« Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 1 today (and 6 NFP) | Main | Ind. Decisions - "Valpo couple wins flooding suit judgment " »

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Environment - "SCOTUS To Consider Carp Case On Friday" and "Carp DNA found closer to the lake"

From Chicagoist, this story by Marcus Gilmer:

The U.S. Supreme Court has set this Friday, January 15, as the day it will consider the lawsuit against the state of Illinois to close the locks on Chicago-area waterways to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The Court will consider the case in closed conference. The lawsuit was filed by the state of Michigan with Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and New York jumping on board. Even the Canadian province of Ontario is getting involved. The SCOTUS was originally slated to take up the carp case last Friday but delayed it for a week. * * *

The SCOTUS could issue its ruling as early as Friday afternoon (Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday). The SCOTUS will either grant Michigan's request for a temporary injunction to close the locks, set a date for open hearings, or dismiss the suit.

Dan Egan reported yesterday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a story that begins:
Environmental DNA samples taken in recent weeks reveal that Asian carp apparently have infested another waterway just below the shores of Lake Michigan, this time north of downtown Chicago, the Journal Sentinel has learned.

U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan made reference to some "initial indications" of more waters infested with the jumbo-sized fish in a Jan. 6 memorandum to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kagan is opposing the State of Michigan's request for a Supreme Court injunction to close some navigation locks to keep the invasive fish from spilling into Lake Michigan.

To date, no actual Asian carp have been found above an electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, about 20 miles south of the shores of Lake Michigan. But in November, the Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged that water samples tested positive for Asian carp "environmental" DNA above the barrier.

Those samples, taken by a team of University of Notre Dame researchers, indicated the fish are about six miles from the shore of Lake Michigan on the Calumet River south of downtown Chicago, just below the O'Brien lock.

Now a fresh batch of tests reveals that the carp have made their way up the northern branch of the Chicago River north of Chicago. That river has a direct connection to Lake Michigan via a "sluice gate" and pumps operated by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

That system sucks Lake Michigan water into the North Shore Channel, which flows into the Chicago River, and it is one of the structures the state of Michigan - backed by Wisconsin, Ohio, New York and Minnesota - wants to close. The system also acts as a safety valve in big rains, sending floodwater backward through the gate and into Lake Michigan.

"On Dec. 31, 2009, the Corps learned that the University of Notre Dame laboratory has initial indications of two positive eDNA results for Asian carp in a new area, specifically silver carp near the Wilmette pumping station," states Kagan's memo.

The filing said the Army Corps was expecting a report confirming the finding by Jan. 7.

That report has arrived at Corps offices, and it shows the carp have made the advance north of downtown.

The story (from yesterday) concluded:
The Supreme Court may decide whether to consider the case at a conference Friday, though nothing has been announced officially. Meanwhile, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is planning to host a meeting Tuesday morning at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium for officials from the Army Corps and the EPA, among others, to talk about what steps the federal government intends to take to keep the fish from invading the Great Lakes.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 12, 2010 10:47 AM
Posted to Environment