Noak & Others Say No to Severing Artery in Dealing with Asian Carp: Report

Romeoville Mayor John Noak says no to hydrologic separation.

And he is not alone.

Hydrologic separation is the term used by a team of Army Corps of Engineers in describing a way stop the spread of Asian Carp from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

The team of engineers was commissioned by Congress to deliver a report after scientists discovered genetic material of Asian carp near Lake Michigan, according to the report.

And hydrologic separation—physically cutting off Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River—is one of eight potential approaches for keeping carp and other invasive species out of the Great Lakes, according to the report. Only few are lining up in support of hydrologic separation because of issues ranging from economic impact to ecological change.

“From our perspective, the impact of separation has so much negative impact on the potential economic impact activity that exists today and the future,” Noak stated in a CBSChicago report.

He joined U.S. Senator Mark Kirk and several other local mayors recently in criticizing the Army Corps of Engineers proposal. And it’s not just politicians who are against a separation of Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River.

“It will sever the artery that supplies the lifeblood to my family’s business and about 200 other families of the employees that work at Wendella,” stated Michael Borgstrom, president of Wendella Sightseeing, a Chicago tour boat company, in the Tribune report. “Hydrologic separation, in my opinion, is an irrational, costly and irreversible response to something that has been and continues to be successfully managed by federal, state and local agencies.”