Great Lakes waters are overdue for cleanup

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A panting border collie patrols a steamy Chicago beach, chasing away sea gulls before they can foul the sand. A sign asks beach goers to toss their trash in a bin and change their children's dirty diapers.

Chicagoans are among the millions who flock each summer to hundreds of beaches that line the shores of the five Great Lakes, the vast inland seas that are collectively the world's second-largest body of fresh water and provide drinking water for 40 million Americans and Canadians.

The five interconnected Great Lakes have been abused by polluters, invaded by unwanted species and are overdue for a cleanup, environmentalists and many politicians say.

"A lot of advocates feel the Great Lakes have long been neglected. Compare them to the (Florida) Everglades, which are that region's iconic landmark and where there's a multibillion-dollar federally funded restoration program. That's what we need here," said Max Muller of the group Environment Illinois.

The price tag for restoring the Great Lakes was recently estimated at $26 billion by a group of economists who projected the economic benefits of a cleanup.

Completing the immense task -- rebuilding antiquated sewer systems, restoring decimated wetlands, blocking invasive species, and cleaning up contaminated lake sediments and polluted tributaries -- would lift residential property values that are within sight of the lakes by 10 percent, their report concluded. The $50 billion real estate gain would alone justify the investment that the researchers said could revitalize the surrounding region known as the Rust Belt.

Coveted lakeshore homes can fetch prices rivaling those on U.S. ocean coastlines, though the Great Lakes' natural beauty featuring towering sand dunes, rocky fjords, and dense forests is frequently interrupted by urban wasteland and factories.

Restoration of the lakes would also bring a healthier fishery, fewer beach closings, and other benefits, the report sponsored by the Brookings Institution said.

"To the extent you're going to make the Great Lakes a more attractive place for people to live and work, you're going to reduce (out)migration, and if anything you're going to be able to attract people from other locations and reduce congestion on the coasts and other parts of the country," said Brookings' economist Robert Litan.

Protectors of the lakes toted up a recent victory when British oil giant BP agreed to scuttle its permit to dump more ammonia and other pollutants into Lake Michigan from a planned Indiana refinery modernization.

The company backed down last month in the face of outraged politicians, feverish petition drives and boycott threats. But BP may abandon the project altogether, along with the promise of jobs and gasoline supplies in a region in need of both.

VIRUS ALERT

Meanwhile, on dozens of hot days over the summer, disappointed beach goers in Chicago and elsewhere have been met by swimming bans.

A host of viruses that can sicken swimmers, dangerous toxins such as mercury and asbestos, and other threats lurk in or beside the lakes, scientists say. Episodes of people sickened by contaminated drinking water may go unreported.

At beaches in larger communities, swimming areas are routinely tested for the presence of E-coli, a bacteria that is a marker for other pathogens. By midsummer, Chicago had ordered 34 swim bans.