xvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Great Lakes
National Program Office
536 South Clark Street
Chicago, Illinois 60605
The Great Lakes
National Program
Office OCLC13104862
A B King
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The U. S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) is concerned
with the Great Lakes as an ecosystem, focusing on the health of humans
and aquatic life within the system. GLNPO studiesthestate of theecosystem and
trends in its condition. Simply stated, GLNPO asks: Are the fish healthy?
Are they safe to eat? Is it safe to swim? Is the water safe to drink? If not, why not?
What will it take to fix it ? From this perpsective, GLNPO reviews progress
made by pollution control programs, assesses their adequacy and the need
for further control. Most of GLNPO's functions are related to the United States-
Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and progress made by the
United States in meeting its terms.
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Despite their size, the lakes are especially sensitive to
environmental insult. Only 1 percent of the water entering the
Great Lakes system flows out the St. Lawrence River in any one
year, leaving toxic pollutants to accumulate in bottom sediments
and fish. Municipal wastes, toxicants, industrial wastes, and
agricultural runoff have all contributed to the dramatic decline of
the lakes. The most obvious problems were clearly apparent
during the 1960's, when rotting fish, bobbing debris, and algae-
choked waters shocked the international community into action.
Since then, EPA has worked to restore the Great Lakes to
their original grandeur. GLNPO, working closely with Region V's
Water Division, tracks compliance with the 1972 and 1978 United
States-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreements. Those
agreements mandate cooperative pollution control and research
efforts. The U.S. and Canada have spent more than $7.6 billion
since 1972 to construct and upgrade municipal sewage treatment
facilities in the Great Lakes Basin. Three hundred and ninety
plants in the basin are now effectively treating 97 percent of the
sewage, with a corresponding improvement in water quality.
Industrial discharges into the lakes are now limited and
monitored by the States and GLNPO, which established a
comprehensive data-gathering network to measure pollutants in
the water, fish, sediments, and air of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
GLNPO also uses its research vessel, the Roger R. Simons, to
assist in gathering data. EPA scientists sample water and biota,
using the on-board laboratory to check biological activity and
water chemistry. Guided by a surveillance plan developed by the
International Joint Commission (IJC), GLNPO is regularly using
the Roger R. Simons to assess conditions in the lakes and to
detect year-to-year changes. The IJC is a six-member board
established by the United States and Canada in 1909 to protect the
waters shared by the two countries. As is required by the United
States-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978, EPA
keeps an inventory of dischargers into the lakes and reports
annually on their compliance records.
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and uses may be impaired
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GLIMPO LakG ^ne °^ GLNPO'S three major functions is monitoring conditions
__ ., . and trends in the lakes. A description of these monitoring efforts
Monitoring foMows
a. Lake-wide intensive surveys were conducted on a lake-by-
lake basis to gather large amounts of limnological informa-
tion throughout each lake over a 1- or 2-year period. The
principal data gathered in intensive surveys were on water
chemistry and micro biota. The cycle of intensive surveys was
completed with a study of Lake Superior in 1983.
b. Lake-wide annual water sampling is replacing the 9-year cycle
of intensive surveys. This annual sampling of key locations is
based on knowledge gained during the intensive studies and will
give a better picture of year-to-year changes in the lakes.
c. Migratory open-lake fish tissue sampling is conducted to
monitor contaminants and trends and to determine pollutant
levels in sport fish.
d. Nonmigratory fish tissue samples from near-shore, harbor
estuary areas are collected to identify locations where toxic
chemicals are concentrated. The fish sampled are typically carp,
but shiners will be sampled where possible because their short
lives and limited range (they typically live and die within a range
of 300 yards) give a better indication of change within a
small area.
e. Harbor and estuary sediments sampling is conducted to identify
toxic hot spots.
f. Connecting channels surveys are conducted as special studies
of both ambient conditions and pollution sources, with special
emphasis on toxicants. A study of the Niagara River is being
completed in 1984, and a 3-year study of the St. Clair and Detroit
Rivers will begin this year. Both studies are joint Canadian -U.S.
projects with full Provincial and State participation.
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g. Atmospheric deposition is monitored by the Great Lakes
Atmospheric Deposition network of 36 monitoring stations to
determine pollutant loadings. Both wet and dry deposition is
measured at stations around the G reat Lakes and analyzed for
39 parameters, including PCB's and other toxicants.
h. Focused reviews of problems and program progress are
conducted in key areas of concern throughout the Great Lakes
Basin.
Another major function of GLNPO is supporting the EPA
Regional Administrator in his role as national program manager of
EPA's Great Lakes program and as U.S. cochairman of the United
States-Canada Water Quality Board. Much of this function is
intertwined with the first two, but it also includes assisting in
various IJC/Water Quality Board activities and preparing the
Annual Water Quality Board report for the IJC.
From the standpoint of attaining environmental results,
GLNPO focuses on three subjects: toxicant impact on biota and
human health, eutrophication as it affects biota and human
welfare, and geographic areas of concern that have suffered
intense degradation.
PROFILE OF THE GREAT LAKES - ST. LAWRENCE RIVER SYSTEM
LAKES MICHIGAN-HURON
i_/H/\c cnic.
NIAGARA RIVER
LAKE ONTARIO
LAKE SUPERIOR
El. 600.4
GULF OF
ST. LAWRENCE
20 | El. 0
-399-
263
325
185
540
Distance in Miles
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The Research Vessel (R/V) Roger R. Simons
The
Mission
The R/V Roger R. Simons continues to serve as the key element
in EPA's monitoring of the open waters of the lakes. She alsosupports
EPA's program for sampling water and sediments in near-shore
problem areas.
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The primary function of the Simons is twofold:
1. to determine the effectiveness of the multibillion-dollar clean-
up programs that have been started to protect the Great
Lakes from pollution; and
2. to improve our understanding of the processes that affect the
lakes so that our cleanup dollars can be used most efficiently.
The Simons, operated under the auspices of the U.S. EPA's
Great Lakes National Program Office in Chicago, is part of an
international monitoring effort on the Great Lakes, required by the
1972 and 1978 United States-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement.
Each year the Simons gathers information for studies of water
quality in the Great Lakes or connecting waterways. From her
home port in Milwaukee, Wise., she cruises the lakes, stopping at
designated points to collect water, microbiological, biological, and
other samples.
From 1975 to 1983, the central focus of Great Lakes
monitoring was on a series of lake-by-lake intensive surveys as
called for in the Great Lakes International Surveillance Plan
(GLISP). With completion of sampling in Lake Superior during
1983, field work for the series was finished. Based upon the
results of the intensive surveys, it has been concluded that future
surveys of the open lakes should concentrate on monitoring year-
to-year changes at a reduced number of locations. In reponse to
this, the Simons began conducting seasonal sampling
cruises on Lake Michigan, Huron, and Erie in 1983, while a
Canadian vessel gathered Lake Superior intensive survey
samples.
Three primary cruises are now conducted each year to
determine spring conditions, summer stratification, and fall
conditions.
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In addition to EPA's programs, the Simons supports a number
of research projects in cooperation with other agencies. The
Simons is working with the Argonne National Laboratory and the
University of Wisconsin to collect radioactivity samples. The
Simons is also helping the Governors State University (Park
Forest South, III.) with studies of atmospheric fallout to the lakes.
The Simons has worked with the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) to develop methods of using
satellites to monitor Great Lakes and ocean water quality. The
research vessel has also provided support for special studies by
university and Canadian scientists.
Background. The Simons is a sturdy product of the Midwest, built
in Duluth, Minn., in 1939. She was acquired from the U.S. Coast
Guard in 1974 and converted from a buoy tender to an EPA
research vessel. The ship is named after an EPA biologist who
lost his life in the line of duty, drowned while taking samples in
the Mississippi River in 1970.
Vital Statistics. The steel-hull Simons is 122 feet long, 28 feet
wide, has a draft of 7 feet, and weighs 342 tons. Four twin-
propeller, 230-horsepower GM engines can generate speeds up to
12.5 knots. Cruising range is approximately 1, 000 miles. Fuel
capacity is 4,300 gallons, consumed at 35-40 gallons per hour,
depending on cruising conditions. Navigation and communications
equipment includes various marine radio, radar, and loran
systems. The Simons also has two depth-sounding systems and
special winches and cranes capable of lifting as much as 4,000
Ibs. She carries one 16-ft. Boston whaler.
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The Crew. It presently consists of 12 professional seafarers
provided by a contractor and 8 scientists, although the Simons
can accomodate a total of 28 persons: 14 of the ship's crew and
14 of the scientific crew. Some of the scientists are also under
contract, with the sample collection and analyses supervised at all
times by one of the EPA scientists on board.
Lab Equipment. Chemistry, microbiology, and physical
laboratories, with standard as well as sophisticated equipment
(including computerized data processing), allow scientists to
complete many analyses while out on the lakes. Concentrations of
phosphorus, silica, chloride, alkalinity, ammonia, conductivity,
chlorophyll, and many other characteristics can be accurately
determined right on board. Many of these measurements must be
done immediately because bacteria levels change with time and
the environment. Studies are conducted on a 24-hour basis
during each cruise period.
Technical equipment on board allows scientists to collect many
different samples, including water, plankton, sediment,
radioactivity, and air contaminants. Special winches take water
and biological samples and measure temperature and light
profiles at various depths; meters and buoys can be dropped and
recovered for research specimens.
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The Future. Now that cities and industries have largely cleaned
up the visible kinds of pollution, such as oil and floating debris,
the Simons will continue to check the impacts of toxic chemicals
and other pollutants on this surprisingly fragile freshwater world.
The Simons will be able to tell the public how well our strong
national commitment to save the Great Lakes has been
progressing. Her ultimate purpose echoes the goals of the Clean
Water Act — fishable and swimmable waters throughout the
Great Lakes Basin.
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