"Less than six months into the job, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Craig Butler grew so weary of Toledo’s mule-like response to long-documented problems at its 73-year-old Collins Park Water Treatment Plant that he entertained the very drastic — and politically explosive — idea of trying to wrest control of it away from the city."
"WASHINGTON -- The environmental group League of Conservation Voters and the union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced Thursday that they are funneling $2.1 million into the Michigan Senate race in support of Democratic candidate Gary Peters."
"Enbridge says it consulted with regulatory agencies and communities for a year and a half to select the best route, which faces intense public opposition."
"TOLEDO, Ohio — It took a serendipitous slug of toxins and the loss of drinking water for a half-million residents to bring home what scientists and government officials in this part of the country have been saying for years: Lake Erie is in trouble, and getting worse by the year."
"U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) has told The Blade she is demanding more transparency from environmental regulators after inadvertently learning during a conference call Sunday that Toledo's tap water has been as high as 3 parts per billion for the toxin found in microcystis algae - three times higher than the World Health Organization standard of 1 ppb."
Several hundred thousand residents of the Toledo, Ohio, area remained Monday morning under an advisory not to drink their tapwater. Labs found microcystin, a toxin produced by blue-green algae, in the water. The algae are blooming in western Lake Erie, from which the city draws its water, because of phosphorus frpm farm runoff, lawn fertilizer, and sewage overflow. At a 3 am news conference, Mayor D. Michael Collins said the advisory would ramain in effect for some hours although tests showed microcystin in the water returning to safe levels. The crisis disrupted people's lives on a massive scale as bottled water was distributed.
"In the dog days of summer, Nick Anthony wouldn't swim in Lake of the Woods unless some money was involved."
"ST. LOUIS, Mich. – Jim Hall was mowing the town’s baseball diamond when he felt a little bump underneath him. “And there it was, a dead robin,” he said."
"June 1, 1988, the day everything changed for the Great Lakes, was sunny, hot and mostly calm — perfect weather for the young researchers from the University of Windsor who were hunting for critters crawling across the bottom of Lake St. Clair."
"MINNEAPOLIS — When city leaders and state legislators agreed last year to fund roughly half the $1 billion cost of a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, they attached the usual strings for such projects: It had to be architecturally iconic, employ steel made from Minnesota iron ore and offer at least a few cheap seats."
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