By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-922765.mp3
LANSING, MI – The White House has named former Indiana environmental chief John Goss to coordinate the federal response to the threat posed by invasive Asian carp to the Great Lakes. Governor Granholm says she intends to be in touch soon with the nation's new "Asian carp czar."
Governor Granholm's press secretary Liz Boyd says Goss understands the region's fears of what would happen if t he Asian carp escapes from the already infested Mississippi River system to Lake Michigan.
"We really need to separate the Mississippi River watershed from the Great Lakes basin to prevent the Asian carp from entering the lakes," Boyd says.
But that would mean closing shipping locks in the Chicago area, which the Obama administration opposes. So Michigan and four other Great Lakes states are suing the federal government. John Sellek is the spokesman for the Michigan attorney general.
"If you looked out your front window and there was a riot going on in the street and your front door was open, you'd slam it shut," Sellek says. "That's what we have going on right now in Chicago."
Sellek says the appointment of an "Asian carp czar" acknowledges current efforts to contain the invasive species are failing.