High court again stays out of big fish dispute

[alp227]

The Supreme Court for a third time has turned aside an urgent appeal from Great Lake states to close Chicago-area shipping channels so invasive Asian carp won't have a doorway into the world's largest freshwater ecosystem.

The justices Monday turned aside without comment another request for intervention, the latest chapter in a nearly century-old dispute involving six Midwest states and the Canadian province of Ontario.

At issue is a direct challenge to Illinois' complex water diversion and sewage disposal network, which some predict will inadvertently allow the non-native fish to enter Lake Michigan. Some environmentalists and lawmakers fear an economic and ecological disaster if the creatures breach man-made barriers. And there are concerns the fish may have already slipped past locks and entered the massive freshwater bodies of water.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/27/us/scotus-asian-carp/index.html

[RebelOne]

1. Why is this issue of the Asian carp just now becoming a concern?

I was a copy editor for outdoors magazines across the U.S. We did numerous articles about the threat of the Asian carp since 2009. These fish must be controlled as they are a threat to other species in the Great Lakes.