Great Lakes Critters See Rise in Mercury Contamination as GOP Works to Stop EPA Limits

As promised. Mercury in the Great Lakes:



Mercury levels found in Great Lakes critters is on the rise.

Nobody knows why.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

After dropping for decades, mercury levels in Great Lakes fish and wildlife are edging back up again.

Mercury emitted from American smokestacks has been declining for years. But contamination levels in loons, walleyes and some other species has actually increased in the last decade, according to the largest report yet on mercury in the Great Lakes region.

The report, released Tuesday by the Great Lakes Commission, was based on 35 research studies and samples from tens of thousands of fish, birds and other animals. It concludes that the forests, lakes and wetlands that characterize the Great Lakes make the region particularly sensitive to mercury pollution.

Even more importantly, the authors conclude, the nature and extent of the region's mercury problem is more severe than was previously known - and, for reasons that are not understood, appears to be getting worse for some species.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/11/2449583/mercury-contamination-levels-in.html#ixzz1bTU9lml7

It's even reached toxic levels in some instances:

The report found that mercury levels are higher in fish in inland lakes than those in the big lakes. That was true of walleye from northern Minnesota, and other heavily forested areas with wetlands.

Six of the 15 most commonly eaten fish had mercury levels higher than the EPA recommends for human consumption. And many species, including loons, showed sensitivities to mercury at much lower concentrations than had been known.

Meanwhile, our new barking mad congress feels mercury levels are just fine or not nearly high enough...as they're looking to scale back the ability of the EPA to regulate things like mercury. They're looking to curtail attempts to reduce mercury emissions from coal fired power plants.

As I mentioned before, scientists aren't quite sure where the increased mercury levels are coming from. Most of the mercury in the Great Lakes to date has come from power plants. For the lifetime of each incandescent (normal, old timey) light bulb, a coal fired power plant releases about 13 milligrams of mercury INTO THE AIR. That's 5 milligrams more than is released when powering a compact fluorescent bulb, EVEN IF YOU ADD IN THE MERCURY in the compact fluorescent bulb.

Coal fired power plants are dumping 48 tons of mercury INTO OUR AIR every year and it ends up in our water. Cuz, you know....it's heavy.

We're not quite sure why our Great Lakes and inland water critters are seeing higher concentrations of mercury. It's entirely possible that zebra and quagga mussels have something to do with it....

NOTE: This is pure speculation on my part...but hear me out...

...the scientific community has found that zebra and quagga mussels, because they're FILTERING MACHINES, will filter toxins from the water from the ENTIRE lake and then poop it out where the mussels are, along the shoreline. So while the lake in total may have fewer toxins, they end up being concentrated toward the shoreline.

Same thing may be happening with mercury. But like I said, that's PURE SPECULATION on my part.

I do know one thing for absolute certain....Weakening power plant emissions, or failing to make a higher standard, is NOT going to improve our mercury situation. And frankly, I don't want my kids taking in any more mercury than is absolutely necessary.

Got Yer Public Works Right Here: EPA Hiring Unemployed Americans for Great Lakes Cleanup!

AWESOME!

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!

This is so awesome...the EPA is specifically hiring UNEMPLOYED workers for Great Lakes cleanup efforts. THIS is a jobs plan, right here.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it will spend $6 million to hire unemployed people who can work on Great Lakes cleanup projects.

Congress has appropriated $775 million over the past two years for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a wide-ranging plan to improve the region's environmental health.

The Obama administration moved forward on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and passed over 450 million dollars in Great Lakes restoration funding for 2011 with a plan to spend at least that much every year for five years. That money has been reduced to 300 million for 2012, as one of the items on the budget cut chopping block. I'm not going to complain TOO much.

But for those looking for a public works program...here ya go.

Supporters of the Great Lakes initiative have said repeatedly it would stimulate the region's economy and create jobs. The newly announced program is unique because it specifically targets jobless workers, said Phillippa Cannon, spokeswoman for the agency's Chicago office.

Hedman said the initiative is similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era program that put the unemployed to work.

EPA will choose projects by the end of September. To qualify, they must provide immediate, direct ecological benefits and be located in areas identified as federal priorities, such as national lakeshores or areas of concern. They also must include a detailed budget and produce measurable results.

You Talk Castrating the EPA, You're No Friend to the Great Lakes

Last time Congressman Bill Huizenga gave a town hall meeting in Grand Haven, Michigan, he bragged about plans to castrate the EPA or abolish it altogether. Seems to me Russ Harding of the Mackinac Center's ultraconservative environmental Lobbying arm has slipped into his ears.

That's a pity.

After all Huizenga is of one of a very small handful of people in US Congress who represent regions around the Great Lakes shorelines. He SHOULD be safeguarding the Great Lakes from greater pollution, from water diversions, from phosphorous runoff...he SHOULD be aware how vital the Great Lakes are to our way of life...

And yet he's willing to throw it all away for his financiers.

He's talking about abolishing or castrating the very organization that has cleaned up the Great Lakes, and ensured that instances like the Cuyahoga river fire never happen again. He should perhaps learn a thing or two about the Great Lakes and the condition Lake Erie was in before the EPA was established and intervened: shockingly polluted, crushed fisheries, with tributaries so covered in petroleum waste that it caught on fire...SEVERAL TIMES.

You talk about hacking at the the EPA, you are no friend of the Great Lakes.

Perhaps we need to remind Mr. Huizenga that the State he represents is ENTIRELY within the Great Lakes watershed. Dumping toxic substances on the ground in Mt. Pleasant in the middle of the state is STILL dumping toxic substances directly into the Great Lakes.

We along the Great Lakes lakeshore need an advocate for the Great Lakes in DC...not a puppet dancing in lock step with hardline conservative lobbyists who want to abolish protections to the waters we love and our way of life. Mr. Huizenga, so far, hasn't shown himself to be that. He supported the Conservative introduced budget that slashed Great Lakes restoration.

And of these cuts, Bill Huizenga bragged about how he has voted for Every Single one put before him. Every single one. Even if it slices the throat of protections to our waterways that have made places like Sleeping Bear Dunes win awards as the most Beautiful Place in America. The waterways that are a source of employment for so many, a source of respite and peace for so many, a source of food and recreation for so many.