House OKs plan for Great Lakes water to stay put
StarTribune.com
By STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
Last update: September 23, 2008 - 10:39 PM
The U.S. House ratified a compact Tuesday to prevent the diversion of water from the Great Lakes, one of the world's largest sources of fresh water.
Eight Great Lakes states negotiated the compact after more than four years of talks involving business, scientific and environmental interests. Supporters said the protections against diverting water were needed to guard the lakes from future depletion.
The compact, approved on a vote of 390-25, now moves to President Bush, who has said he will sign it. The Senate approved the compact in August.
Under the pact, countries or remote states are barred from tapping into the lakes from their natural drainage basin with rare exceptions. It also requires states to regulate their own large-scale water use and promote conservation. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have enacted similar measures for the lakes.
Minnesota was the first Great Lakes state to ratify the compact in February 2007.
Alison Wolf, legislative director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said she was delighted that the House passed the measure.
"It's absolutely vital to draw that line in the sand," she said. "We do not want our water taken to other parts of the U.S."
Kent Lokkesmoe, water division director for Minnesota's DNR, was the state's representative during the interstate discussions that began in 1999 in reaction to a plan to haul Lake Superior water to Asia in tankers. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment at first approved a permit for the commercial venture, but soon revoked it because of strong opposition.
Lokkesmoe said the law is well worth the wait. "It provides a better and more understandable protection for all of the Great Lakes," he said.
link to news story
StarTribune.com
By STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
Last update: September 23, 2008 - 10:39 PM
The U.S. House ratified a compact Tuesday to prevent the diversion of water from the Great Lakes, one of the world's largest sources of fresh water.
Eight Great Lakes states negotiated the compact after more than four years of talks involving business, scientific and environmental interests. Supporters said the protections against diverting water were needed to guard the lakes from future depletion.
The compact, approved on a vote of 390-25, now moves to President Bush, who has said he will sign it. The Senate approved the compact in August.
Under the pact, countries or remote states are barred from tapping into the lakes from their natural drainage basin with rare exceptions. It also requires states to regulate their own large-scale water use and promote conservation. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have enacted similar measures for the lakes.
Minnesota was the first Great Lakes state to ratify the compact in February 2007.
Alison Wolf, legislative director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said she was delighted that the House passed the measure.
"It's absolutely vital to draw that line in the sand," she said. "We do not want our water taken to other parts of the U.S."
Kent Lokkesmoe, water division director for Minnesota's DNR, was the state's representative during the interstate discussions that began in 1999 in reaction to a plan to haul Lake Superior water to Asia in tankers. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment at first approved a permit for the commercial venture, but soon revoked it because of strong opposition.
Lokkesmoe said the law is well worth the wait. "It provides a better and more understandable protection for all of the Great Lakes," he said.
link to news story
STORY UPDATE
Senate cuts funding to Great Lakes Legacy Act
by Ken Kolker The Grand Rapids Press
Friday September 26, 2008, 3:06 PM
GRAND RAPIDS -- The U.S. Senate drastically cut funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act when it passed its version of the budget Friday, but it will be enough to continue cleaning toxic hot spots in the region, said U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids (pictured below).
by Ken Kolker The Grand Rapids Press
Friday September 26, 2008, 3:06 PM
GRAND RAPIDS -- The U.S. Senate drastically cut funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act when it passed its version of the budget Friday, but it will be enough to continue cleaning toxic hot spots in the region, said U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids (pictured below).
Ehlers, whose support was critical to passing the original act in 2002, had hoped the Senate would approve the same $150 million funding level approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 19.Instead, the Senate approved $54 million a year for two years, according to U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, a co-chairman of the Great Lakes Task Force.
Ehlers said he expects Congress will accept the lower amount without an attempt at compromise.
"We'll have to accept that," he said. "It's more than what we've been getting the last several years. Next year, we'll start working on a different bill with additional funding."
The Legacy Act was the second big win this week for the Great Lakes region. The House on Tuesday approved the Great Lakes Compact, which outlaws siphoning of the basin from outside the region.
The Legacy Act has never been fully funded at its authorized level of $50 billion a year, but has resulted in significant cleanups, including a $14.2 million project to clean Ruddiman Creek, which leads to Muskegon Lake, and projects that removed contaminated sediments from the Detroit River in Trenton and St. Mary's River in Sault Ste. Marie.
The U.S. and Canadian governments have identified 43 toxic hot spots, including 26 in U.S. waters and five shared between the two countries.
They include 80 miles of the Kalamazoo River leading to where it empties into Lake Michigan in Saugatuck, polluted by releases of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) mostly from paper mills.
Also on the list is White Lake in Muskegon County, with pollution that migrated from a chemical company.
Also on the list is White Lake in Muskegon County, with pollution that migrated from a chemical company.
