Two Great Lakes Toxic Hotspots Restored
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that two U.S. Areas of Concern, Deer Lake in the Lake Superior basin and White Lake in the Lake Michigan basin, have been removed from the binational list of toxic hotspots that were targeted for cleanup in the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. After decades during which only one U.S. Area of Concern was delisted, federal agencies have accelerated cleanup actions during the past five years by using Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding.
Great Lakes Agencies Discuss Contingencies
Hosted by the US Coastguard, about three dozen Great Lakes agency leaders from the U.S. and Canada participated in a binational multi-agency meeting, at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, to discuss various emergency preparedness and security issues concerning the Great Lakes region. The meeting, titled “Strategic Surprise: Sharing Solutions for the Great Lakes,” featured a presentation by homeland security expert Dr. Stephen E. Flynn, co-director of the Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security at Northeastern University, and facilitated discussions by Dr. Joe DiRenzo III, the deputy operational planning and anti-terrorism coordinator for Coast Guard Atlantic Area. The event was hosted by Rear Adm. Michael N. Parks, 9th Coast Guard District commander.
Ballast Water Inspections Improve, GL/Seaway
A new U.S. government report released March 13 showed a notable increase in the number of ballast tank inspections of oceangoing commercial ships entering the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System from outside U.S. or Canadian waters. Ship operators also improved their compliance with ballast water requirements in 2008 compared with 2007, the report says. The 2008 Summary of Great Lakes Seaway Ballast Water Working Group released by the U.S. Coast Guard examined the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Seaway System ballast water ship inspection program. The report finds that 99 percent of all oceangoing ships bound for the Great Lakes Seaway System ports from outside U.S. or Canadian waters in 2008 received a ballast tank exam, compared with 74 percent in 2007.
