Tell U.S. Congress To Protect Great Lakes Against Invasive Species

A Call-Out to Our New York neighbours and other U.S. Citizens around the Great Lakes

From the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a citizens watchdog group in the Great Lakes basin

Posted May 10^th, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Dear Resident of the Great Lakes region,

Quagga Mussels – now more commonly known as zebra mussels – entered the Great Lakes some 30 years ago in the ballast of overseas ships and have done untolled damage to municipal and industrial water intake pipes and other underwater infrastructure, and to the Great Lakes fishery. Photo by Dave Britton, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The U.S. Congress is at it again. An amendment that would significantly weaken

ballast cleanup rules, the main way to stop new invasive species introductions via ships on the lakes, has been tacked onto legislation in both the House and Senate.

All of this may sound familiar.

Thanks to your help, we fought off this bad bill last year, ensuring that provisions to clean up ships entering the Great Lakes continue to be in place. But, the bill has come back again and we need your help again to protect the lakes.

We know invasive species like zebra mussels, quagga mussels, and round gobies were brought into the Great Lakes via ship’s ballast water tanks. And, these critters are wreaking havoc on the lakes’ ecosystem. They’re also costing Great Lakes communities upwards of $200 million due to damage to critical infrastructure like drinking water intakes.

Take action today! Tell Congress today that the Great Lakes need to be protected from invasive species and that the bad ballast amendment should be removed.

Thanks so much for speaking out for the Great Lakes!

Molly Flanagan Vice President, Policy, Alliance for the Great Lakes

To send a message to politicians in Washington, D.C click on – https://secure3.convio.net/agl/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=3FE2DC596E561D6127525C3F0697EB9D.app315b?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=279&autologin=true .

To learn more about the Alliance for the Great Lakes and its citizen watchdog efforts in this world’s largest freshwater basin, click on – https://www.greatlakes.org/ .

We Canadians should consider sending a similar call for action on invasive species in the Great Lakes to our provincial and federal representatives since Canada has done little or nothing to address environmental threats like this through all of the last 10 years of Harper government and through a good deal of the Liberal years in Ottawa before that.

We haven’t seen much action on the Great Lakes from the Wynne/McGuinty/Harris governments in Ontario over the past 20 years either.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN. Niagara At Large encourages you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.

Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.

“A politician thinks of the next election. A leader thinks of the next generation.” – Bernie Sanders