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The DRCC Newsletter
Join the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup mailing list to keep up-to-date about Detroit River news and events.
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Current Newsletter

July 9, 2010

Remember, we love to hear from you! Please email your environmental events/news or newsletter suggestions. Depending on timing, we can include your event in our newsletter or on our events calendar.

Natalie Green, RAP Coordinator
postmaster@detroitriver.ca

The DRCC is a community-based partnership between government, industry, academics, as well as environmental and community organizations that work collectively in helping to improve the health of the Detroit River. Our key goal is to implement the Canadian Remedial Action Plan (RAP) in order to restore the beneficial uses and remove the River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

Did you know??

...that over 3 million gallons of beer and whiskey were illegally exported across the Detroit River during the prohibition era in the U.S.

 

Keeping the Great Lakes GREAT Keeping the Great Lakes GREAT

Would you like to know about one of North America's greatest natural resources: the Great Lakes? If so, you should read Keeping the Great Lakes GREAT: Success Stories from the Shoreline.

Produced by the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario, the report summarizes several projects and programs in the Great Lakes Basin. There is even an article about the Turkey Creek Sediment Remediation Project (in the Detroit River watershed) that was completed in 2008 (see page 3).

Click here to download a copy. 

 

Detroit River awarded Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Funding

Three Detroit River Habitat Projects have been awarded funding from President Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Friends of the Detroit River will receive $3,126,628 to restore and/or enhance habitat in the Detroit River Area of Concern (U.S. side).
  • Detroit River AOC Habitat Enhancement - South Fishing Pier ($497,634)
    Contact the Friends of the Detroit River for more details.
  • Detroit River AOC Habitat Restoration - Blue Heron Lagoon ($1,428,994)
    To reconnect and naturalize the 41 acre Blue Heron Lagoon on Detroit River's Belle Isle restoring fish access to over 95 acres of wetlands, shallow and deep water habitat and over 2.2 miles of lotic (canal) habitat.
  • Detroit River AOC Habitat Restoration - U.S. Steel Site ($1,200,000)
    To enhance and restore upland, shoreline, and aquatic habitat in a heavily industrialized area of the Detroit River.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Great Lakes National Program Office invited 270 finalists to submit applications for a total of $161,450,000 in competitive grant funding under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

In response to its November 2009 request for grant proposals (RFP), EPA received more than 1,000 proposed projects from state, tribal, and municipal agencies, non-governmental organizations and other eligible entities aimed at restoring and protecting this national treasure.

GLRI grants will fund projects that address the most important Great Lakes priorities, including reducing toxic contaminants, restoring the Great Lakes Areas of Concern, protecting beaches and beachgoers, keeping out invasive species and reducing polluted land-based runoff.

Successful projects will focus on achieving results in the five priority areas identified by a federal interagency task force as vital for restoring the Great Lakes. Each preliminary proposal was subjected to a rigorous review and ranking by multiple reviewers from EPA or other federal agencies.

President Obama has made restoring the Great Lakes a national priority. In February 2009, he proposed $475 million for the GLRI, an unprecedented investment in the nation's largest fresh surface water ecosystem. Congress appropriated full funding in October. Grants, expected to be awarded later this summer, will advance the goals of the GLRI Action Plan released by partner agencies in February.

More information on the finalists and the RFP is available at
http://epa.gov/greatlakes/fund/2010rfp01
http://greatlakesrestoration.us/?p=743

 

Save the Date...
for these upcoming events

Cleaning up you Act: Understanding Brownfield Regulation in Ontario
Monday, July 12, 2010 - 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Join the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) to learn more about Brownfields and contaminated site clean up on Monday, July 12, 2010, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm at the Riverside Library (6305 Wyandotte Street East). A light lunch will be provided to participants.

RSVP to Renee Griffin at 416-960-2284 x212 or rgriffin@cela.ca

Lakeside Locavore Lunch
Sunday, July 18, 2010

Green your eats at the third annual Lakeside Locavore Lunch, Sunday July 18th.  
Advance tickets only! Cost is only $20.

To purchase tickets: www.onlineregistrations.ca/jrph/ or for more information: (519) 738-2029 email: jrph@erca.org The Homestead is located at 915 County Road 50, east of Colchester on the Lake. 

Menu details are available at: http://www.erca.org/events/events.details.cfm?id=254&year=2010&month=7
 
Canada South Land Trust - Guided Walk
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - 6:30 pm

Join the Essex County Field Naturalists' Club for a guided walk on the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 for a glimpse of mid-summer flowering plants. Meet at 6:30 p.m. on Titcombe Road at the prairie entrance which is across Matchette Road from the Ojibway Park parking lot. Call Betty at 519-944-0825 to indicate you will be attending and for more information. The Prairie is especially lovely this year following a prescribed burn in April. Donation to the Land Trust's Legacy Fund is welcome. Refreshments following the walk.

Kayaking - Essex County Field Naturalists' Club
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - 5 pm

Join Club member Mike Malone for a kayak outing. No experience is necessary. One and two person boats will be available. There is no charge for this trip, but members are asked to register by calling Pelee Wings (519-326-5193) as it is limited to 15 participants. Meet at the Pelee Wings store at 5:00 p.m. Locale for the trip will depend on weather and lake conditions. If inclement weather or high winds are occurring, call Mike at the store to check if the outing is still a go.

CAW Local 200 & 444 Yellow Fish Road Event
Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 10 am to 12 noon

Join the CAW Local 200 and 444 as they create awareness about storm water pollution by painting yellow fish next to storm drains and distribute flyers in the neighbourhood around their Union Building. Rain date: August 28, same time, same location.

The Yellow Fish Road Program is sponsored by Trout Unlimited Canada.

Download the poster

Fundraising Pasta Nights - Essex County Field Naturalists' Club
Various date (see below)

Visit the Riverside Sportsmen's Club on Wednesday nights in September for a great pasta dinner and help the Essex County Field Naturalists' Club raise money for community cleanups, tree and shrub plantings, plant stock purchases, and replacement of equipment.

When? Wednesday, September 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Time? Between 5 pm and 8 pm
Cost? $8.00
Where? Riverside Sportsmen's Club, 10835 Riverside Drive East, Windsor, Ontario (519-735-3031)

Contact Ian Naisbitt for more information.

Detroit River Fall Dinner Cruise
Thursday, September 9, 2010 - 6 pm to 9 pm

For more information, please contact the Friends of the Detroit River (U.S.) at www.detroitriver.org.
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Environmental Job Postings

These postings are for jobs at various locations. Please click on the job title to view job details. Contact the listed agency in the job ad for more information. Note: the links will expire soon after the deadline has passed. Note: the links will expire after the deadline closes.

Volunteer Opportunity:
  • Friends of the Homestead Volunteer (Sundays)
    To apply or for more information contact 519-738-2029 or email kives@erca.org

email: postmaster@detroitriver.ca
phone: 519-982-DRCC (3722)
web: http://www.detroitriver.ca