As long as the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins remain connected by Chicago’s canal system, invasive species like Asian Carp and zebra mussels will continue to spread between the watersheds. While Prairie Rivers Network continues to press for a permanent solution, Asian carp keep swimming closer to Lake Michigan and the electric fence in the Sanitary and Ship Canal remains the last line of defense. Unfortunately it seems like every time the Army Corps of Engineers makes hardware or operational upgrades, scientists discover new “holes” in the fence.
Only after being threatened with a lawsuit by Prairie Rivers Network and the NRDC, the Army Corps of Engineers reluctantly released a 9-month old report that it intended to keep under wraps for at least 6 more months. The report by Smith-Root Inc. raises serious concerns about whether the electric fences are capable of preventing small Asian Carp from reaching Lake Michigan through Chicago’s Sanitary and Ship Canal. More troubling is the accompanying memorandum from the Corps, explaining its failure to act sooner on the results by increasing the operating voltage. {Continue Reading »}
Photo credit: Jason Lindsey
If you have been following the efforts to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, you have probably heard the barge industry and state and federal agencies express confidence that the fish are being held back by the electric fence in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Prairie Rivers Network has been looking for evidence to support those claims and has found it lacking. Worse yet, the Corps of engineers has been refusing to release results of experiments that would shed light on the matter.
The electric fence is being operated at only half-power due to safety concerns about boaters and barges passing through the electric field. At half-strength the electric field has been shown to deter big fish, but not small ones. Last year the Army Corps of Engineers paid contractors to determine, under laboratory conditions, the voltage required to deter small fish. The contractor delivered its draft final report in September 2010, but the Army Corps announced they have no intention of finalizing it for public release until Fall 2011. By that time the results will be more than a year old!
After attending meetings with Corps officials in Chicago last week we decided it was time to take legal action. At the same time, investigative reporter Dan Egan of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel informed the public about the Corps’ refusal. Teaming up with attorneys for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Prairie Rivers Network filed a formal appeal, giving us the right to sue if the report is not released within 20 business days. It took the Army Corps less than 48 hours to call our attorney with a promise to release the report within 20 business days.
Under the Freedom of Information Act the Corps can legally delete contractors’ opinions and policy recommendations from a draft report, but must release factual information. In December the Corps attorneys agreed to provide us with a redacted version, but reversed that decision in February in a letter to board member Clark Bullard. For details see NRDC attorney Thom Cmar’s blog.
Asian carp DNA continues to be found beyond the electric fence, and a live 20-lb specimen was found in waters open to Lake Michigan in June 2010. Other Great Lakes States are asking the US Supreme Court to close the locks connecting the canal to Lake Michigan. The effectiveness of the electric fence is still uncertain. The common good is not served by suppressing results of experiments that could reduce that uncertainty.
Public Hearing in St. Louis Metro Area – Alton, IL
Tuesday, February 8, 2-8pm
Even though we are in the middle of the winter season, the Asian carp are swimming toward the Great Lakes and decision makers are deciding what, if anything, to do. At the same time, scientists continue to study the quagga mussel in Lake Michigan, one of dozens of animals poised to invade the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes. We need you to take time in your hectic schedule to speak out and let decision makers know we want real action and we want it now.
The clock is ticking through March 31st 2011 for a public comment period around the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin Interbasin Feasibility Study (GLMRIS). Even though the name of the study isn’t, well, that captivating, it is an important study because its focus will determine if we implement permanent solutions to stop invaders like Asian carp and quagga mussels from spreading between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. {Continue Reading »}
Asian Carp—those huge, rapidly producing monster fish—are on the brink of devastating the Great Lakes. And they are not the only invasive species that is threatening the lakes and the Mississippi River Basin.
Help put a stop to the spread of invasive species by telling the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take bold, definitive action now!
There are 3 ways you can help prevent the spread of invasive species (like Asian carp and zebra mussels) by permanently separating these great river basins.
- Send a brief comment today.
- Attend the public hearing in Chicago on Wednesday Dec 15, anytime between noon-7pm.
- Download the project management plan and comment on it before March 31, 2011
Brief Background
Finally, 3 years after Congress mandated that the U.S. Corps of Engineers find the best way to prevent the spread of Asian Carp and other invasive species between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin, their Project Management Plan is ready for public comment.
Unfortunately the Corps’ study designed to take too long, and the goal has been watered down to deal with risk reduction instead of focusing on prevention.
More Information
Background information on Asian carp
Read all of our posts on Asian carp
For Immediate Release
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The discovery of spawning Asian carp in the Wabash River shows the crisis is advancing on multiple fronts and demands aggressive and immediate action to deal with the Asian carp crisis, says a coalition of national and Great Lakes groups.
The carp were found downstream of a floodplain that separates the Wabash from the Maumee River and Lake Erie, near the city of Fort Wayne, Ind., according to recent press and congressional statements.
The discovery and acknowledgment of the finding by the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee comes a week after the committee announced a live Asian carp was found just six miles from Lake Michigan in Chicago’s Lake Calumet. The 3-foot-long, 20-pound sexually mature male was the first Asian carp found beyond the last locks protecting the Great Lakes, and miles beyond the electric barrier meant to keep the devastating fish out of the lakes.
{Continue Reading »}
