Broad Effort

Nasty creatures are invading the Great Lakes: mollusks such as zebra and quagga mussels and pathogens such as the “fish Ebola,” viral hemorrhagic septicemia and cholera.

The harmful effect of these invaders can be seen at the bottom of Lake Michigan where the quagga mussel has caused an amazing transformation. In the past five years, the lake bed has gone from a clean, rocky place to a completely new world covered by algae and shells. The mussels’ constant feeding has filtered most of the microscopic life out of the lake’s waters, allowing sunlight to reach the floor for the first time. With sunlight came the algae carpet that now fouls beaches, sucks up oxygen, harbors E. coli and feeds another invader, the round goby, crowding out native fish populations.

The Journal Sentinel’s recent series on the lakes made the importance of this issue quite clear (“Great Lakes, great peril” Aug. 17). The Great Lakes contain 20% of the world’s fresh water. Sixty million people rely on them for drinking water, leisure and billions of dollars from the tourism and adventure sports industries. As the devastating effects from this living pollution continue to grow, all these amenities are threatened, even as residents have embraced the investments made in places such as Bradford Beach.

We must stop new invasions if we are to fix the problem. The good news is that we know the major source of the problem and can cut off future invasions if we bring all the necessary forces to the fight.

Ballast water dumped from oceangoing vessels is the No. 1 source of new species entering the Great Lakes. The big ships expel the water they use to stabilize their loads, often dumping foreign plants, animals, bacteria and viruses with it. A new lake invader arrives every six months.

Great Lakes states were the first to begin dealing with the issue. Michigan has strong laws on the books forcing shippers to expel ocean water long before they reach the state’s waters. Other states are moving to put similar laws on the books. The federal courts recently have ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use its power under the Clean Water Act to help fix the problem. Necessary parties are coming to the fight. Others are needed as well, such as the U.S. Maritime Administration, local governments and concerned citizens.

But just as efforts are finally underway at the state and federal levels, a bill moving through Congress would stop this progress, push state governments and the EPA out of the process and exempt the major source of invasive species contamination from the requirements of the Clean Water Act and state laws. Instead of bringing the full array of necessary resources, the bill would place all authority with the U.S. Coast Guard.

While the Coast Guard needs to be involved, it can’t solve the problem alone. After all, it has plenty to do in protecting our shores from terrorists, drug smugglers and other bad guys. It is a military agency with no particular expertise or experience in fighting pollution.

Then, there is the issue of mission overload.

U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, noted, “As I have repeatedly said, the Coast Guard is being stretched by the increased mission responsibilities assigned to it. I am not afraid that the service will break, but I am afraid that it will become too thin in many areas to be fully effective.”

The Coast Guard should do its part to protect our shores. But this effort requires so much more. No agency can do it alone. We need scientists, biologists, experienced EPA staffers, lawmakers and concerned citizens to work together to repel this very real alien invasion. It is an “all hands on deck” emergency and needs a multiparty response to protect the public interest in our Great Lakes

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=789040