(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine issued the following statement on the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to affirm the dismissal of a case brought by the Attorneys General of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania to require the federal government to develop a permanent hydrologic separation to prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.
“We are disappointed in this ruling, as we continue to believe that the threat from Asian carp is imminent and severe and hydrologic separation is the only way to truly protect the Great Lakes from this and other invasive species,” Attorney General DeWine said. “We will continue to urge the federal government to take immediate action to prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.
“It’s important to remember that this is about more than just this fish. It’s about protecting our economy and our most valuable natural resource — the Great Lakes — from irreversible change.”
Since 2010, the Attorneys General of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania have been litigating to seek judicial action requiring immediate relief in federal court. The states have been seeking a court order requiring the federal government to develop a permanent hydrologic separation at the conjunction of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins that occurs at the Chicago Area Waterway System.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has identified the Chicago Area Water System as the most direct pathway for the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes, and evidence of the presence of carp has been detected on several occasions within a few miles of Lake Michigan.
As a United States Senator, DeWine introduced both the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act and the Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act to address invasive species attacking Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes.
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