Granholm signs bill beefing up ban on open water dumping

The Lansing State Journal reports on a new bill signed into law that bans dumping of contaminated soil or other dredged materials into open waters.

The legislation is designed to clarify and strengthen existing state law, which has prohibited open water dumping of contaminated sediment since the 1970s, according to the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency.

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is responsible for dredging certain rivers and harbors in Michigan to make sure ships can pass through them. The sediments that are removed in the dredging sometimes contain pollutants. The confined areas where the dredged materials are stored are approaching capacity in some areas.

The new law is meant to clearly establish Michigan's ban on open water dumping and to ensure the state is not held responsible to pay for alternative dumping sites, Granholm's office said.

Lake levels keep falling

The Port Huron Times-Herald summarizes the annual forecast for Lake Huron:

Standing at 577.3 feet above sea level, Lake Huron levels are about six inches lower than last year and are predicted to peak this summer just slightly higher. Lake St. Clair also is below its average at 573.6 feet above sea level. While Lake Huron still is a little more than a foot higher than the all-time record low of 576 feet set in 1964, the water's current depth and steady decline are factors that have some wondering if the lake's boom of the 1980s will ever return.

Various theories exist to explain the decline in water levels, but there's no consensus. Another study on the issue is scheduled to begin this summer.

According to projections made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Huron's water levels will reach 578.5 feet above sea level during the July-to-August time frame - lower than the average of about 579.4 feet.

A wet spring could have a large impact on the water's depth, said Scott Thieme, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office in Detroit. Also, snow melt-off from Lake Superior is not complete, so more water could be flowing into the Great Lakes system.

Thieme said this year's lake activity likely will return water depths to marks set in 2004. "Between November 2004 and September 2005 (Lake Huron) probably only rose and fell within a four-inch range, which is kind of unusual," he said. "We've lost a little bit of that gain."