The Great Lakes as Great Uniters Can Turn Disruption Into Opportunity

Today the Northeast-Midwest Institute published the next guest essay in the Voices from the Great Lakes series. This Voice is written by Mike Shriberg, Ph.D., a Professor of Practice & Engagement at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment & Sustainability, and the Director of Engagement for the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) and Michigan Sea Grant.



Dr. Shriberg writes about emerging disruptive forces that pose challenges to the Great Lakes, and the unity of purpose required to meet the moment. An excerpt is below:

“When I recently gathered with my colleagues at the University of Michigan to dig deeper into these disruptive forces and what they mean for our Great Lakes, we collectively realized that we have a deep mismatch between our institutions and policies as compared to these disruptions. Our Great Lakes protection system was designed for a Great Lakes ecosystem that doesn’t exist anymore and won’t return in the future.”

Read the full Voice here.

The Northeast-Midwest Institute's Voices from the Great Lakes program provides a forum for experts and scholars to give insights into issues that impact the Great Lakes region. VGL is a series of guest essays from leading Great Lakes researchers, policymakers, stakeholders, and more that will showcase key perspectives that help shape federal policy discussions in Washington, D.C.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces First-Ever National Drinking Water Standard

The Biden-Harris Administration last Wednesday, April 10, announced the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard for per- and polyfluouroakyl substances (PFAS). PFAS have been linked to several health problems, such as fertility issues, and increased risk of obesity, high cholesterol, and cancer. The new standards aim to reduce PFAS exposure for as many as 100 million people across the United States.

The new rule sets the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for the two most common types of PFAS, PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion (ppt). The MCL for three other types, PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA, is set at 10 ppt. Those three PFAS, along with a fourth, PFBS, are also included in a “Hazard Index” that would regulate these chemicals collectively even if none of them exceeded their individual MCL, given that at least two of them are present (see the formula below):

The EPA estimates that somewhere between 6-10% of the over 66,000 public drinking water systems will have to take action to reduce the amount of PFAS in the water in order to adapt to the new EPA guidelines. Collectively, these systems are projected to have to spend $1.5 billion annually to meet the requirements. Systems have until 2027 to complete testing for PFAS. If they are found to exceed the MCLs, they must make the necessary upgrades to be in compliance by 2029.

In addition, the EPA is announcing approximately $1 billion in newly available funding into the Emerging Contaminants (EC) in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant (SDC) that was passed through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Much of the money made available through this grant will go towards helping states and territories test and treat public water systems. This is part of the $9 billion that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law appropriated toward addressing water contaminants like PFAS in drinking water.

Reported by NEMWI Intern Aiden Meyer, Nazareth University

Alliance for the Great Lakes Publishes Plastic Report 

The Alliance for the Great Lakes (“the Alliance”), a Chicago-based environmental non-profit, released a report last week analyzing 20 years of litter data in the Great Lakes, collected via the Alliance’s Adopt-a-Beach program. The report found that by far the most prevalent form of litter is plastic, which accounted for 86% of the total. In turn, most of this plastic is single-use, such as bags, bottles, or other packaging. Since the Alliance began tracking “tiny trash,” pieces of plastic, glass, and foam smaller than 2.5 cm, that category has made up 40% of litter collected. Tiny plastic pieces alone account for 27.6% of litter collected. 

In total, the data highlight the problem of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, especially microplastics that can harm wildlife and enter drinking water. The Alliance also makes some policy recommendations, which include prohibiting the discharge of pre-production plastic pellets and implementing extended producer responsibility to ensure manufacturers are responsible for plastic products over the course of their lifetimes. 

The Alliance started the Adopt-a-Beach program in 1991, and began collecting data through an online database in 2003. Since then, it has organized over 14,000 cleanups across all five Great Lakes and all eight Great Lakes states. Over its lifetime, the program has mobilized over 200,000 volunteers to pick up 9.7 million pieces of litter. 

Read the report here.

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