Great Lakes states file suit

Minnesota and six other Great Lakes states launched a two-pronged, legal effort Thursday to stop invasive mussels, fish and other organisms from being dumped into U.S. waters by oceangoing ships.

"A study due out next year is expected to show that efforts to keep more invasive species from entering the Great Lakes have been a failure, according to a published report.

The Muskegon scientist who worked on the study says dramatic action is needed now to stop the army of non-indigenous species of fish, mussels and microorganisms marching into the Great Lakes.

'It's time to close the Welland Canal,' said Gary Fahnenstiel, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon. 'This a simple problem with a simple solution.'

The Welland Canal connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The canal, which is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, allows ships traveling through Lake Ontario to bypass Niagara Falls and reach lakes Erie, Huron, Superior and Michigan.

'We have a natural choke point and we can shut off the flow of exotics into the Great Lakes,'"