CHICAGO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Asian carp DNA has been found near a pumping station that moves water from Lake Michigan into the Chicago River, federal officials said Tuesday.
The announcement came at a conference at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago hosted by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Detroit Free Press reported. Officials said the DNA was in samples taken in October near the Wilmette Pumping Station.
Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Ontario have sued to close the locks in the Chicago River to keep the carp out the Great Lakes. Illinois and the Army Corps of Engineers say the closing would interfere with shipping.
The plaintiffs fear the carp would wipe out commercial and sports fisheries in the lakes. No live carp have been found north of an electronic barrier 20 miles south of Chicago.
"It's concerning to us that a state with so little shoreline on the Great Lakes -- Illinois -- is really holding fate of Michigan's economy and ecology in its hands," said John Sellek, a spokesman for Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox. "It's not right."
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hold a closed conference Friday on a request for a preliminary injunction to close the locks.
