"Great Lakes States Lose Legal Bid to Keep Out Asian Carp"

"CHICAGO -- A federal judge [Dec. 2] rejected the request of five Great Lakes states for a preliminary injuction that would force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

The large fish, introduced in the lower Mississippi River basin years ago to control algae in aquaculture and wastewater treatment ponds, have escaped and spread rapidly northward up the Mississippi River system until tests in December 2009 found Asian carp in Chicago-area waters on the verge of entering Lake Michigan.

Federal District Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr. acknowledged that the potential migration of Asian carp through the Chicago Area Waterway System into Lake Michigan "presents a threat of environmental and economic harm," but he ruled, "Plaintiffs have not carried their burden of showing that the balance of the harms weighs in their favor." "

Environment News Service had the story December 2, 2010.

SEE ALSO:

"Lakes Adrift: Invasions Demand Leadership, Action" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)