"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."

"Five ethanol facilities in Minnesota have been cited in the past 12 months for widespread air and water quality violations. They have paid more than $2.8 million in penalties and corrective actions."

In an interview, White House "Asian Carp Czar" John Goss outlines his plans for removing the invasive species from the threatened Great Lakes ecosystem.

"For more than six years, a power plant that towers over Chicago's Southeast Side repeatedly has belched out smoke so thick it violates air pollution laws and aggravates respiratory illnesses for residents nearby."

"Illinois is failing to crack down on water pollution from large confined-animal farms, the Obama  administration announced Wednesday in a stinging rebuke that gave the state a month to figure out how to fix its troubled permitting and enforcement programs."

"Michigan could be seeing the beginning of a new boom in drilling for natural gas. Leases for drilling rights are going for unheard of prices in northern-lower Michigan."

"Great Lakes pollution is getting worse because sewage systems are outdated and Ontario’s north is turning into a Wild West for miners and forestry companies, warns Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller."

A blighted area of Indianapolis has at least 70 of the area's 500 abandoned commercial and industrial sites. The return of rail transport promises revitalization.