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.