News

2012-02-01
EcoSuperior, Janzen’s promoting safe drug disposal

EcoSuperior, Janzen’s promoting safe drug disposal

By tbnewswatch.com

Officials with EcoSuperior and Janzen’s Pharmacy are helping Thunder Bay area residents dispose their old medications the safer way during February.

Tuesday marked the kickoff of the annual Medicine Cabinet Clean-up campaign. About 5,000 special paper bags are being distributed to Janzen’s customers.

The idea is to fill them up with outdated pills and bring them back to the pharmacy, rather than throw them into the garbage, toilet, or down the sink.

EcoSuperior spokeswoman Ashley Priem said pharmaceutical products can harm fish and other animals in our rivers and lakes.
The campaign has been running every year since 2008.

Even though the campaign is running through February, all local pharmacies accept outdated medications any time of the year, and dispose of them properly.

More: www.tbnewswatch.com/entertainment/186691/EcoSuperior,-Janzen%E2%80%99s-promoting-safe-drug-disposal

2012-01-30
Conservation Authority seeks input on water plan

Conservation Authority seeks input on water plan

Two public meetings on proposed plan to be held next week

Source: CBC news

The Lakehead Region Conservation Authority has released its proposed plan to protect the Thunder Bay area's water sources.

The chair of the committee that oversees water quality said there are no imminent threats to the city's water supply, but the community of Rosslyn faces two particular challenges.

Bob Hartley said the plan calls for the Thunder Bay and District Health Unit to routinely inspect septic systems close to wells in Rosslyn. It will also place restrictions on the one farm property that's inside the well-head protection area.

But Hartley said he believes those challenges “will be resolved” as a result of the proposed plan.

The authority will hold two public meetings about its proposals next week.

For news story: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/story/2012/01/30/tby-source-protection-plan.html

For more information: www.sourceprotection.net/

2012-01-18
Stormwater Management Conference

Innovative Approaches to Stormwater Management Conference

February 23, 2012 - FREE

A conference showcasing innovative stormwater management techniques will be held Feb 23, 2012 at the Best Western Nor’wester Hotel and Conference Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This free conference will feature detailed case studies of Low Impact Development projects in Ontario, as well as new initiatives in Thunder Bay. Speakers include: Mark Schollen Schollen and Company, Christine Zimmer and Phil James Credit Valley Conservation, Chris Denich Aquafor-Beech, Dean Young Toronto Region Conservation Authority, and others.

For more information: http://www.ecosuperior.org/article/stormwater-management-conference-andor-lid-training-session-649.asp

Registration is free but you MUST pre-register before February 20th.

Low Impact Development (LID) Fundamentals: Interactive Training Session

Februrary 24, 2012 - $140

An interactive, instructor-led, full-day training session on Low Impact Development (LID) Fundamentals will be held Feb 24, 2012 at the Best Western Nor’wester Hotel and Conference Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The training session aims to provide guidance, resources and ‘real-life Ontario’ examples of LID planning, design and construction for cold climates at the site, neighborhood and watershed scale. The session’s five (5) sections will cover Stormwater Fundamentals, LID Planning, LID Design, Financial Considerations and end with Student Led Design examples for residential, commercial and public-realm land uses. The registration fee of $140. includes instruction, breakfast, lunch and snack breaks. Limited to 25 participants.

For more information: http://www.ecosuperior.org/article/stormwater-management-conference-andor-lid-training-session-649.asp

Registration is not confirmed until payment is received.

Hosted by EcoSuperior Environmental Programs in partnership with the City of Thunder Bay, the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, Earthwise Water Working Group and the Thunder Bay District Stewardship Council. EcoSuperior acknowledges financial support from the Ministry of the Environment through the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem.

For more information, please contact:
Lucie Lavoie
Program Coordinator
EcoSuperior Environmental Programs
562 Red River Road
Thunder Bay, ON P7B IH3
tel 807 624 2143
fax 807 622 0005
www.ecosuperior.org

2012-01-17
Preparing to Live With Wolves

By John Vucetich

New York Times Blog

John Vucetich, a wildlife ecologist from Michigan Technological University, leads the wolf-moose Winter Study at Isle Royale National Park.

Monday, Jan. 9

It’s January. In my house, that means it’s time to pack our warmest winter undies and leave to live with the wolves and moose on Isle Royale.

Isle Royale is a remote wilderness island, isolated by the frigid waters of Lake Superior and home to a population of wolves and moose. As predator and prey, their lives and deaths are linked in a drama as timeless as it is historic. The struggle is historic because we have been documenting their lives for decades.

For more: http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/preparing-to-live-with-wolves/

2012-01-12
Cleaning up Peninsula Harbour

Clean-up of Lake Superior's Peninsula Harbour near Marathon will start this spring.

Ontario, the federal government, and Ball Packaging, a former owner of the community's now closed pulp and paper mill, are financing the clean-up project. The work will improve water quality and help ensure the health of the harbour's natural habitat by capping leftover waste from past polluters. This is the last step in the plan to restore the harbour to a safe, healthy state.

news.ontario.ca/mnr/en/2012/01/cleaning-up-peninsula-harbour.html

2011-12-12
Lighthouses of the North – Preserving Our Heritage

What do the The Tempest and Walt Whitman have to do with sustainability on the Great Lakes?

Walleye Magazine - Story + Photos by Amy Vervoort

Lake Superior Evening at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery - Lighthouses of the North – Preserving Our Heritage

Thursday, 8^th December 2011

The third annual Lake Superior Evening celebrated the natural, historic, and cultural resources of our North Shore with a special focus on heritage lighthouses of the Great Lakes. Held at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, the evening aimed to educate and inspire; and in rooms decorated with artwork by artists who define current Canadian and regional expression, it did more than that. Hosted by Lakehead University’s Centre for Place & Sustainability Studies and the North Shore Remedial Action Plan, this year’s event was an informative and individual introduction to efforts already underway to preserve a way of life that is disappearing from the Great Lakes.

www.thewalleye.ca/2011/12/10/what-do-the-the-tempest-and-walt-whitman-have-to-do-with-sustainability-on-the-great-lakes/

2011-11-21
Lake Superior Evening

Lighthouses of the North Shore – Preserving our Heritage

We would like to invite you to our third Lake Superior Evening event, hosted by the North Shore Remedial Action Plan and Lakehead University's Centre for Place & Sustainability Studies. Join us on Thursday December 8th, 7:30-10:30 pm, at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery (1080 Keewatin Street, Thunder Bay ON).

The Lake Superior lighthouse is an iconic cultural image that represents the hardships and perseverance of the North Shore coastal lifestyle. In 2010 the Heritage Lighthouse Act was adopted as a means to protect these cultural resources by allowing them to be used for other purposes - including interpretive centers, research facilities, and other community-based uses. The goal of this event is to educate and inspire individuals, municipalities, and non-profit groups to engage in maintaining and utilizing these vanishing heritage sites.

Featured guest speakers include the Friends of Fathom Five (Lightstation Restoration Project) and Dr. Patricia Kell from Parks Canada's Heritage Lighthouse Program. The evening will also offer performance from musical guests Flipper Flanagan's Flat Footed Four, fresh fish appetizers, and a cash bar. This event is free to the public.

Please RSVP to….

Nicki Youroukos
Community Relations Coordinator
Remedial Action Plans
Thunder Bay and Nipigon Bay
(807) 343-8504
nyourouk@lakeheadu.ca
www.northshorerap.ca/

2011-11-17
Environment Canada releases video on the Great Lakes

Keeping the Great Lakes Great

"North America's Great Lakes are a robust ecosystem that provides a wealth of economic and social benefits for the 40 million people who live on both sides of the border. But the Great Lakes are also at great risk. There are a number of stresses to the ecosystem: population growth and agricultural intensification, the introduction of aquatic invasive species as well as municipal wastewater effluents and industrial discharges. All of these threaten the Great Lakes and require sustained and focused attention. Learn more by watching our new video that depicts some of the challenges facing the Great Lakes and what Environment Canada and our partners are doing keep the Great Lakes great."

http://www.youtube.com/user/environmentcan

2011-11-10
Nipigon's Kama Creek Restoration

Moving Nipigon's Kama creek may bring back fish

A Lakehead University researcher believes returning a creek to its original course will help to restore a once-thriving fish population in Nipigon Bay.

Decades ago, Kama Creek was realigned to protect a railway crossing from erosion. But the move destroyed brook trout spawning grounds and created a barrier to migration up the creek.

Now, the creek is being redirected to its original course.

“You could actually walk down the old channel if you sort of took your time and crawled through the bush a little bit,” said Robert Stewart, who teaches in the Lakehead University geography department.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/story/2011/11/08/tby-kama-river-restoration.html

2011-10-12
Quagga mussels gobbling Great Lakes' food chain

They eat as much as 98% of their weight each day, multiply rapidly and could change the Great Lakes forever.

No, they aren't Asian carp. They are the true scourge of the lakes: quagga mussels. Their exploding numbers and rapid spread are leading scientists to use words like "startling," "dramatic" and "unprecedented."

"Quaggas are causing the biggest changes we've ever seen in Lake Michigan," said Tom Nalepa, a research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory who has studied the lake for more than 30 years. "The numbers are still going up. We are going to see more severe impacts."

Quaggas are in four of the five Great Lakes. The havoc they have created includes an increase in toxic algae, a loss of tiny plants and animals that fish feed on, a decline in prey fish, and skinnier game and commercial fish.

www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20111007/ADV01/111007001/Voracious-invasive-quagga-mussels-gobbling-Great-Lakes-food-chain

2011-10-12
Great Lakes proposal with Canadians & Americans

A U.S. architectural firm best known for creating some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world has turned its creative eye to the Great Lakes, advocating for a new economic and environmental vision that spans borders.

The bi-national blueprint from Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill is still in its infancy, but the concept has garnered support from several mayors in Canada and the United States. The proposal calls on the two nations to re-imagine the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region as a shared space, where Canadians and Americans work together to protect waterways, ease traffic congestion, promote tourism and develop new economic ventures.

www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/great-lakes-proposal-envisions-canadians-americans-working-together/article2193780/

2011-09-02
T-Bay Recognized for Environmental Excellence

We are pleased to announce that the City of Thunder Bay and EcoSuperior Environmental Programs have been recognized by the Ministry of the Environment for Environmental Excellence.

In partnership with the EcoSuperior Environmental Program, the City of Thunder Bay has been delivering with excellent results, a comprehensive water conservation program since 1996.

In 2010, the partnership's successful outreach initiatives and programs included: low flow toilet rebates, home visits to distribute water conservation devices, selling rain barrels, education on water-wise gardening and presentations to schools. The program also delivered a speaker series on protecting shorelines, the effect of pharmaceuticals on water and choosing personal care products that are safer for water and people.

For more information please visit the Ministry of the Environment Website at;

http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/about/EnvironmentalExcellence/STDPROD_089000.html

Regards,

Kerri L. Marshall, P.Eng.
Manager, Environment Division
Transportation & Works Department
City of Thunder Bay

2011-08-12
City askes residents to help water trees

City asks residents to help water trees

By tbnewswatch.com

The City of Thunder Bay is asking residents to help thirsty trees around town.

Throughout this summer, the city has been experiencing fairly dry conditions. The City of Thunder Bay parks division has put out a watering alert, asking the public to water trees on their own properties, as well as trees on city land near their homes.

Urban forest specialist Rena Viehbeck said some trees around the city have been experiencing stress, with leaves turning a lighter green colour, browning, and wilting.

Viehbeck added that younger trees need less water, but need to be watered more frequently than mature trees.

The city’s parks division is asking people to follow the odd-even watering system as part of the city water restrictions.

2011-06-06
Creeks cleaned up

Creeks cleaned up

May 27th, 2011

The second annual Creekside Cleanup was a grand success. The community-based action-oriented research event drew 300 volunteers from local schools and organizations to clean up and inventory items of garbage that were collected along several local streams and rivers.

Read full article.

2011-06-01
Cleaning up!

More than 7,600 items of garbage were found along the city’s waterways Friday.

The second annual creek-side cleanup event, organized by Lakehead University’s Remedial Action Plans office as part of EcoSuperior’s month-long Spring Up to Clean Up event, saw students from six city schools cleaning the banks of McVicar Creek, Boulevard Lake and the Neebing, Current and McIntyre Rivers.

View Full Article

2011-06-01
Lake Superior Evening

Lake Superior was the topic, and it drew a crowd. The second Lake Superior Evening, hosted by Lakehead University and the North Shore Remedial Action Plan (RAP), was held at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery on Friday, April 15. The theme of Lake Superior was translated into the food, music, conversation, artistry, and presentations.

View Full Article

2011-04-05
Group brings gov't, industry and public together..

Group brings government, industry, and public together to clean up Lake Superior

Ian Kaufman
Editor-in-Chief

Two and a half years ago, Aaron Nicholson set off with two other Lakehead students on a fifty-day kayak trip along Lake Superior’s north shore. The trio balanced research work with an exploration of the area’s rich ecology and human culture, falling in love with one of the world’s most beautiful coastlines in the process. Thanks to shifting bedrock in some spots, Nicholson said, “you can see what’s happened in the last two billion years just by paddling along beside the shore.”

Nicholson’s passion for the lake hasn’t left him since he returned from that trip, and today he coordinates the Thunder Bay Remedial Action Plan (RAP), a project looking to address the region’s water pollution problems.

Never heard of those problems? You’re not alone. Water contamination is an issue mostly missing from the pages of local media – and not exactly a topic for everyday conversation.

“It’s been known as a potential problem for a long time. I think that’s the reason [it’s not talked about more],” Nicholson says. “If you grow up with a hole in your shoe, then you don’t really see it as a hole in your shoe; it’s more air conditioning.”

Patching up that hole is the task of the Remedial Action Plan. RAPs are one of the government’s primary responses to water pollution, involving federal and provincial levels and taking their direction from local Public Advisory Committees. They are created to rehabilitate areas that have experienced environmental degradation, termed Areas of Concern (AOCs).

Thunder Bay’s Public Advisory Committee represents various interests within the community, including local environmental groups like Earthwise and the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, industry representatives (such as Richardson International and Cargill), academics, government, and others.

“A large portion of the committee is just general public members,” says Nicholson, adding that the group is still interested in recruiting members.

The committee is presented with scientific research on the area in question (the Thunder Bay Area of Concern covers nearly 30km of shoreline and ranges up to 9km offshore from the city). It then gives recommendation to the RAP group, made up of government representatives from varying levels and ministries, which makes the ultimate decisions on what actions to pursue.

Some may be skeptical that significant change can occur within this kind of structure, but those involved in the Thunder Bay RAP point to past successes as evidence that the system works.

The biggest feather in the group’s cap is the NOWPARC, which between 1997 and 2004 undertook the cleanup of a section of Thunder Bay’s harbour – “one of the most contaminated sites in Canada,” according to Environment Canada. Much work remains to be done, the most contentious of which is probably Thunder Bay’s north harbour, which faces mercury contamination.

Nicholson works with fellow Lakehead researchers Rob Stewart and Graham Strickert on the RAP. Stewart had been researching environmental risk before joining the faculty of Geography at Lakehead, so he was a natural fit when the Ministry of Environment approached him to do research for the Jackfish Bay Area of Concern, a few hundred kilometers east of Thunder Bay.

The handling of that AOC is another success. Although it’s not delisted, the ultimate goal of any RAP, many of the criteria for delisting have been met. “There is data showing that the things that we define in the ecosystem that are problematic are not as problematic as they were before,” says Stewart – “to be really political about it.”

He now forms part of the RAP team that oversees the four Areas of Concern along Superior’s north shore: Thunder Bay, Nipigon Bay, Jackfish Bay and Peninsula Harbor. Strickert, who served as LUSU President in 2004/05, returned to Lakehead to teach and to work on various Areas of Concern with Stewart.

The trio is an ambitious bunch – they aim at no less than helping to write a new chapter in the history of our relationship with Lake Superior. As they tell it, it’s a history that leaves a heavy weight of responsibility on our shoulders, despite the regulatory and technological initiatives taken in the last couple of decades.

“It’s sort of like going from leaded fuel to unleaded,” says Stewart. “It made a significant difference, but it’s been 20 years since then – why haven’t we made much more progress in the fuel type? And that’s where we’re sitting now: we can say that there’s lots of changes, but it’s not saying much, because we’re comparing it to a time period where there were just no rules, no holds barred on what you could dump into the lake.”

That environmental free-for-all lasted until the 1970s, they say. “You’ve got, from 1940 to 1970, a Chlor-Alkali plant regulated by the Ministry of the Environment functioning in [the north harbour], which releases mercury as a by-product,” says Stewart. “And that was a well-known thing.”

Contamination of water and sediment is not the only issue the RAP is concerned with. Their other major concern is habitat loss and degradation. “We’ve lost a lot of fish habitat [due to] the hardened shoreline, the grain elevators, the fact that the shoreline was just developed for industry,” Stewart explains. New waterfront developments have introduced “fish fingers” and other ways of creating more natural habitat, a development partly attributable to the RAP.

Meanwhile, the group is involving Lakehead students wherever possible. Strickert’s fourth-year Water Resource Management course was given the north harbour contamination issue as a case study. The class was broken up into groups and tasked with representing stakeholders like the government, industry, NGOs, and the public. They then were asked to come up with an argument for a particular course of remediation based on satisfying that set of interests.

“They essentially were trying to come up with solutions for problems that, at this point, even the government scientists don’t have solutions for,” says Strickert. “So it was quite a novel thing for them to deal with a very real-world problem in an academic setting.”

While they celebrate these successes, the three men don’t hesitate to admit the enormity of the challenges ahead of us. Stewart’s list of threats to the largest freshwater lake in the world makes for a scary – and lengthy – paragraph.

“We’re getting atmospheric pollutants, we’re getting old pesticides from the ‘70s that are slowly making their way into the lake, we’re getting pharmaceuticals from people dumping into the lake or urinating,” he says.” We’re dealing with climate change and [those sorts of] cumulative problems, and we still haven’t solved these [local] point-source problems. Everybody wants to get onto these big issues, but if we can’t deal with these basic point sources, how are we ever going to feel confident that we’re going to deal with mercury coming from China or India from the atmosphere?”

The trio is far from hopeless, though. Looking at the successes of the RAP so far, its ability to involve the community in environmental decision-making, and its potential for the future, they point to highly ambitious goals – but realistic ones, they say. At the end of our conversation, I asked them to spell out their vision for Superior twenty years from now.

“I think a lot of the health of the ecosystem was related to economic drivers and kind of single-industry economies,” opines Nicholson. “I would like to see us diversify our economies along the north shore a little bit more so we can be a littler more resilient and a little more sustainable in how we develop and how we function.”

Stewart argues that simply coming to acknowledge and accept our legacy of environmental degradation is a good first step.

“It’s part of accepting society,” he says. “Because it is a legacy issue, learning that it’s not some evil company for 100 years secretly polluting the lake. There was an agreement among people who moved here and wanted to build this community. Those are the risks they accepted at the time, and we’re not divorced from them just because we didn’t grow up at that time.”

“In 20 years, I’d like to see the legacies of industrialization cleaned up,” says Strickert. “It’s very feasible within that timeframe. But beyond 20 years, I think that we need a new relationship with the lake, where all of our processes, be they urban, industrial, or what have you, are regenerative – we benefit the lake as much as we get the benefits of the lake, if not more. That’s the long-term goal.”

2011-03-07
News Release: Great Lakes Clean-up

Government of Canada Invests in Great Lakes Clean-up

BURLINGTON, Ont. -- March 7, 2011 -- Canada's Environment Minister Peter Kent today highlighted the Government of Canada's efforts to help clean-up the Great Lakes as part of Canada's Great Lakes Action Plan. In total, the Government is contributing $2,899,500 from its Great Lakes Sustainability Fund to support 43 projects to advance remediation and clean up of Canadian Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

"The Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh surface water on earth and a crucial resource to Canadians," said Minister Kent. "With this investment, the Government of Canada is working in partnership with communities and other levels of government to protect and restore water quality in the Great Lakes."

"The Great Lakes Sustainability Fund is a concrete example of the real action taking place to support initiatives and projects that will ensure that our natural environment is healthy, protected and safe. The clean-up of Hamilton Harbour is a milestone that once achieved, brings us closer to a healthier ecosystem, not just locally, but for the benefit of all Canadians," said the Member of Parliament for Burlington, Mike Wallace.

"Hamilton Harbour is a cornerstone for the local community, and a significant contributor to the Great Lakes ecosystem. With this funding, we are able to partner closely with the Government of Canada and other partners towards achievements and outcomes essential for determining progress towards Hamilton Harbour's delisting targets," said Tÿs Theÿsmeÿer, Head of Natural Lands with the Royal Botanical Gardens.

The Royal Botanical Gardens' (RBG) Grindstone Creek and Cootes Paradise Rehabilitation Project is one of the six projects to receive funding for remediation and clean-up of the Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern. Through this project, essential fish and wildlife habitat and water quality in RBG sanctuaries will continue to improve as a result of activities such as the elimination of damaging effects of carp, the reconnection of isolated habitats and improvement of inflowing water. Among many achievements, RBG hopes to plant approximately 6500 native plants in project areas; monitor water quality at 14 sites throughout the field season; and coordinate public workshops.

This year, funding has been provided for work in 11 of the remaining 14 Areas of Concern, including Hamilton Harbour. The Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern is a 2150 hectare embayment located at the western tip of Lake Ontario and includes several urban centres such as Burlington and Hamilton. It was identified as a "degraded geographic area" because of water quality resulting in undesirable algae and beach closings, sediment contamination, impairments to fish and wildlife populations and their habitat and restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption.

The Great Lakes Sustainability Fund (GLSF), which is administered by Environment Canada, works in partnership with other agencies and local community stakeholders to advance Remedial Action Plans that have been developed for each of Canada's remaining Areas of Concern within the Great Lakes Basin. Funding is provided to initiatives that meet specific criteria and that serve to restore the environment. Such projects include fish and wildlife habitat restoration, contaminated sediment remediation, landowner stewardship, and control of pollution from municipal wastewaters and rural runoff.

More information about the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund is available at http://www.ec.gc.ca/raps-pas/ .

Related documents:Great Lakes Sustainability Fund [Backgrounder 2011-03-07]
Contributions Under The Great Lakes Sustainability Fund (GLSF) For Toronto Region Area of Concern Projects 2010-2011 [Backgrounder 2011-03-07]

For more information, please contact:Veronica Petrò

Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of the Environment
819-997-1441
Environment Canada
Media Relations
819-934-8008
1-888-908-8008

Stay Informed, Stay Connected with Environment Canada Social Media Tools

2011-02-28
Great Lakes as Economic Driver

Study: More than 1.5 million jobs, $62 billion in wages directly tied to Great Lakes

Michigan Sea Grant Two Page Report

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—More than 1.5 million U.S. jobs are directly connected to the Great Lakes, generating $62 billion in wages annually, according to a new analysis by Michigan Sea Grant at the University of Michigan.

The analysis, released today, is based on 2009 employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and represents a conservative estimate of direct employment related to the Great Lakes in several industries, according to the authors, Michigan Sea Grant's assistant director, Jennifer Read, and research specialist Lynn Vaccaro.

"Many people don't realize how large an impact the Great Lakes have across many large sectors of this region's economy," Read said. "The total number of jobs and the percentage of jobs by industry illustrate just how critical the Great Lakes are to the region. For example, there are more than 525,000 Great Lakes-related jobs in Michigan alone."

A collaborative effort of U-M and Michigan State University, Michigan Sea Grant is part of the NOAA-National Sea Grant network of more than 30 university-based programs.

The two-page economic analysis updates a more extensive Michigan Sea Grant report issued in 2009. That report focused on Michigan's economic ties to the lakes. The update provides figures for all eight states that border the Great Lakes.

The new report looks at the number of jobs connected to the Great Lakes by state and by industry. According to the report, Michigan has the highest number of jobs that depend on the lakes (525,886), followed by Illinois (380,786), Ohio (178,621), Wisconsin (173,969), New York (157,547), Indiana (54,397), Pennsylvania (25,479) and Minnesota (11,877).

Manufacturing was responsible for 66 percent of the Great Lakes-linked jobs, followed by tourism and recreation (14 percent), shipping (8 percent), agriculture (8 percent), science and engineering (2 percent), utilities (1 percent) and mining (1 percent).

Great Lakes vessels transport an average of 163 million tons of cargo each year. Lake vessels can ship goods three times more efficiently than rail and 10 times more efficiently than trucks. This transportation system sustains manufacturing and steel production, while the clean, abundant Great Lakes waters attract chemical and pharmaceutical companies to the region.

Historically, access to the lakes resulted in a concentration of technical skill, transportation and manufacturing infrastructure. In the coming decades, growth will be less linked to traditional manufacturing and more focused on quality of life and quality of the region's natural resources.

"The quality of our lives in Michigan, and the region, is largely defined by the Great Lakes. They provide us sustenance, livelihoods, recreation and a sense of place," said Jim Diana, director of Michigan Sea Grant and a professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment.

"Unless we continue to protect them and do even more to restore them, we will lose the ability to attract and retain new businesses and talented workers," Diana said. "Restoration of the lakes is crucial to our future."

Great Lakes beaches, resort communities and natural areas support a vibrant recreation and tourism industry and enhance the quality of life for residents. More than 4 million recreational vessels are registered in the region, and people spend nearly $16 billion annually on boating trips and equipment.

Many take advantage of the region's Great Lakes-dependent natural resources, including more than 9.2 million anglers, 4.6 million hunters and 23.2 million bird watchers each year.

The calculations in the Michigan Sea Grant economic summary are based on the most recent annual estimates for county employment from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages and its Occupational Employment Statistics program.

Michigan Sea Grant helps foster economic growth and protects Michigan's coastal/Great Lakes resources through education, research and outreach. Support for the production of the economic report was provided through the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute at the University of Michigan.

For more information, visit: http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu

Contact: Jim Erickson, (734) 647-1842, ericksn@umich.edu

2011-02-07
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Funding

Great Lakes Commission urges Congress to sustain funding for Great Lakes restoration

Ann Arbor, Mich. - In a letter this week to the Great Lakes Congressional Delegation, Great Lakes Commission Chair James Tierney urged the delegation to sustain appropriations for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in the FY 2011 federal budget. “Now, more than ever, we need support from our congressional delegation to help us leverage the Great Lakes to advance our region’s economic and environmental vitality,” Tierney said.

The GLRI is a five-year, $2.2 billion program to implement a comprehensive restoration plan for the Great Lakes. The Initiative was funded at $475 million in its first year and the President requested $300 million for the current fiscal year, FY 2011. As Congress moves to finalize FY 2011 appropriations, the Commission notes that sustaining GLRI funding is essential to enable the region to respond to numerous threats, including Asian carp.

“Nearly 300 restoration projects are underway and hundreds more await funding,” wrote Tierney, emphasizing that “the GLRI is putting people to work and revitalizing an economic engine for shoreline communities.” In the long term, Tierney noted that “sustaining funding for the GLRI is essential to maintaining our collective efforts to stimulate economic growth and invest in the largest freshwater resource in the world.”

The Great Lakes Commission highlighted specific activities that depend on continued funding for the GLRI, including critical actions needed to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes; large-scale cleanup projects in four Great Lakes toxic hotspots; and efforts to prevent sewage discharges, toxic algal blooms and polluted runoff that threaten public water supplies and recreational beaches.

Great Lakes Commission Executive Director Tim Eder said “the restoration work being carried out under the GLRI not only creates jobs now, it contributes to our long-term strategy to use the Great Lakes as a foundation to stimulate economic development and revitalize waterfront communities.” Eder added: “The Great Lakes are an important part of our region’s economic infrastructure.”

The GLRI is implementing a comprehensive restoration plan completed in 2005 and based on priorities established by the governors of the Great Lakes states. A detailed study prepared by the Brookings Institution in 2007 projected that fully implementing this plan would generate $80-$100 billion in short and long-term benefits.

http://www.glc.org/announce/11/02funding.html

2011-01-18
Great Lakes Canada-Ontario Agreement Extended

The Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem (COA) is a long-standing framework through which the governments of Canada and Ontario work together and with other partners and Aboriginal Communities to restore, protect and conserve the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. COA helps the Government of Canada deliver on its commitments under the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). The governments of Canada and the U.S. are currently in the process of negotiating amendments to the GLWQA.

The current COA was signed on June 25, 2007 with an initial expiry date of March 31, 2010. The Agreement was extended for one year, after public comment, as an interim measure to allow the federal government more time to negotiate amendments to the GLWQA. It is now set to expire on March 31, 2011. Because the GLWQA amendment process is ongoing and cannot be completed prior to the scheduled expiry of COA, the governments of Ontario and Canada are proposing a further extension of the term of COA through to June 24th, 2012.

Canada and Ontario will continue to collaborate with partners on key long-term COA priorities like cleaning up Great Lakes Areas of Concern, making progress on protecting, restoring, and conserving native species and habitats, and reducing the amount of harmful pollutants going into the Lakes. As part of the additional extension, Canada and Ontario will continue to advance progress and achievements being made on the current COA commitments. Through the extension process, Canada and Ontario are also considering the following amendments to update some specific commitments under the current COA:

Harmful Pollutants – Canada and Ontario will share information from their respective chemical management programs to improve joint coordination of efforts in reducing harmful pollutants in the Great Lakes Basin.
Nearshore Framework – Canada and Ontario will develop options and engage on a Canadian framework to assess and protect the aquatic ecosystem health of Great Lakes' nearshore.
Stewardship Activities – Canada and Ontario will undertake an evaluation of the environmental and economic effectiveness of agricultural non-point source best management practices, including an assessment of actions at the farm and watershed scale.
Implement Binational Cooperative Monitoring Programs – Canada and Ontario will undertake an intensive monitoring year for Lake Superior; and coordinate Canadian and U.S. federal, Ontario, and state monitoring and research initiatives based on research and monitoring priorities.
Implement the Aquatic Invasive Species Complete Prevention Plan – Canada and Ontario will initiate the implementation of the “Aquatic Invasive Species Complete Prevention Plan” to address aquatic invasive species issues in Lake Superior.
Spills Prevention and Response – Canada and Ontario will strengthen their combined effectiveness for spill prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, including reviewing capabilities, roles and responsibilities. This will include assessing opportunities for enhancements to capabilities for responding to significant incidents or spills to air, land or water that could potentially impact the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem.

On behalf of the Ministries of the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, I would like to draw your attention to the Environmental Registry if you have any comments to submit. You may access the Proposal Notice at: http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?noticeId=MTExNjMy&statusId=MTY3NDU2&language=en

If you have any questions, please contact:

Carolyn O’Neill
Manager, Great Lakes Office
Land and Water Policy Branch
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
(416) 314-7833
Carolyn.O’Neill@Ontario.ca

2010-11-25
Lake Superior Evening

We would like to invite you to a celebration of Lake Superior culture. Join us on Tuesday December 7th, 7:30 – 10:30 pm, at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery (1080 Keewatin Street, Thunder Bay, ON.)

With musical guest Ian Gill performing locally inspired folk music. Guest speakers Ryan Leblanc (Deep Sea Diver) and Jim Dyson (Commercial Fisherman). Featuring art exhibits; ‘Water as Metaphor’, an artistic impression of the world’s most valuable resource, and ‘Don’t Eat the Fish’, insights on the politics of urban life, identity, and belonging.
Come listen to the stories and sounds that have shaped our past and continue to inspire us to call Lake Superior our home.

Please RSVP to...

Aaron A. Nicholson
Remedial Action Plan Coordinator
Nipigon Bay & Thunder Bay
RC-3000, Lakehead University
955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON
Canada P7B 5E1
Ph: 807-343-8514

Email: aaron.nicholson@lakeheadu.ca

VIEW EVENT POSTER

2010-11-12
Mercury cleanup hurdles still exist

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2010-11-12
Lake Superior RAP: A Call to Action

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/editorial/letters/2010-11-05/call-action

2010-06-10
Terrace Bay Pulp fined

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2010-05-14
City-wide creek-side clean-up

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2010-04-21
Work begins on secondary treatment plant: Nipigon