December 2,  2009

               LANSING -Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today announced that his office has contacted authorities responsible for overseeing Illinois waterways infested with Asian Carp and demanded a full explanation of their immediate plans to protect the Great Lakes from this looming threat.  Asian Carp are an aggressive invasive species that could destroy Great Lakes fish populations, causing severe damage to Michigan's economy by ruining the fishing and tourism industries.

"With Asian Carp literally at the front door of the Great Lakes, we will not get another chance to protect our greatest natural resource," said Cox.  "The Great Lakes are a vital part of our economy, our way of life, and our future.  They are an essential part of turning Michigan around.  Allowing the lakes to be decimated when authorities knew of the danger for years would be a colossal failure."

Cox said that his office in recent weeks has been reviewing its legal options to force authorities responsible for the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal to take more aggressive action to stop the Carp from entering Lake Michigan at Chicago.  Today, Cox sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Illinois, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago demanding that they take action in the immediate and long term, including, potentially, the closing of the locks to ensure the Carp never enter the Great Lakes.  In the letter, Cox indicated that he is prepared to take whatever legal action is necessary to protect the Great Lakes.

Cox also sent a letter to Governor Granholm today requesting additional information about the effect closing the locks would have on Michigan's faltering economy and about the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' cooperation with the state of Illinois in efforts to eliminate the Carp, reported by the news media today.

Cox's office has aggressively protected Michigan's water resources, suing the federal government three times to compel them to address the threat from invasives to our Lakes.  He also successfully defended Michigan's first-in-the-nation ballast water statute.  

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