Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
Volume 9, Number 4 • July-August 2001
Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat NewsThe Newsletter of the Great Lakes
|
|
by Joel Brammeier, Habitat Coordinator, Lake Michigan Federation
On July 11, Lake Michigan Federation Executive Director Cameron Davis testified before Congress in Washington, D.C. to emphasize the need to fund cleanups of toxic hotspots around the Great Lakes.
If passed, the “Great Lakes Legacy Act,” H.R. 1070, would authorize funding to rid sites such as Waukegan Harbor, White Lake, Milwaukee Harbor, and the Fox River/Green Bay, of “legacy pollutants” — contaminants discharged in the past that have settled in the bottom sediment of harbors and rivers.
Passage of the bill would demonstrate the federal government’s commitment to cleanup of toxic contaminants such as PCBs and other persistent organic compounds. Sediment pollution of this type is especially harmful because it is not eliminated from the ecosystem over time. These compounds instead accumulate within the food web when consumed by small organisms. They can eventually be passed on to humans when fish from contaminated sites are consumed.
Federation testimony before a subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee pointed out that of 42 Great Lakes toxic hotspots, only one has been de-listed from the federal Areas of Concern listing. That site was de-listed only for administrative reasons, not after a successful cleanup.
A federal commitment to cleaning up the Great Lakes will help leave future generations with a legacy of clean, healthy Great Lakes communities, not a legacy of polluted waters. You can find out more about the Great Lakes Legacy Act on the Web at www.lakemichigan.org/elimination/call_for_funding.asp
The Lake Michigan Federation’s latest report, The Natural Capital of the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Zone, conservatively estimates the non-use value of Chicago-area Lake Michigan birds and fish to be between $3 and $5 billion. This number represents a total of individual citizens’ “willingness to pay” a certain amount per year to ensure that populations of several species are preserved for future generations.
While this type of study is not designed to place a finite price tag on our natural resources, it does demonstrate that citizens attach considerable value to the lake and would be willing to pay a significant amount to keep the birds and fish healthy. Considering that this study accounts for only a small portion of the Lake Michigan ecosystem, it becomes apparent that the true value of the Lake’s environmental amenities is actually much greater.
The City of Chicago intends to mount a comprehensive evaluation of the annual economic benefits of the Lake Michigan shoreline in the coming months. This study will include an expansion of the Federation’s work to include an assessment of how Chicagoans value all of the Lake’s ecosystem services. The Federation report can be downloaded free of charge by accessing our website at www.lakemichigan.org/habitat/value_index.asp