Just as the public may be forced to buy health insurance, boaters may be forced to purchase fuel containing 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline (E15), found harmful to marine and car engines that are older than 2001. Fuel generated from corn that contains a level of ethanol higher than E10 is considered unsafe for marine engines. As the demand for renewable energy leads to a push for more corn in fuels that would replace the present, low-ethanol fuels, many boat engines would be handicapped and unable to use these fuels. Will the government turn its back on boating by limiting the availability of low-ethanol fuels in gas stations?
Boating in America flourished during the last century, leading 18 million citizens to purchase boats. Many people from all economic strata now own boats, unique, affordable instruments for fun and the enjoyment of freedom. With the exception of Pres. George H. W. Bush, who imposed an unheard-of excise tax on large boats in 1989, no sector of any government, federal or local, has ever picked on boating by imposing any harsh regulations, property taxes or roadblocks that would yank the joy out of it.
But with the present administration, things have begun to change. The ethanol lobby is getting preferential treatment from a government that used to be friendly and accommodating to boating. In response to the federal government’s recent actions concerning the increased amounts of ethanol that will be in gasoline available for purchase, a federal lawsuit was filed challenging the administration’s position to not allow the availability of low-percentage ethanol fuels.
The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), representing recreational boating, brought this lawsuit to the U.S. Court of Appeals. It is pursuing this challenge as part of a newly-formed coalition called the Engine Products Group, which includes the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automobile Manufacturers, to protest and overrule a lack of access to fuels with low ethanol content. From misfiring to running at high temperatures, boat engines appear to suffer from severe damage from E15. A negative ruling on this appeal could seal the fate of millions of existing boat engines that would become destined for ruin.
The list of how high-grade ethanol (E15 and above) can harm marine engines is well-known. For marine and other small, gasoline-powered engines that are designed, calibrated, and certified to run on no more than E10, higher concentrations of ethanol in fuel pose serious problems, including (1) performance issues, such as drivability; (2) increased water absorption and phase separation of gasoline and water in the gas tank; (3) fuel tank corrosion, leading to oil/fuel leaks; (4) increased emissions; (5) damage to valves, push rods, rubber fuel lines and gaskets. All of these concerns raise significant issues, particularly for boaters who operate in harsh marine environments, often miles from shore.
On Jan. 21, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a waiver that allows E10 to E15 to be used in model year 2001 and newer light-duty motor vehicles, according to its web site, www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/additive/e15/#wn.
A properly-worded EPA warning label is being readied to be affixed on fuel-dispensing nozzle, that will warn that marine and off-road engines, including marine engines and car models older than 2001, should not use this fuel. Where one would find gas stations that offer lower ethanol fuels, including E10, remains unknown. Small fishing or trailerable boats would be at the highest risk, as boaters with these craft are more likely to refuel with E15 at local filling stations and may not realize that this could harm their engines. In contrast, individuals who refuel larger boats at marina fuel docks will presumably find marine-grade fuel there.
Ethanol producers will have an increased demand for corn, and the resulting benefits to corn growers at the expense of boaters ignore the crippling damage that E15 could inflict on boating.
While the recreational boating industry contributes $30 billion annually to the American economy, ethanol is believed to be only half that. The government is missing the boat.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
HUMAN DRUGS AND BIOLOGICS SEEP INTO GREAT LAKES WATERWAYS
(CHICAGO— FEBRUARY 7, 2011)—A petition was recently submitted to the federal Food & Drug Administration by the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center (GLELC) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), requesting the revocation of the regulation addressing pharmaceutical residues in the environment, especially in our waterways. The petition is requesting the immediate revocation of the FDA’s broad rule providing a categorical exclusion for human drugs and a wide range of biologics, including vaccines, tissues, blood and blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapy, and recombinant therapeutic proteins created by biological processes, that are allowed to seek into the Great Lakes. The challenged provision provides categorical exclusions to the assessments for new drug applicants.
The established safe thresholds for categorical exclusions are not supported by available scientific data. The goal of the Great Lakes Boating Federation is to call on the FDA to set a protective level of drug residue scientifically determined to prevent harm to all citizens of the Great Lakes and, in particular, the 4.3 million boaters who boat and swim within these waterways.
Although wastewater treatment plants are currently equipped to remove chemicals, foreign materials and microorganisms from the water prior to moving them into natural waters, such as streams, lakes and oceans, active drug compounds from humans are not eliminated from the water in the treatment process. Treatment systems permit up to 93% of highly concentrated, active drug compounds to leave the treatment plant. These high concentrations of active drug compounds are harmful to the aquatic ecosystems they are discharged into and for their negative consequences to humans. These compounds, such as Bezafibrate, Ciprofloxacin and Lincomycin—antimicrobials found in small amounts in ground water, and also surface water—can have profound negative effects on endocrine functions, especially during certain stages of the human life cycle, including childhood.
The harm caused by the discharge of highly concentrated active drug compounds into our waterways is not precisely known, due to the unknown effects of pharmaceutical drugs on organisms and fish not intended to consume the drugs. Although extensive scientific research is needed to better understand the impacts of these chemicals, researchers have already observed endocrine disruption in fish in close proximity to wastewater treatment plants. In light of such harm to fish and boaters utilizing these waterways, the FDA is called upon to act. Boaters and fishermen interact more with these affected waters than average citizens do, and thus have more exposure to these compounds than other residents, who normally use the water for daily needs.
Under present rules, the FDA provides categorical exclusions for pharmaceuticals expelled from wastewater plants in concentrations below one part per billion (ppb). However, this threshold permits active compounds to spread through our waterways at unsafe, even harmful, concentrations. Developments in scientific findings strongly support amending this limit.
Ned Dikmen, chairman of the Great Lakes Boating Federation, voice to the 4.3 million boaters who use these waterways for swimming, water sports and recreation, is calling on the FDA to review the categorical exclusions for pharmaceuticals at concentrations below 1 ppb, in light of the presently available scientific impacts on the environment and the health of those who use these waterways. “The FDA should regulate and enforce safe water standards. We should not have to be scared of swimming, sport fishing and boating within these waterways,” he said.
The established safe thresholds for categorical exclusions are not supported by available scientific data. The goal of the Great Lakes Boating Federation is to call on the FDA to set a protective level of drug residue scientifically determined to prevent harm to all citizens of the Great Lakes and, in particular, the 4.3 million boaters who boat and swim within these waterways.
Although wastewater treatment plants are currently equipped to remove chemicals, foreign materials and microorganisms from the water prior to moving them into natural waters, such as streams, lakes and oceans, active drug compounds from humans are not eliminated from the water in the treatment process. Treatment systems permit up to 93% of highly concentrated, active drug compounds to leave the treatment plant. These high concentrations of active drug compounds are harmful to the aquatic ecosystems they are discharged into and for their negative consequences to humans. These compounds, such as Bezafibrate, Ciprofloxacin and Lincomycin—antimicrobials found in small amounts in ground water, and also surface water—can have profound negative effects on endocrine functions, especially during certain stages of the human life cycle, including childhood.
The harm caused by the discharge of highly concentrated active drug compounds into our waterways is not precisely known, due to the unknown effects of pharmaceutical drugs on organisms and fish not intended to consume the drugs. Although extensive scientific research is needed to better understand the impacts of these chemicals, researchers have already observed endocrine disruption in fish in close proximity to wastewater treatment plants. In light of such harm to fish and boaters utilizing these waterways, the FDA is called upon to act. Boaters and fishermen interact more with these affected waters than average citizens do, and thus have more exposure to these compounds than other residents, who normally use the water for daily needs.
Under present rules, the FDA provides categorical exclusions for pharmaceuticals expelled from wastewater plants in concentrations below one part per billion (ppb). However, this threshold permits active compounds to spread through our waterways at unsafe, even harmful, concentrations. Developments in scientific findings strongly support amending this limit.
Ned Dikmen, chairman of the Great Lakes Boating Federation, voice to the 4.3 million boaters who use these waterways for swimming, water sports and recreation, is calling on the FDA to review the categorical exclusions for pharmaceuticals at concentrations below 1 ppb, in light of the presently available scientific impacts on the environment and the health of those who use these waterways. “The FDA should regulate and enforce safe water standards. We should not have to be scared of swimming, sport fishing and boating within these waterways,” he said.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
CHICAGO LOCKS TO REMAIN OPEN
Preventing invasive species, including the Asian carp, from entering the Great Lakes is of utmost concern and is of epic importance in the lives of the 4.3 million boaters using the lakes. These aquatic nuisances stand to ruin the family boating sport and hobby, and the $7-billion fishing industry, and to cripple the $10-billion annual economic impact contributed to the Great Lakes region by the boating community.
The fortified electric barriers are performing adequately, which leads us to believe that we are not ready to seal the Chicago locks. The absence of live Asian carp and traces of eDNA belonging to the carp family in waterways past the barriers indicate that the current protections against the Asian carp are sufficient. Fish netting and rotenone distribution help to ensure that the Asian carp does not make any headway into Lake Michigan.
The Great Lakes Boating Federation is aware that there are other avenues for the Asian carp to invade the Great Lakes through other lakes and tributaries. With environmental agencies, the Great Lakes Boating Federation remains committed to protecting the Chicago Area Waterways and to vigorously fighting to ensure that this watershed does not become a conduit for Asian carp transit into Lake Michigan.
The boating community’s assessment of the Asian carp matter is in line with the recent court decision that closing the locks is not a solution at the present time. Sealing the Chicago locks now is an unnecessary and costly move to prevent the carp from invading the Great Lakes.
The fortified electric barriers are performing adequately, which leads us to believe that we are not ready to seal the Chicago locks. The absence of live Asian carp and traces of eDNA belonging to the carp family in waterways past the barriers indicate that the current protections against the Asian carp are sufficient. Fish netting and rotenone distribution help to ensure that the Asian carp does not make any headway into Lake Michigan.
The Great Lakes Boating Federation is aware that there are other avenues for the Asian carp to invade the Great Lakes through other lakes and tributaries. With environmental agencies, the Great Lakes Boating Federation remains committed to protecting the Chicago Area Waterways and to vigorously fighting to ensure that this watershed does not become a conduit for Asian carp transit into Lake Michigan.
The boating community’s assessment of the Asian carp matter is in line with the recent court decision that closing the locks is not a solution at the present time. Sealing the Chicago locks now is an unnecessary and costly move to prevent the carp from invading the Great Lakes.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Chicago River Unrestricted Until Nov. 3
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed the first two phases of parasitic structure installation ahead of schedule, and the restrictions planned from Oct. 13 to 15 will be unnecessary. This will allow area boaters who are voyaging back to their dry storage yards to be uninterrupted in-transit. The two out of three large, parasitic structures installed from Oct. 4 to 9 were designed to keep electric current from the fish barriers from traveling down the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal (CSSC).
The waterway is now open, and it is expected to remain so until the next planned operations from Nov. 3 to 5 when traffic will be prohibited from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day to allow the installation of the third and final parasitic structure. The U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) have been actively involved in a joint effort to stop the progress of the Asian carp into Lake Michigan. With the increased strength of the electricity in the second barrier and vigilant netting north of the barriers, no Asian carp have been discovered.
In recent days the Obama administration appointed John Goss as “Asian carp czar,” to oversee efforts led by the federal government to halt the advance of the Asian carp into the Great Lakes. In addition, the IDNR has been repeatedly collecting samples from the Chicago Area Waterway System to determine the Asian carp’s presence. These include Lake Calumet, the Little Calumet River, the CSSC near Western Avenue and the South Branch Chicago River, the North Branch Chicago River and North Shore Channel.
“With all of the major work concluded, and the restrictions lifted until Nov. 3, Chicago area boaters will be heading to their dry storage on the Chicago River, concluding their 2010 boating season without difficulty,” says Ned Dikmen, Great Lakes Boating Federation chairman.
Friday, September 17, 2010
ASIAN CARP ADVISORY: CLOSURE OF CHICAGO SANITARY & SHIP CANAL OCT. 4 to 11
CHICAGO—SEPTEMBER 17, 2010— From Oct. 4 to 11, access to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) will be limited near Lemont, Ill., in the area where the electric fish barrier is located, announced the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee recently. Restrictions will be enacted to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install underwater structures to limit electric current from spreading in the waterway. While the Army Corps installs the structures near the barrier, part of the canal will be closed, likely from mile marker 296.1 to mile marker 296.7. The hours that the restrictions will be in effect are likely from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., CDT, from Oct. 4 to 11. Additional possible limitations would be implemented from Oct. 13 to 15 during the same hours, but only if work has not been completed by Oct. 11. The final phase of the structure installation will occur from Nov. 3 to 5.
The discovery of a 19.6-pound, nearly three-foot-long, Asian carp in Lake Calumet, about six miles between Lake Michigan and the T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam in June, has left many with the fear that the carp has now penetrated the Great Lakes. There are unconfirmed reports that this particular carp was never a native of the Great Lakes but planted at this location. But the fact that the Great Lakes now appear within striking range of this fearsome predator leaves no option short of stepping up the pace of stopping Asian carp in their tracks, dead or alive.
Data continues to accumulate about the carp’s approach, with e-DNA traces that it leaves behind, and more cries are being heard from lawmakers to environmentalists, about untried remedies including one with astronomical costs suggested by Mayor Daley: reversing the direction of the Chicago River. This reversal would ensure the segregation of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) from other watersheds connected to the Mississippi River, which is believed to be the source from which the Asian carp could penetrate the Great Lakes. In addition, five Great Lakes states have filed lawsuits asking the Supreme Court to intervene and order the Corps of Engineers to seal the Chicago locks shut. But with the many other conduits remaining where the Asian Carp can penetrate the Great Lakes, the logical question is whether the unfathomable cost of reversing the Chicago River is justifiable. Perhaps this dollar amount should be spent on other avenues that the carp could use to penetrate the lakes, or on other valuable practices, including the preservation and protection of the Great Lakes from this and other invasive aquatic nuisances.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have been hard at work trying to stop the advance of the Asian carp, taking actions from increasing the strength of the electric barrier, to removing fish with net fishing, to using the chemical rotenone on the CSSC. Much needs to be done and understood about what means remain to ensure that no carp make it past this barrier. Recent reports from experts claim that the Great Lakes cannot provide adequate supplies of the plankton and warm temperatures needed to sustain the species’ long-term survival if it does enter the Great Lakes. As such, the carp can at best become a predator in a minority status living alongside others, from the indigenous to the invasive aquatic species.
This scheduled closure of part of the CSSC comes at a crucial time period that is reserved for the migratory return of Chicago’s 7,000 boats to their winter storage yards. The combination of restrictions placed upon boats by both infrequent bridge openings by the city of Chicago, and now by the Corps of Engineers, will become a difficult task for the boaters ending their boating season. This order, implemented at this date, could play a role in shortening the boating season for those that would prefer to lengthen their stays at the harbors. The Great Lakes Boating Federation strongly advises caution, staying away from the river surface while transiting through the barriers.
The discovery of a 19.6-pound, nearly three-foot-long, Asian carp in Lake Calumet, about six miles between Lake Michigan and the T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam in June, has left many with the fear that the carp has now penetrated the Great Lakes. There are unconfirmed reports that this particular carp was never a native of the Great Lakes but planted at this location. But the fact that the Great Lakes now appear within striking range of this fearsome predator leaves no option short of stepping up the pace of stopping Asian carp in their tracks, dead or alive.
Data continues to accumulate about the carp’s approach, with e-DNA traces that it leaves behind, and more cries are being heard from lawmakers to environmentalists, about untried remedies including one with astronomical costs suggested by Mayor Daley: reversing the direction of the Chicago River. This reversal would ensure the segregation of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) from other watersheds connected to the Mississippi River, which is believed to be the source from which the Asian carp could penetrate the Great Lakes. In addition, five Great Lakes states have filed lawsuits asking the Supreme Court to intervene and order the Corps of Engineers to seal the Chicago locks shut. But with the many other conduits remaining where the Asian Carp can penetrate the Great Lakes, the logical question is whether the unfathomable cost of reversing the Chicago River is justifiable. Perhaps this dollar amount should be spent on other avenues that the carp could use to penetrate the lakes, or on other valuable practices, including the preservation and protection of the Great Lakes from this and other invasive aquatic nuisances.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have been hard at work trying to stop the advance of the Asian carp, taking actions from increasing the strength of the electric barrier, to removing fish with net fishing, to using the chemical rotenone on the CSSC. Much needs to be done and understood about what means remain to ensure that no carp make it past this barrier. Recent reports from experts claim that the Great Lakes cannot provide adequate supplies of the plankton and warm temperatures needed to sustain the species’ long-term survival if it does enter the Great Lakes. As such, the carp can at best become a predator in a minority status living alongside others, from the indigenous to the invasive aquatic species.
This scheduled closure of part of the CSSC comes at a crucial time period that is reserved for the migratory return of Chicago’s 7,000 boats to their winter storage yards. The combination of restrictions placed upon boats by both infrequent bridge openings by the city of Chicago, and now by the Corps of Engineers, will become a difficult task for the boaters ending their boating season. This order, implemented at this date, could play a role in shortening the boating season for those that would prefer to lengthen their stays at the harbors. The Great Lakes Boating Federation strongly advises caution, staying away from the river surface while transiting through the barriers.
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