Lake Michigan
Another summer of beach closings has led two Illinois congressmen to unveil the bipartisan Great Lakes Water Protection Act establishing a federal deadline to end sewage dumping in the Great Lakes.
The act is sponsored by U.S. Reps. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park, and Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago, the legislation imposes fines on peoplewho violate the Act to be paid into each state's Clean Water Revolving Fund. The fund promotes the construction of sewer infrastructure to protect the Great Lakes.
While many communities have improved their sewer infrastructure to prevent the dumping of partially treated raw sewage into Lake Michigan, other cities along Lake Michigan have been slow to upgrade their sewer infrastructure and continue to pollute the lake.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District dumps millions of gallons of partially treated raw sewage into the lake after heavy rains. In May 2004, more than 1.5 billion gallons of sewage went into Lake Michigan.
There seems to be no direct correlation between Milwaukee's sewage dumping and the closing of Chicago area beaches, But, Cook County beach closings nearly tripled from 213 in 2003 to 613 in 2004. Other cities known to be dumping sewage into the lake include East Chicago, Gary and Michigan City in Indiana, and Benton Harbor, South Haven, Holland and Grand Haven in Michigan.
June 28, 2006 6:58 AM | Category: Beaches