Analysis of fish from Lake Michigan for toxic PFOS will aid in more accurate fish consumption advisories, protecting human health.

Great Lakes supporters are in Washington, D.C., this week with the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, to urge members of Congress to continue their support for federal investments to protect the drinking water, public health, jobs, and quality of life for the millions of people in the eight-state region.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is reiterating its support for the Biden Administration’s clean water protections for streams and wetlands, set to go in effect in March, which is the subject of a hearing today by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is supporting a push by members in the U.S. House of Representatives to boost federal investments to protect and restore the Great Lakes.

The St. Louis River is known as an “Area of Concern” (AOC)–one the most environmentally degraded areas in the Great Lakes region. Cleanup is estimated to be completed by 2030 as a result of a funding influx from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. To learn more about the importance of St. Louis River AOC cleanup work in his area of the river—Munger Landing—we spoke to Mike Casey, a local advocate.

The congressional budget deal announced today to fund the U.S. government through Sept. 30, 2023, will support efforts to restore the Great Lakes, protect community drinking water, and safeguard public health for the millions of people in the eight-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

The Great Lakes region has 43 Areas of Concern (AOCs). Each AOC has a group of community members who provide their expertise to discussions of cleanup and their time to related volunteer activities. To learn more about this important form of public engagement, we spoke to activist and organizer with Sierra Club Michigan, Erma Leaphart.