Save The Great Lakes

It's two days before the Waterman's Ball. The Ball is SIMA's environmental fund raiser. I am honored to attend the function again this year. The timing for me to receive the e-mail that I will paste to this blog is interesting. I first started surfing in Lake Michigan, so any news about my "homebreak" interests me. I enjoy explaining to people that, yes, the waves do get big enough to surf. After that, I brag that the water is fresh enough to drink and there is nothing in the water that will bite or harm anyone (sort of).

There have been several municipalities that have discharged or spilled their waste. I remember some fall sessions in grand Haven after a heavy rain when you could smell the crap floating down the river. Literally. We all knew that for years if rained hard and heavy it would be a day or two for the brown water to make down the river from Grand Rapids to our rivermouth surf break. Grand Rapids has since upgraded their sewage waste treatment center so it won't over flow (as much).

I have always been an advocate for clean water. I want it to surf in and to drink. The Great Lakes is one of our nation’s greatest resources of fresh water. The states that boarder it have an alliance to preserve it. The only weak link is Canada -- which does assist with some preservation, but not completely. But as with any government entity, there are problems. I was made aware of a possible large scale abuse. Please read the pasted email and get involved:

"BP just made a massive $3.8 billion expansion at their oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana. After pouring billions of dollars into expanding the aging plant, they claim they just wouldn't have the room to fit in a water treatment facility to deal with the increased waste being produced. So BP is asking the EPA to instead let them dump 1,500 more pounds of ammonia and 5,000 more pounds of toxic sludge into Lake Michigan each day. The EPA has decided to let them do it.

 Below is a link to send a message rejecting the idea of dumping toxic sludge into Lake Michigan. The message will go directly to BP's CEO Tony Hayward and EPA Region 5 Administrator Mary Gade.

I did not include the link to the petition because it has closed. I will include a link to the website if you would like to have more information about this tragic story. I signed the petition as did 70,000 other people. I really hope this does not happen to my home waters, yours or to anybody's. We all must protect our environment. Here is the link: https://www.environmentillinois.org/newsroom/clean-water-news/clean-water-news/70000-call-on-bp-to-halt-planned-dumping

 

 More proof that there's surf on the Great Lakes can be seen here.