Court rejects carp appeal

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court won’t order closure of shipping locks on Chicago-area waterways to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Michigan and other Great Lakes states, who have been trying for immediate shutdown of the locks and a quicker timetable for other steps to halt the carp’s northward march from the Mississippi River toward Lake Michigan.

The high court already has rejected the request from Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin twice.

The states have a pending lawsuit that calls for permanently severing a man-made link between the Mississippi and Great Lakes drainage basins. They wanted a court order to close the locks while their suit works through the courts.