DNR restarts effort to set bacteria standards in groundwater

DNR restarts effort to set bacteria standards in groundwater

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Department of Natural Resources has restarted efforts to set standards for bacteria in groundwater after conservatives on the agency’s policy board killed the attempt in February.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the board on Wednesday authorized a public hearing and comment period on a new rule-making process to set groundwater standards for E.

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Group: Feds hid plans to weaken whooping crane protection

Group: Feds hid plans to weaken whooping crane protection

The Biden administration made secret plans to weaken protection for whooping cranes, and documents obtained through an open records request show officials “seem to have been deliberately misleading the public,” an environmental group says.

The documents show that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to propose changing the only natural flock’s status from endangered to threatened, the Center for Biological Diversity said in a news release linking to some of the papers.

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Researchers find wetland plant can filter PFAS chemicals

Researchers find wetland plant can filter PFAS chemicals

By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter

Researchers have found that a common wetland plant native to Australia can remove toxic “forever chemicals” from the surrounding environment.

In a 190-day greenhouse experiment, a team of Chinese and Australian researchers found that Juncus sarophorus, a wetland plant also known as the broom rush, could tolerate and accumulate PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS, three of the most commonly studied PFAS chemicals.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Drinking Water News Roundup: EPA won’t regulate rocket fuel, Illinois prison water contaminated with Legionella

Drinking Water News Roundup: EPA won’t regulate rocket fuel, Illinois prison water contaminated with Legionella

From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.

Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.

Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:

  • Illinois advocates call for action after prison officials mislead on contaminated water – The Appeal

On March 11, IDOC and the Illinois Department of Public Health released a joint press release announcing that Legionella bacteria had been detected in two prisons—Stateville Correctional Center and Joliet Treatment Center.

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Research finds more PFAS coming out of wastewater treatment plants than going in

Research finds more PFAS coming out of wastewater treatment plants than going in

By Tracy Samilton, Michigan Radio

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.

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Governor appeals court order blocking carbon emissions plan

Governor appeals court order blocking carbon emissions plan

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has asked the state’s highest court to let the centerpiece of his plan to fight climate change take effect and make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel state to adopt a carbon pricing policy.

The filing late Thursday in the state Supreme Court appealed a two-day old decision by the lower Commonwealth Court which, in a one-line unsigned order, barred the official publication of the Democratic governor’s regulation “pending further order.”

The regulation had been scheduled to be published on Saturday, making it official.

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Lakeside Gentrification: Trailer parks and campgrounds the last bulwark against waterfront developments

Lakeside Gentrification: Trailer parks and campgrounds the last bulwark against waterfront developments

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part story. Read the first part here.

Ed Matusik and his wife were in their new summer vacation trailer for just a month at Bay Point Resort and Marina in 2006 when they received an eviction letter: the investment group which recently purchased the site had plans for a new development in that section of the resort.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

GOP’s energy promises face limits in Pa. governor’s race

GOP’s energy promises face limits in Pa. governor’s race

By Marc Levy, Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican Bill McSwain pledges to be a pro-energy governor by “turning on the spigot of natural gas.” Another hopeful, Dave White, says he wants Pennsylvania “to be the energy capital of the world.” A third candidate, Lou Barletta, says having a glut of natural gas in the ground without a pipeline is “like being in college and having a keg of beer without a tap.”

In Pennsylvania, the No.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

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