[dailynews] June 29, 2011

Great Lakes Daily News: June 29, 2011
For links to these stories and more, visit http://www.great-lakes.net/news/


Solutions sought to eliminate open-lake dumping in Lake Erie
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Environmental leaders, Great Lakes governors, and fishery biologists joined 
last Thursday to discuss terminating open-lake dumping in Lake Erie of 
substances found in Toledo, Ohio's shipping channel. Source: Dredging News 
Online (6/29)


EPA to hold hearing on Lorain mercury discharge
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Ohio officials will consider allowing Lorain to maintain the amount of 
mercury it discharges into Lake Erie from Lorain's Philip Q. Maiorana 
Wastewater Treatment Plant. Source: The Morning Journal (6/29)


New BeachGuard website lists water-safety alerts
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Looking for a clean beach along Lake Erie? Want to know if the water is 
inviting on an inland lake? Ohio has launched a website that tells you 
whether anything is lurking on the sand or offshore. Source: The Columbus 
Dispatch (6/29)


Ohio lawmakers approve Great Lakes region's weakest water rules
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Ohio legislators just signed off on what critics call the weakest water 
protections in the Great Lakes region. The hotly contested legislation, 
passed Tuesday by the Ohio Senate, allows unregulated water withdrawals of 
up to 5 million gallons of water per day from Lake Erie. Source: Great Lakes 
Echo (6/28)


Hog Island under restoration
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A first-of-its-kind Great Lakes restoration project in Superior, Mich., is 
changing the landscape of Hog Island, an area with a toxic history. Source: 
Superior Telegram (6/28)


Invasive species inspections continue as shutdown looms
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Unless state legislators and Governor Dayton reach a budget agreement by 
Friday, just about everyone working for the Minnesota Department of Natural 
Resources will be out of the job and go without pay until a deal is 
brokered. Source: Lake Minnetonka Patch (6/28)


Great Lakes projects get federal money
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Several Michigan projects have won funding from the Great Lakes Restoration 
Initiative, Michigan's two U.S. senators said Friday. The initiative is 
money that Congress is putting into restoring the Great Lakes. Source: 
Detroit Free Press (6/27)


Public input sought on Lake Huron's north shoreline resources
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Funded in part through a grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental 
Quality's Coastal Management Program, a local planning commission is 
starting the planning process for inventorying Lake Huron's recreational 
resources and creating a website to promote those resources. Source: Soo 
Evening News (6/26)


EDITORIAL: Don't drain the lake
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How's this for a winning strategy to create jobs and promote economic growth 
in Ohio? Risk dangerously low water levels and quality in Lake Erie - the 
shallowest of the Great Lakes - and its tributaries. Source: The Toledo 
Blade (6/26)

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