Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI)

"The state of Minnesota is suing 3M Co. over its disposal of chemicals previously used to make Scotchgard and other products."

"In the fight over proposed mining projects in northern Minnesota, a new player with a surprising amount of clout has emerged -- wild rice."

"A federal judge [Dec. 2] rejected the request of five Great Lakes states for a preliminary injuction that would force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes."

"A binational coalition of over 70 mayors from Quebec, Ontario and the eight Great Lake States fear that the proposed maritime shipment of 16 giant radioactive steam generators from Ontario's Bruce Power to Sweden for recycling could release radioactivity into the water in the event of an accident during shipment."

"This week an Illinois fish processor is sending 44,000 pounds of Asian carp back to Asia as food. A small startup in Pearl, Ill., the Big River Fish Company is just one group that sees Asian carp not as a voracious, invasive species, but as a business opportunity."

"Michiganders don't have to worry much about having an adequate supply of water. But efforts by Nestlé to bottle water in the state, and the prospect of drier times in a climate-changed future, are leading some residents to try to put Michigan groundwater under permanent protection."

Residents of Joliet, Illinois, worry about what coal ash in huge pits will do to their wells -- and their health.

The Great Lakes, America's largest supply of fresh water, and surrounding forests, wetlands, and waterways are threatened by new mining of copper and nickel.

Many cities in Wisconsin still face toxic contamination from municipal gas plants closed six decades ago. Similar sites are found in other states.

"More than a third of Wisconsinites rely on well water in their homes, and we've discovered much of that water could be tainted.  The problem: many families don't have their wells tested.  And those wells could contain invisible poisons."