The United States Coast Guard has proposed the creation of 34 live-fire training areas in the Great Lakes. The United States Coast Guard has been part of the Department of Homeland Security since 2004 and boats in the Coast Guard’s fleet have been fitted with machine guns under the guise of the “war on terror.” In response to the plan to create permanent live-fire zones—first announced in August—people around the Great Lakes have organized in response to the plan, with much of the opposition coalescing under the banner of Citizens for Lake Safety. There have been nine public hearings around the Great Lakes region, with hearings taking place in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania in which the government has heard from people regarding the plan. Public comments continue to be accepted online until November 13.

The Coast Guard has proposed the live fire zones, which they have termed “safety zones,” in 34 locations on all five Great Lakes. When the Coast Guard became a part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2004, it renegotiated the 1817 Rush-Bagot agreement with Canada to allow for the arming of Coast Guard vessels to conduct national security and law enforcement activities. Since arming Coast Guard vessels, weapons training exercises have been conducted in “temporary safe-zones” in which the Coast Guard has used its authority to create areas in the Great Lakes to conduct training in “maritime law enforcement, law enforcement, national defense, and maritime homeland security missions.” After implementing temporary safety zones 24 times since January of 2006, the Coast Guard proposed the creation of the permanent zones as a means of providing ongoing training to Coast Guard personnel. The Coast Guard sees such activity as critical to its homeland security role and is confident that the proposed zones are safe for commerce, recreation, and the environment.

However, opponents of the Coast Guard’s plan have argued that the proposal poses threats to both human and non-human inhabitants of the Great Lakes as well as the Great Lakes ecosystem. The zones—of which there are several off the shores of Michigan with 14 in Lake Michigan—are located as close as five miles from the shore. Opponents have argued that their proximity to the shore poses a risk to lake visitors as the machine guns that the Coast Guard is planning to use are capable of firing 600 rounds per minute and there is a potential for boaters to accidentally come within range of the guns. However, the greater threat is the potential impact on the environment. An estimated 43,000 lead bullets will end up in the lakes each year and could have a serious impact on both life within the lake and those who get their drinking water from the Great Lakes. Lead is toxic to people, plants, and animals, and dissolves in water. The Coast Guard has downplayed this concern—accepting the military’s view that they should be exempt from environmental regulations—and has not completed a full environmental impact assessment. An internal study by the Coast Guard placed the environmental risk at a rank of 0.96 with a rank of 1.0 meaning that the plan would need more study. Those opposed to the plan have also highlighted the fact that the Coast Guard’s limited environmental assessment is based on a five-year period despite the fact that the proposal is for permanent live-fire zones.

Thus far the opposition has consisted primarily of educational efforts and testifying against the plans at public hearings held by the Coast Guard. With the public comment period ending on the 13th and the hearings completed, it is unknown how the organizing will continue. Activists have created a series of online petitions and have delivered them at public hearings. A list of action ideas posted on the Citizens for Lake Safety website also asks people to do things such as writing their congressional representatives and writing to newspapers. The issue has drawn the attention of several other organizations, with the Sierra Club of Ohio, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, and the Michigan Environmental Council, all of whom have made statements questioning the necessity of the live-fire training. Additionally, Ohio Congressperson Dennis Kucinich has opposed the plan and has setup a web-based clearinghouse with information on the Coast Guard’s plans.

An online petition for residents of Michigan is available on the Michigan Peace Network website.