my grandfather was the head chemist at eagle ottawa leather in the 40's and 50's, and i know it was routine to dump mercury, cadiums,lead and other heavy metals straight into the river, which was 1/2 mile from lake michigan.
the soccer field the kids play on now was the town dump for decades, it to is filled with all kinds of nasty stuff, also right next to lake michigan.
the great lakes are also filled with asbestos and pcb's. a long time standing order is for pregnant women to avoid eating fish from the lake.
the great lakes are the third largest source of freshwater in the world, my avatar is from the beach on lake michigan, it is a huge part of my life. at some point people will die fighting for it, and then die drinking it

pretty cool huh? fuckin eh