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Among them, microplastics plastic from straws, bottles and other items that break down into tiny pieces are being consumed by bottom-dwelling organisms and fish. About 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes each year, most of it in Lake Michigan, according to the Rochester Institute of Technology. Chemicals, toxic pollutants, pesticides and heavy metals entered the Great Lakes; they flowed from thousands of factory discharge pipes and sewage plants, seeped from dumping and disposal sites, escaped from smokestacks, and ran off millions of acres of cities and . Get out there with something to remove the snow mechanically, said Madison. So Great, So Fragile: Great Lakes, Lake Michigan pollution NextCycle Michigan has selected 14 teams to participate in its accelerator tracks focused on improving recycling supply chains (RSC) and supporting intergovernmental initiatives and public-private partnerships (I2P3). (Joel Bissell | MLive.com), Children pick up plastic debris on North Beach in South Haven, MI. Marshes are periodically flooded with water and have vegetation adapted to wet soil. Private septic concerns were just one of the issues outlined in the report. The Indiana facility's spill interrupted drinking water processing and forced the closure of. Course When it followed its natural course, the North and South Branches of the Chicago River converged at Wolf Point to form the main stem, which jogged southward from the present course of the river to avoid a baymouth bar, entering Lake Michigan at about the level of present-day Madison Street. The large lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. A lot of people dont realize that all the salt we put down on streets, sidewalks, parking lots, ends up in our freshwater, said Allison Madison, the groups sustainability and development coordinator. Kosuths own research sampled tap water in several cities in the Great Lakes region and also sampled beer. We have lots of important problems and they cant all be at the top of the list. Candace May, Lake County outreach coordinator for Faith in Place, an environmental justice nonprofit that aims to bring together people of diverse faiths, said seeing Waukegan Harbor finally delisted will hopefully mitigate some harm that's been done to neighboring communities of color. Lake Michigan, third largest of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one lying wholly within the United States. "But sometimes, during storms or, or winter snow snowfall and then spring snow melt, some of those nutrients from the fertilizer come into the adjacent water bodies in ditches, small streams and even entire larger rivers, and then they head downstream. Great Lakes. The AOCs include the Grand Calumet River emptying into Lake Michigan just southeast of Chicago, where an industrial menagerie of steel mills, oil refineries, pharmaceutical manufactures and more contaminated the sediment with PAHs, PCBs, oil and grease, and heavy metals. Where to find wetlands along Lake Michigan and around Milwaukee In general, people tend to respond more fiercely if they think something very directly affects their health. Environment 3 Chicago-area oil refineries that dump toxic chemicals into Lake Michigan and other waterways are among worst polluters in US, study shows By Michael Hawthorne Chicago Tribune . In all, the Great Lakes Legacy Act has meantthe cleanup in the U.S. of 4.3 million cubic yards of sediment, with $362 million in federal funds spent on cleanup. Yet here we were in the middle of the largest economic expansion in world history, Davis recalls thinking while at the witness table. Inland lakes are valuable ecological resources and provide tremendous aesthetic, economic, and recreational value for the people of Michigan. Back from the brink: Michigan's bald eagle population soaring once All Rights Reserved. January 28, 2021 As advocates push for clarity within Evanston's Climate Action and Resilience Plan, local researchers and advocates are raising alarm about the growing social and ecological. They want the public to put pressure on businesses that make and sell single-use plastic products. Courtesy Greg Cole. This foam can be naturally occurring foam or foam formed because of environmental pollution.There are many things that can be introduced into a lake or stream that may cause foam to form. Landfills are harsh conditions for plastic and accelerate breakdown, say researchers. We know that plastic pollution never goes away, right, it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, Caddick said. It was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency. What to know about wetlands and where you can find them along Lake Michigan Theres a tremendous amount of salt going into the lake each year, said Dugan. Non-point-source pollution including agricultural and urban runoff create toxic algal blooms and other health and ecological threats, as discussed in the next blog in this series. The findings come as the state has been making significant strides to reduce salt use on roads to curb pollution. Great Lakes - Lake Michigan | Michigan Evanston Environment Board member Michelle Redfield said a ban on single-use plastics is being considered at the city level, but not officially on the citys agenda. 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In Evanston, reducing plastic pollution is part of CARPs zero-waste goal by 2050, but the city has yet to take concrete steps in that direction. Read the rest of the series here. Youd need to comb the whole beach with a sifter to try to get it all, said Walker, a salesperson at Great Lakes Wine & Spirits who was volunteering with an Adopt-A-Beach cleanup July 28. Not only is it unsightly trash on Great Lakes beaches, but the plastic can hurt wildlife. Areas of concern have received a share of annual funding, but, Jodrey said, "It's expensive to clean up legacy pollution. I think its because of the visuals that are associated with oceanic plastic pollution. Some fleeces and other clothing are made of plastic and shed microfibers. Tributaries like the Kalamazoo River transport significant quantities of plastics to the Great Lakes although the actual amount that makes it to the lakes versus what sinks into river sediments is still being studied. Plastic microbeads, wrappers, pellets, and foam were also found all across southern Lake Michigan. More than 7,200 pellets were found in the sand along the shoreline. The Great Lakes hold 20% of the world's fresh water, and about 85% of North America's. J.B. Pritzker signed a law mandating the state EPA examine the impacts of plastics in water on human health. White Lake, Michigan, in Muskegon County near Lake Michigan, was deeply contaminated from years of dumping by a tannery and chemical company. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) often receives complaints about foam on a river or lake. "I think it's not going to fix everything but it's a step in the right direction," May said. Now nonpoint source pollution runoff from fields, livestock operations and cities is the most troubling. "Fertilizer runoff is an enormous problem and for the most part not regulated under the Clean Water Act," said Tim Folger, National Geographic Contributing Writer. The problem is waste, said Hoellein. Cleaning up toxic sediment is a laborious and expensive job, involving expansive testing to find where pollution is worst, then physically removing massive amounts of contaminated sediment, drying it and transporting it to and storing it in secure facilities. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. It could have some repercussions that were not fully aware of yet.. The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan's NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. Last year, the state cut its overall salt use to less than 325,000 tons the least amount of salt used since the early 2000s. Meanwhile, studies show the volume of plastic in the lakes is getting worse. NextCycle Michigan selects 14 teams for program to grow state's 68 Lake Michigan Pollution Premium High Res Photos PFAS and microplastics in drinking water drive home that our dependence on the Great Lakes doesnt stop at the waters edge. You can't make a living on a farm without applying fertilizer to get healthy corn, or soybeans, or whatever you're growing, healthy yields," she said. Ryan Baker stood on his friend Herb Theodores fishing boat and shook his head at the patch of trash clumped together in the Kalamazoo River log jam a few feet away. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Research has also shown that microplastic fibers can spread through the air, depositing in remote or rural areas that lack concentrated sources. At Duck Lake, there were thousands of pieces of plastic ranging from shopping bags, to plastic forks and spoons and drinking straws. Then, July rains came and washed more trash from several urban creeks and an upstream homeless encampment into the river. At the state level, Illinois representatives proposed the Plastic-Free Water for Illinois platform in 2020, a comprehensive package of legislation that would ban plastic foam, reduce the use of plastic serviceware at restaurants and tax plastic bags. This goal became especially important as the regions heavy industry was declining and emerging economies recreation, tourism, and cleaner industries like advanced technology, education and health care depended on rivers and lakes as amenities to attract people. Short-term spikes in particle pollution that last from a few hours to a few days can kill. Last year Illinois Gov. 5-10% is from air, and less than 1% is from water. Its our waste management systems and our wastewater systems and, ultimately, probably, our consumer culture.. Episode 50, 7/24/23 Persistent Pollution: Researchers Investigate the key to E. coli Bacteria Survival in Lake Michigan Beach Sand and Water Transcript Sea Grant-funded researchers Sandra McLellan and Gyaneshwar Prasad, both with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, are building on previous research to find ways to decomplicate beach managers' lives by determining what factors could limit Michigan - Water Pollution - The New York Times These plastics can absorb chemicals, so consuming them passes the chemicals up the food chain. In the Great Lakes, the big number is 22 million pounds entering the lakes annually a 2016 figure that study authors say was developed based on population estimates around each lake and modeling of how much plastic waste certain zip codes produce. on July 28 2021. Inland Lakes Monitoring - State of Michigan According to a 2015 study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, the estimated the overall cost of beach cleanups, storm drain devices, street sweeping, waterway cleanup, and public anti-littering campaigns could amount to $400 million each year in the region. If we could successfully tackle decades of contamination that happened before society was even aware of the dangers, then we can address threats emerging in real time. Study finds more than 1M tons of salt is flowing into Lake Michigan Microplastics have even been found in cormorant chicks who get them through regurgitated fish from their parents. Microplastic enters wastewater when synthetic fabrics like fleece jackets shed fibers in the washing machine or, when landfill leachate is treated at water reclamation plants. Receive our news straight to your inbox. Indiana steel mill fined $3M in Lake Michigan tributary fish kill They describe the penalty as the largest ever under the Clean Air Act for pollution from a structure. Spills and Sewage: Southern Lake Michigan grapples with legacy Its trash. PFAS Foam on Lakes and Streams - State of Michigan But the process was still frustratingly slow. In its early days, the Lake Michigan Federation focused heavily on the creation and implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Even in our current highly polarized political environment, the initiative has continued to enjoy strong bipartisan support from Congress, with funding of more than $3 billion since inception. A new pollution worry for Lake Michigan: Tiny plastic fibers Corporation pollution was another. Last year, the state used a record 11.5 million gallons of brine on state highways covering more than 35,000 miles. As part of the bipartisan infrastructure plan, the additional $1 billion in funding across five years was included for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program implemented in 2010 that has since supported more than 6,000 projects to address problems from industrial pollution and habitat loss to toxic algae blooms and invasive species. pollution in the world's lakes can be worse than in oceans July 16 2023, by David Hamilton, Deniz zkundakci, Justin Brookes and . The lakes are home to a vibrant local economy of tourism, recreation, and industry. 3 Chicago-area oil refineries that dump toxic chemicals into Lake "The estimate is about 22 million pounds per year of plastic, which I know sounds like a lot of plastic," Hoellein said. In 2018, Canadian researchers examined 66 beaches on all five lakes. In contrast, glass and metals can be recycled indefinitely. By ABC7 Chicago Digital. Water Quality and Pollution Control in Michigan Sections 303 (d), 305 There's definitely a lot of wildlife rescue centers that repeatedly get calls for wildlife that may be entangled in fishing line or plastic rings, but for the small stuff, the microplastic debris, the primary focus there has been on the wildlife eating the microplastic debris, said Sarah Lowe, the Great Lakes regional coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Marine Debris Program. Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. Communities around Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton, Wausau and Superior are now using brine or other options to clear roads. This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, collect data for ads personalisation and provide content from third parties. Officials said the refinery on Lake Michigan near Chicago violated pollution limits. A coastal wetland along Lake Michigan in Sheboygan County. More funding, more flexibility and other changes were needed to jumpstart the cleanups and keep them going long into the future, Davis and others argued. Wetlands are also often referred to as nature's kidneys, filtering nutrients and sediment out of the water before it winds up in larger waterbodies. But new threats are emerging, calling for new solutions. The Break Free Act would be absolutely devastating to manufacturing jobs and Americas overall economy just as we begin to rebound from the effects of COVID-19, Tony Radoszewski, Plastic Industry Association president, said in March. As for microfibers in tap water, treatment plants are not yet set up to filter out all these microscopic threads of plastic. The New York Times has compiled data . By the 1960s, as a result, the waterways were also laden with toxic waste, much of it settling into the sediment, from steel mills, factories, tanneries, breweries, paper mills, coal plants, and countless other industries. "So, we come out here with tapes you know where we lay down an area that we know the dimensions of we collect all the litter in those places, we will soon, or sift through the sand or sediment and looking for micro plastic, and we return those to the lab where we do categorization to know what kinds of plastic we're dealing with what sizes, shapes, weights, all of these measurements are really just designed to tell us the beginning question which is how much is here," said Hoellein. Plastic packaging is used to prevent retail theft. Maine and Oregon each passed bills this summer to force producers to manage and recycle more plastic waste. The sky is blue and the Lake Michigan water is beautiful, but its windy and a bit chilly. Posted by Wisconsin Public Radio | Jan 25, 2022. The major thing is plastic. Lawmakers announced a bill this spring that would prohibit discharge of nurdle pellets and other pre-production plastic into waterways. Torch Lake AOC | US EPA "The results in southern Lake Michigan really drive home the need for more research on plastic pollution in the Great Lakes," said Laura Kammin, IISG pollution prevention program specialist and part of the 2013 sampling team. near Toronto, and in Rossport, Ont. The plastics industry runs a voluntary program called Operation Clean Sweep. The health of groundwater, Michigan's sixth Great Lake The industrial dumping ground was found to house toxic PCBs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, along with heavy metals including mercury and lead, and oily muck. For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines). Despite all of their power, majesty, and importance, the Great Lakes are not impervious to harm. Nearly 22 million pounds enter the Great Lakes each year more than half of which pours into Lake Michigan, according to estimates calculated by the Rochester Institute of Technology.. They're a resource we must protect. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1449240174198-2'); }); The additional funds for Great Lakes restoration from the bipartisan infrastructure plan will largely bankroll work at some of the most contaminated sites throughout the region, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday. Their presence cant be blamed on litterbugs because consumers dont touch them. "We actually can make a difference and I think by tackling it one piece at a time by sort of keeping together and making sure everyone's included. Final Approval of the 2022 303 (d) list was received from the USEPA on June 14, 2022. Unfortunately, Holland is far from the only Great Lakes town with a beach awash in plastic. Once I started looking at the ground, I started seeing it everywhere..

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