Great Lakes Daily News

Canadian grain shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway topped 6.2 million tonnes at the end of September, maintaining its 20 per cent increase over the 2019 season, according to the latest results. While the ‘grain rush’ has helped lift cargo totals, Great Lakes-Seaway shipping also reported decreases in commodities related to steel production, and the energy and construction sectors. Read the full story by Manitoba Co-operator.

A western Michigan city has been selected to receive a $5.1 million federal water infrastructure improvement grant to help pay for lead service line replacement. The grant will help fund 1,700 lead service line replacements in the coming years. Read the full story by The Associated Press.

Approximately 20 households in East Bay Township near Traverse City, Michigan could have drinking wells contaminated with PFAS chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks with state and local health officials seeking to test the properties, provide bottled water as a short-term safety precaution, and potentially switch the homes to municipal hookups going forward. Read the full story by The Ticker.

The oil pipeline company Enbridge pushed to limit what a state regulator could consider regarding relocating the Line 5 twin pipelines across the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by NPR.

Rainstorms dumped 4.4 inches in 36 hours on Traverse City, and its sewage system didn’t overflow has it had in previous large rain events. City officials continue to investigate infiltration to prevent a repeat of the past three spills; the worst sent more than 50,000 gallons of sewage into the Boardman River. Read the full story by The Record-Eagle.

The Great Lakes Sports Commission has awarded $150,000 in grant funding for infrastructure development at the Tech Trails. The Tech Trail system is part of a larger trail system, providing both extensive mountain biking and ski trails. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.

A graduate student’s road trip around Lake Michigan revealed the effects of small streams and their nutrient loads on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by The Science Times.

State studies show an encouraging drop in PFAS levels along the Huron River. Though it’s still not safe to eat the fish, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) said last week that ongoing monitoring of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance levels in the Huron River are on the decline. Read the full story by WHMI-FM, Howell MI.

The current approach to nonpoint source pollution and polluted urban runoff is insufficient to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. To achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act, Congress must provide grant funding and financing to state and local authorities, as well as private landowners, commensurate with the scope of the pollution challenge. Read the full story by Center for American Progress.

Perhaps no other Great Lakes shipwreck has as much notoriety as the ill-fated SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a 729-foot iron ore carrier that sunk to the bottom of Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975, during a fierce November gale. Read the full story by WiscNews.