Indication of Asian carp in Lake Michigan roils waters
More evidence emerged Tuesday to suggest that the voracious Asian carp is threatening to reach the Great Lakes, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported for the first time finding DNA samples of the carp beyond the locks in the Chicago area.
The news came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene and issue an emergency order closing off all the locks that connect Illinois’ rivers with Lake Michigan.
“We have one sample positive in the Calumet Harbor above the breakwater, so that is in Lake Michigan,” Maj. Gen. John Peabody said in a conference call with reporters. He stressed that no actual fish were found, but he called the DNA testing “an early warning device.”
The upstream spread of carp from the Mississippi River to the Illinois River and now to the Chicago area has officials of the Great Lakes states worrying that a $7-billion fishing industry could be endangered. But Chicago-area officials were equally concerned about the huge cost of closing off cargo shipping between the Illinois River system and Lake Michigan.
The Obama administration has been caught in the middle of the growing political battle, with the leaders of most of the Great Lakes states on one side and his home state of Illinois on the other.
“We cannot allow the carp into the Great Lakes. It will destroy our Great Lakes fisheries and their economy. It is urgent,” said Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat. She joined with Wisconsin Gov. James E. Doyle, another Democrat, in calling for a White House meeting about the invasive species.
The Army Corps of Engineers controls the locks that regulate the flow of water and shipping between Lake Michigan and the rivers near Chicago.
More than a century ago, the flow of the Chicago River was reversed to prevent sewage from the growing city from polluting the lake and its drinking water.
Michigan Atty. Gen. Mike Cox, a Republican who filed suit against Illinois, was even more alarmed.
“Today’s announcement that DNA evidence of Asian carp has been found past the so-called electrical barrier and even the locks is frightening,” he said in a statement.
“Michigan residents are outraged that President Obama’s administration and Illinois officials refuse to take immediate action despite continued evidence of an immediate threat.”
Asian carp can reach 4 feet in length and consume as much as 40% of their body weight each day.
In a one-line order, the justices said Michigan’s motion “for preliminary injunction is denied.”
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