密歇根新闻广播 为底特律河建造一个暗礁,让它回归本色

There are 12 toxic¹ hot spots in Michigan called Areas of Concern.

These are places in the Great Lakes basin where pollution and development have damaged the ecosystems².

The Detroit River is on this list. Before the Clean Water Act, industries on the river treated it as a dumping ground – think waste in the billions of gallons.

Rose Ellison is with the Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office.

"In years gone by, billions and billions [of gallons] of untreated industrial and municipal waste went into the Detroit River," she says.

Over the years, a lot of people have been working to clean up the river.

"It's in really good shape, but there are pockets," Ellison says. "No place is perfect, and it's an industrial river, so there are pockets that still need attention."

She says the contaminated sediments³ at the bottom of the river are one of the major things they still have to tackle. 

At the same time, people are working to improve habitat for the creatures that live here.

A big pot of federal money has given this cleanup a kick in the pants. It's called the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

A two million dollar chunk⁴ of that money is going to a special construction project in the river near Ecorse.

You have to get on a boat to see it.

The boat takes us upstream of Grassy⁵ Island. Here, two barges⁶ are parked side by side and a crane operator is using a GPS-guided system to carefully drop buckets of broken limestone⁷ into the water.

They're building a reef.

Jennifer Read is with the University of Michigan Water Center.

"On the bottom of the river we're going to have a four acre reef," she says. "It's actually lots of space there for fish to lay eggs and for the eggs to be incubated and hatch out and protect the fry."

She says they're making a better home for native fish. Especially the lake sturgeon. It's listed as a

threatened species in Michigan.

"Kids love them," she says. "They've been around since the dinosaurs⁸ unchanged, and I think that's what makes them really exciting. They're big fish — they can be up to 6 feet. They're huge."

She says the reef's also meant to help out whitefish and walleye.

And that makes Terry Pickard pretty happy. He's with the Downriver Walleye Federation⁹.

"I get to see where this reef really is, so if I come in the springtime I know where it's at," he says, laughing. "All the other guys have to find it now!"

He says he gets out here as soon as he can, every year.

"Since the early '90s, I started fishing out here," Pickard says. "Jigging¹⁰ in the springtime, we'll be out here fishing when the ice flows are coming through, and you're dodging¹¹ icebergs¹². You know, it feels like a mini Titanic¹³ out here. It's cold, you have ice on the eyes of your fishing rod, on your line, and you're like, 'Why am I out here?' and then you get a walleye on — and it's like, 'This is why I'm here.'"

He says he'd like to see more of these projects go in around the Great Lakes.

And in fact, there are already three reefs in the St. Clair River, and two reefs in the Detroit River, with another two planned for the future. 

The people who are doing this work say it looks simple, dropping some rocks in the river. But it's a massive effort — 15 years in the making — with federal and state agencies and universities involved.

Jim Boase is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Boase is a biologist, but he says he feels more like a salesperson¹⁴ telling people why they should care about cleaning up the Detroit River.

"I get this question from the public a lot: the 'So what? Why are you doing this?'" he says.

He says he has two main points to his sales pitch for the river.

"Some of the best fishing in the world is right here," Boase says. "There's also the migratory¹⁵ fly-way for ducks for people that hunt."

And he says when you create these opportunities it can have a ripple¹⁶ effect on the economy.

"Folks that come here to fish, they stop at the bar possibly to celebrate the great things that they're catching¹⁷ out here in the waterways," Boase says. "So the guy that owns the restaurant along Jefferson Avenue, it's important to him, I betcha."

The reef projects are part of a bigger effort to improve fish and wildlife habitat. So that one day, the Detroit River can get off the toxic hot spot list.

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

3 sediments   

沉淀物( sediment的名词复数 )； 沉积物

参考例句：

• When deposited, 70-80% of the volume of muddy sediments may be water. 泥质沉积物沉积后，体积的70-80％是水。
• Oligocene erosion had truncated the sediments draped over the dome. 覆盖于穹丘上的沉积岩为渐新世侵蚀所截削。

4 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

5 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

6 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

7 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

8 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 jigging   

n.跳汰选，簸选v.（使）上下急动( jig的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They were jigging up and down to the music. 他们随着音乐的节拍轻快地上下跳着。 来自互联网
• She hopped about on stage, jigging her feet. 她在舞台上用脚跳来跳去。 来自互联网

11 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

12 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句

13 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

14 salesperson   

n.售货员，营业员，店员

参考例句：

• A salesperson works in a shop.售货员在商店工作。
• Vanessa is a salesperson in a woman's wear department.凡妮莎是女装部的售货员。

15 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

16 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

17 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。