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National Aquatic Invasive Species Act


Doyle’s War

In an economy like this, who needs to spend $200 million a year dealing with destructive invasive species in our fresh water lakes? Wisconsin’s Governor Jim Doyle has had enough. By 2012, Doyle has proposed that all ocean-going vessels clean their ballast water 100 times more stringently than the international standard, according to the Capitol Times.

But wait, it gets even better, under Doyle’s proposal all newly constructed ships that dock in the state’s ports would be required to clean their ballast water 1,000 times more stringently than the international standard by 2013. (New York and Pennsylvania have a similar Read More » »




Ballast Battle Lines Drawn

Wisconsin is the latest state to add their patch to the quilt of ballast water regulations that is quickly being sewn across the Great Lakes region as the states battle invasive species. Wisconsin recently revealed proposed regulations that would set a high bar for Ocean going ships that want to dock in the state’s ports.

“We’ve seen every single great lakes state go above and beyond what the Federal Government requires,” said Jen Nalbone from Great Lakes United. Under the Clean Water Act’s section 401 states have the authority to regulate ballast water and the Great Lakes states have shown they Read More » »




One Way, Or Another, They’re Gonna Get You

Environmentalists are suing the Environmental Protection Agency because of the Agency’s failure to uphold its obligations under the Clean Water Act to keep aquatic invasive species out of the nation’s waters, according to the groups who filed suit in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The three groups suing are asserting that the EPA has been too lenient with foreign cargo ships that have been responsible for releasing – in their ballast water -some of the most notorious invasive species. The resulting destruction to the ecosystem is an ongoing problem that is reaching a crisis point Read More » »




Making a Wreck of History

An interesting program on the Science Channel last night focused on the ship wrecks in Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay. Apparently, Thunder Bay is the go to place for maritime archeologists, historians and students interested in studying 19th century shipping as numerous shipswrecks are spectacularly preserved in the depths of the fresh waters.

Unlike wrecks in salty seas and Oceans, the metal ships that lie in state in Lake Huron are not corroded. It is possible to really see these ships, many of which were sunk during turbulent November storms, in their former glory. Students of maritime history and nautical Read More » »




Michigan’s Ballast Law Passes another Test

It looks more and more like Michigan’s spunky ballast law is here to stay. Last week, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the shipping group’s challenge to the 2005 law that requires Salties to obtain a permit to use the state’s ports.

The permit ensures that ships will not release ballast into the port or that it will clean the water with approved technology before ejecting it. We now know the damaging cost of invasive species to the region due to an enterprising and frustrated Notre Dame graduate student who has used his doctorate to put a Read More » »




I Drink, Therefore I Exist

It doesn’t matter if you are from a Red State, Blue State or Purple State, we, as humans, need fresh water to exist. It is as simple as that. We have needed water since life on earth began, but we never needed oil to survive. In fact, oil has only been making our modern lives easier for the last 100 to 150 years.

Now, the world is experiencing not only a food crisis but a water crisis and they go hand-in-hand. Billions of people on earth live without access to safe drinking water at a time when we are choosing not Read More » »




Drum Roll Please

We are so close to having a national ballast law, we can smell it, taste it and the aroma is so appetizing. Yesterday, the US House passed the first ever national bill that will protect our fresh waters from ballast discharges when it voted 395 to 7 in favor of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007.

The last year has seen Great Lakes States initiating their own ad hoc ballast bills in a desperate attempt to stop an impending “invasional meltdown” that would put the lakes on an irreversible trek toward ecological disaster, but now an answer is Read More » »




Coalition Applauds U.S. House for Passing Strong Invasive Species Bill

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (April 24, 2008)—The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition today applauded Congress for passing a bill to prevent aquatic invasive species from entering the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters.

“We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a strong invasive species bill that protects our lakes, our national parks, our economy, our public health and our way of life,” said Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association and co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We urge the Senate to pass its bill and President Bush to sign into law these strong protections from Read More » »




Dishing up a Quagmire

While needed Federal ballast legislation spins and sputters in a political quagmire on Capitol Hill, invasive species continue to erode the Great Lakes ecosystem and affect everything from power plants to drinking water.

We have talked a lot about the dangerous and quickly replicating zebra mussels that arrived in the Great Lakes after hitching a ride in the ballast water of ocean going ships. But the zebra mussels’ nefarious reputation is being threatened by the quagga mussel. The quagga, that also booked passage from Europe in ballast water, is a more sophisticated breed and can live on almost any surface as Read More » »




Location, Location, Location

Unfortunately, the dating term geographically undesirable (GU) also appears to apply to Congress Members attitude toward the Great Lakes and the issues we have fervently been working on. Usually an explanation of why a budding romantic relationship failed to flower, GU also defines a lack of leadership and perhaps interest in the Great Lakes for lawmakers representing the more far flung districts in our eight states.

After reviewing comments made by those who took part in Great Lakes Day 2008, it becomes clear rather quickly that geography had a lot to do with the kind of experience HOW members had when Read More » »