Coast Guard plan broadsided
WAUKEGAN -- U.S. Coast Guard live-fire exercises in Lake Michigan ran into a firestorm of protest Wednesday.
A parade of boaters, fishermen and women, charter boat operators, environmentalists, scientists, lawyers, veterans, anti-Iraq War activists and area legislators from Chicago to Milwaukee speaking at a Coast Guard-sponsored hearing in the Genesee Theatre blasted using the Great Lakes for machine-gun and rifle fire practice.
A parade of boaters, fishermen and women, charter boat operators, environmentalists, scientists, lawyers, veterans, anti-Iraq War activists and area legislators from Chicago to Milwaukee speaking at a Coast Guard-sponsored hearing in the Genesee Theatre blasted using the Great Lakes for machine-gun and rifle fire practice.
The Coast Guard already has held 24 live-fire exercises on the lakes in "temporary fire zones" since January, according to Rear Adm. John Crowley Jr., commander of the 9th Coast Guard District.
The Coast Guard already has held 24 live-fire exercises on the lakes in "temporary fire zones" since January, according to Rear Adm. John Crowley Jr., commander of the 9th Coast Guard District.
The Coast Guard wants to designate 34 fire zones in the Great Lakes, including four roughly 5-by-10-mile zones off the shores of Chicago, Waukegan, Kenosha and Milwaukee.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn said the U.S. Clean Water Act requires an "independent analysis" of the impact of live-fire exercises on the lake and a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before the Coast Guard opens fire on the lakes, suggesting the 24 earlier exercises might have been conducted illegally.
Quinn urged the Coast Guard to consider using non-lead "green ammo" if the exercises continue. Some 7,000 pounds of lead would be fired into the lakes annually, he said.
Steven Pollack, director of a group called Blue Eco Legal Council threatened Crowley, who was listening with other Coast Guard officers on the Genesee stage, with a lawsuit.
A Coast Guard-commissioned study that concluded there would be no danger to the environment or to humans was ripped by Lee Goodman of Northbrook, who ran against Mark Kirk for Congress in the 10th District two years ago, and others.
State Rep. Karen May, D-Highland Park, read a letter signed by a dozen area legislators calling on the Coast Guard to use training simulators and to commission a new environmental study. If exercises go ahead, they should be held before April 1 and after Nov. 15, she said.
The zones should be moved at least 15 miles offshore, May said. Currently, they are 6.7-miles to 10 miles offshore in south Lake Michigan.
"You shot yourself in the foot," said Dan Thomas of Elmhurst, president of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, speaking to the Coast Guard officers.
"I've never heard of a safe threshold for lead," said Bradford Little of Chicago.
The Salmon Sportsfishing Club "is totally against shooting in the lakes," said William Kommenich, a spokesman.
"It's time we think about cleaning up the lake instead of adding more toxins," said Marian Targ of Highland Park.
"Let them do their target practice in the ocean," said Nancy Diveris of Lake Bluff.
"It's absolutely crazy," said Dan Roberts of Beach Park. "Do you defecate where you eat? Why would you dump thousands of pounds of lead in our drinking supply. It's just absurd."
"Whoever selected these (zones) put 'em in the middle of the best fishing spot outside Kenosha," said Mark Hasenberger, a Navy veteran representing the Wisconsin Federation of Sports Fishing Clubs.
The Waukegan Charter Boat Association is opposed to fire zones, too, said David Carpentier, captain of Seamates III.
