Areas of Concern

Hot off the Press, the EPA Issues Outline for GLRI Work & Spending

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President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative still has to be approved by the US Senate, but the EPA isn’t wasting any time framing a five-year strategy to address the most pressing problems affecting the health of the Great Lakes. More importantly, the EPA is coming to a city near you in the coming weeks to find out how to prioritize the work in your area based on the Read More » »

Buffalo: The Come Back Kid

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Buffalo, NY – Buffalo, the second poorest city in the nation has a plan to stimulate a long depressed local economy by making Buffalo and the Great Lakes one and the same in people’s minds. That is right, the Queen City has rediscovered her historical link to the Great Lakes and expects this revival to lead to more jobs and transform the quality of life for those Read More » »

Mr. Yuck Looms Over Great Lakes

President Barack Obama just took the big green Mr. Yuck sticker off Yucca Mountain in Nevada. For years, the US Congress has considered depositing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel in the Nevada dessert, but President Obama is calling for more study and a better solution. This move fulfills a campaign promise he made and scratches the powerful Harry Reid’s back. But at the same time, the Great Lakes remain in peril of becoming polluted with leaky toxic waste.

“We are drifting toward a permanent policy of keeping extremely toxic waste next to the Great Lakes, and that cannot stand,” Read More » »

Caution: Great Lakes may be Hazardous to Your Health

With her dying breath, Nancy Nichols sister asked her to write a book telling the world that her rare ovarian cancer was the result of years of living near, swimming in and eating fish from Waukegan Harbor on Lake Michigan.

Not only did Nancy write Lake Effect: Two Sisters and a Town’s Toxic Legacy but she also learned she had pancreatic cancer while researching for the book. Ms. Nichols recently discussed her story with National Public Radio host Diane Rehm–you can listen to the interview here. There is no prior history of Read More » »

Wanted New Leaders? No Kidding!

Grumbles is grumbling again at the moment when the Great Lakes Legacy Act is about to be approved and improved by the US House of Representatives. Would you believe Benjamin Grumbles, Assistant Administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency has written to Environment and Public Works Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to ask her not to give the Legacy Act program more money? What the H-E – double toothpicks is he doing? Just another example of how the Bush Administration has been undermining the Great Lakes and his campaign promise (albeit verbal) to fix them.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act, that Read More » »

Obey’s Scorecard Says it All

Wisconsin Rep. David Obey (D) has one of our most historic Areas of Concern in his backyard, the St. Louis River and Bay habitat, which has been eroding since pioneer days with the latest assaults leaving hazardous waste behind in leaky landfills. Even so, Obey is one of two House Members who has not cosponsored the Great Lakes Legacy Act that would provide the funds needed for cleaning up this mess. But Rep. Obey is in a peculiar position as Chair of the very powerful Appropriations Committee and HOW has been assured that a decision not to co-sponsor Read More » »

Dennis No Longer a Menace

Ohio’s infamous Cuyahoga River that sparked the political firestorm that was quenched with the introduction of the Clean Water Act in the 1970s is in Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) district. HOW has just learned that Rep. Kucinich has become a co-sponsor of the reauthorizatin for the Great Lakes Legacy Act – a bill that has trippled the funding authorization to speed up the clean up of the most devestated areas of pollution around the Great Lakes. HOW is ever thankful for his support and hopeful that the bill will come to the floor when Congress convenes in September. To Read More » »

Display the Great Lakes Areas of Concern Map on Your Site or Blog

Help spread the word regarding the Great Lakes Areas of Concern by displaying our map on your Web site or blog. Just copy and paste the text below into a Web page and the map will display.
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And here is how it will appear:
View Larger Map

Waters Consumed By History

This is one complicated AOC, but the most important thing to recognize – these waters infected with undesirable algae, deformed fish and wildlife that can’t be eaten and shuttered beaches – flow directly into Lake Michigan. Over the years, man chose to change the shape and flow of these tributaries by straightening them and dredging them to allow for bigger and bigger ships to move more and more products. But that is only one source of the problem, the history of industry has left toxic chemicals in its wake – PCBs, PAHs, heavy metals – all sifting in the sediments Read More » »

Arsenic: It Isn’t Just for Rats Anymore

It is only natural to want to swim in the Menominee River or spend an afternoon fishing, but beware of side-effects. If you begin to feel lightheaded or your headaches you better rush to the ER because you are probably suffering from arsenic poisoning. And if that doesn’t kill you, just wait; it can lead to cancer and a number of other annoying ailments. The Menominee River was used as a dumping ground for arsenic by Ansul Fire Protection Company (herbicide producers) from 1957 to 1977! Local business also tossed in paint sludge, coal tar, mercury, PCB’s, oil and grease Read More » »