Great Lakes Law

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 →

Federal court rules against Bureau of Reclamation in water diversion case citing concerns over invasive species

This guest post is by Nick Schroeck, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. While Nick was just recently named Executive Director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, he has long been the lead attorney on this precedent-setting water diversion case. See my prior post for more background on the dispute and legal issues. The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and the Wayne State Environmental Law Clinic won a legal victory that... Read more →

Armed with new economic study, Michigan renews request to the Supreme Court to close Chicago locks and keep Asian carp out of Great Lakes

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has just filed a renewed motion with the U.S. Supreme Court for a preliminary injunction to close Chicago-area locks to keep Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. The Supreme Court previously denied Michigan’s motion for a preliminary injunction. However, Michigan relies on new information regarding eDNA tests showing evidence of Asian carp in Lake Michigan, which the federal government failed to disclose to the Supreme Court until after the... Read more →

Feds acknowledge Asian carp DNA in Lake Michigan in letter to the Supreme Court

Just hours after the Supreme Court issued its ruling denying Michigan’s motion for a preliminary injunction to take immediate action to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp, the federal government acknowledged that Asian carp DNA has now been found in Lake Michigan. In a letter to the Supreme Court, the Solicitor General stated that positive samples of Asian carp DNA have been found in the Calumet River and Calumet Harbor, past the Army Corps’... Read more →

Supreme Court denies Michigan’s requests to take immediate action on Asian carp or reopen Wisconsin v. Illinois decree

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Michigan’s request to take immediate action to stop Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. In a one-line order (go to page 3), the Supreme Court denied the State of Michigan’s motion for a preliminary injunction, siding with the State of Illinois, the federal government (essentially the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. "Motion of Michigan for preliminary injunction denied." Wisconsin v.... Read more →

Michigan files suit against Illinois in the Supreme Court over Asian carp

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has filed suit in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the State of Michigan against the State of Illinois allowing nonnative carp to potentially invade the Great Lakes through the Chicago Canal and other managed waterways. Technically, this is not a new lawsuit, but a petition for a new Supreme Court decree (basically an order) under the old Chicago diversion case, Wisconsin v. Illinois. That case, which has gone... Read more →

Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and other conservation organizations join with Manitoba and Canada in opposing U.S. water diversion project in court

The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center has filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. in Government of the Province of Manitoba v. Ken Salazar, et al. The case involves a challenge by Manitoba, joined by Canada and several conservation organizations, to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Environmental Impact Statement for the Northwest Area Water Supply (NAWS) Project. The NAWS Project is the first United States... Read more →

Federal appeals court upholds EPA rule exempting water transfers from Clean Water Act regulation

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, has upheld the Bush EPA’s controversial water transfer rule, which would allow polluted water from a dirty waterbody to be pumped and dumped into a pristine waterbody without a Clean Water Act permit. This is a critically important issue for water quality and invasive species in the Great Lakes and nationally. For background on the issue, and the stakes for our lakes, rivers, and streams, see... Read more →

Federal appeals court upholds Michigan ballast water law, allows states to take action to stop the spread of invasive species in the Great Lakes

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit just issued a decision in Fednav, Ltd. v. Chester, upholding Michigan’s ballast water statute and rejecting the shippers’ federal preemption and Constitutional challenges. Fednav, Ltd. v. Chester, 547 F.3d 607 (6th Cir. 2008). The Michigan law, which took effect in January 2007, requires ships to obtain a state permit and, if the ships will discharge ballast water, to use specified technologies to prevent the introduction of... Read more →

Minnesota environmental group challenges the state’s new ballast water permit for failing to protect Lake Superior from aquatic invasive species

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has filed a petition in the state court of appeals challenging the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s ballast water discharge permit, arguing that the permit fails to protect Lake Superior from the continuing threat posed by aquatic invasive species. The MPCA permit allows ships to delay new treatment technologies to prevent biological pollution until 2016, leaving Lake Superior vulnerable to more invasive species for another seven years. The Minnesota Center... Read more →