The anticipated three-day legal showdown begins Tuesday in federal court as attorneys from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota will try to persuade U.S. District Judge Robert Dow that Asian carp pose such a grave threat to the Great Lakes that nothing short of an emergency shutdown of the system will stop them.
At a preliminary hearing last week, Michigan’s Assistant Attorney General Robert Reichel told Dow the U.S. has reached a “biological tipping point” for invasive species threatening the Great Lakes. He said closing the locks, which open to regulate water levels and permit the passage of boats and ships, is perhaps the only way to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes and protect its estimated $7 billion annual commercial and recreational fishing industry.
Attorneys representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the locks, argued the federal government has spent millions of dollars to monitor and stop Asian carp on their march up the Illinois River. They say closing the locks may not be effective and could make the problem worse.
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Traverse City, Michigan