Great Lakes Law

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is the boldly titled new book from Dan Egan, science reporter extraordinaire at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Egan’s focus is squarely on invasive species and it shapes the book’s outlook on the health and future of the Great Lakes. He could have retold the story of clear-cutting and overfishing, industrial pollution and rivers on fire, which thanks to public outcry and the environmental laws of 1970s, is... Read more →

Federal court rejects weak EPA general permit for ballast water pollution, agency must do a better job protecting Great Lakes from invasive species

The EPA’s Vessel General Permit for discharging ballast water has been rejected by a federal appeals court (opinion here) for failing to adequately protect the Great Lakes and other waters from invasive species. Ballast water discharges are subject to the federal Clean Water Act and the EPA’s prior rule exempting this source of pollution from regulation was previously struck down in Nw. Envtl. Advocates v. EPA, 537 F.3d 1006 (9th Cir. 2008). The EPA issued... Read more →

Federal court rejects National Wildlife Federation’s challenge to EPA Vessel General Permit regulating ballast water discharges

In 2012, the US EPA proposed a Vessel General Permit to regulate ballast water discharges pursuant to the Clean Water Act. Ballast water from other regions is a significant source of invasive species in the Great Lakes. Numerous environmental organizations commented on the permit proposal, generally criticizing it for using too weak a standard, exempting a large category of vessels, and not requiring compliance for several years (see this prior post). After the EPA finalized... Read more →

Federal district court dismisses states’ lawsuit seeking hydrologic separation of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin to stop invasive Asian carp; states appeal

The Great Lakes states have lost another round in the legal fight to stop the spread of invasive Asian carp from the Mississippi River Basin. A federal district court has dismissed the suit brought by Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Chicago’s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, seeking measures to prevent Asian carp from moving through the Chicago Area Waterway System into Lake Michigan. (Michigan v. U.S. Army... Read more →

Asian carp and the US Constitution

I had the chance to spend a morning on the Illinois River at Havana with a PBS film crew shooting a new series on the Constitution hosted by Peter Sagal. They came to see and film the Asian carp, which have taken over this stretch of the Illinois River and could make their way into Lake Michigan. If the Asian carp get into the Great Lakes, it will be an ecological disaster caused by a... Read more →

EPA ballast water proposal fails to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species – guest post by Nick Schroeck

The US EPA has proposed a Vessel General Permit to address ballast water discharges, a significant source of invasive species in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and other conservation organizations filed formal comments last week criticizing the EPA’s proposal as inadequate to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species in the region. Executive Director Nick Schroeck provides some insight on the issue in this guest post (with special thanks to... Read more →

Federal appeals court denies states’ request to order immediate measures to stop spread of Asian carp, but leaves open the possibility of future court action if the federal government doesn’t address the crisis

Last week, a federal court of appeals panel upheld a district court order denying the request of Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to issue a preliminary injunction compelling the United States Army Corps of Engineers and Chicago’s Municipal Water Reclamation District to close the locks on the Chicago Area Waterway System to prevent the spread of Asian carp into Lake Michigan (for background on the district court ruling, see this prior post). While the... Read more →

International Joint Commission releases Report on Great Lakes Water Quality, announces next Great Lakes Biennial Meeting at Wayne State University

At a public event yesterday at Wayne State University, the International Joint Commission released its 15th Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality. In its report, the IJC detailed 32 recommendations for action at the federal, state, provincial and local levels of government. (The full report and executive summary are available online.) Most notably, the recommendations focus on the need for the U.S. and Canada to approve a revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to... Read more →

Another setback in the legal fight to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes

Late last week, in a 61-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Robert Dow denied the request of Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to issue a preliminary injunction compelling the United States Army Corps of Engineers and Chicago’s Municipal Water Reclamation District to close the locks on the Chicago Area Waterway System to prevent the spread of Asian carp into Lake Michigan. The states’ complaint alleged that U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation... Read more →

Federal district court considers Asian carp case and arguments for temporary closure of Chicago canal locks - guest post by Thom Cmar

As this is being posted, a federal district court in Chicago is hearing arguments by Michigan and four other Great Lakes states to compel the temporary closure of Chicago canal locks to stop the spread of invasive Asian carp. Michigan and the other states (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) argue that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago have created a public nuisance by allowing Asian carp to... Read more →

Five states file new lawsuit against federal government to protect Great Lakes from Asian carp

After the Supreme Court refused to hear the Great Lakes states’ dispute regarding Asian carp, the states have moved ahead with “Plan B” in the legal battle to protect the lakes from the invasive species threat – a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in federal district court. Five states - Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania – filed their joint complaint today in the... Read more →

One win in the courts, one loss on the ground in the fight against invasives in the Great Lakes

There’s been some good news/bad news in the fight against invasive species in the Great Lakes the past few weeks. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first – a 19-pound Asian carp was found near the shore of Lake Michigan, past the navigation lock that the Supreme Court refused to close despite a legal challenge by Michigan and most other Great Lakes states. We knew that Asian carp would inevitably reach the... Read more →

It’s time to acknowledge the federal government’s role in the introduction and spread of Asian Carp

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider Michigan’s motion to reopen the Wisconsin v. Illinois consent decree (now supported by every other Great Lakes state except Illinois) in response to the threat of Asian carp invading Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes ecosystem through the Chicago canal system. The federal government has sided with Illinois and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in opposing Michigan and the other Great Lakes states. In... Read more →