:
Betty Sutton

NEW YORK:
Brian Higgins
Kathleen Hochul
Bill Owens
Charles Rangel
Louise Slaughter
Paul Tonko

OHIO:
Marcia Fudge
Dennis Kucinich
Tim Ryan

WISCONSIN:
Sean Duffy
Gwen Moore

Ohio Groups Aim to Stop Power Plant Fish Kill to Protect Great Lakes, Economy

tpache — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:40:49 +0000

For more than a century, Great Lakes fish populations have acted as an important indicator of the health of the Great Lakes. As threats to the Lakes mounted—pollution, over-fishing, and invasive species to name a few—fish populations plummeted, and in some cases went extinct.

It is not surprising, then, that a major goal of Great Lakes restoration is “to produce healthy fish communities that support sustainable commercial, subsistence, and recreational fisheries.”

That milestone may be difficult to achieve in Lake Erie, unless the Ohio EPA forces a Toledo-area power plant to stop killing more than 46 million fish a year.

The FirstEnergy Corp’s power plant sits near the confluence of the Maumee River and Lake Erie—a major spawning ground for Lake Erie’s fishery, which is valued at $800 million annually. A recent Ohio EPA study found that roughly 46 million fish are being caught in FirstEnergy Corp’s cooling water screens and killed.

Recently, environmental and conservation groups in Ohio put dollar signs to the fish kill: $29.7 million each year in lost commercial fishing and sales in Toledo and Ohio.

Every day 126,000 fish are caught in the screens of the 55-year old power plant. FirstEnergy is testing reverse louvers to see if it would help avoid such large numbers of fish from being killed, but a consultant from the state’s EPA office said the louvers will not be effective.

What will be effective? A cooling tower.

“Cooling towers can dramatically reduce the number of fish killed each year by 95%, as well as address the Bayshore plant’s violations of thermal discharge standards,” said Shannon Fisk, staff attorney in the Midwest office of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The science is clear that Bayshore’s water intake and thermal discharges are severely impacting fisheries in Maumee Bay, and the law is clear that Ohio EPA must require cooling towers if the Bayshore plant is going to continue to operate.”

NRDC and other environmental groups are urging the Ohio EPA and Department of Natural Resources to force the utility to install the $100 million cooling tower—and to do it without passing along the costs to customers.

“We caution that the cost of best available technology should not be shifted to the utility giant’s ratepayers,” said Kristy Meyer, director of agricultural and clean water programs for the Ohio Environmental Council. “For 55 years, the ratepayers have been footing the bill for this failed technology. To add insult to injury, consumers even have to pay to restock certain prized fish. It’s time that FirstEnergy be held accountable and require its shareholders to reimburse the citizens of Ohio for the billions of fish killed each year. Since when is a robbery victim forced to reimburse the robber? Let the shareholders shoulder the burden of installing cooling towers, not the captive ratepayers.”