Supreme Court Denies Injunction Request By Michigan To Close Canal, Block Asian Carp From Great Lake

[hatrack]

CHICAGO, Illinois, January 19, 2010 (ENS) - Asian carp are closing in on Lake Michigan, but today the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request by the state of Michigan for a preliminary injunction that would have forced the emergency closure of Chicago-area locks to keep the invaders out of the Great Lakes.

The fear is that the large and voracious carp could consume all the food in the Great Lakes ecosystem, potentially causing the lakes' lucrative fishing industry to collapse. The high court issued a one sentence statement, saying only, "The motion of Michigan for preliminary injunction is denied."

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who brought the case to the Supreme Court, today said he is "extremely disappointed" in the decision. Since filing his suit on December 21, 2009, Cox has been joined by Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and the Canadian province of Ontario.

The Obama administration sided with the state of Illinois and Chicago's Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, which operates the Chicago diversion, in opposing the lawsuit. There are no natural waterways between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watershed, where the invasive carp have proliferated since being introduced in the 1970s.

EDIT

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2010/2010-01-19-092.html

Very, very rapidly running out of patience and understanding and "political realism" here.

[phantom power]

1. Shut up! It's chess!

[notadmblnd]

3. those are some nasty fish

what on earth could cause the supreme court to deny this request? How does anyone benefit by letting these huge scavengers (they grow to hundreds of pounds and up to 6ft long) into the great lakes?

[catbyte]

2. If those carp get in, it's gonna be catastrophic

No native fish species will be able to compete with them. Tragic, just tragic.

Diane

Anishnabe in MI

[d_r]

4. one thing is for sure

carp don't taste as good as white fish