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June 25 , 2007

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—  Great Lakes

• Conservation groups call for Clean Water Act enforcement
  (Wisconsin Radio Network, 6/22) "Ships from around the world enter the great lakes each year. Many of them are traveling from international waters, carrying cargo to US and Canadian locations."
  

• Floating algae mess takes the bloom off nice beach weekend
  (Muskegon Chronicle, 6/18) "The algae, known as cladophora, has become increasing problematic around the Great Lakes, particularly along Lake Michigan's rocky shorelines in northern Michigan and in Wisconsin and in Lake Ontario, said Alan Steinman, director of Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute in Muskegon."
  
  
• Great Lakes show improvement, but concerns remain
  (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette, 6/16) "The health of the Great Lakes ecosystem is improving in some ways, but population growth, climate change and invasive species continue to raise troubling concerns about the future of the waters, according to a new report by Environment Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."
  

—  Water Supply

• Could our water be the next economic boon?
  (West Salem Coulee News, 6/22) EDITORIAL: "If I were a betting man, I’d lay money down that water — not oil — will be one of the most significant political and environmental issues facing not only our nation, but the world."
  
  
• Fears of water shortage spreading across Japan
  (Mainichi Daily News, 6/21) "Fears of a water shortage are spreading across the country as the Japanese archipelago has had little rain since last winter."
  
  
• Conservationists warn of dangers of desalination
  (ABC News, 6/19) "An international conservation organization has warned that the global trend towards desalinated water is environmentally dangerous and should be used only as a last resort."
  
  
• New satellite technology aims to measure water around the globe
  (Columbus Dispatch, 6/19) "Before the instrument is launched into space, scientists have to interpret the radar reflections in a variety of situations, from the windblown surface of the reservoir to the glassy stillness of an indoor swimming pool at Ohio State University."
  
  
• Florida is slow to see the need to save water
  (New York Times, 6/19) "Even as a drought and unprecedented water restrictions strip many Florida lawns of their lushness, Mark Harding has few takers for the artificial grass he sells from a showroom here. Inquiries are up, he said, but swapping turf for less thirsty alternatives remains hard for Floridians to get their heads around."
  
  
• Water woes in China
  (Frontline, 6/19) "Ten per cent of the Yellow River today is sewage. Little surprise when, according to the government, the volume of wastewater flowing into the river increased from about two billion tonnes in the 1980s to 4.3 billion tonnes by 2005."
  
  
• Australia: The continent that ran dry
  (New Scientist, 6/18) "In the beginning the Australian drought was fun. A talking point over the barbecue, an excuse to shower with a lover or spend more cloud-free days with friends at the beach. Sometime last year, the mood changed - perhaps with the first inkling that water restrictions had all but destroyed urban gardens and that agricultural production across the country had fallen by a fifth."
  
  
• Australia turns to desalination amid water shortage
  (NPR, 6/18) "Look at the grass courts at Perth's Peppermint Grove Tennis Club, and it's difficult to believe the talk about drought and the possibility that this west Australian coastal city will run out of water."
  
  
• Toilet water keeps Florida counties green
  (Sarasota Herald Tribune, 6/17) "As Florida struggles through one of the worst droughts in recent memory, Stan Willey's lawn is a rich shade of green. Once-a-week watering restrictions? Willey happily ignores them."
  
  
• China: Two major lakes again hit by algae
  (China Daily, 6/17) "Huge algae outbreaks again pose a threat to drinking water supply from Taihu and Chaohu, two of China's major freshwater lakes. Satellite pictures showed blue-green algae covering about a third of both lakes in the country's densely populated east, according to the National Satellite Meteorological Center."
  
  
• Worry about water
  (Detroit Free Press, 6/15) OPINION: "The scenarios are ominous. Drought, human devastation, even war. All because of water, an essential element of life that is taken for granted around here because we have so much of it. Makes it hard to grasp the 'worldwide frenzy to secure freshwater' that experts at Yale University say is already happening."
  
  
• Exceptional drought spreads through the South
  (Associated Press, 6/15) "The choking drought that is killing crops and turning streams into dusty trails across the Southeast is expanding. Previously limited to the northern half of Alabama, the drought classified as exceptional has grown like an ink blot to extend from eastern Mississippi across Alabama into southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia, government meteorologists said Thursday."
  
  
• Alberta’s oil sands threaten water supplies
  (ES&T, 6/15) "Second only to Saudi Arabia in abundance of petroleum, Canada’s Alberta oil sands are integral to providing a secure supply of oil to gas-guzzlers in the U.S. But new research reveals that zealous oil production coupled with climate change has left the water supplies that are used to steam oil out of the sand in critical condition. An influx of water-conserving technologies and policies is needed."
  

—  Water Quality

• Arsenic in fluoride? CDC says yes
  (Media Syndicate, 6/21) "Fluoridation chemicals are allowed to contain arsenic and other toxins New York — March 2007 — Trace amounts of arsenic are found in fluoride chemicals added to drinking water supplies, reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's Web site."
  
  
• Pharmaceuticals in soil from irrigation water
  (USGS, 6/21) "Many areas of the Nation are faced with water shortages due to significant demand for water. As a result, supplies are being augmented with treated wastewater for uses such as irrigation."
  
  
• Microbial proteins improve water quality
  (Science Daily, 6/19) "U.S. scientists have found some bacteria can improve water quality by protecting themselves from potentially toxic nanoparticles in their own environments."
  
  
• Arsenic in water: Exposure deaths high decades later
  (United Press International, 6/18) "Death rates from lung and bladder cancer remain high decades after residents in northern Chile were exposed to high levels of arsenic in drinking water."
  
  
• Report: Tainted drinking water at 23 military bases
  (Marine Corps Times, 6/18) "Congressional lawmakers who were examining extensive drinking water contamination from the 1960s through the 1980s at Camp Lejeune, N.C., now say that the problem extends to 22 other bases throughout the country, to varying degrees."
  

—  Water Resources

• Glacial Lake vanishes in southern Chile
  (Associated Press, 6/21) "A five-acre glacial lake in Chile's southern Andes has disappeared — and scientists want to know why."
  
  
• 'Farmers are reporting nothing but dust'
  (Chicago Tribune, 6/19) "While much of the West has experienced drought conditions for close to a decade, the latest system is centered over Alabama and extends to much of the Southeast, heavily affecting Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, North and South Carolina and Virginia, as well as parts of Arkansas and West Virginia."
  
  
• A mystery of fish mortality
  (Washington Post, 6/19) "Since 2002, fish have been dying in the Shenandoah and other western tributaries of the Potomac River, and scientists have been racing to find the cause."
  
  
• Acting Interior Department head talks wetlands
  (Midland Daily News, 6/19) "The second-in-charge of the U.S. Department of Interior said Sunday that new conservation efforts by the Bush Administration can help avoid hassles like the Supreme Court wetlands protection case of Midland developer John Rapanos."
  
  
• Muddy waters
  (New York Times, 6/18) EDITORIAL: "The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers have finally issued guidelines about which streams and wetlands are subject to federal jurisdiction."
  
  
• D.C.: Fertilizer runoff creates 'dead zone' in Gulf
  (Water World, 6/15) "There was hope for a cure down in the Louisiana bayous even as the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone expanded like a B-movie blob. The year was 2000 and states up and down the Mississippi River, spurred by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, were coming to grips with one of America's most vexing water quality challenges: the fertilizer runoff from Midwestern farm fields flowing hundreds of miles south to the Gulf of Mexico."
  
  
• Clean Water Restoration Act still a good idea
  (Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/15) "The world's freshwater supply is stressed like never before. Problems flow from aging pipelines, industrial contamination, flooding, wasteful irrigation, growing demand, climate change and political corruption."
  
  
• India's rivers dying due to sewage, say activists
  (Reuters, 6/15) "The daily dumping of millions of tonnes of sewage is killing India's rivers and threatening the lives of thousands of poor people, an environmental think-tank said on Thursday."
  
  

—  Wastewater

• New fuel from sludge
  (Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/15) "Of all the raw sources of experimental 'green' energy, the stuff that comes into a tiny Kensington plant is perhaps the nastiest: a brown sludge clotted with food and other goo you really don't want to know about, laced with grease."
  
  
• Sewer pump manufacturer goes to extremes
  (Albany Times Union, 6/14) "Environment One Corp. unveiled its new 'sexy beast' during a special conference in Hawaii last month for its distribution partners — and people left the island of Oahu very excited. The hype wasn't over a new type of sports car or cell phone, but a new kind of sewer pump, if you can believe it."
  

—  Toxic Waste/Pollution

• Teflon is forever
  (Mother Jones, 6/19) "Teflon, it turns out, gets its nonstick properties from a toxic, nearly indestructible chemical called pfoa, or perfluorooctanoic acid. And although DuPont, the nation's sole Teflon manufacturer, likes to chirp that its product makes 'cleanup a breeze,' it is now becoming apparent that cleansing ourselves of pfoa is nearly impossible."
  
  
• Let's argue less and spend time cleaning up climate
  (St. Cloud Times, 6/19) COLUMN: "Most of the major energy sources that power the way we live are dirty. Their extraction scars and fouls the landscape. The people who extract coal and oil (unlike the people who profit from extracting coal and oil) often live shortened lives. The combustion of these fuels is a major, long-lasting contributor to pollution."
  
  
• Water fleas turned into toxic-waste detectives
  (Winston-Salem Journal, 6/15) "They give their lives so that ours will be safer. Of course, when you’re a water flea or a fathead minnow, you don’t have a lot of choice. These tiny creatures tell us if sewage-treatment plants and industries are piping toxic waste into our waterways."
  
  
• Toxic legacy of Agent Orange lives on in Vietnam
  (Associated Press, 6/15) "More than 30 years after the Vietnam War ended, the poisonous legacy of Agent Orange has emerged anew with a scientific study that has found extraordinarily high levels of health-threatening contamination at the former U.S. air base at Danang."
  

—  Global Warming

• Gulf Stream's role in warming questioned
  (MSNBC, 6/18) "From the deck of a research ship moored in these gusty north Atlantic islands, workers are offloading three bright orange buoys whose sonar devices will help Bogi Hansen fill more gaps in an intriguing twist on climate change forecasts."
  

—  Everything Else

• Survey: One-third in U.S. know of water sources
  (Business Wire, 6/21) "EnviroMedia's survey, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation January 11-14 among 1,015 Americans, showed that only 32 percent of Americans say they 'definitely know' the natural source of their drinking water. However, there is a high willingness among Americans to conserve water in order to ensure a plentiful supply for the future."
  
  
• Forbes spotlights bottled water market
  (Forbes, 6/20) "Water is becoming one of the fastest growing beverage categories — and one of the most sought-after by beverage companies - as consumers continue to seek out healthier alternatives to sugary soft drinks."
  
  
• Tapping into energy from water mains
  (Water World, 6/18) "New technology with the potential to provide enough power to meet the needs of approximately 7,000 homes — or to illuminate 45 Eiffel Towers — could soon be operational in the U.K."
  
  
• Bottled water basics, inspection, filtration in IBWA sessions
  (Water Tech Online, 6/15) "The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) has announced several education session topics for its upcoming 2007 IBWA Convention and Tabletop Trade Show in Las Vegas, according to association’s Web site. The show's theme is "The Bottled Water Event: A Place to Learn.'"

Illinois

—  Water Supply

• Two workers killed at Stickney Water Treatment Plant
  (WBBM Chicago, 6/21) "Two construction workers pulled from an underground area at a Stickney water treatment plant where they may have been overcome by fumes on Wednesday have been identified."
  
  
• Decatur: Potential reservoir sites discussed
  (Decatur Tribune, 6/20) "The ongoing debate on where to locate a proposed City of Decatur water reservoir to add an additional water source for the community in case of droughts was front and center again at this week’s council meeting during a Council Study Session."
  
  
• Dupage County: Listening to the frogs
  (Chicago Daily Herald, 6/19) "It's 8 p.m. on a spring night, and instead of watching the latest reality TV show or baseball, Ed Cilley is listening for frogs. Because a frog's skin is so porous, they can be used to monitor toxins in water supplies."
  
  
• Illinois American Water asking customers to restrict usage
  (Champaign News-Gazette, 6/17) "For the first time in 19 years, Illinois American Water is asking all Champaign County customers to restrict nonessential water use."
  
  
• Panel, Prospect Heights still at odds over water
  (Des Plaines Journal, 6/17) "City Treasurer and Water Committee Chairman Richard Tibbits is baffled as to why the Northwest Water Commission will not allow Prospect Heights to join its board and allow lake water to flow throughout the entire city."
  
  
• Bolingbrook: Suit filed to prevent water line installation
  (Chicago Suburban News, 6/16) "The village of Woodridge, Illinois-American Water, and Downers Grove Township have been named in a lawsuit filed by the Pleasantdale Voluntary Civic Association seeking an injunction preventing those entities from installing water and sanitary sewer lines in the unincorporated subdivision."
  
  
• Denvale water tower plans still on hold
  (Champaign News-Gazette, 6/16) "Plans to build a nearly $1.9 million water tower in Denvale remain on hold until Aqua Illinois officials decide where to put it."
  

—  Water Resources

• Rend Lake more than a mere body of water
  (Carbondale Southern, 6/19) "It really is a wonder. We're talking about Rend Lake, of course, which recently was named one of the 'Seven Wonders of Illinois' in a contest run by the Illinois Bureau of Tourism."
  
  
• Dead fish, squirrels cause alarm around Oak Lawn Lake
  (CBS Chicago, 6/19) "Discoveries of dead fish and other wildlife near Oak Lawn Lake have animal control officials asking questions. Dozens of fish were found floating in the lake in late May. More unusual was a series of reports about dead squirrels around the lake, animal control officer Elisabeth Perry said."
  

—  Wastewater

• Conference will key on Algonquin wastewater facility
  (McHenry Northwest Herald, 6/19) "After months of construction, destruction and foul odors, the Algonquin wastewater treatment plant is about to come out smelling like a rose next month."
  
  
• Villa Park starts first part of sewer repairs
  (Chicago Daily Herald, 6/19) "Where there’s smoke, there could be unwanted water. And in the case of Villa Park’s sanitary sewer system, there likely will be $4 million in repairs over a two-year period."
  

—  Everything Else

• Aqua America subsidiary buys Illinois water system
  (MSN Business, 6/18) "Aqua America Inc. said Monday that its Aqua Illinois Inc. subsidiary has completed purchasing the municipal water system of the Village of Manteno in Kankakee County, Ill., for $4.5 million."

Indiana

—  Water Supply

• Noblesville continues water ban despite rainfall
  (Indianapolis Star, 6/20) "Despite some rainfall Tuesday morning, Noblesville is asking some residents to continue ignoring those brown lawns. Noblesville spokeswoman Cara Culp said the city received 0.36 inches Tuesday at the Public Safety Building."
  
  
• Liberty evaluates water usage during dry spell
  (Richmond Palladium-Item, 6/19) "Demand for water during dry weather has challenged the town's pumping capacity, but officials decided Monday not to impose any water restrictions."
  
  
• Light rain won't alleviate drought
  (WTHR Indianapolis, 6/18) "Monday's scattered showers did little to help the state's water woes. Much of Indiana remains in the midst of a moderate drought. For two months, the state has received only half its usual rain fall."
  
  
• Manteno latest town to tap Aqua supply
  (Kankakee Daily Journal, 6/18) "Water from the Kankakee River will be arriving in Manteno homes on June 25, a week from today. 'That's the date we will actually be delivering water from the river,' said Aqua Illinois Inc. President Terry Rakocy."
  
  
• Keeping an eye on water supply
  (Indianapolis Star, 6/17) "The heat is on Central Indiana, and some water systems are having a hard time meeting demand, including the Indianapolis Department of Waterworks, which serves about 1 million customers."
  
  
• Indiana’s water-regulation proposals may get public hearing
  (Indianapolis Business Journal, 6/16) "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether to approve changes Indiana plans to make to its drinking-water regulations. Some of the changes are required under amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act."
  
  
• Many ignore water restrictions
  (WTHR Indianapolis, 6/15) "The city asked Indianapolis residents to stop watering lawns until next Tuesday, but that word apparently didn't get to state-run properties downtown."

—  Water Resources

• Reservoir release helps flush algae
  (Muncie Star Press, 6/18) "Indiana-American Water Co. has begun releasing about six million gallons of water a day from Prairie Creek Reservoir into the White River."
  

—  Wastewater

• Dairy can't put waste on fields, judge says
  (Associated Press, 6/19) "A judge has prohibited a rural Huntington County dairy from spreading manure from its 1,400 cows. Huntington Circuit Judge Thomas Hakes ruled Friday that DeGroot Dairy's owner, Johannes DeGroot, cannot apply manure on fields in the area."
  
  
• BOW approves Monticello sewer plans
  (Monticello Herald Journal, 6/19) "Though annexation for the City of Monticello appears to be a distant reality, plans are in motion aimed at bringing additional areas into city limits. During the city's monthly board of works meeting Monday, a plan sheet for the North Sixth Street sanitary sewer system and an Indiana Department of Environmental Management permit application for water pollution control were approved."
  
  
• Chesterton considers relocating sewer main
  (Chesterton Tribune, 6/17) "A long time ago someone thought it was a good idea—or at least not a bad one—to bury a four-inch sanitary sewer force main in concrete in the bridge over Coffee Creek along Indian Boundary Road."
  
  
• Wastewater troubles in Indiana prompt Ohio River warning
  (Associated Press, 6/16) "Crews were working to fix problems with a sewage treatment plant that prompted the Indiana environmental agency to issue an advisory against coming into contact with water downstream in the Ohio River."
  

—  Hazardous Waste

• BSU's commitment to coal criticized
  (Muncie Star Press, 6/19) "Environmental advocate John Blair is disappointed that his alma mater, Ball State University, is replacing its aging, coal-fired power plant with an advanced coal combustor, even though the new system will be cleaner."

Michigan

—  Water Supply

• Cass City dedicates new water facility
  (Huron Daily Tribune, 6/20) "Village, state and federal officials gathered with employees of Booms Construction and Spicer Group on Tuesday for a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony at the village’s Water Treatment Facility and Department of Public Works building."
  
  
• Project profile: Arsenic treatment in Oakland County
  (Water Online, 6/20) "In May, 2003, upon approval by the County Health Department, Adedge Technologies installed the first arsenic treatment system for a Type II nontransient, non-community (NTNC) water system in Oakland County, Michigan."
  
  
• Some find water-tax hard to swallow, others drink it up
  (Kalamazoo Gazette, 6/18) "A Michigan state senator's proposal to impose a 20-cents-per-gallon tax on bottled water is sparking debate among industry officials and environmentalists."
  

—  Water Resources

• Kalamazoo River cleanup: Do it right
  (Grand Rapids Press, 6/18) EDITORIAL: "The contaminated Kalamazoo River is long over-due for a thorough scrubbing. Seventeen years have passed since it was named one of the country's most polluted waterways."
  
  
• Study to track Little Black Creek, Mona Lake toxins
  (Muskegon Chronicle, 6/18) "Grand Valley State University has received a $346,800 federal grant to study how stormwater runoff affects the movement of contaminated sediments in Little Black Creek."
  
  
• E. coli closes Pere Marquette beach for a day
  (Muskegon Chronicle, 6/18) "First it was algae, then it was E. coli. Considered by some to be Michigan's cleanest beach, Pere Marquette Park has had a rough start to the summer season. Health officials on Tuesday issued a warning that E. coli levels in the water at the beach exceeded safe standards."
  
  
• Goodbye, 'Black Lagoon'
  (Detroit News, 6/17) "Millions of dollars in cleanups and restoration to the once-contaminated and stigmatized Black Lagoon have helped earn the bay a new name."
  
  
• Many sign petition to oppose drilling beneath Tee Lake
  (Gaylord Herald-Times, 6/17) "Approximately 120 concerned Tee Lake property owners attended a meeting at the Greenwood Township Hall to speak out and sign a petition against the possibility of oil companies drilling beneath the 229-acre lake."
  
  
• Lower levels uncover contaminated sediment in St. Marys
  (Sault Ste Marie Sault Star, 6/17) "Low water levels along the St. Mary’s River have likely uncovered more than a century’s worth of contaminated sediment, says a member of the joint U.S. and Canadian group charged with monitoring the troubled waterway."

—  Wastewater

• Foes want Northport sewer project halted
  (Traverse City Record Eagle, 6/20) "Opponents of a municipal sewer system in Northport have again asked a judge to halt the project."
  
  
• State shunts environment for oil industry
  (Detroit Free Press, 6/18) COLUMN: "Earlier this month, a judge blocked an oil company's plan to dump more than a million gallons a day of treated oil well wastewater from the Manistee River watershed into the Au Sable River's headwaters."
  
  
• Canadian sludge brings state to Richfield Township landfill
  (Flint Journal, 6/16) "There's something rotten, but it's not in Denmark. In fact, it's right here in Richfield Township in the form of imported sewer sludge from a malfunctioning wastewater treatment plant in Canada."
  

—  Hazardous Waste

• State fines BP over gas tank leaks
  (Kalamazoo Gazette, 6/18) "Oil and gas company BP has failed to effectively deal with pollution below two Kalamazoo gas stations that poses an immediate threat to public health and safety, state officials say."
  
  
• Alba residents don't want Bay Harbor's leachate
  (Petoskey News-Review, 6/17) "Speakers at a Wednesday hearing tended to take cautious — and in many cases, unwilling — stances toward a plan to dispose of seepage collected in the Bay Harbor shoreline cleanup in a proposed injection well in eastern Antrim County."

Minnesota

—  Water Supply

• 3M wins ruling in class-action claim over water contamination
  (St. Paul Pioneer Press, 6/19) "In a victory for 3M Co., a judge ruled today that 67,700 residents of Washington County will not be considered as a a single group in a lawsuit against the company for damages allegedly suffered because of chemicals detected in their water."
  
  
• Higher arsenic levels in drinking water poses no health threat
  (Fergus Falls Daily Journal, 6/18) "Municipal water systems in Dalton and Elizabeth were listed as having exceeded the standard for arsenic in an annual survey of drinking water reported test results for 726 municipal systems and 237 non-municipal systems in the state."
  

—  Water Resources

• Fired scientist says state muzzled him
  (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 6/20) "The Legislature should investigate claims that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency barred a state scientist from testifying about the dangers of the farm chemical atrazine and then fired him, state Rep. Ken Tschumper said Tuesday."
  
  
• Scientist says state retaliated against him
  (Minnesota Environmental Partnership, 6/20) "A state scientist slated to testify to lawmakers that he believes the Minnesota Agriculture Department was misrepresenting the level of a potentially dangerous herbicide found in state waters says he was silenced and ultimately fired."
  
  
• A new day for Minnesota's waters
  (Walker Pilot-Independent, 6/20) "The biggest improvement for Minnesota's outdoors was support for clean water, more than $45 million alone is devoted to clean up our lakes, rivers and streams over the next two years."
  
  
• Heat and lack of rain can bring toxic algae bloom, says MPCA
  (North Branch Post-Review, 6/20) "Recent hot, dry weather has created conditions where toxic blue-green algae can form on Minnesota lakes. The algae is thought to be responsible for the death of a dog in Wright County last week, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)."
  
  
• New group looks at river issues
  (Wahpeton Daily News, 6/18) "More than 70 people gathered at the Richland 44 Elementary School in Abercrombie Tuesday night for an informational meeting regarding water issues in the Red River Basin. A new group called the Lake Agassiz Watershed Group organized the meeting, with Richland 44 Superintendent Wayne Ulven as mediator."
  

—  Wastewater

• Renville Co. plant meeting stricter wastewater requirements
  (Willmar West Central Tribune, 6/20) "Under terms of a precedent-setting water permit with Renville County, Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative has continued to reduce the wastewater discharge problems that had once brought it fines and some notoriety."
  
  
• Clear Lake Sewer Authority to pay MPCA penalty
  (WCCO Minneapolis, 6/16) "The sewer authority serving the cities of Clear Lake and Clearwater has agreed to pay a $16,000 penalty for alleged wastewater violations."
  

—  Everything Else

• U of M looking for citizen input on the environment
  (UMN News, 6/19) "Safe water, more forests, the condition of state parks; the state of Minnesota wants to know what environmental issues matter the most to Minnesotans. And the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment has a Web site that allows residents to let their leaders know what they think."

Ohio

—  Water Supply

• Franklin OKs financing water project in south end
  (Middletown Journal, 6/19) "Franklin City Council Monday approved a resolution to enter a cooperative agreement to finance a water improvement project on the city's south end."
  
  
• Berea to better its water plant, keep its control
  (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/18) "With plays, concerts, parks and a college, Berea's a great place to visit. Just don't drink the water. 'It has an awful taste,' says Mary Jo Funk, circulation supervisor at the Berea branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. 'We all bring bottled water or use distilled water in the back.'"
  

—  Water Resources

• Budget provision threatens Ohio's waters
  (Nature Conservancy, 6/19) "Efforts to undermine Ohio’s on-site sewage treatment law threatens water quality for people and wildlife throughout the state, The Nature Conservancy said Tuesday."
  
  
• Area rivers running low
  (Marietta Times, 6/19) "Temperatures were pushing 90 Monday afternoon as Steve Page of Devola maneuvered his pontoon boat to the left of a row of red buoys leading into the lock at Devols Dam on the Muskingum River."
  
  
• Lake Erie Commission seeking nominations for awards
  (ODNR, 6/19) NEWS RELEASE: "Individuals and organizations from Ohio that have shown exceptional dedication to preserving Lake Erie as the state's premier natural resource are eligible to receive the 2007 Ohio Lake Erie Award."
  
  
• Grand Lake environmentally challenged
  (Associated Press, 6/17) "Ohio's largest inland lake is struggling against manure runoff, erosion and sediment buildup. Ohio Department of Natural Resources says the state of Grand Lake St. Mary's is unacceptable."
  
  
• Ohio EPA: Report two watersheds water quality
  (Ohio EPA, 6/16) NEWS RELEASE: "No streams in the Beaver Creek and Grand Lake St. Marys watershed meet the requirements for healthy warmwater habitat streams, according to a new Ohio EPA draft report. However, local groups are involved with efforts to take actions that will improve water quality in the streams and the lake."
  

—  Wastewater

• Grants called for in Warren sewer project
  (Youngstown Vindicator, 6/19) "Trumbull County commissioners are expected today to advance a Warren Township sewer project and revitalization funds to help a Howland Township neighborhood."
  

—  Hazardous Waste

• Tiffin awarded $400,000 for environmental cleanup
  (Seneca County Advertiser-Tribune, 6/17) "The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency awarded Tiffin $400,000 to be used to identify properties that, with environmental cleanup, can be reclaimed and reused."
  
  
• Ohio EPA settles with company for hazardous waste violations
  (Ohio EPA, 6/20) NEWS RELEASE: "Russell Products Co., Inc., has agreed to a $49,000 civil penalty with Ohio EPA to settle hazardous waste violations at its industrial coating operation located at 12128 Sprecher Avenue in Cleveland."

Wisconsin

—  Water Supply

• UV attacks norovirus in Egg Harbor well
  (WBAY Green Bay, 6/16) "A $30,000 ultraviolet water disinfection system is a harbor-side restaurant’s first defense against its norovirus-contaminated well water."
  

—  Water Resources

• Restoring state's wetlands rewarding, but 'humbling'
  (Madison Capital Times, 6/20) "Wisconsin has lost half of the wetlands that were here originally — but fortunately there is a core of people and organizations working to restore some of what once was lost."
  
  
• DNR fisheries director in Hayward to explain threat of VHS
  (Sawyer County Record, 6/20) "The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Director Mike Staggs traveled to Hayward last Thursday where he spoke to a gathering of fishermen and others about Wisconsin’s fisheries and the future of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) in the state."
  
  
• Lac du Flambeau tribe's clean water act application
  (Media Newswire, 6/19) "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 seeks comments on a document called a 'Proposed Findings of Fact.' EPA will use the document in connection with the Lac du Flambeau tribe's application under the Clean Water Act for authority to establish water quality standards for surface water within its reservation."
  
  
• Stone Lake Community Wetland Park dedicated
  (Sawyer County Record, 6/19) "A host of Stone Lake community members, state natural resources officials and legislators paid tribute to the value of preserving wetlands, valuable plants and clean water as they formally dedicated the Stone Lake Community Wetlands Park for public enjoyment on Saturday, June 16."
  
  
• Round Lake Chain Management Plan information meeting set
  (Sawyer County Record, 6/18) "On July 1, 2004 Sawyer County filed a petition with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources requesting a clarification of orders relating to the water level on Round Lake."
  
  
• Officials look to solve Highway 41 flooding woes
  (Fond du Lac Reporter, 6/18) "Officials have begun to weigh in on solutions to flooding problems on Highway 41. Flooding on the heavily-traveled highway at the railroad bridges north and south of Hickory Street is so common, local officials keep signs warning 'high water ahead' on the roadside."
  
  
• Hitching a ride into Wisconsin's inland waters
  (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 6/17) "When a deadly fish virus popped up in a pair of lakes last month, it became the latest in a growing tide of Great Lakes invasive species to litter Wisconsin's inland waters."
  

—  Toxic Waste

• Thick, dirty air sign we need regulatory balance that works
  (Manitowoc Herald-Times, 6/19) EDITORIAL: "Thankfully, we got some relief Monday night from the hot, sticky air that has been hanging over the Lakeshore for too many days. The cooler, drier weather is welcomed by many."