In a story published this morning in the New York Times, a legal battle is ensuing between the states of Michigan and Illinois, with Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin forced to pick a side.
The fight is over whether to close the locks in the Chicago waterway system. The Chicago waterway system is an artificial network of man made canals reversing the flow of the Chicago River which connected it to Lake Michigan. It is now threatening to allow the spread of the destructive asian carp into the Lake. On the other side of the issue is the Chicago barging industry as well as the current structure of Chicago wastewater management.
The interplay of the requisite governors and attorneys general will be interesting over the coming months. Northwest Indiana Lawyer will follow the details as they develop. In a related article, the Chesterton Tribune describes the dilemma from the Indiana AG’s perspective.