What others have said >

Cleveland, Ohio, November 3, 2005

Key points presented at the public meeting

Welcome on behalf of Mayor Jane Campbell

• Cleveland's City Hall was dedicated in 1916, but stewardship of the lake has not always been there over the years
• Cleveland is developing a 50-year lakefront plan to ensure sustainability into the future and has turned burning rivers into a thing of the past
• Cleveland is at the heart of the water belt and is glad to be a part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement as it is updated

Public

• There is a need to address issues of integration, including coordination among the 140 federal agency programs
  
  
• There should be a systems-based approach to stream restoration linked to Remedial Action Plans (RAPs), with the role for RAPs more clearly enunciated
  
  
• The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration supports strengthened and sustained funding, and this should be addressed in the Agreement
  
  
• There are international issues that require federal attention such as the deposition of mercury and persistant pollutants, the impact of alien invasive species, and the unique nature of shallow Lake Erie with its large number of Areas of Concern; these issues required special attention and resources
  
  
• There needs to be an organizational effort as part of the review of the Agreement to conduct research and make policy related to global warming and climate change, and how they will affect the Great Lakes
  
  
• There should be an examination of efforts to open up state and public lands to exploitation and development (drilling for natural gas, logging, and mining), such as proposed by State Bill 193, and how it affects runoff, the possibility of pollution, the loss of forest cover, and the impact to the water quality of the Great Lakes
  
  
• An updated agreement must focus on the full Great Lakes basin, and include the precautionary principle and virtual elimination
  
  
• There should be a process to address emerging issues on more than a once-each-six-year basis
  
  
• Need to review the roles of federal, state, and local governments in the agreement
  
  
• Need to be have more explicit requirements for development and implementation of watershed plans
  
  
• IJC should identify specific steps needed to protect human health, including changing the burden of proof
  
  
• Priority emerging issues include climate change, invasive species, and land use changes
  
  
• Arctic research confirms previous research regarding climate change
  
  
• Regarding invasive species, need to set biological standards for ballast water, pass comprehensive federal legislation to address all pathways
  
  
• Need to emphasize the cumulative effect of local land use decisions on Great Lakes water quality, provide information to local decision-makers
  
  
• Would like IJC to commence review of governance; stable funding would enable the IJC to make progress on all fronts
  
  
• Major categories that must be considered include contaminated sediments, invasive species, waterway development, and fish consumption
  
  
• Need to look at how to really balance environment and development
  
  
• City of Cleveland approved a lakefront development plan; the only natural beach is in downtown Cleveland, but you can't swim there because of combined sewer overflows and contaminated sediments; need to address balanced growth
  
  
• Please ensure that the Agreement is signed and held to the highest standards in both governments
  
  
• I am disturbed by the lack of coordination between Remedial Action Plan and Lakewide Management Plan processes; they are both good programs, but there is no defined connection. A better job is needed to define the relationship between them.
  
  
• Remedial Action Plans need to do a better job of involving local watershed efforts.
  
  
• Concerned over sustainability - there is much enthusiasm, but so many spend so much time competing for limited dollars
  
  
• Need to do a better job trying to "sell" the Great Lakes to local leaders
  
  
• Boaters are always in favor of water quality; we all want clean water
  
  
• What I see in recent years are short-term popular decisions over long-term unpopular decisions. Need to spend more money up-front to things fixed up front, which is more efficient in the long run.
  
  
• What is the relationship between the Agreement Review and the $20 billion plan?
  
  
• City is severely depressed, and a global water crisis is predicted in my lifetime
  
  
• Need to look at creative ways to leverage the $20 billion requested for the Great Lakes to create technologies that can spur economic development, such as proposed by Andy Guy in his paper "Great Lakes Restoration Would Spur Long-Range Growth"
  
  
• Need to address economic development, not just the environment, especially for rust-belt cities
  
  
• Need to be preemptive to protect Lake Erie. Much development is going on in the tributaries to Lake Erie and we are losing channel marsh. We need to keep development away from sensitive areas.
  
  
• Want to see a collection of baseline data consistent between Canada and the United States in the Agreement.
  
  
• Have concerns about wetlands and the Agreement. Need to take an ecosystem approach.
  
  
• Protecting the Great Lakes today is as important as it was in the '60s and '70s
  
  
• New things need to be addressed. What happens if our water moves to other places? What happens if we allow drilling to occur?
  
  
• Support replacing bulkheads on the Cuyahoga River in a way the protects the environment
  
  
• Lake Erie is a very important to the economy and ecosystem

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