Protecting Our Great Lakes

Over the past 450 years, more than 6,500 non-indigenous invasive species have been introduced into the United States and have become established, self-sustaining populations. These species – from microorganisms to mollusks, from pathogens to plants, from insects to fish to animals – typically encounter no or few natural enemies in their new environments and wreak havoc on native species.

Invasive species threaten biological diversity. Many experts consider invasive species and the ecological damage they cause to be a greater environmental threat worldwide than chemical pollutants.

Estimates of the annual economic damage caused nationwide by invasive species go as high as $137 billion. No part of the country is immune. The Great Lakes have been particularly vulnerable. The system of canals built within the Lakes has made it easier for invasive species to spread by removing the physical barriers between the Lakes and the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean.

One-tenth of the U.S. population – nearly 30 million people – and one-quarter of all Canadians – another eight million people – live in the Great Lakes watershed. Because the Great Lakes are host to so many people, and because they have facilitated so much industry and trade over the past several centuries, it is little wonder that the Lakes have been bombarded with invasive species.

Maritime commerce is frequently the "vector" for invasion. Some aquatic invaders attach themselves to ships' hulls. Most are contained in the water that ships use for ballast. Aquatic invaders such as the zebra mussel and round goby were introduced into the Great Lakes when ships, often from halfway around the world, pulled into port and discharged their ballast water.

Congress passed bills in 1990 and 1996 that have reduced, but not eliminated, the threat of new invasions by requiring ballast water management for ships entering the Great Lakes. These bills also authorized invasive species research and education programs.

I recently introduced the "National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2002" to reauthorize and build on existing legislation. My bill has several features. First and foremost, the bill establishes deadlines for interim and final standards for ballast water management. The goal is to require that all ballast water is treated in an environmentally sound manner to prevent the introduction of invasive species.

Other provisions would require the Army Corps of Engineers to construct a second dispersal barrier across the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal. The purpose of the barriers is to keep species like the Asian carp from migrating up the Mississippi through the Canal into the Great Lakes. The bill authorizes funding for better coordinated and more policy-oriented research. It would help federal, state, and regional authorities guard against future invasions by developing early detection and monitoring, and rapid response plans. And it provides funding for outreach and education programs to inform the public and marina owners about the dangers of inadvertently carrying aquatic invaders on the hulls of recreational boats or dumping bait buckets into the Lakes.

We have learned from painful experience that aquatic invaders are just about impossible to eradicate once they get into the Great Lakes and our other bodies of water. We have to do everything possible to prevent them from arriving in the first place.