What is the US doing to address the Great Lakes?

Priorities: contaminated sewer overflow...invasive species...toxic contaminants in sediments ... protection of drinking water... economic impact of tourism, fisheries, wildlife and other industries relying on Great Lakes

A Congressional Legislative Hearing before the Committee on Environment and Public Works was held July 16, 2014.  To track these bills: Library of Congress bill tracking website.   

• The Great Lakes Water Protection Act, S. 571, addresses sewer overflows. The measure, authored by Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., would ban the sewer overflows that pour contaminated water into the lakes. After 2033, counties, cities and other political entities

West Spit Braddock Bay NY

would face increasingly steep fines for overflows. The bill would also mandate standard methods for publicly reporting sewer overflows. At present, the Great Lakes states don't have a uniform approach now for getting such news out promptly. There's an identical bill in the House, H.R. 1185.
• The Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act, S. 1153, would speed up the federal government's review process when it considers whether to ban the importation of animals and plants. Current screening takes more than four years to complete. In the Illinois River, where Asian carp infestation is extreme, 90 percent of the river’s biomass is now Asian carpThe measure is authored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. The House version of the legislation, H.R. 996, lists U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, as a co-sponsor. For more: NY Invasive Species.
• The Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act, S. 1232. The measure, authored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and co-sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, an Obama administration program which has provided $300 million a year for the last four years for programs to clean up the lakes. It would also reauthorize the Great Lakes National Program Office, the main Environmental Protection Agency office for Great Lakes matters, and the Great Lakes Legacy Program, which removes contaminated sediment from polluted areas. The bill also would authorize the Federal Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, which pulls together different federal agencies to help the Great Lakes.  To see where the money goes in the Rochester NY area: Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects at Braddock Bay, area beaches and wetlands.  

Among those testifying was Policy Director of Healing Our Waters the Great Lakes Coalition: testimony is available at the National Parks Conservation Association site. The Great Lakes Coalition was formed in 2004. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is led by the National Wildlife Federation and the National Parks Conservation Association. The Coalition has staff in Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor, Michigan, Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois.  From the Sandusky, Ohio Register, July 18, 2014.

L. Ontario Waterkeeper ~ Canada, Ontario and the shared 'Lake of Shining Waters'

How much commitment has Canada made to Lake Ontario?  They are worried according to this recent article "Lake of Shame...Ontario's Pollution Problem"  especially about Toronto's old and polluting sewer system. "Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world: 19,529 square kilometres, 1,146 kilometres of shoreline, 244 metres at its deepest.  Which is one reason it’s not a total cesspool, experts say.  Its size and depth help dissipate the bacteria, which our drinking-water filtration plants kill off with chlorine. But what about the agricultural runoff? The sewage? The industrial sludge? The nuclear waste? The pesticides? Herbicides? Road salt? The toxic by-products of burning medical and municipal waste? The engine oil you poured down the storm sewer? The leftover prescription pills you flushed down the toilet?" . . . From The Star July 8, 2011.

Quick Facts about L. Ontario from Canadian perspective Lake Ontario provides drinking water to 9-million people [in Canada]. The entire Great Lakes system provides water for 30 million people. More Canadians live in the Lake Ontario watershed than any other watershed in the country. The lake never completely freezes because it is so deep. The surface of Lake Ontario has frozen over at least five times, the last time in 1934. Lake Ontario has a “seiche”, a natural rhythmic motion as water sloshes back and forth every 11 minutes. Glaciers formed the lake between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago. The lake is one of the five Great Lakes, which 21% of the world’s surface freshwater. Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world. All Great Lakes water flows through Lake Ontario before it flows to the Atlantic Ocean. Water takes about 6 years to flow through Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River Lake Ontario is the most threatened Great Lake. Niagara Falls pours into Lake Ontario. Iroquois and Huron First Nations lived on the lake for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. “Lake Ontario” means “lake of shining waters”. Commercial fishing peaked in the late 1880s; 130 years later, government and NGOs are still working to restore the lake’s native fish populations. Lake Ontario is partially in Canada, partially in the USA. There used to be 150 species of fish in the Great Lakes. The most common fish in Lake Ontario used to be the American Eel. There are over 100 beaches on Lake Ontario.

For more: the Canadian Waterkeeper website www.waterkeeper.ca . . . . And more from CREATE Great Lakes.

Blue-green cyanobacteria algae and swimming, drinking water

What does the NYS Department of Health say about the algae blooms in the bays and ponds along the southern shore of New York State? "Blue-green algae, technically known as cyanobacteria, are microscopic organisms that are naturally present in lakes and streams. They usually are present in low numbers. Blue-green algae can become very abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed surface water that receives a lot of sunlight. When this occurs, they can form blooms that discolor the water or produce floating rafts or scums on the surface of the water."

"What are the potential health effects from drinking or coming in contact with water containing blue-green algae?"

"Some blue-green algae produce toxins that could pose a health risk to people and animals when they are exposed to them in large enough quantities. Health effects could occur when surface scums or water containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins are swallowed, through contact with the skin or when airborne droplets containing toxins are inhaled while swimming, bathing or showering.

Consuming water containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins has been associated with effects on the liver and on the nervous system in laboratory animals, pets, livestock and people. Livestock and pet deaths have occurred when animals consumed very large amounts of accumulated algal scum from along shorelines.

Direct contact or breathing airborne droplets containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins during swimming or showering can cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose and throat and inflammation in the respiratory tract.  Recreational contact, such as swimming, and household contact, such as bathing or showering, with water not visibly affected by a bluegreen algae bloom is not expected to cause health effects. However, some individuals could be especially sensitive to even low levels of algal toxins and might experience mild symptoms such as skin, eye or throat irritation or allergic reactions." -- -- posted by Barbara

http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/bluegreenalgae.htm