Let them eat fish --- from France to the Great Lakes pollution taints food chain

cross posted at Michigan Messenger

Saturday's Guardian reported on pollution in France's Rhone river. Apparently, a string of governments has ignored a serious PCB problem for more than 20 years. And this is horrible because poor people have eaten the contaminated fish. Sound familiar, Great Lakes readers?

What sets France's problem in relief is the thought of a highly toxic river flowing through "tourist spots such as the papal city of Avignon down to the Camargue delta." Could this be part of our problem with cleanup in Michigan -- our history is too short and unremarkable to evoke cultural incredulity over environmental toxins?

It should be bad enough that carcinogens have entered the food chain in Saginaw where African-American families routinely eat carp and catfish -- fish that are categorically not to be eaten, according to consumption advisories from the state. Just as it should be bad enough that poor immigrants in Lyon's suburbs have been buying and eating toxic carp from the Rhone. Either of these situations should inspire public outrage, outreach to local communities and aggressive cleanup efforts. This isn't about inferior cuisine; this is about the basic human right to safe food and water.

Someone in France sipping Châteauneuf-du-Pape and noshing on langres really should care about toxic carp in the Rhone not because of the taint on the region's tourist industry or culinary reputation, but as a simple matter of environmental justice. Someone sipping Lake Michigan Cabernet with some aged Pinconning likewise should care about toxic carp in the Saginaw River for the sake of the poor families trying to supplement their diets with fresh fish, nature's bounty for the resourceful.

Michigan may not have a papal city or wine culture dating back to the time of Buddha's enlightenment to inspire environmental stewardship, but it has the Great Lakes. These lakes cradle a long and remarkable history marked in geologic time. The world's largest freshwater resource was formed 10,000 years ago, and predates wine and cheese and democracy and the Buddha.

These lakes have sustained human communities for thousands of years, yet are gravely threatened by human industry of the last 150 years. They define our regional culture and heritage. We continue to depend on them for our survival. Our health depends on their health. Can we find a way back to a clean environment? Perhaps we can if we understand our place in the long arc of geologic history.

Photo by: Liam Gumley, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2003

Tourism on the Sunrise Side

How can Michigan become a national and global tourism destination? That depends on whom we are trying to lure to this splendid land.

I just visited the town of Lexington for a few days and stayed in a cottage community on Lake Huron. The place was pleasant enough with a sense of rural neighborliness that harkened back to my childhood--dirt roads, hand-painted lawn ornaments, grandparents and babies, meat-laden grills, smoky fire pits, barefoot children, lots of barking dogs, men drinking beer, fireworks on the beach. Clearly, families had spent the Fourth there for generations. It felt familiar and comforting, but not quite a national destination. More like anywhere U.S.A. on the Fourth.

Sitting on the beach was different, though--a combination of sand and large rocks, inhospitable to beach volleyball, yet good enough for sitting in the wind with a book. We saw lake freighters pass on their way to and from Port Huron. These are huge vessels, 600 to 1000 feet long--spectacular sights as you glance up from your trashy summer beach reading. When the weather was especially clear and the wind low, we could see across Huron to Kettle Point in Ontario, about 35 miles east.

Lexington's downtown has shops and restaurants in a small area near the harbor. The official brochure describes Lexington as "the charming little Harbor Village on the shore of Lake Huron." Clearly, the Lexington Business Association is working hard to develop the downtown. There is a sense of budding tourism and an effort to create a festive destination atmosphere. Family-oriented, inexpensive restaurants predominate--Lakeside A & W, The Flying Taco, and Wimpy's Place, to name a few. Just south of town, on M25, you can find the very hip Oasis Coffeehouse complete with Wi-fi for a dollar, vast permutations of coffee, and good eats. Try the blended iced coffee for a real treat.

But Lexington feels in transition, like so much of our state. There is the old economy--cottages handed down in families, the bounty of good-paying auto industry jobs. And there is the new economy--the same cottages changing hands in a soft real estate market, becoming rental properties of a new class of owners. There are remnants of the old economy--vacant retail space along M25--boarded-up auto repair shops, restaurants, and farm stands. And there are signs of the new economy--For Sale signs on practically every other building.

The shore of Lake Huron, Michigan's sunrise side, has a beauty that cannot be bought, sold or enhanced by any commercial human activity. Facing east across Huron's shifting blue greens, for a moment, you are complete-- complete as the Great Lakes are without the temporary human presence of politics, commerce, industry, or shipping. The Great Lakes, a natural wonder, need no improvement. It is our economy that begs for help.

Things I Learned from Travel Brochures

Sometimes travel brochures promise more than you find upon arrival at your destination. But I have found some interesting details to enhance a brief Fourth of July trip to the Thumb, as well as my general appreciation of our state.

From "Welcome to Vacationland 2007: Official Guide for the Blue Water Area":

Michigan leads the nation in number of state parks and campsites.
Michigan was the first state to establish roadside picnic tables.
No matter where you are in Michigan, you are within 85 miles of a Great Lake.

This year is Port Huron's Sesquicentennial. It was incorporated on February 4, 1857. Visit www.ph150.org for details.

The 83d annual Port Huron-Mackinac Island Yacht Race begins July 21st. The starting area for the race will be located on the west side of the shipping channel in lower Lake Huron approximately 4.5 nautical miles north of the Blue Water Bridges near the U.S. shore.

From "Lexington, Michigan 2007 Visitors Guide":
Lexington is 112 miles from Ann Arbor, 194 miles from Grand Rapids and 139 miles from Lansing.
Lexington was incorporated in 1855. Shingles were the currency in the early days of the settlement. One thousand dollars bought a barrel of flour and 20,000 shingles bought a barrel of pork.

From "Michigan Travel Ideas--Michigan's Official State Travel Guide":
Between South Haven and Ludington, there are 130 miles sugar-fine, sandy beaches on Lake Michigan.
South Haven will host the National Blueberry Festival August 9-12.

Seul Choix Point Lighthouse, 20 miles east of Manistique, has guided ships since 1892 and is the only working light left on northern Lake Michigan.

Get out and explore. Michigan is an amazing place.

Great Lakes--Lower Levels Raising Concern

Visible by satellite--the earth's largest figure-ground study--the Great Lakes give shape to Michigan. The Great Lakes State is surrounded by 20% of the world's fresh surface water (source). Alaska is the only state with more coastline (we have 3,288 miles of it).

At the moment, a lot of people are worried about low lake levels and with reason. Lake Superior is at its lowest level since the Dust Bowl years. The Duluth News Tribune reports that for the first time in more than 30 years the 71-foot ship Winonah will not operate from Grand Portage to Isle Royale.

Sootoday.com reported a contentious public forum held on the Canadian side of the Soo last Thursday. It quotes Tom McAuley, engineering adviser to the IJC (International Joint Commission) and David Fay, Ontario manager of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Regulation Office for Environment Canada's Meteorological Services of Canada:

"For the past nine years, Lake Superior net basin supplies have been at a net loss," said Fay. "This means that more water is leaving the lake than is going in."

"It's climate change," he said. "Lake Superior is a very large lake and it hasn't frozen over in years."

McAuley and Fay agreed that more water is evaporating from the lake between the months of September and February in recent times than ever before in recorded history.

"The lowest level in the lake was in 1926 and we are just one centimeter above that right now," said weatherman Fay. "I expect it will drop below that by September this year."

Fay said he's seen credible models that predict catastrophic water loss in the lake over the next few years as well.

Alarming.

Cynthia Sellinger, hydrologist and Deputy Director at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor says,"The western end of Lake Superior has been in a severe drought since last June. Since 2003 parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan have been in and out of conditions ranging from moderately dry to severe drought. Lake Superior supplies about 30% of the water to Lakes Michigan and Huron." Less water in Superior means less water flowing into Michigan and Huron. Lakes Erie and Ontario, currently higher than their longterm mean levels,"have gotten a lot of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico,"Sellinger said.

"The upper lakes get a much of their moisture from polar air masses and from the Pacific as well. But recently there has been less of that moisture than in previous years."

Travis Dahl, Chief, Water Hydrology Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit Office said,"Since 1918, the record lows for Superior were set during the Dust Bowl, but the record lows for Lakes Michigan and Huron actually were set in the mid 1960s." A multi-continent severe drought was to blame.

I was looking for a comforting longterm perspective on the matter of lake levels. After all, a certain amount of fluctuation is normal and has been observed since records have been kept. The hydrologic cycle is a complex interplay of precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, percolation, runoff and outflows.

When asked point blank if there was anything she could say to assuage fears about the impact of falling lake levels, Sellinger said,"not really." Ouch.

"We've had a lot less moisture and more evaporation in the upper lakes. But the lower lakes have been receiving more precipitation from the Atlantic hurricane tracks. So you're getting a mixture of things affecting the region,"she said.

"Increased hurricane activity resulting from climate change will likely bring more moisture into the region of the lower lakes. You can't say that overall that global warming is going to suck the lakes dry, but they do respond to climatic events,"she said. Such events include the year-long severe drought affecting Superior right now, previous multi-continent severe droughts and ongoing events like increasing global air temperatures and ocean temperatures. (The Aral Sea disaster was brought on by human activities, namely massive river diversions.)

What does this mean for human activities? Shipping is already affected. As reported in yesterday's Lansing State Journal, Saginaw River traffic has slowed in part due to water levels. The Toronto Star reported last week, " Windsor harbour master Bill Marshall says low water levels mean ships are forced to carry lighter loads, which in the end means higher prices for consumers." As for recreation, some boaters will not be able to launch from their home docks or marinas (source).

A multitude of government agencies--Canadian, U.S. and bi-national--collaborate to monitor and steward the Great Lakes. The lakes have always commanded our respect and humility. As vast as the lakes are, global changes will have an impact.

From the Great Lakes Atlas published by the U.S. EPA, Great Lakes National Program Office:

"Warmer climates mean increased evaporation from the lake surfaces and evapotranspiration from the land surface of the basin. This in turn will augment the percentage of precipitation that is returned to the atmosphere. Studies have shown that the resulting net basin supply, the amount of water contributed by each lake basin to the overall hydrologic system, will be decreased by 23 to 50 percent. The resulting decreases in average lake levels will be from half a metre to two metres, depending on the GCM [general circulation model] used."

Walk lightly, everyone.


(Since this was posted the Independent (UK) has published Climate change blamed as Superior shrinks, June 20, 2007)

1851 Was a Great Year in Michigan

"Michigan has five Colleges, one of them a State University, without fee for tuition, and connected with it a free medical department, with free lectures to all that will attend. An ample University and School Fund, with organized school districts all over the State, and district libraries."

"Michigan was never in a more prosperous condition than present--never more inviting to the farmer, the mechanic, the business man; in short, to occupations of all classes."

From Matters in Michigan, New York Daily Times, September 23, 1851

It seems that good libraries and public education with a shot at free tuition to University were a drawing card for business of all sorts. Hmm...

A New Attitude

Last week, I read an opinion piece that was simultaneously realistic and optimistic about the role of attitude in Michigan's economic turnaround. For a few minutes, I had hope for our state.

"Nonetheless, the tie between prosperity and attitude seems to be strong, even symbiotic. As we remained walled in our rust-belt prison, we might remember that we have the will, the brains, the drive and the money to turn our state around and reclaim our position of global pre-eminence. We might expedite the process of recovery by talking loudly about our dreams, our prospects and our new love for risk taking."

The author, Jim Hettinger, is a Michigan native and has been CEO with Battle Creek Unlimited , a private, non-profit economic development organization since 1978. We spoke today about Michigan's economic prospects in context of its past and present conditions.

Regarding the pervasive negative press about Michigan, Hettinger said this is quite harmful and just adds fuel to the fire where attitude is concerned. I asked if he had suggestions for creating a new vision for Michigan. He responded that such a vision needs to come from Lansing, but that we aren't well served by "getting swept up in big trends. Communities need to find their strategic local competencies; to find a niche--what nobody else is doing." Cultivating local identity is a part of this. He added, "Finding the niche needs to happen at all levels."

But as Michigan transitions away from primary dependence on manufacturing, former factory workers will need to find their way to personal empowerment, independence and responsibility for their futures. "We have been in a giant paternalistic environment for the last 50 to 60 years," Hettinger said. This was cultivated by corporations, big unions and now, in part by large foundations. The antidote, he added is to, "get people on the edge where creativity and survival instincts come into play."

He believes Lansing needs to play a role in this, as well: "We need to create arranged spontaneity by bringing together different people and groups with similar interests and then let nature take its course."

BCU KnowledgeNow!, a business information portal created by Battle Creek Unlimited, endeavors to do that by gathering and making available information resources to facilitate economic development.

Hettinger works and lives in Michigan by choice. I asked him what gives him hope for Michigan's future. He listed three key elements. He said that with strategic deployment of new technology, a fast turn around is possible. Although our education system needs updating, he estimates that it is still globally competitive. And last, the Great Lakes are an asset beyond tourism, that he believes need protection.

Don't lose hope, Michiganders. Reach out, help each other, take some risks, and believe in your ability to create sustainable communities. And stop being so partisan.

Art and Ethanol in Blissfield

Blissfield, known for farms and antique shops, is also home to two unlikely neighbors--Flatlanders Art Galleries and Great Lakes Ethanol.

I spoke with Flatlanders owner, Ken Thompson, about his work and his perspective on the Michigan economy. Thompson said he situated his operation in Blissfield because the real estate was so affordable. That was twenty eight years ago.

An artist and entrepreneur, Thompson runs several enterprises out of his Blissfield location. Midwest Sculpture Initiative works to "raise the visibility of Midwest sculptors nationally and internationally, promote cooperation among various art and civic organizations." Flatlanders Sculpture Services can custom fabricate, install and restore large sculptures. And there are the art galleries currently showing works of Jim Cogswell, Kevin Schroeder and Cathie Royer (Feb. 11-April 15).

When I asked Thompson for his thoughts on the Michigan economy, he said he would like to see a more favorable business climate and development of a more diverse range of businesses. He thinks Michigan needs to be more than cars and farms.

Yet, cars and farms are driving the economic development just southwest of the Flatlanders location. Great Lakes Ethanol, operated by Lakota, Iowa-based Midwest Grain Processors, is the second ethanol plant in the state. According the MGP website, the plant will produce 57 million gallons of ethanol annually. The website also states that, "All of the corn for the plant will be purchased in the local area. Demand from an ethanol plant typically increases local corn prices as much as 5 cents per bushel."

If Michigan is to diversify beyond cars and farms, Thompson suggests greater support for arts and artists. As he summarized, "Artists move where property values are cheap; they rejuvenate an area and then the galleries move in. After that come the restaurants. Then real estate values rise, which eventually prices out the artists who move on to other cheap rents." He recommended Richard Florida's work, The Rise of the Creative Class, for further reading on the influence of creatives on community and economic development.

Even though the ethanol plant bodes well for development in the Blissfield area, it still takes more than corn and cars to build a diverse and thriving community.

Can't Keep a Hipster Down

Ann Arbor, Cool City, home to thousands of peace loving armchair liberals, recently took a blow to the gut from Pfizer. But that will not keep Ann Arborites from pursuing diversity and celebrating Spring. This weekend will see the first annual FestiFools, a parade on Main Street Sunday from 4p.m. to 5p.m. including, I have heard, huge puppets. Laugh in the face of uncertainty; thumb your nose at bad news.

Ann Arbor will also be hosting the 35th Annual Dance for Mother Earth Pow Wow at Crisler Arena. This event takes place Saturday and Sunday (click the link above for more details) and features traditional Native American dancers and drum circles from around the US and Canada, fabulous food, and a huge number of vendors.

Quench your thirst for fun and diversity in Ann Arbor this weekend.

So Much Water, Why Not Sell Some?

From the Great Lakes Information Network:
"Volume
6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water; one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water (only the polar ice caps and Lake Baikal in Siberia contain more); 95 percent of the U.S. supply. Spread evenly across the continental U.S., the Great Lakes would submerge the country under about 9.5 feet of water. "

As reported in the Traverse City Record Eagle:

"KALKASKA — Members of the village of Kalkaska's Downtown Development Authority hope to woo a water bottling plant to northern Michigan.

John Wheeler, a DDA member, said he plans to arrange a tour of Nestle Waters North America's Ice Mountain bottling plant in Mecosta County to talk to the company about locating in Kalkaska..."

Icebreaker Mackinaw at Work in the Soo Today

Sault Ste. Marie locks will open March 25 for the 2007 Great Lakes shipping season. According to the sooeveningnews.com , the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw will breakout lower river channels of the St. Mary's today and the upper St. Mary's and Lake Superior tomorrow. If you want to see what's happening at the Soo Locks, check out the US Army Corps of Engineers webcam.