Report expected on shielding Great Lakes from carp

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to release a long-anticipated study Monday listing options for shielding the Great Lakes from an attack by ravenous Asian carp.

The corps has spent years examining ways to block aquatic pathways that invasive species could use to migrate between the lakes and the Mississippi River basin.

Bighead and silver carp that were imported from Asia and have infested the Mississippi and its tributaries are the biggest concern. Scientists also have identified about three dozen other aquatic invaders that could move from one watershed to the other.

Physically separating the two basins where they connect in the Chicago area is expected to be among options in the report.

Some in Congress favor that. But local business groups say it would hurt the economy.