Quick Navigation

Great Lakes Congressional Watch

In the News

Success Stories

Policy

Jobs & Economic Recovery

Fiscal Accountablity

Take Action

Threats

Your Lake & You

Activities

Your Stories & Photos

Related Links

Archives


Great Lakes 11

What do Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich), George Voinovich (R-OH), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) all have in common? They are all original cosponsors of the Great Lakes Legacy Act that will be introduced today. This new version significantly increases funding that helps states and localities clean up toxic pollution. That means cleaner drinking, less beach closings and it means healthy habitats for fish making Friday fish frys safe again.

Last September, the US House passed a similar version of the GLLA, but it was shot down in the Senate by a Senator from Oklahoma. One way to make sure that the opposition realizes we are serious is to have all 16 of the Great Lakes US Senators sign on as original co-sponsors of this legislation. At the moment only five of our region’s Senators are original co-sponsors so where are the other 11? The legislation will be introduced today and time is running out for the nearly dozen or so Senators to join in this show of force. If you have time to contact these delinquents please let them know how important it is for them to sign on immediately.

The wayward lawmakers are listed below:
Burris Roland (D-Ill.)
Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)
Evan Bayh (D-Ind.)
Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
Karen Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Robert P. Casey (D-PA)
Arlen Specter (D-PA)
Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.)
Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.)



The Train Keeps on Moving

Good news in the effort to restore the Great Lakes and revitalize the economy.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at a U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing gave an update on how economic recovery act funds were being used to jump-start the economy, protect human healthy and safeguard the environment.

Said Jackon: “Funding these programs will not only help our economic recovery, but they will protect and increase the number of green jobs, sustain communities, restore and preserve the economic viability of property, promote scientific advances and technological innovation, and ensure a safer, healthier environment.”

Read the her full testimony here.

Funding these programs will not only help our economic recovery, but they will protect and increase the number of green jobs, sustain communities, restore and preserve the economic viability of property, promote scientific advances and technological innovation, and ensure a safer, healthier environment.

Read the coalition’s statement here.

Later in the day, the U.S. House passed its final budget framework, which contains support for the restoration of the Great Lakes and other national ecosystems.

Read our take here.



Everything’s Going Our Way…

The US House and Senate have approved the 2010 budget resolutions and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has remained intact! That means that President Barack Obama stayed true to his campaign pledge and has ushered in the first real support from the White House for restoration. And he did it all within the first 100 days of his administration.

The joint budget resolution states:
“It is the sense of the Congress that this resolution recognizes the need to address significant and long-standing problems affecting the major large scale aquatic, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems nationwide. This resolution includes funding for a new interagency initiative to address such regional ecosystems. It also includes funding to work with Great Lakes States, tribes, local communities and organizations to more effectively address issues prioritized in the Great Lakes Regional Collaborative. This initiative could address issues such as invasive species, habitat restoration and conservation, non-point sources of pollution, and contaminated sediment. The resolution also supports the President’s proposal to use outcome-oriented performance goals and measures to target the most significant problem.”

While there was overwhelming support from Democrats in both the House and Senate for this budget, not a single Republican lawmaker voted for the bills. This divide does not bode well for our nation and we can only hope that working together on issues such as Great Lakes Restoration – that crosses political divides – will help mend our differences.

Even before Obama took office, HOW decided to do everything we could to keep the Great Lakes high on his agenda in the first 100 days. Now that we’ve met that goal we are going to continue to fight for the realization of the GL regional collaboration strategy, including approval of a strong national ballast standard; the passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act; tripled funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act; greater support for the State Revolving Fund to improve and replace our antiquated sewer systems; and the appointment of a Great Lakes Czar to coordinate federal, state and local efforts. Just another 1360 days to get it all done.



The First One Hundred

Has it been 100 days already? It sure has and President Barack Obama has come through on many of his Great Lakes promises. Let’s see, he has set aside millions for a Great Lakes Interagency Restoration Initiative, hired Great Lakes lover Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff and he has called for the appointment of a Great Lakes Czar.

Not bad at all. Congress has agreed, so far, with the Presidents funding of the Great Lakes Initiative – that’s good. But we have yet to see the administration appoint this so called Great Lakes Czar – a person who will coordinate the restoration efforts and who we think should be within the Council on Environmental Quality and not the Environmental Protection Agency.

All in all, it looks like the President has used his first days in office to the benefit of the Great Lakes and we are very grateful. Still, we plan to continue in our vigilance until the budget is secure and someone is placed in the coordinators position.



How to Spend Millions on the Great Lakes 101

During the presidential campaign we could only hope that candidate Obama would follow through on his promise to help restore and protect the Great Lakes. And then, he did, by adding a $475 million line to his budget for an interagency restoration effort. So far, the funding and commitment remain intact in the Congressional budget. The Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition has submitted language to the committee responsible for ironing out the details of the nation’s finances.

In 2005, 1500 Great Lakes stakeholders came up with a very promising plan to restore the Great Lakes and that is the heart and soul of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. Why not use this as a blue print for funding? Why not use this investment to meet the goals set in the restoration plan? The EPA could administer the funds while working in tandem with a chief coordinator at the Council of Environmental Quality in the White House (a Great Lakes Czar is another promise from the campaign trail).

So, how do we spend millions of dollars on Great Lakes restoration? Well, obviously we need to severely reduce nonpoint source pollution and improve the health of our northern shore. At the same time, there are still 30 areas of concern where toxins lie in wait in lake and river beds– those need to be cleaned up once and for all. Then there are those pesky invasive species that should be dealt with – and without leniency – we need to transport the microterrorists to their own little Guantanamo Bay. Finally we need to invest in wetland and habitat restoration.

HOW has outlined these ideas for the Committee in a letter and provided precise language supporting this strategy and we hope for a positive response from Congress and the White House.



Great Lakes Around the Web – April 20 – April 27, 2009

Great Lakes Around the Web – April 20 – April 27, 2009

Here is a selection of news items and blog regarding the Great Lakes in the last week. Did we miss something? Let us know via the comments.



Calling All Senators

It is time to put the “clean” back into the Clean Water Act. An important bill to the Great Lakes and all of this nation’s rivers, lakes and waters is circulating Capitol Hill right now the Clean Water Restoration Act (S.787) and we need EVERY Great Lakes Senator cosponsoring and voting for this bill.

Over past years, the scope of the Clean Water Act has been eroded by policy and court decisions that allow pollution to once again threaten our waters. We are asking anyone who cares about their drinking water or the water they swim in or the water they fish and hunt in and around to make a call to their US Senator and ask them to support this essential legislation. Specifically, we want Great Lakes Senators’ Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), George Voinovich (R-OH) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) to cosponsor and usher this bill into existence. These lawmakers sit on the Environment and Public Works Committee and it is time they were dialed in to this issue.

To get their digits go to www.senate.gov or call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at: 202-224-3121.



Frontline: Poisoned Waters

9pm EST Frontline: years after the Clean Water Act (CWA) our fresh waters remain woefully polluted.

9:10 pm: Not just the Chesapeake Bays ecosystem has been altered by human activity but also the Great Lakes and the surrounding wetlands and tributaries. Development, rural run off and industrial waste have damaged the Great Lakes to the point that we were talking about Lake Erie’s dead zones years ago.

9:15 pm: Every summer, Great Lakes beaches are closed because of pollution. Surfers on the Great Lakes have been infected with staff surfing in the same water that more than 35 million people get their drinking water from – that is so gross. The toxic pollution that sits at the bottom of lakes has caused tumors in the fish as well making a big dent in Friday night fish frys. It is so bad that we have more than 30 areas of concern (that means you have a lot of toxic waste and pollution congregating in a spot making the water unusable) on the United States side of the Lakes.

9:20 the Clean Water Act no longer protects enough of our water. This is why it is essential that we support Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.) in his efforts to get the Clean Water Restoration Act enacted. He has introduced it in the US Senate (S.787) – this must be enacted if we want to restore all our waters – including the Great Lakes. Shockingly, a number of Great Lakes Senators have yet to cosponsor this significant legislation. Here is a rundown of the slackers: Voinovich,Klobuchar,Burris, Bayh, Casey, Lugar, and Specter.

9:26 Amy Klobuchar is on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee – we know that she has been a bit busy since she is the only serving Minnesota Senator right now, but cleaning our water needs to take priority. Email her and tell her that you support the CWRA and why and that you expect her, as a Great Lakes Senator to cosponsor and push through the legislation.

9:32 The Great Lakes suffer from rural run off too and a report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found the problem is much worse than we previously thought. The buildup is blamed on industrial agriculture and its use of fertilizer and manure. A news story by MSNBC outlines why this is a big problem for the Great Lakes but it also offers some solutions such as machines called manure digesters that can convert phosphorus into a sludge that can be put in landfills or transferred to phosphorus-deficient areas. Buffer strips are another option – they can be developed to protect waterways from runoff and there are new technologies able to remove phosphorus from soil. “If we don’t do something,” Carpenter – a researcher – told MSNBC, “the water quality will get considerably worse, the lake will smell bad, there will be algae blooms all summer long, and more and more of those blooms will be the toxic kind.”

9:47 The modern canary in the mine that we haven’t been paying attention to – the chemicals that are in our environment but worse yet, in our drinking water. Lake Effect, by Nancy Nichols hauntingly outlines her belief that her sister’s fatal cancer and her bout with cancer and infertility are directly linked to living on the Great Lakes and eating the fish from the Lakes during the 1970s.

9:55 The Great Lakes were the heart of the industrial and chemical revolutions in this country and that means that our waters are infected by many toxins. The Great Lakes Legacy Act has been helping the Great Lakes states clean up areas where the toxins are most concentrated. The US House has approved a sweeping water bill – the Water Quality Investment Act – that has included the GLLA in it and has increased funding, decreased the local match and will allow some money to go toward habitat restoration. It is the first time in nearly 20 years that Congress has considered a Water Quality Bill. The Great Lakes needs the US Senate to approve the Water Quality Investment Act as soon as possible.

10:00 Numerous Great Lakes AOC’s are laced with PCBs. We have been trying to get these toxic sediments removed from the lakes for many years but still, only one site has been remediated and delisted – Oswego, New York. To learn more about all the sites check out healthylakes.org’s Unearthing the Great Lakes Areas of Concern section where we outline the problems in each AOC.

10:15 Wrangling between government agencies is a big problem when it comes to cleaning up the Great Lakes too. That is why it is so important that Nancy Sutley of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality and Lisa Jackson of the EPA choose a person who will be responsible for coordinating the restoration efforts in the Great Lakes. The President promised us a Great Lakes Czar but the CEQ and EPA have yet to name someone to fill the much needed post.

10:20 President Obama, when candidate Obama, promised us that he would bring with him to Washington the political will and financial backing to bring about Great Lakes restoration. In his first budget, the President came through on that promise with a budget line detailing $475 million for a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Both houses of Congress approved budgets including this budget item. Now, we are waiting on the conference committees and we are continuing to ask them to support this effort. If you have time to contact these key lawmakers on the appropriations committee -asking them to politically and fiscally support this initiative, please do so. The following Great Lakes lawmakers are on these powerful committees:
MN – Rep. McCollum
WI – Senator Kohl; Rep. Obey
IL – Senator Durbin; Rep. Jackson, Jr.; Rep. Kirk
IN – Rep. Visclosky
MI – Rep. Kilpatrick
OH – Senator Voinovich; Rep. Kaptur; Rep. Ryan; Rep. LaTourette
PA – Senator Specter; Rep. Murtha; Rep. Fattah
NY – Rep. Lowey; Rep. Serrano; Rep. Hinchey; Rep. Israel

10:32 Did you see that gunk coming out of the pipe in Puget Sound? Ugh, gross, disgusting. The Gov is right too, it is like a bathtub and it isn’t going away. The Great Lakes have experienced similar problems with sewage with 24 billion gallons of raw sewage flowing into the lakes every year. The problem is an aging waste water infrastructure and the combined storm and waste water sewer systems that our region invested in many years ago. The State Revolving Fund provides money to states and localities to update, improve and fix these water ways and the recent American Economic Recovery Package provides extra dollars for these projects but we need millions more to really get the job done. The House Water Quality Investment Act would go a long way toward fixing these water infrastructure problems.

10:37 While Tyson’s Corner in Virginia has made a lot of people money at the expense of the environment, Chambers of Commerce across the Great Lakes Region have joined to promote the restoration of the Great Lakes as key to reviving the economy of the region that once drove this nation and much of the world’s economy.“It is not only important for ecological reasons, but the economic impact from the clean up has an enormous impact on the places that are most polluted,” Andrew Rudnick of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership told HOW. “Clearly, whether it’s the Administration or Members of the Great Lakes Congressional Delegation in many states, including New York State, there is much interest in this environmental – ecological piece. It is the next wave,” he added.

10:50 The bottom line is that by investing in Great Lakes restoration you will be investing in the growth of the eight state region’s economy. Fixing the sewers, cleaning up toxic hot spots, dealing responsibly with ballast water, restoring habitat will all increase the economic power of the region. But even more important, our waters are at a crisis point from which there very soon will be no return. Congress and the President can do a lot this year to bring this about by enacting the Clean Water Restoration Act, the Water Quality Investment Act, the President’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, choosing a Great Lakes Czar, and coming up with a workable, national standard for ballast water. Each of these initiatives fulfills a piece of the Great Lakes Collaboration Strategy.



Spring Cleaning?

It has been almost a year since we talked about the Areas of Concern that dot our Great Lakes with toxic sediments. It’s been half-a-year since the US House approved triple funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act the federal program that helps states and localities clean up these dangerous pollutants. And it has been about the same amount of time since one Senator from Oklahoma shot down the increased funding and put us right back where we started. But the US House has just passed another water bill that would triple the authorization for this clean up program and the US Senate is expected to consider the bill this spring.

Twenty-six sites in New York State are responsible for more than 99 percent of the toxic chemical pollution on the US side of the Great Lakes basin. Ugh. The Buffalo and Niagara Rivers that flow through Buffalo, New York and into Lake Ontario and Erie have an amazing inventory of chemicals and dangerous pollutants.

Buffalo was a magnet for industry at the turn of the last century – it had hydropower, a significant rail network and the Erie Canal – industry and then chemical companies moved in and began using up and abusing the fresh water. Years later, after these companies fled or closed shop, they left behind a destructive, toxic legacy in the same formerly pristine waters that flow through Buffalo and into Lakes Erie and Ontario.

“What was left behind was a skeleton of the industrial and chemical revolution,” said Jill Spisiak Jedlicka of the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. A skeleton buried in the rivers’ sediments and underneath the fractured bedrock that the city sits upon where toxins find their way through numerous fissures into the Niagara River and the Lakes.

There are two major Areas of Concern in the Queen City – several miles of the Buffalo River and another 37 miles of toxic muck in the Niagara River – totaling a 1400 square mile geographic range.
Buff River at Erie Harbor

The bed beneath the Buffalo River is contaminated with hazardous waste, PCBs, chlordane, PAH’s and plenty of raw sewage – there are 45 inactive hazardous waste sites within this one AOC.

The Niagara River has its own problems – as late as the 1980s cities and industrial facilities were allowed to discharge their waste into the river. This AOC has inactive hazardous waste sites, contaminated sediment, combined sewer overflows, urban and rural run off and regular old-fashion pollution.

But the Buffalo Niagara River Keeper has successfully negotiated Great Lakes Legacy Act funding for the Buffalo River and are responsible for the river’s Remedial Action Plan. After years of research and planning, efforts to clean up the sediments that lie at the bottom of the river will be underway by the end of this year. There will literally be shovels in the dirt because of the work of countless people and with the help of federal funding from the GLLA.

“It didn’t happen overnight and that is the hardest sell with Congress,” said Spisiak Jedlicka, “Especially with those congressmen from outside the Great Lakes region, they want to see it happen right away. These problems are so complex and the solutions don’t come overnight.”

So far, the GLLA has required localities to find funding to match the federal government – a 65/35 split. This worked out for the Buffalo River project because Albany came to the table with an open purse. But this match has been a real problem for other AOC’s especially those known as “orphans” because the polluters are no longer in business and/or have left the area – there is no one to hold responsible. One way to deal with this, according to Spisiak Jedlicka would be to allow the EPA to take mitigating circumstances into account. “The EPA should have the ability to negotiate the matching numbers based on the individual situation,” she suggests.

Under the House water bill the matching funds are addressed. There are also funds for habitat restoration that did not exist in the previous GLLA authorizations. Spisiak Jedlicka says that habitat restoration plays a big role in successful remediation of a toxic site because it is the ingredient that brings the fish back to edible and helps the waters stay clean for drinking and swimming.

But none of this will matter if the US Senate doesn’t see how important this program is to the future of our nation’s largest source of surface fresh water when it considers the $19.4 billion Water Quality Investment Act of 2009 (HR 1262). Last year when Congress debated reauthorizing the GLLA, Spisiak Jedlicka said the riverkeeper’s work was affected, “knowing we were next in the queue to start remediation we sped up our schedule [on the Buffalo River] because we were so concerned that the legacy act would not be reauthorized. Now, knowing there is a larger authorization [$150 million a year in the House water bill] on the table allows us to evaluate things more thoroughly and take those extra few months to make the correct decisions when it comes to remediation of the 37 miles of the Niagara River that we have to clean up too.”

It has been nearly 20 years since Congress passed a Water authorization bill. That is too long to neglect toxic hot spots, aging sewage systems and crumbling wastewater facilities. The House water bill triples funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act to $150 million a year, addresses some of the concerns over matching funds and allows some of the money to go toward habitat restoration. This funding is nothing short of crucial to our region and for the restoration of the Great Lakes but it is in a very vulnerable position in the US Senate.



Great Lakes Around the Web – April 13 – April 19, 2009

Great Lakes Around the Web – April 13 – April 19, 2009

Here is a selection of news items and blog regarding the Great Lakes in the last week. Did we miss something? Let us know via the comments.