Great
Lakes
National
Program
&EPA
On the Web at:
www.epa.gov/greatlakes
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)
Significant Activities Report
July 2007
IN THIS ISSUE:
LAKEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLANS
• Lake Superior Day Celebration
• Lake Superior Day Awards
• Lake Superior Placemats
• Lake Superior Watershed Signs
• Making Lake Michigan Great 2007 Boat
Tours
CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS
• Kinnickinnic River Great Lakes Legacy
Act Project Agreement Signed
• Lower Buffalo River Sediments
Sampled
POLLUTION PREVENTION
• AWRA Conference on Emerging
Chemicals
• Burn Barrel and Pharmaceutical
Resource Kits Online
LAKEWIDE MANAGEMENT
PLANS
Lake Superior Day Celebration
The third annual Lake Superior Day was cele-
brated around the basin on Sunday, July 15,
2007. The Lake Superior Binational Forum
distributed educational materials and helped
support approximately 20 events in 12 com-
munities in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
and Ontario. The Binational Forum is funded
in the U.S. by a GLNPO grant from the U.S.
EPA and in Canada by Environment Canada.
The purpose of the day is to educate people
about lake issues, special places, and recrea-
tional opportunities by highlighting the im-
• Indiana Rivers Rally at Purdue
• Unwanted Medications Collection
Workshop in Indiana
• Report on Lindane in China
AREAS OF CONCERN
• Achieving Restoration Targets and Sus-
taining Stewardship in Areas of
Concern
• Buffalo River Mini-Summit
OUTREACH/EDUCA TION
• Peace and Water Conference Features
Lake Michigan
• EPA is Gain' Green at Taste of Chicago
RESEARCH AND MONITORING
• Spill of National Significance
• Lake Erie Dissolved Oxygen Survey
• GLNPO Scientists Present at Great
Lakes Research Conference
Along the North Shore of Lake Superior
portance of the world's largest freshwater
lake to the region's economy, environment,
and quality of life.
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July 2007
Significant Activities Report
The Cascade River enters Lake Superior
The city of Superior, Wisconsin has held an
annual event since 2003. The day included a
Native American drum circle and songs, a
beach clean up contest with prizes, poetry
about Lake Superior read by members of the
Lake Superior Writers organization, essay
contest winners from grades K-6, a free pic-
nic, and live music by the Superior-based
band Arcadia. The event also hosted displays
by the Great Lakes Aquarium, Maritime Mu-
seum, U.S. Coast Guard, University of Wis-
consin-Superior and the Great Lakes Fleet.
Other events included a concert in the park in
Marquette, Michigan organized by U.S. Fo-
rum members Rev. Jon Magnuson of the Ce-
dar Tree Institute in Marquette, and Carl
Lindquist, director of the Superior Watershed
Partnership. This included the Boreal Cham-
ber Symphony playing classical and new mu-
sic at a local restaurant. Iron County native
Evan Premo was commissioned to create a
new work for the concert.
Another new event this year was celebrated in
Marathon, Ontario, with a barbeque, a com-
munity clean up, children's art activities
about the lake, and a series of displays.
A full list of events can be found on the Fo-
rum 's web site at www.superiorforum.info.
Over the last three years, almost 40 gover-
nors, mayors, and other community leaders
have signed proclamations designating the
third Sunday in July as Lake Superior Day.
Lake Superior Day Awards
At a ceremony in Superior, Wisconsin, the
Lake Superior Binational Forum made awards
to several U.S. and Canadian groups for their
environmental achievements from the past
year. This year's winners in each category
were:
U.S.
Individual (a tie):
• Bob Olsgard worked as the Lake Supe-
rior Alliance coordinator for about 10
years, which included writing and editing
its journal, Superior Vision. The Alliance
was formed to monitor and promote the
goals of the Lake Superior Binational Pro-
gram, and to coordinate an active voice
for over 30 groups around the lake.
• Jill Jacoby came to Duluth in 1992 to
develop a citizen-based outreach, educa-
tion, and water-monitoring program called
the St. Louis River Watch. She pioneered
projects that brought together artists and
scientists to discuss water quality prob-
lems of the St. Louis River and Lake Su-
perior. The artists transformed those dis-
cussions into their artwork, which was
displayed at Earth Day events; she also
organized a similar trip to China with art-
ists there. She founded Sweetwater Alli-
ance in 2002 with a mission that includes
ecological restoration of riparian areas
through a fusion of art, science, education,
and community involvement.
Business: No. 2 Septic owners Josh and
Brenda Rowley bought their sewage and
waste collection business in 2005 with a goal
of making it more environmentally friendly
and sustainable. Josh says, "We wanted to be
as conscientious as possible about the impacts
of our business on the environment." In 2006,
the Rowleys began making biodiesel fuel to
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eventually power their collection vehicles out
of used vegetable cooking grease picked up
from area businesses. In their own garage, the
couple makes numerous 40-gallon batches of
biodiesel fuel per month after collecting it
from about 15 to 20 businesses in Ashland,
Mason, Drummond, Bayfield, and other com-
munities.
Industry: Bretting Manufacturing volun-
tarily replaced almost 720 fixtures of mainly
high-intensity discharge (HID) conventional
fluorescents and with high-intensity fluores-
cent fixtures in their facility in 2006. This
lighting change reduced lighting power by the
equivalent of 102,068 gallons of gasoline per
year, resulting in a 47 percent saving of
1,236,428 hours. This equals savings, in a
typical year, of 1,205 tons of carbon dioxide,
329 tons of carbon, 5.2 tons of sulfur dioxide,
and 2.5 tons of nitrogen oxides from entering
the atmosphere.
Organization: Lake Superior Streams.org
Team addressed the need to protect Lake Su-
perior Basin streams, and the coastal zone of
Lake Superior from stormwater impacts by
enhancing public understanding of streams
and their connections to watershed land use.
The focus is on making environmental data,
in particular real-time data from "flashy"
streams typical of coastal tributaries to Lake
Superior, readily accessible and easily inter-
pretable to managers and the public for use in
decision-making and for education and
awareness.
Canada
Organization: Friends of Chippewa Park.
Friends of Chippewa Park have been success-
ful in restoring this long-time popular swim-
ming area on Lake Superior. The initiative
involved rehabilitating the beach and swim-
ming bay at Chippewa Park. Project goals
included improving the water quality and en-
Raspberry Island, Apostle Islands of Lake Superior
suring the long-term safety of the swimming
area. Clean-up of the public beach entailed
dredging and grading, and the addition of new
sand and rip-rap (anchored rocks). Plans also
included constructing a wooden retaining wall
and a gravel walkway along the beach to pre-
vent land-based runoff into the water. Vegeta-
tion was planted to further reinforce stability
and contain runoff.
Honorable Mentions:
Youth: The Anishinabek of the Gitchi
Garni (AGG) is an emerging grassroots,
youth-driven organization that facilitates
community engagement, empowers young
people, and catalyzes action. The major pro-
ject has been a youth-led exploration of envi-
ronmental health issues on their reserve. A
group of young people set out to identify,
photograph and map their community's envi-
ronmental concerns including illegal dump-
sites, hazardous waste, and garbage burning.
The group identified 250 illegal 'backyard'
dump sites in the community the Fort Wil-
liam First Nation reservation.
Individual: Karin Grundt cleaned up the
garbage left in the ditches and roadways in
Wawa. She began with two other volunteers
in 1992 forming a "Garbologist's Coalition"
to promote anti-littering, but Karin has con-
tinued solo since about 1993. She has picked
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Significant Activities Report
up garbage every spring without fail since
1992. Each year the garbage is collected at
the Municipal Garage, photographed and pub-
lished in local media to promote local knowl-
edge of this problem. She also writes a sea-
sonal column to educate readers about this
issue. Karin has also written to a number of
politicians about this issue.
(Contacts: E. Marie Wines, 312-886-6034,
wines.emarie@epa.gov: or Elizabeth La-
Plante, 312-353-2694, hv
plante.elizabeth@epa.gov)
Lake Superior Placemats
The Lake Superior Binational Forum and Su-
perior Work Group recently distributed
85,000 placemats in the Minnesota, Wiscon-
sin, Michigan and Ontario parts of the Lake
Superior watershed, 60,000 more than were
printed last year. The placemats are made
from recycled paper and soy-based ink. Most
of the placements went to restaurants but li-
braries, visitor centers and camps were also
recipients. The simple design includes some
word games for children, interesting facts
about Lake Superior and a list of 12 Ways
You Can Protect the Lake Every Day. Ac-
cording to one of the volunteer distributors
"... restaurants were enthusiastic and one res-
taurant owner who came back for more said
that she could not believe how well received
they were - not just by kids, but whole fami-
lies that poured over them, particularly people
who had not been to the area before." This is
the second year that the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency, which receives funding from
GLNPO, has printed the placemats.
The 12 Ways You Can Protect the Lake
Every Day:
1. Create an energy-efficient home.
2. Install water-saving devices.
3. Never burn garb age.
4. Try to reduce, reuse, recycle and repair.
5. Take household hazardous materials to
hazardous waste collections.
6. Never pour oil or other used liquids into a
storm drain.
7. Put your lawn on a chemical-free diet.
8. Inspect your boar and trailer and removes
any plants and animals before leaving a
boat access.
9. Landscape with plant that are native to the
region.
10. Plant trees to capture carbon dioxide and
prevent erosion.
11. Use a rain barrel for gardening and wash-
ing the car.
12. And most importantly, love Lake Supe-
rior!
(Contact: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-2694,
laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov)
Lake Superior Watershed Signs
Visitors and residents of the Lake Superior
basin in Minnesota will now know when they
have crossed the line - the watershed bound-
ary line, that is! The Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency recently finished installation
of 21 watershed signs over the 6,200 square
mile Lake Superior basin. Placed along
county and state highways, the signs list both
the basin and the particular watershed, for
example the St. Louis River. This project con-
cept originated with the Lake Superior Bina-
tional Forum, which earlier placed a few
Sign marking Lake Superior basin boundary
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July 2007
similar signs in Michigan and Wisconsin. The
purpose of the signage is to inform the public
of where the basin boundary is and to encour-
age people to think in terms of their water-
shed.
(Contact: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-2694,
laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov)
Making Lake Michigan Great 2007
Boat Tours
Since 1998, the research and education vessel
W.G. Jackson has been spreading the word
about the Lake Michigan Lakewide Manage-
ment Plan through the Making Lake Michigan
Great educational tours. Throughout the
years, 30 ports of call have been visited
reaching four states. Local hosts have coordi-
nated groups for hands-on water quality sam-
pling cruises. Participants in tour activities
learn about Lake Michigan and have the op-
portunity to network about lakewide con-
cerns. Tour funding has come mainly from
GLNPO. Other partners for the 2007 tour in-
cluded the Waukegan Citizen's Advisory
Group, Pier Wisconsin, U.S. Park Service,
and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage
District.
(Contact: Judy Beck, 312-353-3849,
beck.judy@epa.gov)
CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS
Kinnickinnic River Great Lakes
Legacy Act Project Agreement
Signed
On June 22, 2007, a Great Lakes Legacy Act
Project Agreement was signed by U.S. EPA
and Wisconsin Department of Natural Re-
sources (WDNR) for the Supplemental De-
sign and Remedial Planning phase of the
Kinnickinnic River sediment remediation pro-
ject. The scope of work for this agreement is
to perform supplemental design activities to
Making Lake Michigan Great 2007 in Waukegan, IL
finalize the remedial design. The concept de-
sign proposed by WDNR calls for mechani-
cally dredging up to 170,000 cubic yards of
sediments containing high concentrations of
PCBs, PAHs, and other contaminants from
the 2,000 ft long stretch of the Kinnickinnic
River immediately upstream of the federal
navigation channel. It is anticipated that this
phase of the project will be completed by the
end of 2007. At that time, the project could
potentially move to the remediation phase if
the project meets U.S. EPA's selection crite-
ria identified in the Great Lakes Legacy Act
Implementation Rule, and is agreed to by
U.S. EPA and the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources.
(Contact: AjitVaidya; 312-353-5713. vai-
dya.ajit@epa.gov)
Lower Buffalo River Sediments
Sampled
From June 4th - 15th, 2007, the R/VMudpuppy
was in Buffalo, New York sampling the sedi-
ment in the Lower Buffalo River and City
Ship Canal as part of the Great Lakes Legacy
Act Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study
(RI/FS) Project (cost-shared by GLNPO and
the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper). The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District
provided their pontoon boat and staff to assist
with the sediment collection. Approximately
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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132 sediment cores were collected with the
R/VMudpuppy and transferred to the Corps'
boat for processing. The Corps also collected
43 surface sediment samples and water sam-
ples at 19 locations. The New York State De-
partment of Environmental Conservation
shipped approximately 275 samples to be
analyzed for metals, PAHs, PCBs, pesticides
and total organic carbon. Additionally,
GLNPO collected sediment samples for sedi-
ment toxicity analysis (13 samples) and geo-
technical properties analysis (25 samples).
Results are expected to be received by August
and the data will be used to determine where
to focus the feasibility study, which is antici-
pated to begin in January 2008.
(Contact: Mary Beth G. Ross, 312-886-2253,
ross.marybeth@epa.gov)
POLL UTION PREVENTION
AWRA Conference on Emerging
Chemicals
GLNPO's Ted Smith and Illinois-Indiana Sea
Grant outreach specialist Susan Boehme at-
tended the American Water Resource Asso-
ciation's 2007 Summer Specialty Conference
on "Emerging Contaminants of Concern in
the Environment, Issues, Investigations, and
Solutions" in Vail, Colorado on June 25th to
27th. Susan Boehme made a presentation on
"Medicine Disposal: Sources, Environmental
Concerns and Initiatives," on behalf of IL/IN
Sea Grant and GLNPO. Among the topics
covered in the Conference were analytical
methods (including exposure methods), urban
and agricultural sources and impacts, fate and
transport in surface and groundwater, and
from land applied biosolids, advanced treat-
ment technologies, wildlife health effects, law
and policy considerations, and interagency
collaboration and cooperation.
Much of the Conference was focused on
sources and impacts of natural and artificial
steroidal hormones as well as other pharma-
ceuticals, and on compounds that exert estro-
genic effects in the environment, such as plas-
ticizers and surfactants.
(Contacts: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571,
smith.edwin@epa.gov or Susan Boehme,
312-353-4383, boehme.susan@epa.gov)
Burn Barrel and Pharmaceutical
Resource Kits Online
Two of GLNPO / Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant's
toxics reduction outreach projects under the
Great Lakes Regional Collaboration will now
reach wider audiences. Resource kits on alter-
natives to trash burning and safe methods for
medicine disposal are now available online at
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant's Web Site at
www. ii sgcp. org/learnnot2burn and
www.iisgcp.org/unwantedmeds. The resource
kits will continue to be available in print and
on CD as well.
(Contact: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571,
smith.edwin@epa.gov)
Bernie the burn barrel
character used in
education and out-
reach discouraging the
use of burn barrels
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July 2007
Indiana Rivers Rally at Purdue
ORISE Intern associate Jessica Winter pre-
sented a poster "Keep the Water Clean -
Don't Flush Your Medicine" at the Indiana
Rivers Rally at Purdue University on June 7th.
The Indiana Rivers Rally is a conference
bringing together local watershed conserva-
tion groups, paddling enthusiasts, staff from
state and local environmental agencies and
water departments, and academic researchers.
2007 was the first year of what may become
an annual event. Jessica spoke with confer-
ence attendees about the effects of pharma-
ceutical chemicals in the aquatic environment
and distributed copies of Illinois-Indiana Sea
Grant's pamphlet on safer disposal options
for unwanted/excess medicines. She also
highlighted Sea Grant's resource kit on orga-
nizing medicine collection programs and in-
vited attendees to participate in Sea Grant's
upcoming medicine collection workshop in
Indianapolis. Approximately 170 people at-
tended the Rivers Rally and many expressed
concern regarding the issue of pharmaceutical
chemicals in the environment and interest in
solutions to the problem.
(Contact: Jessica Winter, 312-353-3212, win-
ter.jessica@epa.gov)
Unwanted Medications Collection
Workshop in Indiana
On June 20, 2007, ORISE associate Jessica
Winter and Illinois-Indiana Seagrant outreach
specialist Elizabeth Hinchey Malloy were in-
vited presenters at "A Workshop for the Col-
lection of Unwanted Medications in Indiana."
The Indiana Household Hazardous Waste
Task Force organized the workshop with sup-
port from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and the
Indiana Department of Environmental Man-
agement. This meeting grew out of a work-
shop in March in Illinois co-organized with
the Illinois Counties Solid Waste Manage-
ment Association. Over 50 people attended
Medicine
Collection
Program
Logo from resource kit on proper disposal of un-
wanted medications
the Indianapolis workshop. Participants in-
cluded Indiana county solid waste managers,
county public health offices, hospice and
home health care staff, members of Indiana
chapters of AARP, and state pharmacy in-
spectors. All participants received the newly
released resource kit produced by Illinois-
Indiana Sea Grant entitled "Disposal of Un-
wanted Medicines: A Resource for Action in
Your Community."
This workshop covered the problems pre-
sented by medication disposal and trained at-
tendees how to conduct a community collec-
tion for unwanted medications. Hinchey
Malloy presented an overview of the issue
("Medication Disposal - What's the Prob-
lem?") and Jessica Winter guided participants
through the chapters of the "Disposal of Un-
wanted Medicines: A Resource for Action in
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Persistent chemicals like lindane can be transported
for great distances through the "grasshopper effect"
Your Community." Solid waste managers
from Indiana (Scott Morgan, Monroe County
Solid Waste Management District; Mike
Good, Marshall County; and Steve Johnson,
Wabash County) shared their insight and ex-
periences with organizing medicine collection
programs. Kristin Brier of the Indiana Depart-
ment of Environmental Management pre-
sented information on state grant availability
and application procedures for local collec-
tion programs. Question and answer sessions
allowed participants to discuss a wide variety
of issues relating to medicine disposal.
At least one workshop participant has already
indicated plans to start a collection using in-
formation gleaned from the presentations and
discussions, while others have indicated that
they will use the information presented to im-
prove their existing programs.
(Contacts: Jessica Winter, 312-353-3212,
winter.jessica@epa.gov or Beth Hinchey
Malloy, 312-886-3451, hin-
chey.elizabeth@epa.gov)
Report on Lindane in China
Lindane (chemical name gamma-
hexachlorocyclohexane, or gamma-HCH) is
an organochlorine chemical used as an insec-
ticide and fumigant. Phase I of a study par-
tially funded by GLNPO on lindane in China
was submitted to the Commission for Envi-
ronmental Cooperation for review and com-
ment. During the 1950s and the beginning of
the 1980s, China was one of the major users
of technical HCH in the world. Although the
use of these chemicals was banned by the
Chinese government on April 1, 1983, after
40 years of use, HCH residues are still found
in air, soil, water, food, and living organisms,
and lindane had been still produced and used
in China until 2003.
In order to better understand the implications
of the use and emissions of lindane in China
on North America, an agreement between the
CEC, an international organization estab-
lished by the North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation, and Harbin Insti-
tute of Technology reached an agreement on
the joint project "China - Canada Joint Pro-
ject on Reduction of Lindane Usage in China
and its Impact Globally and on North Amer-
ica. The Phase I report contains the following
3 deliverables of Project.
1. Lists referenced lindane producer(s)
and determines the nature of the prod-
uct offered for export (technical HCH,
lindane or formulated lindane prod-
ucts) and attempt to determine the im-
porting countries;
2. Provides referenced information on
current pollution status of HCH iso-
mers in China;
3. Provides emission/residue inventories
of HCH isomers in China.
(Contact: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571,
smith.edwin@epa.gov)
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AREAS OF CONCERN
Achieving Restoration Targets and
Sustaining Stewardship in Areas of
Concern
Participants from U.S. Great Lakes Areas of
Concern (AOC) met in Cleveland, Ohio, June
28th and 29th, 2007, to review recent develop-
ments affecting the AOC program and assess
Great Lakes Regional Collaboration recom-
mendations. The agenda for the "Great Lakes
Areas of Concern: Achieving Restoration
Targets and Sustaining Stewardship Confer-
ence" included an AOC status report, a his-
torical perspective, and breakout sessions to
discuss contaminated sediments, fish and
wildlife restoration, the role of local Remedial
Action Plan (RAP) groups, and delisting.
Several invited foundations gave their per-
spective on Great Lakes restoration, and local
RAP participants spoke about their successes
and key challenges. GLNPO habitat staff of-
fered to help the development of blueprints
for habitat-related beneficial use impairments.
During the opening session of the conference,
GLNPO's David Cowgill spoke on "Progress
in Cleaning Up Contaminated Sediments Un-
der the Great Lakes Legacy Act." The presen-
tation was an overview of how the Legacy
Act functions and what projects have been
completed and are underway with a focus on
how communities got the projects funded, and
a summary of the overall achievements and
challenges. Two breakout sessions on con-
taminated sediments were held on Thursday
afternoon. The first, chaired by GLNPO's
Marc Tuchman, was a discussion of "Options
For Generating Non-Federal Funding And
Public Involvement in Sediment Cleanups
Under the Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA)
and Other Programs." That session was high-
lighted by discussions on funding sources
from representatives from previously funded
GLLA projects. The second session,
"Contaminated Sediments: Assessment and
Remedial Tools and Technologies" described
the types of analyses that can be used to de-
fine a remediation project and the technolo-
gies available for remediation. The session
also included a discussion on sustainability
considerations and ways to develop a long-
term sustainable vision to the site before
remediation to engage the community.
(Contacts: (Contact: Mark Elster, 312-886-
3857, elster.mark@epa.gov: David Cowgill,
312-353-3576, cowgill.david@epa.gov: Marc
Tuchman 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov: Susan Boehme 312-
353-4383, Boehme.susan@epa.gov: Ajit
Vaidya 312-353-5713, vaidva.ajit@epa.gov:
Eric Stern, 212-637-3806,
stern.eric@epa.gov: Karen Rodriguez, 312-
353-2690, rodriguez.karen@epa.gov: Dan-
ielle Green, 312-886-7594,
green.danielle@epa.gov)
Buffalo River Mini-Summit
On June 4th, 2007, representatives of GLNPO
(David Cowgill and Mary Beth G. Ross) and
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (Susan Boehme)
attended the Buffalo River Mini-Summit in
Buffalo, New York. The event was coordi-
nated by Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, in co-
operation with the New York State Depart-
ment of Environmental Conservation and
GLNPO. The purpose of the meeting was to
encourage dialogue among all stakeholders
and provide information on the past, present,
Dave Cowgill speaks at the Buffalo River Mini-Summit
while the R/V Mudpuppy samples river sediments
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
Lake Michigan Regional Team Manager Judy Beck
with Dr. Natsadorj, the Khamba Lama of Mongolia
and future of the Buffalo River. David Cow-
gill presented an overview of GLNPO's Re-
medial Action Plan (RAP) Program and the
status of Great Lakes Legacy Act projects
within the Great Lakes. Mary Beth G. Ross
and Byron Rupp of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers Buffalo District co-presented the
various ways the two Federal agencies are
collaborating on Buffalo River projects. Fol-
lowing the presentations, a press conference
was held in part to celebrate the May 9th,
2007 signing of an $800,000 Project Agree-
ment between U.S. EPA and the Buffalo Ni-
agara Riverkeeper for a Remedial Investiga-
tion/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) of the Lower
Buffalo River and City Ship Canal. The event
also included a guided luncheon tour of the
AOC aboard the Miss Buffalo II. Representa-
tives from many local stakeholder groups
were also in attendance, including U.S. Con-
gressman Brian Higgins.
(Contacts: David Cowgill, 312-353-3576,
cowgill.david@epa.gov: Mary Beth G. Ross,
312-886-2253, ross.marybeth@epa.gov:
Susan Boehme, 312-353-4383,
boehme. susan@epa. gov)
OUTREACH/EDUCATION
Peace and Water Conference
Features Lake Michigan
GLNPO's Judy Beck, Lake Michigan Team
Manager, spoke at the Northeastern Illinois
University's "A Gathering of Peace and Wa-
ter for Our World - the Ripple Effect" in Chi-
cago on June 21, 2007. The conference ex-
plored both the ecological status of the Great
Lakes from a scientific perspective as well as
the spiritual attachment to water in the cul-
tures of the world. Those presenting included:
Debra Ferryman, Illinois Teacher of the Year;
Osahmin Judy Meister, Elder of the Miniss
Kitigan Drum of the Ojibway; Debra Shore,
Commissioner of the Water Reclamation Dis-
trict of Greater Chicago; Rory Donnelly,
Friends of the Chicago River; and Bill Kurtis,
Emmy Award winning journalist and televi-
sion producer of the show "The New Explor-
ers." The theme of the conference was con-
cern over stewardship of the water resources
of the world with Lake Michigan as the ex-
ample. On June 29th, Beck also provided
opening remarks at the conference-sponsored
"sunrise ceremony" held at the Shedd Aquar-
ium on Chicago's lakefront. The highlight of
the ceremony was the blessing of Lake Michi-
gan, performed by honored guest Dr. Natsa-
dorj, the Khamba Lama of Mongolia.
(Contact: Judy Beck, 312-353-3849,
beck.judv@epa.gov)
EPA is Coin'Green at
Taste of Chicago
"Recycle electronics, save energy, conserve
water, and landscape wisely" was the mes-
sage delivered by U.S. EPA staff at the Goin'
Green Pavillion at the annual Taste of Chi-
th
7th.
cago festival from July 5 to 7 this year.
U.S. EPA's tent, which was organized by the
Office of Public Affairs, was visited by an
estimated 700 people eager to pickup reading
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material and talk about at-home conservation
measures. Illinois-Indiana SeaGrant outreach
specialist Beth Hinchey and ORISE associ-
ates Jackie Adams, Jessica Winter, and
Melissa Simon joined a dozen other U.S.
EPA representatives in engaging the public
on the issues of pollution prevention and con-
servation. With help from GLNPO's Danielle
Green and GLNPO's Green Acres program,
Simon gave a presentation on Natural Land-
scaping which highlighted the ecological
benefits of planting native species. The Chi-
cago Botanic Garden donated more than 20
eye-catching plants for the demonstration.
U.S. EPA representatives answered questions
on a wide range of topics including how to
landscape using little water, how to dispose of
medicine appropriately, and where to recycle
electronics. The City of Chicago invited U.S.
EPA to a planning meeting for next year's
Green Pavilion at the festival.
(Contact: Melissa Simon, 312-886-0995, s^
mon.melissa@epa.gov)
RESEARCH AND MONITORING
Spill of National Significance
Personnel from the Great Lakes National Pro-
gram Office and crew aboard GLNPO's 180-
foot research ship R/VLake Guardian partici-
pated in an exercise responding to a supposed
large-scale diesel fuel spill in Lake Michigan
on June 19th and 20th. The exercise tested the
readiness of the Coast Guard, Navy and U.S.
EPA to response to such a disaster. The Lake
Guardian served as a sampling platform, and
as staging for victim evacuation which in-
cluded a number of practice lifts by a Coast
Guard rescue helicopter. Members of the
Coast Guard, Marines, OSHA and U.S. EPA
were aboard the ship to observe and take part
in the exercise.
(Contact: Paul Horvatin, 312-353-3612, hor-
vatin.paul@epa.gov)
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter hovers over
the R/V Lake Guardian on Lake Michigan
Lake Erie Dissolved Oxygen Survey
The latest Lake Erie dissolved oxygen survey
took place on June 11th and 12th in the Central
Basin of the lake. This is part of a continuing
program to monitor the oxygen levels in this
area of the lake, which often develops a
"Dead Zone" of very low oxygen. Accompa-
nying the survey were reporters from Channel
3 TV in Cleveland who are working on a
four-part series on Lake Erie problems, and a
Canadian filmmaker (Primitive Entertain-
ment) making a documentary entitled
"Waterlife" in association with the National
Film Board of Canada.
Areas of low oxygen in the water column
have been recorded annually over the last sev-
eral decades in Lake Erie's Central Basin.
Low oxygen levels in the water column stress
local plant and animal species that depend on
oxygenated water for normal respiration proc-
esses. The annual low-oxygen zones, referred
to as hypoxic or anoxic zones (or popularly,
"dead zones"), are often linked to excess nu-
trient run-off into the lake. The dissolved
oxygen study is a focused investigation of
oxygen content and key nutrient levels like
phosphorus in the Central Basin of Lake Erie
to assess improved or declining conditions
over time.
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
Page 11
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July 2007
Significant Activities Report
The Lake Erie Dissolved Oxygen Study col-
lects temperature, dissolved oxygen, chloro-
phyll and turbidity profiles of the water col-
umn with the SeaBird remote sensing appara-
tus.
(Contact: Todd Nettesheim, 312-353-9153,
nettesheim.todd@epa.gov)
GLNPO Scientists Present at Great
Lakes Research Conference
Eleven GLNPO scientists and associates at-
tended the 50th Annual Conference of the In-
ternational Association for Great Lakes Re-
search in State College, Pennsylvania from
May 28th to June 1st, 2007. The theme of this
year's conference "50 years of Great Lakes
Research: Past, Present, and Future." GLNPO
was one of the sponsors of the conference.
Papers presented at the conference by
GLNPO scientists and associates were:
"A Retrospective Look at the Assessment of
the Great Lakes"by May, J.C., J.M. Ad-
ams, P.E. Bertram, PJ. Horvatin, and
C.M. Zuccarino-Crowe.
"The State of the Great Lakes - A Mixed
Message"by Zuccarino-Crowe, C.M.,
J.M. Adams, P.E. Bertram, P.J. Horvatin,
and J.C. May.
"Connecting students to Great Lakes re-
searchers through outreach aboard the
U.S. EPA's R/V Lake Guardian"by Ad-
ams, J.M., E.K. Hinchey Malloy, C.M.
McConaghy, and P.J. Horvatin.
"GLEAMS, Great Lakes Educators of
Aquatic and Marine Science: Out of Dry
Dock and Coming Soon to a Classroom
Near You.. .the Voyage Resumes!" by
Hinchey, E.K., R.W. Former, R.G. Goet-
tel, J.A. Adams, and T.B. Hallesy.
"Bacteria, beaches and Swimmable waters:
Has Bacterial Contamination Increased?"
by Rockwell, D.C., H. Wirick, and C.
Kovatch.
"The Great Lakes Offshore Biological De-
sert" by Rockwell, D.C., G.J. Warren,
M.D. Balcer, andM.D. Agbeti.
"Air-Water Exchange of Mercury in Lakes
Michigan and Superior" by Jeremaison,
J., L. Kanne, T. Lacoe, M.L. Hulting and
M. Simcik.
"Future Directions in Atmospheric Monitor-
ing Systems and Techniques" by Perlin-
ger, J.A., M.L. Hulting, B.B. Hicks, and
J.E. Dettling.
"Distribution of Toxic Substances within a
Large Wastewater Treatment Plant and in
Downstream Surface Waters" by
Nettesheim, T.G.,Barber, L.B., Gray, J.L.,
Zintek, L., Whipple, W., and Jayaraj, J.
"Is the Nearshore Shunt Moving Offshore?"
by Warren, G.J., Horvatin, P.J., Balcer,
M.D and Rockwell, D.C.,
"Incorporation of a multi-wavelength fluoro-
meter into a Great Lakes monitoring pro-
gram" by Warren, G.J., Horvatin, P.J.
"Great Lakes Fish Contaminants Laboratory
Performance Study" (poster session) by
Murphy, E.W. and S. Backus.
In addition to the papers presented, GLNPO's
Dave Rockwell co-chaired the
"Eutrophication Management in the Great
Lakes: How Did We Do It In the Past and
Where Should We Go In the Future" session
and GLNPO's Melissa Hulting co-chaired the
session "Toxic Chemicals in Great Lakes
Air" session.
(Contact: Paul Horvatin, 312-353-3612, hor-
vatin.paul@epa.gov)
We welcome your questions, comments or
suggestions about this month's Significant
Activities Report. To be added to or re-
moved from the Email distribution of the
Significant Activities Report, please contact
Tony Kizlauskas, 312-353-8773,
kizlauskas.anthony@epa.gov.
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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