Great Lakes states in Asian carp appeal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Five Great Lakes states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to require nets in Chicago area waterways to stop the spread of invasive Asian carp.

"We need to close the Asian carp superhighway and do it now," Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement. "Time is running out for the Great Lakes, and we can't afford to wait years before the federal government takes meaningful action."

Two previous requests from Michigan to shut down Chicago area waterways to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan have already been denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

In August, upholding a district court decision, a federal appeals panel rejected a request by Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to close Chicago's navigational locks.

Attorneys General for the five states appealed to the high court Wednesday, asking the high court to overturn the panel's decision.

The appeal asks that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers install nets in the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet rivers and expedite its study examining the permanent separation between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins, the Tribune reported.

That study is due to be released in 2015.