Progress Illinois

A federal judge has turned down the argument of five Great Lakes states, ruling that Chicago shipping locks could remain open. Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had asked a federal court to force the city to close its locks because of the threat of Asian carp. A judge yesterday ruled that there was not enough evidence that the threat of the invasive species was imminent.

The White House has named John Goss, former head of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, to be its new federal Asian Carp Director. The "carp czar" will oversee techniques for controlling the advancing Asian Carp population from entering the Great Lakes.

Just days after five states filed suit against the federal government and Chicago's water department demanding more action to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. Pat Quinn are launching a $2 million feasibility study that will analyze ways to prevent an invasion, including permanently separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River Basin. The results will be released in 18 months, just ahead of a similar Army Corps of Engineers report.