 On Tuesday, January 19th, the Supreme Court refused to order emergency measures sought by the state of Michigan to stop the migration of the Asian carp toward Lake Michigan. Without comment, the Court refused to issue a preliminary injunction that would have closed waterway locks and required other temporary measures in reaction to the discovery of the carp upstream in Illinois rivers. The Court’s order did not dispose of Michigan's other plea, seeking to reopen a decision from 80 years ago. That ruling, a consent decree by the court, allowed Chicago to divert a certain amount of water from the lake. A revision of that decree could still force Chicago to close its locks entirely.
Just hours later, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that DNA from Asian carp was found in Lake Michigan for the first time. Sampling found one positive environmental DNA result for silver carp in Calumet Harbor approximately one-half mile north of the Calumet River and one more at a location in the Calumet River north of O'Brien Lock. These samples were collected on December 8 and recently processed.
On February 8, Governor Jennifer Granholm attended a White House “Carp Summit.” The meeting which included Great Lakes’ Governors and Obama Administration officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Coast Guard was to discuss strategies to combat the spread of Asian carp and ensure coordination and the most effective response across all levels of government. The result of the summit is a $78.5 million plan that outlines over 25 short and long-term actions. The draft Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework (Framework) calls for reduced openings of Chicago’s navigational locks, increased fish collection efforts through electro-shocking and netting operations within the waterway, expedited turnaround times on eDNA verification and doubled testing capacity to 120 samples per week, construction of barriers to address flooding events, additional chemical treatments in the case of barrier failure, and studies and research efforts. The Framework is available at www.asiancarp.org .
Congress has also been getting involved in the Asian Carp debate with multiple hearings as well as the introduction of the CARP Act by U.S. Representative Dave Camp and U.S.
Senator Debbie Stabenow. The CARP Act, which stands for Close All Routes and Prevent Asian Carp Today, would:
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Immediately close the barriers and locks into the Great Lakes
- Expedite the installation of interim barriers in rivers where no barriers currently exist
- Enhance existing barriers and monitoring systems to prevent fish from crossing into the Great Lakes
- Grant full authority to the Army Corps of Engineers to eradicate the Asian carp and prevent them from entering the Great Lakes.
Additionally, Attorney General Mike Cox announced the filing of a renewed motion with the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to close the Chicago locks. The Supreme Court already denied the original motion in January, but issued its ruling a few hours before new evidence revealed that Asian Carp eDNA was discovered in Lake Michigan. Michigan's motion also includes an economic study on the effects of the closure of the locks necessary to separate the Mississippi River basin from the Great Lakes basin. The study, conducted by a Wayne State University transportation expert, concludes Illinois' claim that "even a temporary closure of the locks will devastate the local economy" cannot be supported.
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