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Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
Common POPs
DDT was a manufactured chemical mainly used as a pesticide on agricultural crops. DDT attacks the nervous system, and many animals, such as birds, died as a result of widespread spraying on fields and trees. Because of the damage to wildlife and the potential harm to human health, DDT was banned in 1972 in the United States. However, the chemical still persists today in soil and water contamination and in the fatty tissues of fish, birds and other animals.
Dioxins are often formed during the chlorination process at paper mills and waste and drinking water treatment plants; there are also released into the air by solid waste and industrial incinerators. Dioxins, like DDT, accumulate in fatty tissues of animals, and have been linked to skin disease, liver damage and cancer in humans.
PCBs have various applications and are poisonous environmental pollutants, which tend to accumulate in animal tissues. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TOSCA, 1976) banned PCBs but, due to the longevity of PCBs, we're still feeling their effects today.
Mercury is a metal that is naturally found in the earth's crust. However, when mercury enters water it can be converted into methyl mercury, a poisonous substance that causes neurological problems and death in wildlife and humans. Mercury is often found in scientific instruments, such as thermometers.
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