E-mail
Print
House passes Great Lakes Compact
390-25 vote passes bill protecting lakes
By Jo Rey Lopez
“It [the Great Lakes] has become a cornerstone of our economy” – Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton
After years of floating through the eight bordering states’ legislative bodies, the United States Congress passed the Great Lakes Compact by a vote of 390-25 in the House of Representatives Tuesday, Sept. 23. President Bush has said he will sign it into law upon its arrival.
The bill grew from a scare with a Canadian company that wanted to ship out lake water to Asia in tankers, like crude oil in 1999. Also, there was talk about a pipeline to the water-starved western states like Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of western Canada.
In 2001, the two Canadian provinces and the eight states bordering the world’s largest freshwater reserves agreed to a voluntary pact while laws were drawn up.
The bill then drifted through state governing bodies for years, seemingly getting stuck in several standing pools, mainly in Wisconsin and Ohio, before taking a whitewater ride through the House this week.
In a telephone interview with The Post last week, Wisconsin Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton said one of the biggest reasons for the holdup was due to the language in the bill itself. Lawton said that it was critical to draft a bill that set the framework for conservation and still allowed commerce to grow.
She also said that the Great Lakes Region generates $5 billon in tourism annually.
“They sparkle like gold,” said Lawton.
Lawton also said that Wisconsin alone receives 40 million metric tons of cargo through its ports, which supports 11,000 jobs worth about $7 billion a year to the state’s economy.
“It [the Great Lakes] has become a cornerstone of our economy,” she said, and sees the pact as the means to ensuring that the vital revenue source has the proper protection to keep our region’s economy flowing.
The bill greatly regulates who can tap water from the lakes as well. Communities like New Berlin and Waukesha will have a harder time getting approval for more lake water. Deciding who gets what and how much will be no longer solely the job of the state and local governments.
Both communities have wanted more water due to their groundwater’s rising levels of radium (a radioactive chemical element produced naturally in the ground). That task will be the job of the Great Lakes Commission, according to Lawton.
Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak, an opponent of the bill, feels that the very language opens the floodgates for selling off the water as a product, such as bottling.
He feels that the bill’s wording could make water a commodity that would then fall under international trade law requirements like the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
But Wisconsin’s U.S. Senator Russ Feingold sees the pact as critical to the area.
“The passage of the Great Lakes Compact means these incredible natural resources will be defended against increased water withdrawals, one of the biggest threats to lake levels,” said Feingold in a press statement.
Feingold added that he is “very pleased” the bill sailed through the House on its way to the President.
> Comments