Some startling statistics to consider:

• There have been 278 incidents in last 5 years.
• 3.87 million gallons of oil have been spilled in the last 5 years.
• Illinois alone has 7,423 miles of pipeline; 86 incidents of oils spills were recorded in the last 5 years; 974,946 gallons of oil spilled in the last 5 years; total property damage – all in all costing approximately more than $79M.

One of the pipelines carries 20mgd of crude oil and natural gas liquids and is lying in open water, unsupported across the Straits of Mackinac. Could a massive oil spill happen if these pipelines burst? Yes, very likely.

Recommendations from the panelists:

• The Great Lakes Commission and IJC should facilitate discussions among the states and provinces to improve pipeline regulation across the Great Lakes Basin.
• States should seek certification to regulate intrastate pipelines and to oversee interstate pipelines.
• States should be monitoring and reporting on the pipelines.

Now more than ever, we are in need of a president who is committed to protecting the Great Lakes. We need someone who believes in doing what’s right for the lakes – someone who is dedicated to improving aging infrastructure across the region, delisting AOCs, restoring the natural divide between Lake Michigan and the Chicago River thereby stopping the threat of Asian Carp, and most importantly supporting continued funding for on-the-ground projects that produce real results for the 30 million people that depend on a healthy Great Lakes.

Kalamazoo River Oil Spill Cleanup. Photo courtesy of k6martini on flickr

Oil on water at Kalamazoo River oil spill. Photo courtesy of k6martini on flickr

Enbridge fractured pipe. Photo courtesy of NWF.

Guest blogger:
Frances Canonizado
Outreach Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes

The topic for discussion was, with Ohio’s new Compact legislation going into effect at the beginning of September, now what happens?

Former Ohio Governor Bob Taft (standing, left) and Marc Smith (standing, right)

The short answer is, now is when we roll up our sleeves and get to work on the rule making and implementation process.

For part of the session, Governor Taft and the others reviewed the long history of the Compact, starting back in the early 80′s, and the great co-operation and partnerships between different organizations, local and federal government agencies, and, with Canada, nations.

We need to continue that great momentum of working together to implement Ohio’s Compact to keep on pace with our fellow Great Lakes states if we are going to see the success envisioned by the visionaries who crafted the Compact.

About $18 million of federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds was obtained by the park service for restoration projects within the Great Lakes watershed. Attendees at the Great Lakes Restoration Conference on Thursday heard about several successful examples on park service properties and projects that are underway.

One project at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will restore a wetland area that was negatively impacted by development. Once the project is complete, the new vegetation and restored hydrology will prevent nutrients and pollutants from entering Lake Michigan.

“Ultimately the purpose is to reconnect this watershed which was highly degraded,” said Naureen Rana, Midwest program manager, National Parks Conservation Association. “It was ditched and drained for agriculture, for industrial development, and urban uses.”

At the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, seven projects are being considered to restore wetlands, fight invasive species and curb excess sedimentation. The projects would add to the current resource protection efforts of the park, which encompasses one-fifth of the length of the Cuyahoga River.

“We play a critical role in helping to contribute to the recovery of the Cuyahoga River and the Area of Concern,” said Kevin Skerl, an ecologist at the National Park Service.

Meanwhile, at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding is supporting the efforts of scientists to find out why birds are dying of avian botulism. More and more fish and birds are washing up on the beaches, said Emily Tyner, a graduate student at the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Although much more needs to be studied about the disease, Tyner said, invasive species that have changed the ecology of Lake Michigan appear to be playing a role.

Bloggers used the blogging how-to slides to come up engaging leads for blogs on greening Detroit, the new Greater Cleveland Aquarium, the experience of being at a gathering of so many diverse Great Lakes advocates, and the extensive Great Lakes Now live coverage of the conference.

Blog About Great Lakes Restoration

Join in writing your own blog on a the importance of local restoration projects — and urge President Obama and Governor Romney commit to maintaining funding of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Asian carp crises and importance of protecting the drinking water for over 30 million people requires candidates who pledge show leadership on the Great Lakes.

Learn How to Use Blogs, Facebook and Twitter

Take a look at the presentation to learn more about how and why to use blogs, Facebook and Twitter to reach your audience and make progress on the issues most important to the Great Lakes region.

Share the Blogging and Social Media Slides

Strategic use of blogging and social media is critical for Great Lakes advocates reaching and engaging grassroots supporters, decision-makers, and funder. In this presentation and discussion we cut through the endless list of new media tools to focus on how to strategically use blogs, Facebook, and Twitter to reach your target audience.

Share these  slides as a resource for successfully advancing Great Lakes campaigns through blogging and social media.

• Blogging and Social Media Essentials for Great Lakes Advocates

But the campaign of Mitt Romney declined to participate in the forum.

The campaign of President Obama sent former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner to the forum.

Andy Buchsbaum, co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said both campaigns were sent the same invitations, at the same time.

The coalition “has been and will continue to be nonpartisan,” Buchsbaum said. He said protecting the Great Lakes is a nonpartisan issue, and polls have shown that restoring the Great Lakes enjoys wide bipartisan support among voters.

Browner, who is an advisor to the Obama campaign, said the president has supported “historic” investment in the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The GLRI has provided more than $1 billion to clean up toxic hot spots, combat invasive species, reduce polluted runoff and restore fish and wildlife habitat.

“We need to look at the president’s record” (on Great Lakes issues) Browner said. “The president has a very strong record and it is fair to assume he will continue this commitment and build on it.”

Browner said the president’s administration: Enacted the first national mercury emission standard for coal-fired power plants, which will reduce mercury in Great Lakes fish and curtail greenhouse gas emissions; invested in efforts to keep the Asian carp invading the Great Lakes; and pushed for an expedited study of how best to keep Asian carp in the Mississippi River basin from spreading into the lakes.

If re-elected, Browner said the president would continue to advocate for the Great Lakes and programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

“The president believes climate change is real, I believe it’s real and I believe this is the most difficult issue of our generation,” Browner said.

She closed by noting how much progress the U.S. has made since 1972, when Congress approved the federal Clean Water Act.

The law was a response to widespread water pollution and, in particular, a fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.

This weekend, a rowing regatta will take place on the same stretch of the Cuyahoga that caught fire in 1969.

Last night the Great Lakes Conference took to the water.

We set sail on the Good Times III for a dinner cruise. A good time was definitely has by all. It was a warm beautiful night.

What struck me most was the surreal transition from sitting in a hotel conference room listening to a description of watershed assessment tools to watching the sunset go down over Lake Erie from the prow of a ship.

We couldn’t enjoy that sunset without the work that gets done on dry land.

Instead of being viewed as a nuisance that has to be dredged out of the Lower Cuyahoga River and stored at great expense, what if the sediment that settles in the river could become a marketable product. Perhaps it could be used as fill to create new natural areas and support urban redevelopment projects?

If the port authority realizes its vision, Cleveland’s economy and environment could benefit.

Portions of the Cuyahoga are regularly dredged to keep the river open for commerce; about 17,800 jobs are associated with maritime activity in Cleveland.

“We’re trying to commoditize sediment because we think from an asset management standpoint sediment has value, either in the marketplace or for habitat enrichment and other civic purposes,” said James White, director-sustainable infrastructure programs, Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

White spoke Wednesday at the Great Lakes Restoration Conference.

Preliminary samples show the sediment is clean enough to be used while being protective of human health and the environment. White said it could be used to support restoration efforts. Another idea is to use it in redevelopment projects. Thousands of homes in Cleveland may be demolished in redevelopment projects, and material is needed to fill the former basements.

Before that happens, more study is needed. The port authority is undertaking a sustainable sediment study that could shed more light on the vision.

White said the Cuyahoga is substantially out of equilibrium, causing significant erosion on its banks. Harvesting sediment suspended in the water column before it gets to the shipping canal wouldn’t negatively affect the river’s ecology.

One idea is to install traps that force water to shed sediment into them as it flows past. White said the traps are cost-effective and could reduce the need for costly dredging of the river by 10 to 20 percent. In addition, dredged sediment is currently stored in facilities alongside Lake Erie. But they are filling up.

“We think we can build civic partnerships that will be mutually beneficial,” said White.

What the frack could happen to the Great Lakes? Photo courtesy of Toban Black on flickr

Hydrofracking, or fracking, is a technique used to free petroleum and natural gas from underground shale rock. But more and more, we are hearing about the problems fracking is wreaking on the environment and unsuspecting citizens. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection listed 85 hydraulic fracturing chemicals, e.g. benzene, petroleum distillates, many of which are known carcinogens. Fracking threatens private well water supplies – leaks and spills can happen and often do; and wastewater can be sent to sewage treatment facilities where it is eventually discharged back into waterways. And health experts are finding increased air pollution near drilling sites.

The stats for Ohio are worrisome as well: 383 wells have been permitted in the state; 140 wells have been drilled… and more are coming. Recently, Ohio state parks and state land were opened for drilling. And seismic activity – in areas where there was little to none – are now experiencing frequent quakes. Youngstown, until fracking moved in, never experienced an earthquake. Since 2011, they have experienced 11.

Organizations are rallying; people are speaking out; the media is covering the issue. “Fracking” is a buzz word; certainly a hot button issue in Great Lakes states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. But as I sit in this session listening to question after question asked, and story after story shared, I can’t help but think:

With all the progress being made on so many fronts in the name of Great Lakes restoration, and all the work we have yet to do to keep Asian carp out, delisting AOCs, restoring vital habitats… the last thing we need is a new threat to the health of the lakes and the 30 million people that depend on them. As we continue to rally for increased federal funding, we should do whatever we can to prevent another major cost to Great Lakes restoration.

Guest blogger:
Frances Canonizado
Outreach Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes

• Benthos refers to a group of organisms that live on, in or near lake beds;
• Plankton refers to organisms that live in the water column and are unable to swim against the current. They also provide a crucial food source to larger organisms, like fish.
• Both serve as great bioindicators.

However, USGS hydrologist, Amanda Bell, explains that there is currently no consistent way to measure whether benthos and plankton communities in Great Lakes AOCs are improving due to restoration work – until now. USGS is comparing data from four AOCs and six non-AOCs in Wisconsin. They are looking to answer important questions such as:

• Is there a significant difference in the plankton (and benthos) communities between each AOC and the non-AOCs?
• Which species, present or absent, are indicative of systems that are NOT considered “degraded” anymore?

While we wait for the results of Amanda’s work that will eventually contribute to the process of delisting AOCs in the Great Lakes, we must be mindful that important research like hers cannot happen without federal funding for Great Lakes restoration. Researchers across the region continue to rely on federal dollars. Shrinking the available pool of funds only limits and slows down the progress we can make to achieve a healthy future for the Great Lakes.

Freshwater copepod – a small crustacean that lives in nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are benthic, some planktonic. Photo courtesy of Manual Crank on flickr

Guest blogger:
Frances Canonizado
Outreach Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes

Microbeads demo during “Plastics in the Great Lakes” session by Dr. Marcus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute at the 8th Annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference in Cleveland. Photo by Frances Canonizado

Dr. Eriksen and Dr. Sharri Mason of Fredonia University shared the alarming results of their new research on plastics in the Great Lakes. This year, they joined the U.S. Brig Niagara – a floating research vessel and museum when in its homeport of Pennsylvania – and sailed Lakes Huron, Superior, and Erie to collect 21 water samples.

While the bulk of their analysis is still ongoing, some of the highlights of their research include:

• Plastic samples in the Great Lakes are not as degraded as samples from the oceans – they are still relatively new.
• A bulk of the samples were microbeads. Sample #20, for example had 1,596 fragments of plastic. This was the most dense sample found – even in comparison to other ocean samples.
• While in ports of call, they collected 8 beach samples. Results: Most of the debris was plastic – either microbeads or nurdles (plastic resin pellets that can be melted down to produce other plastic products).

As with any type of research, their work is leading to more questions:

• What animals are ingesting these microplastics in the Great Lakes?
• And because microplastics attract toxic pollutants – how is this impacting lake biology?

Consider Your Impact

There is a lot of debris in the Great Lakes, and along with cigarette filters, food wrappers, and balloon string, microplastics are a now a new cause for concern. Drs. Eriksen and Mason are finding it in the water and on beaches around the basin. And while they continue their research on the impacts these microplastics have on lakes as an ecosystem, they are asking that we consider our own impact. Read labels; stay away from polyethylene microbeads in skin care products; choose natural exfoliators. And equally important: contact your elected officials to let them know that the Great Lakes need to be protected. Important research in emerging contaminants is crucial to Great Lakes restoration. As we make strides in implementing solutions to the problems we are familiar with, it’s imperative that we are prepared for the emerging threats.

Nurdles -plastic resin pellets- on a beach among marine debris. Photo courtesy of Sustainable Coastlines

Guest blogger:
Frances Canonizado
Outreach Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes

It’s a tough sell to talk about climate change, acknowledged Jill Ryan, executive director of Freshwater Future. But she offers some advice: “We don’t have to talk necessarily about climate change.”

For instance, problems with flooding can be alleviated through climate adaptation initiatives even if community members are not open to talking about the increases in greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the changes in precipitation intensity and frequency.

Ryan spoke Wednesday at the Great Lakes Restoration Conference.

She showed the importance of focusing on issues that are important to communities without framing the projects in terms of climate adaptation and climate change. She talked about a successful project that took place in a neighborhood in Detroit. A community association was interested in reducing flooding around the branch of the public library and beautifying its grounds.

“They feel they are having larger storm events in the area and they get localized flooding in the streets and also in basements,” she said.

Reducing the impact of those changes in precipitation, she said, “go(es) hand-in-hand with climate adaptation.”

Working with Freshwater Future, the neighbors supported the installation of rain gardens, which reduce run-off and add a new appeal to the library building.

The project, she said, was “amazing stuff all driven by their local community association.”

But there was one more variable to consider: How would those trees fare in a warming world?

It’s a question increasingly on the minds of practitioners of restoration projects because, in this case, choosing trees that might not succeed in the climate of the near future would not improve the ecosystem and would waste restoration dollars.

A section of former farmland near Lake Erie in Ohio that will be restored with vegetation that can thrive in a warming world (Photo by Melinda Koslow, National Wildlife Federation).

Melinda Koslow, regional campaign manager at the National Wildlife Federation, said a thorough climate-smart analysis of the project on a 512-acre parcel in the Maumee River Area of Concern in the Toledo, Ohio area showed planners that they should plant more of some species of trees, and fewer of others.

The analysis considered the sensitivity of the tree species, their exposure to climate changes, and their adaptive capacity to survive those changes.

She recounted the analysis Wednesday at the Great Lakes Restoration Conference in Cleveland and described how NWF partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to produce “Restoring the Great Lakes’ Coastal Future,” which provides an initial suite of tools and methods to assist in the planning and implementation of climate-smart restoration projects.

“How do we make integrating climate change as easy as possible” into restoration projects, said Koslow. “We hope it’s been helping many in the region and we hope it’ll help many more.”

The Maumee River project tapped $1.3 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds, which could be threatened in the next federal budget. But it shows how those dollars are being spent as efficiently as possible, even accounting for environmental changes that are still to come. In this case, changing the selection of trees did not add to the project’s costs, and it helps ensure the restoration project will provide ecological benefits as the temperatures in the region increase and changes occur in precipitation.

The site is near the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and the area provides one of the largest landbird migratory habitats in the country. The restored wetlands, grasslands and forest habitat will provide public access for bird watching, improve habitat for birds, create areas for fish passage, and control harmful invasive species.

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More information regarding the media cooperation is available at the Great Lakes Now Media Information page.

• Blogging and Social Media Essentials for Great Lakes Advocates

Today she runs the organization, which has become a national leader in removing small dams and replacing culverts that disrupt stream flow and block fish passage.

“When I started doing this I wondered how we would ever get all of these projects done. Now we’re taking out these dams and replacing culverts like never before,” Beyer said during a session at the 8th annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference in Cleveland.

Beyer and Lisha Ramsdell, program director at Huron Pinesin northeast Michigan, said there are hundreds of obsolete dams and outdated culverts in the blue ribbon trout streams that crisscross northern Michigan.

Workers remove a dam on a tributary of Michigan’s Manistee River.

Their agencies work to reconnect free-flowing streams to the Great Lakes. Removing dams, culverts and other barriers improves fish habitat, water quality and can stimulate the local economy.

Ramsdell said her agency identified 217 barriers (small dams, lake level control structures, road crossings and culverts) that affected stream flow in just one Michigan river system — the Rifle River.

Obsolete dams, road crossings and culverts that disrupt natural stream flow and block fish passage are a major problem across the Great Lakes, said Patrick Doran, Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy’s Michigan chapter.

The creek after the dam was removed. (Resource Conservation Alliance photo)

Doran said new research has identified 276,000 dams, road crossings and culverts that may be blocking fish passage, disrupting natural stream flows and warming water temperatures in the eight states on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes.

In other words, a huge problem that could cost billions of dollars to remedy.

Using a Medical Model to Structure Conservation

Dr. Patrick Doran from The Nature Conservancy offered a structured model of decision making to the group. He exhorted the crowd to make sure that they share all phases of analysis and development. That way everything is decided in tandem, reducing replication and making sure that everyone has the same outcome in mind. Specifically, he said to develop multi partner project goals that highlight agreed upon conservation features, assemble biodiversity information, define the project, develop a definition and then, only then, develop strategies. TOGETHER!

Lake Erie suffers from algae blooms created in part by offloaded nutrients. Photo: Ducks Unlimited

When looking at the issue at hand, identify the status, and then the threats. Then rank the threats. Develop a strategy, measure intermediate results, evaluate threat reduction results and then assess conservation targets. Truly, all the work that conservationists do might be amplified many times over via this scenario.

Putting the Model into Action

The conversation took an applied turn, and Carrie Volmer-Sanders with TNC talked a little bit about the path one might realize through this shared information scenario. Her project reducing nutrient runoff in the Western Lake Erie Basin evaluated all of the stakeholders, and as a result she chose to reach out to fertilizer retailers. As the actual application of fertilizer comes via them, what could we do to reward compliance rather than penalize perceived infractions? Volmer-Sanders has been working on a “4R” system. For fertilizer to be best applied it needs to be from the right source, right rate at the right time in the right place. Her program seeks to engage retailers who pledge to become 4R certified, and then manage a program where they are utilizing best nutrient management practices. Then they go through some sort of certification or validation, and there is continuing education.

Practical and Comprehensive Science Application

Going to the source of nutrient loading makes sense, and utilizing a reward for compliance system is a sustainable long term path. Including everyone at the table, a structured decision pathway, clearly identified and agreed upon goals and shared strategies can take us further than stand alone groups doing just that. Standing alone. If the patient is the Great Lakes, I can get behind continuity of care.

Asian carp is the Canary in the Coal Mine

…And it’s singing loudly. Environmental DNA of Asian carp has been found beyond the electric barriers in the Chicago Area Waterways and in Sandusky Bay in Ohio. The carp, and other high risk invaders, are knocking at the doors of the Great Lakes.

It’s important for the region to act quickly, to act on multiple fronts, to encourage the public to speak out and demand protection for the Great Lakes, according to Jared Teutsch of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. As such, many groups have come together to engage their constituents – and continue to do so. People have signed postcards, called their Congressional representatives, signed a petition to the President. All of it helps, but there’s more work to be done. What can you do next? Use social media, as Melanie Napoleon from Freshwater Future says, as it’s a fast and easy way to connect with your elected officials. Keep at it. Keep calling on them until they listen.

Robert Hirschfeld spoke in particular about Healthy Water Solutions – the coalition that is focused on a specific strategy for Illinois – where the carp are closest and the biggest impact can be made for the Great Lakes by restoring the natural basin divide. For Illinois there are many good reasons to separate: dozens of other invasive species coming up the river – it’s about more than carp; clean water; flood management; jobs/commerce; and a source of pride for Chicagoans.

We know that 57% of Chicagoans support a permanent barrier. Illinois does care about keeping the Great Lakes safe from carp. But it needs regional support. Of the many issues facing the Great Lakes, the threat of Asian carp is the poster child for why we can’t afford to cut funding now. The longer we wait to act on restoring the natural divide, it just gets more expensive. This is the message. Keep sending it until your elected officials listen.

Jumping silver carp photo courtesy of USGS

Guest blogger:
Frances Canonizado
Outreach Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes

At the beginning of the session “The Clean Water Act at 40: Still Critical to Great Lakes Restoration,” Jan Goldman-Carter of the National Wildlife Foundation, introduced one of the speakers, my colleague Kristy Meyer, as “a woman who needs no introduction.”

In Ohio’s “water world,” everyone knows Kristy.

The OEC’s Kristy Meyer as seen from the news feed.

As Director of Agriculture and Clean Water Programs for the Ohio Environmental Council, she works tirelessly to protect our water here in Ohio. Just like the hundreds of other attendees at the Great Lakes Conference.

Kristy is a leader here in Ohio and nationally on clean water issues. While she strives, as we all do, for balance in our lives, for her the professional is the personal.

Her passion for water is visible every day in her work and personal life.

With water, how can it not be personal? We need it for sheer survival.

I grew in the desert of Southern California in the 70′s and 80′s. I didn’t drink the tap water. Ever. It was brown and had stuff in it. It was probably the same way during that time here in Ohio in the aftermath of the Cuyahoga River fire.

I’ve lived in Ohio now for four years, both in Columbus and Cleveland, and I’m thrilled to be able to drink right from the tap.

Without Kristy and all the water advocates across the state and country, and their equally devoted predecessors, that wouldn’t be possible.

Erin McDonough, executive director of Michigan United Conservation Clubs, said voters should ask the presidential candidates and politicians running for Congress what they would do to keep Asian carp from storming the Great Lakes.

“The role of of the NGO (nongovernmental) community and public is to make Asian carp a voting issue,” McDonough said Wednesday during the 8^th annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference in Cleveland. “People are wondering why we can’t come up with a common sense solution to this problem.”

The federal government imported Asian carp to commercial fish farms in Arkansas in the 1960s to control algae. Asian carp escaped from those farms in the 1980s, invaded the Mississippi River system and have been migrating north ever since.

Asian carp are bearing down on Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has called on the federal government to build physical barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System that would separate Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River basin.

Studies have shown that separating Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River basin would cost between $6 billion and $9 billion. McDonough said  the cost of keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes pales in comparison to the cost of damages the fish could inflict on Great Lakes ecosystem.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying the best way to prevent an Asian carp invasion of the Great Lakes. The Army Corps present its study to Congress in 2014, but the Corps won’t recommend a solution. Congress will decide how best to address the problem, according to Corps officials.

Because the Army Corps takes its marching orders from the president and Congress, McDonough said voters who want the government to do more to prevent an Asian carp invasion should pressure the president, Congress and politicians seeking spots in Congress or the White House.

Here’s what you can do to help. Ask President Obama and Mitt Romney to sign the “Great Lakes Protection and Restoration Candidate Pledge.” The pledge asks the presidential candidates to support funding for Great Lakes restoration and back efforts to separate Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River basin Read the full pledge at: http://bit.ly/2012GLpledge

When we joined the crew of the Flagship Niagara to study plastic pollution in three of the Great Lakes this summer – Superior, Huron, and Erie.  We had no idea we would find a greater number of plastic fragments than any other water surface sample collected around the world.

The 5 Gyres Institute has traveled to each of the five subtropical gyres in the North and South Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean, collecting over 500 samples of the water surface. In the Sargasso Sea we had a few samples with over 400 particles of plastic pollution.  Our net has a 1/3^rd millimeter mesh with a 60cm wide opening.  It looks like a manta ray, and is towed behind the boat at 2knots for one hour, so you’re collecting roughly 2 football fields of area when you trawl. You can imagine our surprise when we counted 1596 particles from one sample taken a couple hundred miles east of Cleveland, Ohio.  But the fragments are tiny.

They look like little perfect spheres, multi-colored beads, the size of the period at the end of this sentence, and they’re everywhere.  These micro-beads are difficult to find in the water.  They are dirty, look just like fish eggs, and you need a microscope to tell the difference.  But they are easy to spot on store shelves.  In fact, many products say “microbeads” on the front, and in the ingredients section you’ll see “polyethylene”.  They are the exfoliants in skin care products.

They are designed to abrade you face when you rub those creams into your skin. They are designed to wash down the drain, quickly finding their way into our waterways.  This is the exact opposite of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) we aim to see in everything we manufacture, where you consider the full lifecycle of your product when you sell it.  It’s just common sense.  No longer can we consider the land and sea to absorb garbage unnoticed. We bought 4 skin products to see just what the exfoliating materials are.

Two of the products state they contain microbeads, and when you dissolve them in water and pour it over a t-shirt, what’s left behind is plastic.  Two of the products were different, after dissolving them in water, we found crushed apricot shells in one and cocoa beans in the other.  One is the problem, the other is the solution. We’ve uncovered a problem, once unseen, but now obvious to us all.  The alternatives, Apricot shells and cocoa beans, do the same thing that polyethylene microbeads can do, but with the added benefit of being environmentally benign.

There are three approaches that must happen simultaneously in order to reach a positive conclusion.  First, the consumer is responsible for their choice, both at the checkout line and voting booth, so we must raise public awareness.  Second, EPR is a legislative move, one that makes companies adhere to the right choice.  But we prefer the third option here, the one that puts choice in the hands of the companies making the product in the first place.  Businesses, like Nutrogena and Johnson & Johnson, have known about the natural exfoliants for years, but they may not know that their product pollutes the Great Lakes.  With this information, we believe good people will do the right thing.  This means ending the use of plastic microbeads in consumer products.

This study was conducted in collaboration with SUNY Fredonia, specifically Dr. Sherri “Sam” Mason, and with funding provided by the Burning River Foundation.

Paul Kovalcik, senior environmental scientist at Biohabitats, Inc. and J. Meiring Borcherds, watershed coordinator at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, talked about the tributary project at the Great Lakes Restoration Conference on Tuesday.

Among their advice:

• Work with stakeholders to understand their goals and objectives.
• Never stop trying to find additional funding to improve the project.

The tributary to Tinker’s Creek before restoration work. It had been channelized and disconnected from its floodplain. Restoration work will improve water quality and reduce sedimentation (Photo: Biohabitats, Inc.).

In the case of the project in the Tinker’s Creek watershed, about 2,000 feet of a tributary on the grounds of Hudson High School was restored to a more natural hydrology to improve ecosystem functioning. The tributary had been straightened years ago. Meeting a concern of the city, the tributary was reconnected to a floodplain area that can meet the city’s stormwater goals. And working with the school, the project provides space for an outdoor learning area. Students participated in the design of the project and will continue to be involved in monitoring its performance.

“Projects that achieve multiple goals are challenging but they can be the most successful over time,” said Kovalcik.