U.S. senators target shrinking Great Lakes

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Sens. Russell Feingold and Herb Kohl, both of Wisconsin, are heading a group calling for a special hearing over why the Great Lakes are shrinking.

The request for an official inquest comes more than 2 1/2 years after a Canadian group said that plummeting volume levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron are caused by human activity, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Monday.

"We urge the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to hold a hearing to investigate the near-historic low lake levels and actions to address the likely contributors," the two Democrats said in a letter to the committee chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

Leaders of the Canadian property-owners group, which did a study in 2005 that put the blame on human error and erosion in the St. Clair River, were thrilled to hear that the senators have finally decided to look into the issue, but were perplexed that it took them so long, the report said.