PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are also a major concern. The versatile material revolutionized society. Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a civic and cultural resource that exists to enrich the quality of life for its listeners. In some cases she found greater amounts of microfibers in the Great Lakes beer than in the water used to make it. A coastal wetland along Lake Michigan in Sheboygan County. Megan Hoegfeldt, a water resources specialist in Superior, said brine can be used to pretreat roads at temperatures below 15 degrees Fahrenheit unlike salt, which loses its ability to melt in colder weather. Wildfire smoke triggers Michigan-wide air quality alert - The Detroit News And theres little understanding of the exact impacts of many chemicals, though in general they are known to cause kidney or testicular cancer, fertility problems and other impacts. on July 28 2021. At Griffn Claws brewery in Rochester Hills, the head brewmaster and head distiller Dan Rogers hadnt heard about plastic in the water or the beer. Call: 1-800-292-4706 (Outside of Michigan) or 1-517-373-7660 (Michigan) Pollution Prevention. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Great Lakes - Lake Michigan | Michigan Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. A new pollution worry for Lake Michigan: Tiny plastic fibers The city has not yet developed a zero-waste strategy, yet theyre moving forward in some really impactful ways, Redfield said. Last year Illinois Gov. Microplastics have even been found in cormorant chicks who get them through regurgitated fish from their parents. 91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids Great Lakes. Folger visited Lake Erie and saw the impact firsthand. Lowe says researchers are taking a closer look at the tiniest microfibers in nature. Where to find wetlands along Lake Michigan and around Milwaukee Then, July rains came and washed more trash from several urban creeks and an upstream homeless encampment into the river. Plastic packaging is used to prevent retail theft. On the fields where farmers want them, not in the adjacent waterways.". Fishing alone supports a $7 billion economy, and the lakes form rich ecosystems of fish, birds, and other species. Unlike PFAS, microplastics arent generating the same level of concern from regulators or policymakers, in large part because their impact on humans is less clear. Even in our current highly polarized political environment, the initiative has continued to enjoy strong bipartisan support from Congress, with funding of more than $3 billion since inception. But therein lies the danger of this problem. And other types of industrial and consumer waste are also a problem. and Terms of Use. We as a people consume more plastic, and most of that plastic is single-use plastics.. I suspect at some point it will become an issue. The Grand Calumet could be officially delisted, at the earliest, in 2031. Plastic debris is getting into the Great Lakes, our - Michigan Radio The Environmental Protection Agency launched the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in an effort to address historically contaminated Areas of Concern, and to reduce trash and excess nutrient runoff; $7 million has been committed to the EPA's Trash Free Waters program, which is an effort to prevent trash from ever reaching our waterways. . [11] Pathogen pollution in Michigan's lakes and rivers - caused by human and animal waste draining into surface waters - is far more widespread than previously documented, according to new state data. Genuinely I really do believe that these improvements are possible," said Hoellein. Studies are finding microscopic plastic fibers in drinking water, beer, and fish raising questions about what affect those particles may have on peoples health as well as the health of ecosystems which are absorbing plastic at the base of the food web. Plastic microbeads, wrappers, pellets, and foam were also found all across southern Lake Michigan. "So what cover crops are is simply plant something like a rye grass, and it looks almost like the lawn, rye grass on your fields and it creates like a blanket, a blanket of live biomass that protects the soils, from the time that you would normally have their fields, so November, say, through to April or May of the next year," Tank explained. Because of high lake levels, more of it has been deposited along the channel that connects it with Duck Lake. People can be exposed to Great Lakes pollutants through inhalation of air, ingestion of water, food or contaminated soil, and dermal contact with water or airborne particulates. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. BP subsidiary agrees to record $40M penalty and pollution-cutting steps More than 1 million metric tons of salt is flowing into Lake Michigan each year, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some, such as medical devices, are necessary. Wetlands are also often referred to as nature's kidneys, filtering nutrients and sediment out of the water before it winds up in larger waterbodies. Maine and Oregon each passed bills this summer to force producers to manage and recycle more plastic waste. The amount of salt used fluctuates depending on the winter. Originally published on Wisconsin Public Radio as Study finds more than 1M tons of salt is flowing into Lake Michigan each year. All Rights Reserved. The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act is among Congressional or state bills aimed at curbing plastic pollution and moving toward a circular economy where all or most plastic waste is converted into raw material and new virgin plastic creation is reduced or eliminated. In 2004, with unanimous approval of the board of directors, Davis transitioned the Lake Michigan Federation into the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The problem is waste, said Hoellein. The Indiana facility's spill interrupted drinking water processing and forced the closure of. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) often receives complaints about foam on a river or lake. PFAS Foam on Lakes and Streams - State of Michigan With close allies including Congressmen Vern Ehlers, Republican from Michigan, and James Oberstar, Democrat from Minnesota, they ultimately drafted legislation and Davis proposed a name: the Great Lakes Legacy Act., The title had two meanings, he explains. Its quite impactful. Sooner later, humans are ingesting them. Lake Michigan plastic pollution poses ecological and social threats Baker, president of the Kalamazoo River Alliance, a local anglers group, had organized a June 5 cleanup a couple months prior in which volunteers pulled more than 3,000 pounds of junk out of the river near downtown Kalamazoo. As advocates push for clarity within Evanstons Climate Action and Resilience Plan, local researchers and advocates are raising alarm about the growing social and ecological effects of plastic pollution in Lake Michigan. J.B. Pritzker signed a law mandating the state EPA examine the impacts of plastics in water on human health. Back from the brink: Michigan's bald eagle population soaring once Lake Huron gets about 1.3 million pounds and Lake Superior gets about 70,000 pounds. Its a smorgasbord of junk.. In this series, members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, Michigan Radio, Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes Now, and Circle of Blue, explore what it might take to preserve and protect this precious resource. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no 5-10% is from air, and less than 1% is from water. All rights reserved (About Us). And (I) found no correlation between the amount that was in the tap water and the amount that was in the beer from, say, the same cities.. That means people are eating plastic too. "It's hard to put that in context, but it is quite a bit of plastic entering every year.". Its our waste management systems and our wastewater systems and, ultimately, probably, our consumer culture.. Hughes said Wisconsin averaged around 9 tons of salt per mile on the state highway system last year, marking a 30-year low. Download the complete and final 2022 report. Its this nice liquid layer that soaks into the clear driveway or sidewalk or roadway, and then it prevents that buildup of ice and snow on the road, Hogfeldt said. So Great, So Fragile: Great Lakes, Lake Michigan pollution Fine Particulate Matter PM2.5*. And, in 2008, as president and CEO of the Alliance, Davis was back testifying before the same subcommittee, again working closely with Reps. Ehlers and Oberstar, making the point that only one of the American AOCs had been cleaned up. The Great Lakes are home to some of the most beautiful waterways and shorelines in the United States, but pollution is threatening their ecosystems. Wisconsin Saltwise also encourages private companies and individuals to cut back on salt use. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has issued an air quality action day for elevated levels of fine particulate or PM2.5 expected to be in the Unhealthy for Sensitive . A $1 million fine didn't stop US Steel from contaminating Lake Michigan Not only is it unsightly trash on Great Lakes beaches, but the plastic can hurt wildlife. In a statement, Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said the city is "an environmental justice community of nearly 90,000 residents on the shores of Lake Michigan." There are four main kinds: Marshes, swamps, bogs and fens. The additional funds put toward the degraded sites "will allow for a major acceleration of progress," according to Thursday's news release. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com), A 15-minute survey of plastics on North Beach in South Haven produces a handful of "nurdles," industrial plastic pellets used for making products. Michigan | State of the Air | American Lung Association Those funds have also leveraged $251 million in non-federal spending from state, county, municipal and private partners since under the act, the federal government matches non-federal spending in a 65%-35% split. The findings come as the state has been making significant strides to reduce salt use on roads to curb pollution. Usually, much of the trash is found on the big lakes beach. Researchers are also finding the plastic particles attract chemicals toxic to organisms at the bottom of the food chain as our partners atGreat Lakes Now found in this story. One study found even catching 95 to 99 percent of the fibers means tens of millions of plastic microfibers can still get into drinking water each day at a typical plant. But advocates stressed that solutions to plastic pollution need to be inclusive and shouldnt place disproportionate burdens on lower-income residents, people with disabilities or small business owners. Microplastics are found in drinking water drawn from the lakes, and even in beer. Similar bills are proposed in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York. Quality of Life Sign warns swimmers of pathogen pollution at a northern Michigan beach. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form. The plastic pollution problem that we have is very closely aligned (with) the idea that people and places and water can be treated as disposable, Castle said. Get the latest updates about how you can help protect the Great Lakes. With the midterm elections ahead, President Joe Biden highlighted the Great Lakes funding during a Thursday visit to Lorain, Ohioa state with three areas still listedwith EPA Administrator Michael Regan. Thats a big game changer.. So, there are big challenges out there, but we're really glad to be part of those solutions," he said. Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. So something like a plastic bag, or even something like plastic textiles, so synthetic clothing, which is in a lot of our carpeting. A team of scientists from the U.S. and Canada are setting sail on Saturday. Although microplastics impacts on human health are largely unknown, they represent a growing area of concern among researchers and public health organizations. She said that plastic entering aquatic ecosystems doesnt biodegrade, but rather breaks down into smaller pieces, known as microplastics, that are so tiny they can pass through water filtration systems and be mistaken for food by fish and other wildlife. The boundary of the Torch Lake AOC includes Torch Lake and its immediate environs. Of that, the study concluded that half of the plastic pollution entering the Great Lakes, about 11 million pounds each year, goes into Lake Michigan. It spans the entire west coast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and it is the only one of the five Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States. According to a study from the Rochester Institute of Technology, 11 million pounds of plastic the equivalent of 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of plastic bottles are entering Lake Michigan each year. Through participation in NextCycle Michigan's accelerator, teams will build relationships with new networks while receiving . Everybody wants to see people get home safe. "Fertilizer runoff is an enormous problem and for the most part not regulated under the Clean Water Act," said Tim Folger, National Geographic Contributing Writer. These plastics can absorb chemicals, so consuming them passes the chemicals up the food chain. Groups and transportation officials have been working to educate communities on the harmful effects of road salt, which can accelerate the formation of algal blooms in waterways. It gets to the point that bits of plastic are about the size of a grain of sand or smaller. Rather than accumulating in garbage patches as plastic tends to do in the oceans, lake currents swirl that debris around, breaking it down and sending Chicago and Milwaukees plastic onto beaches in western Michigan, or Detroit and Clevelands trash to shorelines in Pennsylvania and New York. Although pollution is threatening the . The next highest load is to Lake Erie, which gets about 5.5 million pounds. Now nonpoint source pollution runoff from fields, livestock operations and cities is the most troubling. The success of the Legacy Act was the foundation for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that President Barack Obama signed and Congress began funding in 2009, a sweeping measure that included ongoing funding for toxic sediment removal as well as habitat restoration and other goals. "It's the right thing to do," May said. Unfortunately, Holland is far from the only Great Lakes town with a beach awash in plastic. This goal became especially important as the regions heavy industry was declining and emerging economies recreation, tourism, and cleaner industries like advanced technology, education and health care depended on rivers and lakes as amenities to attract people. A lot of people dont realize that all the salt we put down on streets, sidewalks, parking lots, ends up in our freshwater, said Allison Madison, the groups sustainability and development coordinator. The original Milwaukee Estuary AOC included: the lower 3.1 miles of the Milwaukee River downstream of North Avenue Dam the lower 3 miles of the Menomonee River downstream of 35th Street Their presence cant be blamed on litterbugs because consumers dont touch them. The findings come as the state has been making significant strides to reduce salt use on roads to curb pollution. Plastic fibers emerge as Lake Michigan pollutant Millions of pounds of pollution end up in the Great Lakes every year but scientists are working on ways to improve the quality of the pristine waters. High pellet numbers were also found at Bronte Beach in Oakville, Ont. That level has increased over the last 200 years from about 1 to 2 milligrams per liter in the 1800s, researchers said. Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, and his organization have taken action to protect our fragile waters from waste pollution. They're potentially getting into the Great Lakes," Tank said. It could have some repercussions that were not fully aware of yet.. 22 million pounds of plastics enter Great Lakes each year - Chicago Tribune (Joel Bissell | MLive.com), Aquatic Ecologist Tim Hoellein presents water samples from the Chicago River that were studied at his environmental research lab at Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, Ill. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com), A Loyola University Chicago researcher processes water samples from the Great Lakes with colored dye at an environmental research lab at Loyola in Chicago, Ill. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com), Swimmers and beachgoers fill South Beach in South Haven, MI. Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. "Fresh water and agriculture in the Midwest are sort of sitting hand in hand right next to each other and fertilizer is a natural part of productive agriculture. Pollution hot spots including toxic dumping grounds that still feed into Lake Michigan are among the sites that stand to benefit from a $1 billion boost in funding for cleaning up the Great Lakes. The heaviest concentration was at Baxter Beach on Lake Huron in Sarnia, Ontario. But, there were pallets of plastic sacks of grain and larger so-called super-sacks or bulk bags in the brewery. There can no longer be, oh, I'm sorry, here's a Band-Aid.". In all, the Great Lakes Legacy Act has meantthe cleanup in the U.S. of 4.3 million cubic yards of sediment, with $362 million in federal funds spent on cleanup. "This investment will be a game-changer in the effort to clean up pollution that has poisoned local drinking water and threatened the health of communities," Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition, said in a statement. Theyre just too small to catch them all. And some of the bags we have, theyre paper, but on the inside, there's a plastic liner for like a moisture barrier. "So the term microplastic is self-explanatory and cut off is five millimeters, which is about a quarter of an inch," Hoellein explained. It was a great lesson that, as advocates, we have to be diplomatic and determined.. We wear a lot of polyester other kinds of synthetic fabrics, those break into small microplastic and they find their way into the world.". For general inquiries, please use our contact form. When people think of plastic pollution, they tend to think of the oceans, said Sherri Mason, sustainability coordinator at Penn State Behrend who conducted some of the initial studies on microplastic in the Great Lakes as a researcher in New York. About 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes each year, most of it in Lake Michigan, according to the Rochester Institute of Technology. Study finds more than 1M tons of salt is flowing into Lake Michigan There are several programs in place which support . Six years ago half a million people in Toledo, Ohio, were unable to drink their water because of a harmful algal bloom growing in Lake Erie, which contaminated their drinking supply. Then it polluted the lake again. Lynn Knopf stopped picking up trash at Duck Lake State Park for a bit to talk about the problem. Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request. The AOCs include the Grand Calumet River emptying into Lake Michigan just southeast of Chicago, where an industrial menagerie of steel mills, oil refineries, pharmaceutical manufactures and more contaminated the sediment with PAHs, PCBs, oil and grease, and heavy metals. He has reported on public policy, politics, and issues regarding race and gender inequity. The sun, heat, wind, and wave action work on the plastics, making them brittle. There's definitely a lot of wildlife rescue centers that repeatedly get calls for wildlife that may be entangled in fishing line or plastic rings, but for the small stuff, the microplastic debris, the primary focus there has been on the wildlife eating the microplastic debris, said Sarah Lowe, the Great Lakes regional coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Marine Debris Program. The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan's NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. Pollution from Point Source to Nonpoint Source - Alliance for the Great New types of toxic pollution are threatening the Great Lakes today. The funding will directly support 11 sites listed as "areas of concern," including the Grand Calumet River in northwest Indiana. It's called NEAT, Appeals court upholds U of M campus gun ban, Federal appeals court takes up question of which court should hear Line 5 dispute, Scientists on the lookout for microfibers from your fleece jackets in the Great Lakes, Chemical Impact: Microplastic pollution more complex than we think, says new research. "Great Lakes are a huge source of fresh water, and so the fact that we have so much of it here means I think that we have an obligation to be good stewards of that incredible resource," Tank said. A lot of that trash is deteriorating plastic. Youd need to comb the whole beach with a sifter to try to get it all, said Walker, a salesperson at Great Lakes Wine & Spirits who was volunteering with an Adopt-A-Beach cleanup July 28. The Great Lakes hold 20% of the world's fresh water, and about 85% of North. on the north shore of Lake Superior where a Canadian Pacific train derailed in 2008 and spilled pellets. PFAS is much scarier to the average citizen than microplastics, said Rich Hobrla, head of the Great Lakes Management Unit in the water resources division at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). The large lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Unfortunately, a lot of it also ends up in oceans, lakes and rivers. Final Approval of the 2022 303 (d) list was received from the USEPA on June 14, 2022. In general, people tend to respond more fiercely if they think something very directly affects their health. The facility has been on the U.S. EPA's list of chronic Clean Water . In his bag, Walker carried cigarette buts, wrappers, plastic bottles and other typical beach trash but there was one form of garbage he couldnt really pick up, even though he and everyone else were surrounded by it. Your support will help protect the Great Lakes and preserve their legacy of clean water for generations. Click here to sign in with Indiana steel mill fined $3M in Lake Michigan tributary fish kill I honestly thought microplastics was going to be the emerging pollutant we in the wastewater busines were going to worry about, and then PFAS came along, said Scott Schoolcraft, director of the North Kent Sewer Authority wastewater plant near Grand Rapids. Want to support reporting like this? These are manmade chemicals sometimes called forever chemicals from non-stick cookware, waterproof fabric, packaging and flame retardant that dont break down in the environment, or the human body. In 2018, Canadian researchers examined 66 beaches on all five lakes. In Evanston, reducing plastic pollution is part of CARPs zero-waste goal by 2050, but the city has yet to take concrete steps in that direction. Unfortunately, this is one thats not.. The Canadian government also hasa programto clean up Areas of Concern, developed in cooperation with the U.S. Canada has cleaned up and delisted AOCs including Collingwood Harbor and Severn Sound on Georgian Bay. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages. The Grand Calumet, which includes the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, still hosts sediment containing likely carcinogens, heavy metals and various toxins that threaten humans and wildlifeand flows into Lake Michigan. Additionally, the company will invest around $197 million in improvements. But Anna-Lisa Castle, a water policy manager at the Alliance, said beach clean-ups arent enough to solve the problem. education. "The results in southern Lake Michigan really drive home the need for more research on plastic pollution in the Great Lakes," said Laura Kammin, IISG pollution prevention program specialist and part of the 2013 sampling team. That's how you solve the problems.". The content is provided for information purposes only. Michigan's unique geographical location provides its citizens with a wealth of freshwater resources including over 11,000 inland lakes.
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