Therefore be it resolved that, in keeping with the virtual elimination goal and zero discharge policy of the GLWQA, Great Lakes United urges the governments of Canada and the United States to choose methods for destroying stockpiles of PCBs and other chlorinated hazardous waste that meet the following critera:

1. No incineration of chlorinated hazardous waste
2. Alternative, non-incineration technologies must be evaluated on the basis of a 100% destruction efficiency standard
3. Alternative, non-incineration technologies must be closed loop systems
4. Alternative, non-incineration technologies must not be used as an alternative to banning and stopping the generation of hazardous waste.  These technologies must never be used as an excuse not to meet the IJC's goals of zero discharge. Alternative, non-incineration technologies must only be used for the destruction of historic stockpiles of chlorinated hazardous waste, and must never be used for control of process waste.
5. Alternative, non-incineration technologies must not themselves  generate persistent toxic substances or otherwise threaten or endanger human health or the environment
6. All alternative, non-incineration destruction methods should be properly and comprehensively evaluated before applications are approved and their use tightly regulated and controlled by federal, state, provincial and municipal authorities
7. Destruction, transportation and/or handling of these substances shall not pose additional risk to human health and/or the envionment
8. All proposals must pay particular attention to occupational health and safety issues.  Potential risks from occupational exposure should be monitored and fully disclosed to all employees.
9. All communities and workers have a right to fully participate and accept or reject destruction proposals.
10. Potential host communities should be fully consulted before implementation of destruction programmes, with all available data fully disclosed.  Emergency response plans shall be developed with host community input.
11. Destructio nof wates should be paid for by the generator of such wastes.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United supports a bill to amend the Clean Water Act to:

• Require full-scale demonstrations at the five ARCS sites--Buffalo, Ashtabula, Saginaw, Indiana Harbor, and Sheboygan
• Test more technologies at five new Areas of Concern, possibly including Duluth/Superior, Green Bay, Kalamazoo River, Maumeenoledo, and a binational site like St. Mary's River
• Provide sediment assessments for all other AOCs with recommendations for management
• Provide public education and participation before and after the full-scale cleanups
• Provide technological transfer money to the states to hire sediment coordinators and money to the Environmental
• Protection Agency, Bureau of Mines, and the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain and train them
• Sediment source modeling and non-point reduction strategies
• Make Lake Superior an Outstanding National Resource Water by the year 2000
• Provide timelines for Great Lakes Initiatives 2 to control non-point pollution from farms and streets; sediments (with standards to protect human, wildlife and aquatic health); air toxics (building on the Great Lakes Waters study); and landfills dumping onto the lakes
• Funding for the above at $20 million to $25 million per year, and

Be it further resolved that the Canadian government adopt similar measures.

This slideshow from the the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition identifies opportunities and benefits of green infrastructure practices.

Preliminary research suggests that the annual cost to the Great Lakes region from invasive species introduced by shipping may be upwards of $200 million dollars a year because invasions limit the ability of the natural ecosystem to support fisheries, raw water uses, and wildlife watching. This factsheet explores some of these first findings.

A new report has been released which attempts to determine the life history of the bighead carp captured on June 22, 2010, in Lake Calumet, just 6 miles from Lake Michigan. Great Lakes United, in partnership with Alliance for the Great Lakes, Healing Our Waters Coalition, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Prairie Rivers Network have produced a factsheet to unravel the science and clear up some of the misconceptions behind the bighead carp found in Lake Calumet.

A power point presentation prepared by Mary Muter for the "What to do about Asian Carp in Canada?" webinar. 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Great Lakes United urges that the Governments of Canada and
the United States should:

• Establish and implement scientifically defensible standards for ballast water discharge that will eliminate the risk of new introductions of exotic species. Accordingly, the governments should follow the International Joint Commission's recommendation in its 91h Biennial Report to move from "studying" ballast water issues to "taking action" to eliminate the risk of new introductions.
• Require that ships built after 2004 meet these standards
• Require ballast exchange or accepted alternative by ships built before 2005.
• Lead a coordinated, vigorous research program to design and retrofit ships to prevent the introduction of new species in the Great Lakes.
• Not sign international agreements that preempt effective and enhanced protection of the Great Lakes.

A letter to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Commons supporting the Canadian Environmental Law Association’s suggested amendments to Bill C-20, regarding nuclear industry liability, the proposed Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Great Lakes United calls upon the Great Lakes Basin delegation to the Congress to immediately cosponsor H.R. Resolution 246 and Senate Resolution 109 and to assure their passage when brought to a vote, AND

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Great Lakes United calls upon the President of the United States to initiate and complete negotiations, as part of the Uruguay Round of GATT talks, to make the GAIT compatible with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other United States health, safety, labor, trade and environmental laws including those laws designed to protect the environment and workers outside the geographic borders of the United States. AND

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Great Lakes United calls upon the President of the United States to guarantee that the GATT, US./ Mexico or other trade agreements will not In any way reduce the authority of local and state governments to establish health, safety, labor, environmental, purchasing or procurement laws that the people and their elected representatives have passed.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Great Lakes United calls on the President of the United States not to enter Into any lnternational agreement - including GATT and NAFTA - and Congress not to approve any international agreement, that weakens United States' manufacturing Industries and fosters international wage competition that undermines workers living standards.

THEREFORE BE I T RESOLVED, that Great Lakes United and other environmental organizations be formally included as full participants in the renegotiation of the Canada-Ontario Agreement.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED TEAT, Great Lakea United in Annual Meeting assembled May 11-13, 1984 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, urges that Federal, State, and Provincial governments, and duly constituted interstate and international bodies, as appropriate, develop biological indicators as early warning monitoring programs and cooperative tumor Registries to determine the incidence and extent of cancerous tumors in fish and of tumor-causing pollutants in the environment, throughout the United States and Canada.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, State, Provincial and Federal governments and interstate and international bodies, greatly expand their efforts to curtail the pollution of the nation's lakes, rivers and coastal waters by cancer-causing and other toxic chemicals; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, Congress amend the FDA's existing statutory authority to require the FDA, when establishing "action levels" and tolerances for fish and ehellfish contaminants, to tailor these limits to specific geographic areas and subpopulations, so as to reflect better the veriations in rates of fish and shellfish consumption within the overall population; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, the various jurisdictions should establish uniform and comprehensive alert and notice system fishermen and other fish and shellfieh consumers of the deleterious pollutant levels and/or tumors in fish and in their waters.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United endorse the principles behind the original proposal for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation in Europe and Be it further resolved that Great Lakes United endorse and advocate the need for the similar legislation in Canada and the United States.