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Cameron Weber

Prof. Myers

English 1201

18 March 2019

The Great Lakes

A few years ago I visited Cleveland, Ohio and was eager to go for a swim in Lake Erie.

Once we got there I was distraught to find out that I was not allowed to, due to there being a

large algae bloom, making it unsafe to swim. The Great Lakes of America or The Laurentian

Great Lakes, consist of five connected inland bodies of water. They include Lake Michigan,

Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Superior, and Lake Ontario. These make up the largest freshwater

system on earth, containing about 21% of the world’s freshwater supply. They span 750 miles

situated across Minnesota, ​Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New

York and Ontario. ​There has been efforts to restore the lake and there has been some success, but

the lake is nowhere close to being in a healthy condition with all the pollutants in the waters.

There are many CECs, contaminants of emerging concern, still in all the lakes that are causing

biological life to be negatively affected. Also, there has been pacts made between organization to

help restore the lakes, but no considerable effort from the US and Canadian Federal

Governments.

Lake Erie, located along the Northern shores of Ohio, the Southern shores of Ontario,

Canada, the Eastern shores of Michigan, and the Western shores of Pennsylvania and New York,

has served many purposes over time. Due to it being the shallowest of the Great Lakes with

warmer water temperatures, it is a popular recreational spot. Millions of visitors come to Lake
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Erie each year to fish, enjoy the beaches, boat, and participate in other water sports. The

popularity of the lake has created a hub for tourism businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, and

fishing charters. All of these tourism businesses depend on the tourists who visit Lake Erie to

operate and earn a profit. Without the visitors to the area they would cease to exist.

Another purpose of the lake, is to serve as a mode of transportation for both goods and

people along its borders. Ferries transport people and cars from shore to shore. While barges

transport supplies for production and finished goods not only from state to state. but also from

the United States to Canada. The lake also provides drinking water for over 3 million people

from the central basin (Patel, 2017). The lake is an ecosystem to many varieties of fish and

wildlife, which will have no where else to go if we destroy the lakes, causing many species to go

extinct. Currently, the lake is in danger of becoming unusable or destroyed due to human

pollution.

Many people think that polluting of the Great Lakes is a recent phenomenon. However, it

has been a documented problem since the early 1900’s as seen in the television production

"Great Lakes: No Free Lunch," produced by the University of Michigan Television Center in

1981​ . The types of pollution have changed over the years, beginning with sewage, waste, and

industrial chemicals, to today's EFC’s and plastic. These waste products caused issues not only

with the water, but the surrounding shorelines as well. By 1960, Lake Erie had so many dead

fish floating in the water that local news outlets declared “Lake Erie is dead” (Omeka). The

eutrophication, or excessive nutrient enrichment caused a build up of algae that limited the

supply of oxygen in the water, killing the fish. The federal government intervened, ordering a

comprehensive test, and issued a report that deemed Lake Erie unable to sustain biological life.
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After many years of corrective actions such as building sewage plants, establishing water

filtration systems, and limiting industrial waste the effects of pollution were mitigated. However,

the lake is not totally cleaned up and the effects of pollution can still be seen today.

Additionally, Lake Michigan and the Detroit River began to experience similar issues as

Lake Erie and the federal government intervened once again. President Richard Nixon went so

far as to say ‘​But unless something is done now with the potential pollution of Lake Michigan, it

could become like Lake Erie, which at this time could be classified as a dead sea, an inland sea.

We do not want that to happen. And the time to act is now.’ The Army Corp of Engineers

dredged local areas around the shoreline of Lake Michigan and dumped it into the water. This

lead to the increased levels of oil, garbage, sewage, and industrial waste. Eventually, this practice

was stopped, but not until such time as creating damage to the water and shoreline. The pollution

in the Detroit River, also began to flow into the Great Lakes adding to the problem. The Earth

Day movement that began in the 1970’s by the University of Michigan helped bring the issue of

the river pollution to people’s attention. Cleaning up the river and lakes became more of a public

concern than a moral mission (Omeka).​ ​The number of nuclear power plants surrounding the

Great Lakes Basin has also caused an issue with radioactivity which increases the water

temperature, affecting the fish population. Beginning in 1970, the federal government has issued

new laws and regulations that control industrial pollution around freshwater sources. The federal

government also put new regulations into effect in regards to the safety of nuclear power plants

and restricted how and where radioactive waste is disposed.

Chemicals of emerging concern or ​CECs, can be many things like pesticides, fertilizers,

and other chemicals, that can be harmful to the environment. While many may think the lakes
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look fine compared to some other very polluted lakes, this is not the case. The Great Lakes have

many CECs and in some places a high concentration of them. An experiment that took 292

surface water and 80 bottom sediment samples of tributaries of the Great Lakes, found 32

different CECs in surface water and 28 different CECs in sediment with a frequency detected of

above 30% (Sarah ). A total of 60 CECs were found in the tributaries that occurred in more the

30% of the study sites, showing that there are many CEC that need to be regulated and cleaned

up. That number is also just the CEC that were frequent in all the tributaries, not all the ones that

could be in high concentrations in just a few places. Although, some samples had a high

concentration that exceeded the effects level, which is the level of exposure that can produce

irreversible effects at a significant rate, for the most part concentrations of CECs in the water

were low, relatively to reported ranges in other bodies of water (Sarah ). This shows that the

lakes are not affected by a lot of different chemicals, but by a few. These chemicals have been

dumped into the lakes, creating a large concentration of them that is harmful to the environment.

There still need to be more tests on the water to see the concentrations and how far they go in the

water and the level of harmful chemicals. After just the first experiment testing the Great Lakes

water, it is clear that we need to watch certain CECs that are gathering in harmful concentrations

in a major freshwater source.

Chemicals of emerging concern do not just build up in large concentrations in the water,

they affect the biological life all around them, sometimes for the better but mostly for the worst.

When chemicals are dumped inappropriately, they will almost always make its way into a body

of water through rain in both low and high concentrations. While most look at the high

concentration of chemicals causing defects, ” low doses may still have what biologists call
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sublethal effects. Low levels of toxins may affect vision or the ability to inflate swim bladders,

and both may affect long-term ability to thrive”(Langton). Fish will then consume these

chemicals which then can cause them to die, change, or not be affected. Each fish is affected

differently, but these chemicals are passed up the food chain. This affects each organism

differently, killing some of the predators which lead to other issues such as overpopulation of

invasive species. Not only does it affect an entire ecosystem by disturbing the food chain, those

chemicals if not dealt with can end up in the fish you eat. Once those fish are consumed, they can

cause birth defects in newborn babies or cancer.

In another study of the Great Lakes, scientists tested areas for CECs and how they

affected the local sunfish. They sampled the fish in 6 contributaries in 3 stream reaches;

upstream, middle, and downstream, for 27 study sites over 2 years. Surface water samples were

taken twice during that time at each study site and analyzed. There was CECs present in all sites

and all 15 classes of them were found in at least one site. Out of 224 statistical analyses, 82 had

significant differences. This is higher than fish sampled is other rivers, but there was also a

significant difference between the years(Thomas). This reinforces the previous point that there is

a problem with chemicals gaining in concentrations, but also shows that these chemicals are

causing things to happen. The CECs are causing Sunfish to mutate, both males and females,

making them less fit for survival. Sunfish are just one of many organisms to be affected by the

CECs and has already caused some species to go extinct, and other negative effects.

Some may think that mutations are just a part of nature and that is just causing evolution.

While mutations can lead to a species evolving new traits, they can either further their survival or

cause them to die out. For example, the Neanderthals evolved differently than Homo Erectus, the
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species we evolved from, and in doing so was outcompeted and went extinct while Erectus

thrived and lead to us. Mutations do occur naturally and in slow and fast rates, but having

different significant changes in the same species of fish in just a few years is alarming. When a

species of fish only found in the lakes changes it may lead to them being outcompeted by another

species of fish that before was a small threat. It could also just kill that individual that had the

mutations.

There are more than just chemicals that have become a problem for the Great lakes,

plastic is another problem. “Researchers found that nearly 10,000 metric tons -- or 22 million

pounds -- of plastic debris enter the Great Lakes every year from the United States and Canada”

(Rochester Institute of Technology ). That is around 360,000,000 sixteen ounce plastic water

bottle every year dumped into the great lakes. It takes around 250-500 years for just one plastic

bottle to decompose, so if this continues all of the lakes will be covered in plastic. Most of this

plastic pollution has come from large population centers because “5,000 metrics tons per year --

goes into Lake Michigan, followed by Lake Erie with 2,500 metric tons”(Rochester Institute of

Technology) and these two lakes have large population centers around them. For example Lake

Michigan has Chicago and Milwaukee and Lake Erie have Toledo and Cleveland. So larger

cities need to have better ways to recycle their plastic and a means to stop people from just

dumping it into the waterways.

Lake Erie has another major problem that is affecting the environment and the economy

of the surrounding area, large algae blooms. It is a growing phenomenon as stated by Patel and

Parshina-Kottas in October 2017, “A potentially harmful algae bloom covered more than 700

square miles in the western basin of Lake Erie last week, turning the lake bright green and
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alarming residents and local officials.”(Patel).​ ​These algae blooms are mainly caused by large

amounts of excess nutrients, mostly phosphorus from fertilizers, that are used for agriculture

purposes around the lake. This runoff is caused by rainwater that travels from the rivers into the

lake and affects the freshwater source of residents who depend on the lake for drinking water.

The level of expected bloom can be estimated by the amount of toxins that are visible in the

rivers as they flow towards the lake. The algae blooms may not all be toxic, but some can cause a

specific toxin called microcystin. This specific toxin can cause severe liver damage to humans if

consumed in drinking water.​ “​Dangerous levels of the toxin caused Toledo, Ohio, to shut down

the drinking water supply of​ ​a half-million residents for three days in 2014” (Patel). In order to

have the nutrient load monitored by the Clean Water Act, the mayor of Toledo asked President

Trump in 2017 to declare Lake Erie impaired.

Fig 1. Algae bloom in lake Erie taken on Sept. 26, 2017. (Patel)

Lake Superior has been seen as a place least affected by time or people because of its

isolation. It has generally been the coldest of the Great lakes and in the past has been covered by

a large amount of ice during the cold season. But, due to climate change Lake Superior is
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warming up causing many environmental changes. Ice coverage has dropped 79% in recent

decades, which is affecting the biological life in the water. Over time, fish in Lake Superior

adapted to handle only a short period of warm weather and dilute a small amount of toxins. With

the increase in temperatures the length of warm periods are increasing and they are not able to

survive in the warm water for longer periods. The warmer weather also increases the concern of

toxicity. In the normal cold temperatures the dilute amount of chemicals are not harmful to

wildlife, but in the warmer temperatures they pose a serious threat. Chemicals that have been

banned, like PCBs, which were frozen into the ice, are dissolving back into the water from the

ice melting, which makes them a problem again. This means that even though new chemicals are

not being introduced into the water, the concentration level of toxins is still increasing, years

after the chemicals were banned. Proving the long term effects of polluting any freshwater

source. Even though the chemicals have been banned they are still present and the wildlife

cannot filter these toxins out of their systems, which causes issues for them as well as anything

or anyone that may consume them for food purposes. The reintroduction of these banned

substances into the water supply is also an issue with the ice melt.

In March of 2018, The Alliance for the Great Lakes, the Illinois Environmental Council,

and the Shedd Aquarium announced a joint resolution to take on the environmental issue of

plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. This resolution discussed how the new ban on plastic

microbeads in the United States and Canada can help with the amount of plastic pollution that is

deposited into all of the Great Lakes. This international ban on microbeads was influenced by

Illinois’s ban several years before. The resolution served as a means to provide more information

on the problem of plastic pollution, the damage to the environment, and solutions. It provides
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information on how local community members can volunteer to help in the cleanup of the Great

Lakes and steps they can take to avoid the use of disposable plastic. This is just one group of

organizations that are banding together to provide information to the general public and how

each individual person can contribute to the clean up efforts and prevent the pollution from

occurring at all.

Some may say that the organizations that are helping restore the Great Lakes is enough,

and that there has been significant enough progress that for the most part we need not to be

worried. While there has been a significant change in amount of pollution going into the lakes

through regulations, there sare till a number of pollutants in unsafe concentrations in the water.

More needs to be done not just for the wildlife but for the people that live around the lakes,

because “the Great Lakes Basin holds 10% of the U.S. population and more than 30% of the

Canadian population” (Ahmed). If not, all these people may end up suffering from drinking

water that has chemicals that could have been cleaned up. The need for people and governments

to help prevent future pollution and restoration of lakes is needed until all of the lakes are back to

a healthy condition, or back to how they were before we started dumping our wastes into them.

The importance of preserving the Great Lakes can not be stressed enough. Both the

short-term and long-term ramifications of polluting these freshwater sources are huge. The effect

will be felt by us and all the wildlife surrounding the lakes. If nothing is done to help stop the

pollution, the lakes will turn back into the “dead lakes” they were once considered, with toxic

water that nobody can drink. The lakes will be unusable for any type of water activity, including

fishing and a large source of freshwater fish will be lost. This may lead to a shortage in fish

causing a food shortage for humans and animals living around/in the lakes. Although there have
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been efforts to stop pollution and further the lakes restoration, there has not been enough

to fully stop the degradation of the lakes. There are still many chemicals that are in large enough

concentration to negatively affect the wildlife in the water and plastic to be decomposing for

thousands of years.
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Works Cited

Ahmad Sidrah. Pollution Levels in The Great Lakes. ​Waterlogic,​ 18 October 2017.

https://www.waterlogic.com/en-us/resources-blog/the-great-lakes/​. Accessed 23 March

2019.

Brooks, J. L., et al. “Use of Fish Telemetry in Rehabilitation Planning, Management, and

Monitoring in Areas of Concern in the Laurentian Great Lakes.”​ Environmental

Management,​ no. 6, 2017, p. 1139. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.sinclair.ohionet.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0937-x​. Assessed 23 March

2019.

“Great Lakes Pollution.” ​Omeka RSS​,

http://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/environmentalism/exhibits/show/main_e

xhibit/pollution_politics/great-lakes-pollution​. Assessed 23 March 2019.

Illinois Environmental Leaders Resolve To Reduce Great Lakes Plastic Pollution In 2018.

Alliance for the Great Lakes,​ Alliance for the Great Lakes et al, 4 January 2018,

https://greatlakes.org/2018/01/illinois-environmental-leaders-resolve-reduce-great-lakes-

plastic-pollution-2018/​. Accessed 23 March 2019.

Langston, Nancy. “Sustaining Lake Superior: An Extraordinary Lake in a Changing World.”

Michigan Technological University​, 2018.

http://yale.universitypressscholarship.com.sinclair.ohionet.org/view/10.12987/yale/97803

00212983.001.0001/upso-9780300212983-chapter-009​. Assessed 23 March 2019.

Patel, Jugal and Parshina-Kottas, Yuliya. “Miles of Algae Covering Lake Erie.” ​The New York
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Times, 3​ October 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/03/science/earth/lake-erie.html​. ​Assessed

24 March 2019.

Rochester Institute of Technology. Researchers estimate 10,000 metric tons of plastic enter

Great Lakes every year: Study inventories movement of plastic and microplastic debris

throughout lake system. ​ScienceDaily​. ScienceDaily, 19 December 2016.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161219151752.htm​. Accessed 23 March 2019.

Sarah, Elliot et al. Contaminants of emerging concern in tributaries to the Laurentian Great

Lakes: I. Patterns of occurrence. ​PLOS ONE,​ Zhi Zhou, 27 September 2017.

https://doi-org.sinclair.ohionet.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182868​. Accessed 23 March

2019.

Thomas, Linnea et al. Contaminant of emerging concern in tributaries to the Laurentian Great

Lakes: II. Biological consequences of exposure. ​PLOS ONE, J​ ames P. Meador, 27

September 2017. ​https://doi-org.sinclair.ohionet.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184725​.

Accessed 23 March 2019.