DETROIT, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Michigan's attorney general reports "no headway" in talks with the U.S. Justice Department over keeping the invasive Asian carp out of Lake Michigan.
Attorney General Mike Cox and attorneys general from five other states filed a lawsuit in December to close off the canal linking the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River basin to keep the voracious invader out. They discussed the problem with Washington by phone Wednesday.
"We appreciate the opportunity to talk, but no headway was made," Cox told the Detroit Free Press. "We are still left with this policy which will wreak havoc on the Great Lakes."
A $78-million federal plan to attack Asian carp announced Monday includes part-time lock closures that would start a few months from now, plus more testing for carp DNA and various procedures aimed at limiting numbers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
Cox has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order the immediate closure of locks leading from the Mississippi River system to Lake Michigan. So far, his requests have been rebuffed.
