Audubon New York
Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Environmental Advocates of New York

For Immediate Release: March 7, 2007

NY ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS ENDORSE BILL TO RESTORE GREAT LAKES
Federal Legislation Includes Cost-Effective Solutions to Prevent Sewage Contamination, Stop Invasive Species

(Albany, NY)—Conservation and environmental groups today praised the introduction of new federal legislation to restore the Great Lakes and urged its prompt passage.

“This is a good bill for New Yorkers and it deserves quick passage,” said Sean Mahar, Associate Director for Conservation, Audubon New York. “This bill provides manageable solutions to problems that will continue to get worse and cost us more money the longer we delay in fixing them. The time to act is now.”

The Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act of 2007 supports programs to stop sewage contamination, prevent invasive species introductions, and restore wetlands. It was introduced by U.S. Sens. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and U.S. Reps. Vern Ehlers (R-Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago).

“We applaud the bipartisan group of Congressmen who put this bill forward,” said Katherine Nadeau, Water & Natural Resources Program Associate, Environmental Advocates of New York. “We urge New York’s Congressional delegation to support this legislation, as they have in years past, and restore the lakes for the millions of New Yorkers who depend on them for their economy and quality of life.”

The Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act of 2007 would:

• Prevent sewage contamination by assisting communities nationally with improving their wastewater infrastructure;

• Stop the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species by enacting a comprehensive national program;  

• Prevent the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes by authorizing the last line of defense against the fish—an electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal;  

• Restore fish and wildlife and their habitat; and

• Clean up contaminated sediment.

“This is the comprehensive Great Lakes protection and restoration effort that New York needs and that Congress should swiftly adopt," said Dereth Glance, Program Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River fuel the upstate economy and our quality of life, but this unparalleled freshwater resource has reached the ecological tipping point and requires urgent adoption of manageable solutions to protect our fisheries, beaches and drinking water quality." 

Aquatic invasive species are a serious threat to the Great Lakes, with more than 180 invaders already established throughout the Basin and a new species discovered every 28 weeks. Municipalities spend millions of dollars to mitigate the damages caused by these invaders each year. This bill would shut the door to future invasive species entering the lakes by enacting a national program requiring all ocean- going vessels to meet an environmentally protective standard by 2011, and closing loopholes in existing law that still allow ships to bring in invasive species.  

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), total closing/advisory days in New York State decreased 41 percent to 887 in 2005 from 1,503 in 2004. The primary reason for the decrease was the relatively dry summer of 2005 compared with 2004, when there was heavy rainfall along the coasts and estuaries of the New York City metropolitan area and on Long Island, as well as along the eastern coast of Lake Erie.

In 2006, NRDC looked at the percent of monitoring samples that exceeded New York State’s daily maximum bacterial standards. During the 2005 beach season, 10 percent of all monitoring samples exceeded state standards. In 2005, the highest percent exceedances were at Wright Park Beach in Chautauqua County (49%), followed by Hamburg Bathing Beach in Erie (47%), Evans Town Park in Erie (43%), Pultneyville Mariners Beach in Wayne (40%), Lake Erie State Park Beach in Chautauqua (39%), Lake Erie Beach in Erie (38%), Woodlawn Beach-Woodlawn Beach State Park in Erie (38%), Point Gratiot Beach in Chautauqua (37%), Wendt Beach in Erie (35%), and Main Street Beach in Chautauqua (30%). Fifty-three percent of all monitored beaches did not exceed the standard for any sample taken in 2005. Suffolk County had the highest number (108), followed by Nassau (36), Queens (10), Bronx (8), Kings (8), Oswego (3), Richmond (2), Wayne (1), Westchester (1), Jefferson (1), Cayuga (1), and Monroe (1).

Restoring the Great Lakes is a priority for the region’s mayors and governors, including Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo, Mayor Vincenzo Anello of Niagara Falls, Mayor Robert Duffy of Rochester, and Governor Eliot Spitzer. The Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act puts into practice priority recommendations of a Great Lakes clean-up plan released in 2005 as part of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, a planning process established by President Bush in 2004.

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Audubon New York, the 50,000-member state program of the National Audubon Society, is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitats that supports them.  Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment is an 80,000 member, non-profit, non-partisan, advocacy organization working to protect public health and the natural environment throughout New York State and Connecticut.

Environmental Advocates of New York is your government watchdog, holding state lawmakers and agencies accountable for enacting and implementing policy that protects natural resources and safeguards public health. Founded almost 40 years ago as the Environmental Planning Lobby, Environmental Advocates has more than 7,000 individual and 130 organizational members. The 501© (3) is also the New York affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. For more information call 518.462.5526 or visit www.eany.org.