Welcome back!
Here's a walking view of the lakeshore, from its ecological triumphs to Dante's Infero.


http://www.humansandnature.org/blog/walking

Walking Out

by Michael McColly

Tar Sands on Shaky Ground, according to Sierra Club  

"Four days after the People's Climate March, the Norwegian energy firm Statoil announced that it would pull the plug on a planned multibillion-dollar, 40,000-barrel-per-day tar sands project in Alberta, Canada, citing rising costs and limited pipeline access."

http://blogs.sierraclub.org/michaelbrune/2014/10/tar-sands-alberta-keystone-victory-statoil.html?utm_source=insider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

More than 90% of our existing mercury emissions into the Great Lakes can be eliminated using current technology

The Natural Resources Defense Council states the following:
Poisoning the Great Lakes

Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants In the Great Lakes Region

Mercury emitted into the air from coal-fired power plants is by far the leading man-made source of mercury in the Great Lakes and the rivers and streams of the region. This new NRDC report analyzed pollution data to determine the top 25 mercury emitting power plants in the Great Lakes states, and the top three in each state. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued nationwide standards to limit airborne mercury emissions and other toxic air pollutants from coal-fired power plants by 2015. Currently, not all states require that pollution controls be installed, including the report's top three culprit's: Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The report also highlights how a significant fraction of mercury and other air toxics emitted by the worst plants can be removed by air pollution controls already or soon to be installed at many power plants. Other technology that would achieve an overall reduction in mercury of 90 percent or more is readily available.
http://www.nrdc.org/air/mercury-in-the-great-lakes.asp
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/08/496598/power-plant-mercury-emissions-poisoning-the-great-lakes/

and for more general info,  http://www.cleanwateraction.org/press/coal-plant-water-pollution-threatens-great-lakes

Thanks, Janice

Hurray!  

There's some progress possible for saving our Great Lakes!  

The EPA has just released a Great Lakes restoration plan.  
Now's the time to make Lake Michigan a mercury-free zone and lead the way to a cleaner, healthier future!  

Please hold the banner high with us!

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/09/24/EPA_unveils_Great_Lakes_plan_.html

The Threat Posed by Tar Sands Oil Spills in the Great Lakes 

Marshall, Michigan has already been hit by the heavy, black peanut-butter.  Can we afford to have this menace in our freshwater lakes too?

Here's an article on Coast Guard and EPA thoughts on this sticky problem.

http://www.wbez.org/news/science/great-lakes-racing-prepare-new-kind-oil-spill-110797?utm_campaign=E-Update%209-18-14&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua 
Thanks, Maureen.

Hats off to Canada for urging better use of our precious freshwaters!  

National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians Maude Barlow writes:
The Great Lakes could be designated as a bioregion, understanding that while there are many political jurisdictions managing the basin, it is in fact one integrated watershed and must be governed as such.

A Great Lakes Basin Commons would respect and understand the fact that many make their livelihoods from the bounty of the Lakes and would not attempt to shut down industrial activity or food production per se.

But this new narrative would reject the view that the primary function of the Great Lakes is to promote the interests of big industry, big agribusiness and the powerful to the extent that they get preferential access and are often allowed to break environmental laws.

And it would embrace the notion that the Lakes must be carefully managed for the good of the entire community, and that all activity -- public and private -- would come under strict public oversight and accountability and operate within a mandate whose goals are the restoration and preservation of the waters of the basin and justice for all who live around it.

We need a Great Lakes Basin Commons Watershed Plan with basin-wide consistent laws, regulations and definitions to protect these waters as a human right and a public resource, and we need to empower local communities to have a much greater say in all decisions affecting their local watershed.

I understand it would require jurisdictional cooperation that many tell us cannot be done; but I argue that if our governments can cooperate for business-friendly trade and perimeter deals, then they can do it to save the Great Lakes of North America!

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/maude-barlow/how-to-save-our-great-lakes_b_1148758.html

Crown Jewel at Risk 

In Chicago Life Magazine's fall supplement, writer Christopher Johnson details the BP tar sand oil spill that occurred on March 24 of this year at their greatly enlarged refinery.  "The spill posed an immediate threat to drinking water and wildlife, but perhaps just as significant, it pointed to the threat of more spills - from the refinery, "  Johnson says.  He notes that BP's expansion on Indiana's shoreline cost $3.8 billion and allows it to process heavy Canadian tar sands oil, controversial in its own right due to its higher mercury levels and increased difficulty for clean-ups.  Already the Kalamazoo River has been contaminated by pipeline leakage of tar sands oil with disastrous effect.

Why leave Lake Michigan's fate to the states that enforce the Clean Water Act?  We need to act now to protect the Lake as we do our national parks.  By making all of Lake Michigan a mercury-free zone, the U.S. can better shield our freshwater treasure from this lethal toxin.

Thanks to Jill for sending the Chicago Life Magazine, a fall supplement to the NYTimes, that includes the article beginning at page 30:
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=bf0a62cf-745c-4d0e-8822-0cb10c8f5cbe

Pollution alert!
Severe contamination found in White Ditch demands immediate clean-up

Infectious E-coli bacteria has been detected in concentrations 33 times the amount considered safe for swimming beaches in White Ditch that runs through Indiana and Michigan to enter the Lake between Michigan's Grand Beach and the Village of Michiana.  E-coli infested waters pose a serious threat to swimmers as well as to the drinking water supply.

Results from sampling White Ditch Creek by Berrien County Health Department staff on 8/13/14 are as follows; 11,000, 10,000 and 10,000 (E. coli per 100 mL). 

Compare results to beach standards-- geometric average no more than a count of 300.   Compare to Recreational use of stream standards-- (not bathing, but partial body contact like wading, canoeing, etc.) present an average no greater than a count of 1,000.

Please pass the sampling information along - the situation needs urgent attention!  These contaminants affect the Lake at the point where of entry as well as the swimming beaches up and down the coast where currents carry them.  These polluted waters also contaminate areas along White Ditch as it meanders through inland and coastal neighborhoods in both states.

Dear Fellow Lake Michigan Fans,

Standing together, our grass roots campaign can make the Lake a mercury-free zone.

Bordering states charged with upholding the Clean Water Act are not up to the task.   Indiana permits BP to discharge 6 times amount of mercury into the Lake than is allowable under EPA guidelines; BP’s oil spills have been massive and they’ve tripled their Whiting refinery to process hazardous Canadian tar sands oil.  Wisconsin stubbornly dumps raw sewage into the Lake; Michigan privatizes water rights to Lake Michigan and Illinois is notoriously corrupt in its clean water enforcement.  Coal-powered plants all around the Lake spew toxins that settle into the Lake.

Americans are subsidizing these polluters and permitting them to poison our drinking water source.   Now is the time to stop this wanton waste occurring at our expense.  Let’s put a stop to industry’s use of the Lake as its cesspool. 

Technology exists to scour the mercury from the Lake; corporate magnates could easily donate their bloated bonuses to keep our waters clean.  Clean energy can provide more jobs than the polluters can and will save our lake from a terrible fate. 

Life-threatening for fetuses and pregnant women, neurotoxic mercury accumulates rapidly and remains mostly invisible.  As one of the largest fresh water sources in the world, the Lake already contains such high levels of mercury that commercial fishing has been destroyed.

The Lake belongs to all of us.  

Let’s keep clean water, food and jobs here - and stop rewarding polluters.    

Here is a link to an informative 52 page report on power plants emissions and the cleaning technology available.  
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/2155/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13481

Please see also
http://www.cleanwateraction.org/mi

Help save our lake from dirty, toxic energy!

As an international group of alarmed citizens, we implore President Obama to safeguard Lake Michigan against mercury.
This Great freshwater resource deserves protection as a vital national treasure. 

To save our Great Lake Michigan from the scourge of mercury poisoning, we urge the president to declare Lake Michigan a nationally protected mercury-free zone and to prohibit any mercury from entering the lake by 2023.

             

Great Lake Michigan provides drinking water, food, recreation, transportation and employment for millions of people.  State enforcement of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act has proven ineffectual in safekeeping America’s Great Lakes.  Last year Indiana granted permission to BP to discharge almost 8 times the amount of mercury allowable under Environmental Protection Agency standards.

The Great Lakes Basin is the largest freshwater system in the world. Lake Michigan’s unique conditions support a rich diversity of plants and animals.  Renown for its scenic beauty and water recreation, the Lake’s national, state and local coastal parks host visitors from around the globe.  Chicago’s 24 beaches alone occupy 26 miles of shoreline.

Mercury is a potent neuro-toxin that can be absorbed through the skin.  Mercury can be particularly toxic to children and fetuses, damaging kidney, lungs and brain.  Mercury does not decompose but concentrates in living things, including fish and plants; contamination spreads by one mercury-containing organism ingesting another.

“Unless definitive action is taken now, our lake will turn toxic.  Already mercury levels pose a health threat; commercial fishing has been essentially destroyed,” said petition originator Jacqueline Widmar Stewart.  “How can anyone favor poisoning our drinking water and ruining one of the most beautiful places on earth?  It’s in everyone’s interest to keep our freshwaters clean and our lands safe.”

dub2go@gmail.com

https://twitter.com/savelkmichigan savegreatlakemichigan.blogspot.com

LET'S MAKE LAKE MICHIGAN A MERCURY-FREE ZONE!

It’s a great Great place, Lake Michigan’s sands and shores,

Its fossils and its duneland hills, and miles of great outdoors.

Its sparkling waters give us drink; its sunsets are divine;

Its ever-changing skies and winds make magic, rain or shine.

It’s a great Great Lake.  May we always keep it so

What nature has bestowed is way too rich to just let go.

But now it’s being threatened by big oil and dirty mess

Including toxic mercury - We cannot acquiesce.

Let's keep this poison from the Lake - Let's make it mercury-free!

Before we lose our minds and fish, let's save our inland sea.

Dear Fellow Lake Lovers,

Please pass this plea for signatures on to those who share our concern for the Lake.  By March 15^th we plan to deliver a petition to four senators and President Obama.  We need your help now.

In these times when drinking water everywhere is imperiled by irresponsible state management, we must protect Lake Michigan.  The problem of mercury pollution is immense and a growing concern for the lake.  It is time to stop deadly mercury from ruining one the world’s greatest freshwater sources.  Your involvement is crucial now.

The reason for urgency:  As part of the world’s largest freshwater system, the Lake is a source of drinking water, food, recreation, transportation and employment for over 35 million people. Emissions control will benefit wildlife, people who consume fish from the lake as well as commercial fishing interests. 

Brain-damaging neuro-toxic mercury is hazardous in any quantity; mercury accumulates and does not decompose.  It poses a threat to all living things, both on the shore and in the water.  Mercury enters the lake through fossil fuel production, waste incineration, and discharges of mercury in wastewater.  It is a contaminant in tar sand oil and petroleum coke.

Management of mercury emissions into the Lake cannot be left to the 4 states that border Lake Michigan.  Already Indiana is allowing BP to discharge mercury at rates almost 7 times the amount allowed by Environmental Protection Agency standards.  This problem requires constant, comprehensive oversight at the national level.

Thank you for your continuing strong support for this critical matter.