MichiganRadio

US Supreme Court Rejects Michigan's Bid to Stop Asian Carp LANSING & ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) -

The US Supreme Court has refused Michigan's request for an emergency order shutting down Chicago's shipping canal that connects the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes.

Michigan had support from four other Great Lakes states in its efforts to keep the Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes via the canal. Asian carp D-N-A has been detected in the canal less than a mile from Lake Michigan.

Governor Granholm says the court's ruling is a disappointment. She says stopgap efforts to contain the fish are failing, and the carp cannot be allowed to reach Lake Michigan.

"The only way to do that right now, as far as I know, is to shut down the locks and then devise a third electronic barrier, an ecological barrier. The bottom line is it cannot continue," says Granholm.

The Asian carp can grow to four feet and 100 pounds. It crowds out other species by eating all the food in an eco-system. Granholm has called for a White House summit of Great Lakes governors to reach a solution on the Asian carp situation.

The high court's decision was welcomed by others.

"We're very happy it went the way it did," says Lynn Muench of American Waterways Operators, a shipping industry group, "Without waterway transportation in the Chicago area, it would have immediately started putting more trucks on the highways or put people out of business. So we see this as a good move."

Muench says the decision will hopefully lead all parties to work together to reach a solution.

"We can find a way to make sure navigation continues to move and keep the fish out of the Lakes, but that's only going to happen with collaboration. It will not happen with a lawsuit," says Muench.

The Obama administration and the state of Illinois opposed Michigan's request. © Copyright 2012, Michigan Radio