Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urge each jurisdiction in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin to pursue a goal of No New Water by living within their existing water quantities and sources, including accommodating any community growth within existing water supplies.

Therefore be it further resolved that Great Lakes United push for the goal of no new water in the conservation plans in development as per the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.

Therefore be it further resolved that Great Lakes United urge each Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River jurisdiction to direct funds towards the conservation and reuse of water in lieu of expansion of existing water sources and development of new water sources.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United supports a precautionary moratorium on all new or expanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that produce untreated animal waste; and, Therefore be it further resolved that Great Lakes United supports: The improvement and similar wastewater transportation, delivery, and treatment systems on each CAFO site within the Great Lakes watershed, at least as stringent as the U.S. federal or Canadian provincial water quality mandates and standards required of municipalities producing the same volume of human waste; and that these improvements should apply to all medium and large livestock operations; and, that safe nutrient management practices and disposal of sludge should be included in the requirements in order to maintain adequate water quality standards in ground and surface waters.

Therefore, be it resolved that Great Lakes United urges the DOE and NYSERDA to immediately select the Site-wide Waste Removal cleanup approach at West Valley in order to effectively protect public health and the Great Lakes region from the West Valley’s hazardous radioactivity; and,
Therefore be it further resolved that Great Lakes United opposes radioactive waste reprocessing due to its inevitable risks of nuclear weapons proliferation and environmental devastation, as well as astronomical cost to taxpayers; and, Therefore be it further resolved to deliver a copy of this resolution to the appropriate DOE and NYSERDA officials by their June 8, 2009 deadline for public comments on the West Valley Draft Environmental Impact Statement and decommissioning plan, as well as to other government agencies and public officials.

Since the Seaway opened on June 26th,1959, the environmental and economic damage brought on by opening the Great Lakes to international ships has been significant. These principles address a broad range of environmental impacts including: invasive species, climate change, Seaway expansion, air emissions, ship-borne pollution, ice-breaking, and governance issues. While international vessels have been a focal point for many of the environmental impacts associated with shipping on the Great Lakes, particularly invasive species, the principles also address domestic operations.

Letter to Marc Gagnon, Director General of Société de développement économique du Saint-Laurent (SODES), offering Great Lakes United's limited endorsement of the Green Marine Program. Great Lakes United supports the Green Marine program and its goals, but cannot endorse Green Marine's objective of "increasing understanding… of the environmental advantages of marine transportation" until such time as the disadvantages of maritime transportation are mitigated through regulation or achievement of Green Marine’s highest goals on a consistent basis.

This document was submitted to the Binational forum for the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Renegotiation on behalf of the ENGO community. These written comments are one part of the public consultation process being carried out by the governments. The document was submitted on July 9. 2010. 

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT Great Lakes United encourages the development of educational programs concerned with environmental issues. The organization urges its members to work on programs in their own localities, particularly for Great Lakes Week. Great Lakes United further recommends that the programs for Great Lakes Week be geared to attract a wider audience by including topics relating to environment (historical, recreational, etc,).

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT GREAT LAKES UNITED COOPERATE WITH LOCAL GROUPS TO ACTIVELY OPPOSE THESE SITES AND ALL OTHER SITES WHICH MAY BE PROPOSED WITHIN THE BASIN; AND

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, THAT GREAT LAKES UNITED ACTIVELY PROMOTE AND SUSTAIN PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS DIRECTED TOWARD BROAD-BASED PUBLIC DISCUSSION ON SAFE OPTIONS FOR DISPOSAL OF LOW AND HIGH-LEVEL WASTE; AND

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Great Lakes United board members and staff appear with representatives of local groups to present this resolution.

THEREFORE Great Lakes United urges that the US Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada reconfirm their commitment to clean up the AOCs, and that the US EPA and Environment Canada commit the necessary federal dollars to complete and implement the RAPs;

That the federal governments recognize that the same economic and corporate forces that led to degradation of water quality in the AOCs and also caused significant damage to the surrounding communities so that the US EPA and Environment Canada target substantial resources for clean up and sustainable redevelopment of surrounding communities, including assessment of health impacts and support health services;

That to request their commitment to full public participation in all aspects of the RAPs, the U.S. EPA and Environment Canada should provide funding for paid independent facilitators and community organizers, as well as resources tb facilitate public participation, such as travel funding and childcare;

That the U.S. EPA and Environment Canada provide funding tor the independent technical advisors and consultants to be selected to be selected by the public advisory committees;

That the U.S. EPA and Environment Canada enter negotiations with Great Lakes United and other environmental public interest groups to develop a basin-wide strategy to complrte and fully implement the Remedial Action Plans.

THBREPORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Great Lakee United supports promulgation and implementation of the Greet Lakee Toxic Substances Control Agreement;

BE IT FURTHBR RESOLVED, that U.S. and Canadian citizen involvement in the implementation and review of the Great Lakes Toxic Substance Control Agreement is essential to the control of toxic pollutants entering the Great Lakes System;

BB IT FURTHBR RESOLVED, that U.S. and Canadian citizen involvement is the design of any Basin-wide agreement including, at a minimum, consultation and responce as provided for in the agreement, is essential to the control of toxic pollutants; and

FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED, that the success of the Great Lakes Toxic Substance Control Agreement in controlling the entry of toxic pollutants into the Great Lakes system is dependent upon continuing public involvement.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Great Lakes United supports the following policies:

1. Each government jurisdiction shall set up programmes to remove household and commercial/industrial hazardous wastes, as well as infectious wastes, from the municipal solid waste stream.

2a. The governments within the Great Lakes Basin shall set a minimum 50% target for removal of household and commercia1 industria1 materials from the municipal solid waste stream through reduction, reuse and recycling methods, including composting, within the next ten years.

2b. State and provincial governments shall establish programs to assist in the development of markets for used oil, glass, paper, metal tires and other materials.  Procurement of products made from these materials shall be encouraged wherever possible.

2c. The local, state/provincial and federal governments shall train appropriate personnel to oversee, implement and coordinate the above programs.

3. Within the next three years, each Province and State within the Great Lakes Basin shall ass legislation requiring re cling of household and industrial / commercial wastes in order to achieve the targets in Section 2.

4a. The appropriate government jurisdictions shall pass packaging legislation so as to reduce excess and non-reusable and non-recyclable packaging and to promote recyclable packaging.

4b. Plastic packagin material shall be labelled as to composition so as to enhance recyclability.

5a. A programme to develop, institute and reach the minimum 50% target for reduction, reuse and recycling of wastes must be attained before new landfills and incinerators are considered for wastes.

5b. Recyclable materials shall be exempt from any flow control restrictions.

6. The government jurisdictions shall provide adequate funding through the budgetary process to ensure that the above actions can be implemented.