Corps to kill every fish in five-mile stretch of shipping canal

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will kill every fish in a five-mile stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal early next month to keep Asian Carp from breaking into Lake Michigan during maintenance on the electronic barriers.

The corps will shoot Rotenone, a powerful pesticide like chemical, into the canal between the Lockport Locks and the electronic barrier near 135th Street in Romeoville. Workers will dump dead fish into a local landfill and restock the canal later, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources issued Friday.

At the same time, the section will be closed to all boat traffic beginning Dec. 2 for four or five days, at a possible loss of $5,000 to 12,000 per day for area shippers. Barges on the canal ship coal, limestone and salt to and from the Chicago area.

“The barrier is currently the only protection against Asian carp for the Great Lakes and the maintenance shutdown may present an opportunity for the destructive fish to advance up the canal toward Lake Michigan,” said Illinois Department of Natural Resources Assistant Director John Rogner.
 

Officials aren’t sure who is going to pay the $1 to $2 million cost of the project.
 

Asian carp have been detected using environmental DNA testing in the canal below the barrier, and there is consensus among federal, state, and local agencies along with other partners that they must prevent these invasive species from reaching Lake Michigan while Barrier IIA is shut down.
 

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), in coordination with the multi-agency Asian Carp Rapid Response Workgroup along with the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, will manage the application of rotenone in the CSSC. While the toxicant will eradicate Asian carp and other fish in the canal, rotenone does not present a risk to people or other wildlife when used properly, the DNR says.
 

Workers will apply the pesticide Dec. 3, and crews from the IDNR and other agencies will remove fish from the canal and dispose of them in a landfill. Fish in the section are mostly non-sport fish such as common carp, goldfish, and gizzard shad. Before they apply the rotenone, the DNR will carry out an “electro-fishing operation” to move as many sport fish as possible.
 

Rotenone dissipates quickly, but workers will add a neutralizing agent known as potassium permanganate after the application.