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This report is prepared pursuant to Sections 118(c) (10) and 118(f) of the Clean Water Act, which state:
118(c)(10) Comprehensive Report — Within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, the
Administrator shall submit to Congress a comprehensive report which —
(A)describes the achievements in the preceding fiscal year in implementing the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement of 1978 and shows by categories (including judicial enforcement,
research, State cooperative efforts, and general administration) the amounts expended on
Great Lakes water quality initiatives in such preceding fiscal year;
(B)describes the progress made in such preceding fiscal year in implementing the system of
surveillance of the water quality in the Great Lakes System, including the monitoring of
groundwater and sediment, with particular reference to toxic pollutants;
(C)describes the long-term prospects for improving the condition of the Great Lakes; and
(D)provides a comprehensive assessment of the planned efforts to be pursued in the succeed-
ing fiscal year for implementing the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978, which
assessment shall —
(!) show by categories (including judicial enforcement, research, State cooperative
efforts, and general administration) the amount anticipated to be expended on
Great Lakes water quality initiatives in the fiscal year to which the assessment
relates; and
(ii) include a report of current programs administered by other Federal agencies which
make available resources to the Great Lakes water quality management efforts.
118(f) Interagency Cooperation. — The head of each department, agency, or other instrumen-
tality of the Federal Government which is engaged in, is concerned with, or has authority over
programs relating to research, monitoring, and planning to maintain, enhance, preserve, or
rehabilitate the environmental quality and natural resources of the Great Lakes, including the
Chief of Engineers of the Army, the Chief of the Soil Conservation Service, the Commandant
of the Coast Guard, the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall submit an annual report to the
Administrator with respect to the activities of that agency or office affecting compliance with the
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978.
Cover Photograph: A scene on Lake Superior rendered by photographer Richard Olsenius.
The photograph, which appears in his book, Distant Shores (Two Harbors, Minnesota: Bluestem
Productions, 1990), was reproduced in black and white for this report.
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REPORT TO CONGRESS
ON THE GREAT LAKES
ECOSYSTEM
Great Lakes National Program Office
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Chicago, Illinois
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Report Highlights
Pursuant to Section 118(cX10) of the Clean Water Act, this is the Environmental Protection
Agency's second report to Congress on the Great Lakes ecosystem. This "Highlights" section
reviews some principal challenges facing the ecosystem, cites recent actions by EPA, States, and
their partners in the Great Lakes Program, and outlines future directions of the Program.
Aspects of Ecosystem Health
By area, the Great Lakes system is the world's largest body of surface freshwater. This
extraordinary natural endowment, reaching far into a continent, has long supported abundant life.
The Lakes are essential habitat for many of North America's animal species. Multitudes of birds
pass through the Lakes on their seasonal migrations. The Lakes yield rich bounty to fishermen.
Millions of Americans and Canadians rely on the Lakes for drinking water and economic vitality.
The Lakes are an important commercial waterway and many firms draw water from them for
industrial processes, helping make the region an industrial heartland for two nations.
Manufacturing is the largest employment sector in the region, both north and south of the
U.S. /Canadian border.
By the start of the twentieth century, the combined effects of pollution, hunting, and habitat
change, such as the clearing of primeval forests and the draining of vast wetlands, had devastated
many once prolific Great Lakes animal populations. Yet, especially over the past thirty years,
the people of the region and their governments have achieved encouraging ecological successes,
abating excessive algae in Lake Erie, protecting fish populations from sea lamprey, and restoring
oxygen-depleted waters. Levels of targeted toxic contaminants have declined substantially in
fish and wildlife, resulting in clear improvements in the health of many species.
Today, despite these valuable achievements, the Great Lakes ecosystem faces a range of
both new and abiding environmental challenges:
Report Highlight* I
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Contaminated Fish and Wildlife
PCB Levels In Lake Trout, Southeast Lake Michigan
Pan* par million
95% Lheltood th«l th. M«an
I PCB Lml of tt» Trout
Population UM within thb Range
OB«t Estimate of Mun
70 72 74 76 78 90 82 84
Year
80
PCBs, a key contaminant, have declined greatly in fish from
levels of twenty years ago, but still justify issuance of fish
consumption advisories. Levels in lake trout from southeast
Lake Michigan, lor instance, are still 180 times greater than
EPA's criteria for PCBs in fish tissue.
The Great Lakes food web remains contaminated by a
variety of bioaccumulative toxic substances, causing
unacceptable levels in some fish and wildlife. Levels are
much lower than in the early 1970s but still justify issuance
of public health advisories regarding fish consumption.
Advisories especially apply to vulnerable consumers, such
as children and women who anticipate bearing children.
Contaminants have been associated with health problems in
some fish and wildlife species, although with the significant
decline in contaminant levels many species seem to be
recovering. Problems persist for fish and wildlife in certain
locations, particularly in harbors and rivers with highly
contaminated bottom sediments, and for predators high in
the food web, such as lake trout, mink, and bald eagles.
Contaminant levels are generally highest in Lakes Michigan
and Ontario, though these lakes have also experienced the
greatest declines in contaminant levels during the past two
decades.
Contaminated Bottom Sediments
Bottom sediments in many harbors and rivers are poisoned by a variety of bioaccumulative
toxic substances. Contaminants accumulate in sediments because many contaminants in water
bind to suspended particles and fall to the bottom. Thus, contaminated bottom sediments are
indicative of past loadings of contaminants to the Lakes. Contaminated sediments are associated
with tumors in bottom fish; they serve as a reservoir of contaminants that recycle into the food
web through resuspension or uptake by bottom-dwelling organisms; and they injure such
organisms. Contaminated sediments increase the costs of navigational dredging owing to the
added costs of handling and disposing of toxic materials. In some locations, contamination has
delayed navigational dredging for years and curtailed waterborne commerce.
Diminished Wetlands
Wetlands, including bogs, fens, marshes, and swamps, provide essential habitat for birds,
fish, and other wildlife. More than one-half of Great Lakes wetlands have been lost since 1800..
Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee all partly rest on former wetlands. The present rate of
destruction is much less than in prior eras, but development continues to pressure remaining
wetlands.
// Report Highlight*
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Exotic Species
Timing of Exotic Species
Mote than 130 exotic (normative) species have been
introduced to the Great Lakes since 1800, nearly one-third
carried by ships. Some exotics have profoundly damaged
native species. A troublesome recent invader, the zebra
mussel, probably entered the Lakes via ballast water
discharge from an oceangoing vessel. The full impacts of
the mussel are not yet known, but are potentially great. A
prolific breeder, the mollusk devours microscopic plants at
the foundation of the food web and may create a food
shortage for fish that graze on these plants, ultimately
threatening predator fish, such as walleye, salmon, and lake
trout. River ruffe, spiny water flea, tubenose goby, and
round goby are other recent invaders.
Erte Canal (1825)
Wetand Canal (1829)
Wetand upgraded (1932)
St Lawrence Seaway (1959)
10
20 30
Numcwr of SP^CMS
40
SO
The introduction of exotics has increased over trie last 30
years, since completion of the St, Lawrence Seaway
allowed more transoceanic shipping.
Depleted Native Fish Populations
Populations of many native fish species are fewer than two centuries ago. Their depletion
can be attributed to food chain disruptions, habitat loss and disruption (e.g., wetlands have been
drained, spawning beds covered with silt, and dams have impeded passage up rivers), competition
from and predation by normative species (e.g., alewife have displaced lake herring, sea lamprey
feed on large fish), among other reasons.
Damage to once richly abundant native fish populations is profound. Lake herring was once
the predominant forage fish. Sturgeon grew six feet in length and weighed more than 100 pounds.
Today, sturgeon and lake herring survive in much depleted numbers. Hatchery-reared lake trout
must be stocked to maintain ecological balance and to sustain sport and commercial fisheries.
Stocked, nonnative Pacific salmon—coho and chinook—are the most abundant top predators,
except in western Lake Erie where the top predator is walleye.
Yet, since severe depletion of fish communities by the 1950s, some heartening progress to
improve fish resources has been made. The control of sea lamprey and the stocking of lake trout
and Pacific salmon have permitted the growth of important commercial and sport fishing
industries. Five million Great Lakes sport fishermen spend more than $2 billion each year.
Report Highlight* III
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Spring Phosphorus Levels in Lake Erie's Central Basin
Parts per billion
70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 66 88 90 92
Phosphorus levels have fallen, but the central
basin of Lake Erie continues to suffer exhaustion of
dissolved oxygen in its bottom waters during late summer.
Excessive Phosphorus
In some shallow waters that receive agricultural runoff
of fertilizers and/or in areas having a high surrounding
human population, such as Lake Erie, Lake Ontario,
Saginaw Bay, and Green Bay, water is overenriched with
phosphorus. The situation has improved since the late 1960s
when Lake Erie was infamously clogged by foul-smelling
mats of algae that depleted dissolved oxygen from bottom
waters by their seasonal die-off and decay. Nevertheless, the
bottom waters of central Lake Erie continue to suffer
exhaustion of dissolved oxygen during late summer,
However, the encouraging news is that phosphorus
concentrations in the water column of Lake Erie are
approaching those predicted to achieve desired water
quality.
Putting the Ecosystem Approach to Work
EPA and its Federal/State partners are focusing on the Great Lakes in a pioneering program
to protect the integrity of a fragile natural ecosystem. During 1991, agencies with stewardship
responsibilities for the ecosystem developed a joint five year Great Lakes strategy that they
launched in 1992. In addition to EPA and the eight Great Lakes States, partners to the strategy
include the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Soil Conservation Service. The
strategy joins environmental protection and natural resource agencies in pursuit of common
goals—reducing releases of toxicants to the environment, protecting and restoring habitat, and
protecting the ecosystem's living resources. The strategy's partners envision updates that will
keep it a current, action-forcing document.
EPA and States are using the Great Lakes as a proving ground for innovative pollution
prevention efforts. Pollution prevention is the adoption of "greener" (environmentally kind)
technologies and practices. Pollution prevention is the preferred means to reduce releases of
toxicants because it forestalls ecological damage and saves resources otherwise needed to treat
or cleanup contaminants. EPA and States are inviting all sectors of society to contribute ideas
for reducing the quantity and harmfulness of resources used to satisfy human needs. In 1991, the
Agency and the governors of the eight Great Lakes States launched a Pollution Prevention Action
Plan for the Lakes. This plan supplements EPA's nationwide initiative, the 33/50 Program, to
seek voluntary reductions of 17 priority contaminants. In response to this national program, the
Agency has already received commitments from industrial firms to end nearly 300 million
pounds of releases of the targeted chemicals by 1995.
hf Report Highlight*
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The EPA/State commitment to pollution prevention is buttressed by strong enforcement of
environmental laws. EPA and States continue to take warranted enforcement actions around the
Great Lakes region; this report cites many of these. The Agency has steadily increased its
resources for enforcement within the region over the past five years. Some examples of recent
enforcement actions within the Great Lakes watershed:
• Agreement by a paper company to pay a $2.1 million civil penalty for Clean Water Act
violations.
• Agreement by a waste management firm to pay a $3.75 million civil penalty for violating
PCB disposal requirements in Chicago.
• Agreement by an aluminum company to pay $7.5 million for offenses in handling
hazardous wastes near the St. Lawrence River.
• Agreement by a steel company to expend $34.1 million for environmental improvements,
sediment cleanup, and civil penalties. The improvements will reduce loadings of ammonia
to Lake Michigan by about 400,000 pounds per year and lower oil and grease loadings
by more than 1,000,000 pounds per year.
• Agreement by a municipal treatment facility to clean a sludge lagoon which contains over
50,000 pounds of PCBs and to lower its discharge of lead to the Great Lakes by over 5,500
pounds per year.
• Removal of 32,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the Black River, Ohio
by a steel company pursuant to a 1985 settlement.
• Removal of 300,000 pounds of PCBs from Waukegan Harbor, Illinois, pursuant to a
Superfund cleanup plan.
A hallmark of the Great Lakes Program is to focus on priority ecological problems and
geographic areas, thereby targeting the most promising opportunities for environmental
improvements. To identify priority problems, EPA ranked human health and ecological hazards
facing the Great Lakes region, concluding that the most significant sources of environmental
contaminants were concentrated around Chicago, Illinois and Gary, Indiana; Detroit, Michigan;
Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York; and Cleveland, Ohio. In response, the Agency and States
focused prevention, inspection, enforcement, and cleanup efforts, under Special Geographic
Initiatives, on several of these areas.
Two processes for targeting ecological problems on a geographic basis are Remedial Action
Plans (RAPs) for Areas of Concern and Lakewide Management Plans (LAMPs). Including five
shared with Canada, the United States has 31 Areas of Concern, which are the most ecologically
degraded areas around the Lakes, most often harbors and stretches of rivers. The Remedial Action
Plan process defines ecological problems, identifies appropriate solutions, and measures progress
towards ecological goals. States, enlisting grass-roots collaboration from local communities,
develop and implement RAPs. To date, States have completed first editions of 23 Stage I
(problem definition) and 12 State II (remedial action definition) RAPs.
Report Highlight* v
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The Great Lakes Program is also developing LAMPs to address problems posed by critical
pollutants that extend beyond Areas of Concern. During 1991, EPA and States completed initial
editions of LAMPs for the Lakes that have experienced the greatest contamination—Michigan
and Ontario. In FY 1992, EPA, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin began a LAMP for Lake
Superior. LAMPs for Lakes Erie and Huron will follow. Both RAPs and LAMPs will be updated
as warranted.
A key early activity in support of the LAMP process, launched by EPA and States in 1989,
is their "Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative." In view of the unique features of the Great Lakes,
including long water retention time and vulnerability to bioaccumulative contaminants, EPA and
States consider that water quality criteria specific to the Lakes are necessary to fully protect
aquatic life, wildlife, and human health on a long-term basis. The Initiative is a precedent-setting
effort to establish uniform regulatory practices, fully protective of one ecosystem, among the
States that share it. EPA published its proposed binding guidance on Great Lakes water quality
criteria, implementation procedures, and antidegradation policy in April 1993.
Proper disproval of existing stocks of contaminants is a major aspect of early Lake Michigan
LAMP activities. The Agency asked Great Lakes utility companies to accelerate phase-out of
electrical equipment which contain PCBs to prevent the possibility of accidental spills of this
critical pollutant. In response, the majority of utilities have committed to speeding-up their PCB
phaseouts. Other activities in support of the Lake Michigan LAMP are agricultural "clean
sweeps" under which States invite farmers and pesticide dealers to turn-in pesticide stocks for
proper disposal. The Lake Michigan States conducted clean sweeps in that Lake's watershed
during 1992, collecting more than 11,000 pounds of suspended or cancelled pesticides.
The value of the RAP and LAMP processes is measured in taking actions to meet local
community needs and to achieve ecological results. Even as plans have been under development,
EPA and States have taken warranted actions to improve Areas of Concern. This report cites
many of these (in Chapter Four), with an emphasis on areas like the Grand Calumet and Niagara
Rivers, which have been the focuses of Special Geographic Initiatives.
Another cornerstone of the Great Lakes Program is promotion of public stewardship.
Community "stakeholders" are strongly involved in Remedial Action Planning, helping;
governments be more responsive to local concerns. In 1991, EPA put into service a
state-of-the-art Great Lakes research vessel that is also serving as an educational platform. Tours
of the ship by the public, including visits by school children, are promoting broader awareness
of Great Lakes environmental issues.
To ensure that environmental decisions are based on the best scientific information, the
Agency and its partners are working to improve their understanding of the health of the
ecosystem. Traditionally, EPA has often relied on administrative statistics—such as numbers of
permits and enforcement actions—as surrogate measures of effectiveness. The Great Lakes
Program will increasingly assess environmental progress by monitoring water, land, and air
conditions and biological response to these by plants and animals. The foundation of the
Agency's strengthened monitoring effort will be the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
vl Report Highlight*
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Program (EMAP), which is a national program that gauges the health of our Nation's ecosystems.
Some recent steps to monitor the health of the ecosystem include:
• EPA put into service a 180 foot long research vessel, the Lake Guardian, for study of the
Lakes. The ship can sample water quality to the deepest depths of the Lakes and bottom
sediments to a depth of 40 feet.
• EPA sponsored a major study and demonstration program to assess contaminated Great
Lakes bottom sediments, test promising remedial technologies, and develop guidance on
addressing such contamination. EPA has completed assessment work in five Areas of
Concern, identified treatment technologies to be tested at each, and has demonstrated these
in the Geld.
• EPA established three master stations to monitor atmospheric deposition of toxic con-
taminants. Between them, the United States and Canada now have one master station on
each of the Lakes.
EPA is also working to strengthen its integration and analysis of environmental data relating
to the Lakes. Through its various programs, the Agency collects data on air and water pollution,
hazardous waste sites, pesticides, drinking water, radiation, and the health effects of pollutants.
Much of this information is obtained pursuant to separate laws and is narrowly focused to serve
these mandates. In general, it is not easy to integrate data to obtain a comprehensive view of total
pollutant releases by a facility and surrounding ecological conditions. Accordingly, the Agency
is working to improve the availability of data to support decisions by Federal, State, and local
governments and to make information more accessible to the public.
Under its ecosystem approach, the Great Lakes Program is integrating government activities
around an ecosystem, setting goals on the basis of environmental needs and measuring progress
by ecological yardsticks. In all its activities, EPA is seeking the involvement of States, other
Federal agencies, Indian Tribes, and the public. EPA and States are also taking advantage of all
opportunities to work with their counterparts in Canada. For instance, the two nations
cosponsored a pollution prevention symposium and have developed a binational Great Lakes
research strategy.
Toward the Future
The Great Lakes Program is guided by its five year Strategy. Within this context, some future
endeavors will be:
Reducing Releases of Toxicants to the Environment
• Pollution prevention will continue to be the preferred means to reduce emissions and
discharges of environmental contaminants. States and EPA will continue to implement
their pollution prevention action plan for the Lakes. This will supplement EPA's national
Report Highlights vff
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initiative, the 33/50 Program, to encourage voluntary reductions of 17 priority contami-
nants through 1995.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), States, and EPA will continue nonpoint
source pollution prevention programs. Many of these programs will focus on tributary
watersheds in which nonpoint source problems are pronounced, such as Saginaw Bay,
Lake Erie, and Green Bay. In addition to education and incentives for environmentally-
kind agricultural practices, these agencies will invite the public via "clean sweep"
campaigns to dispose of pesticide stocks.
• Implementation of the binational Lake Superior Program will aim to achieve "zero
discharge" of bioaccumulative toxicants to this Lake.
• Proposed Great Lakes Water Quality Guidance will be finalized, after consideration of
public comments. USEPA anticipates publication of the final Guidance by March, 1995.
The Agency will seek to achieve water quality criteria set forth in the Guidance through
reductions in both point and nonpoint sources of contaminants.
• States, in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration, will develop regional
guidance regarding human health advisories for consumption of contaminated Great
Lakes fish and wildlife. This will foster consistency among States in their advisories,
which will help the public better understand the risks associated with consumption of
contaminated sportfish and game.
• Nationwide implementation of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act will signifi-
cantly cut toxic emissions by U.S. firms by the end of this century. EPA and States will
give priority to implementing its provisions for suspected sources of critical pollutants to
the Great Lakes.
• States and EPA will continue cleanup of priority abandoned hazardous waste sites and
oversight of active ones, focusing cleanups and corrective actions on sites suspected of
loading bioaccumulative contaminants to the Lakes.
• States and EPA will continue to inspect oil facilities in order to review their spill
prevention measures and readiness to respond to accidental spills.
• EPA and its partners in the Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments
(ARCS) program will complete field demonstrations of contaminated sediment treatment
technologies. EPA will complete an inventory of contaminated sediment sites in six Great
Lakes States and start to assess and address priority sites.
• EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and States will continue to phase-in a comprehensive
monitoring system of ecosystem health. Elements that focus on toxic contaminants will
be open-lake monitoring of critical pollutants in the water column, monitoring of tribu-
taries to prioritize active sources of contaminants, monitoring of endpoint levels of
contaminants in the tissues of birds and fish high in the food web, and monitoring of the
atmospheric deposition of critical pollutants.
• The Agency will report to Congress on the extent and effect of atmospheric deposition of
contaminants to the Great Lakes.
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• The Agency for Toxics Substances and Disease Registry will evaluate the adverse effects
of water pollutants in the Great Lakes system on the health of persons in the Great Lakes
States and on the health of fish, shellfish, and wildlife. Findings will be reported to
Congress in 1994.
Protecting and Restoring Habitat
• USEPA will work with partners, including the Fish and Wildlife Service, States, Tribes,
and the Nature Conservancy, to develop a strategic conservation plan to identify high
quality habitats for protection and restoration. Habitats to be inventoried include wetlands,
fish spawning and nuisery areas, old growth forests, prairies, dunes, savannas, and areas
needed by endangered and threatened plant and animal species.
• EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and States will work together on demonstration
projects to restore important Great Lakes habitats.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will support States in planning the renewal of Areas of
Concern by identifying the habitat requirements of various Gsh and wildlife species in
these areas. The Service will similarly work with EPA and States to identify the habitat
needs of species on a lakewide basis.
• States and EPA will pursue Advance Identification projects that identify wetlands of high
ecological value and inform landowners of this information.
• The Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, and Michigan will continue their administration of
the primary Federal program regulating the physical modification of wetlands and others
waters. Pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, they administer a permit program
to regulate the discharge of dredge or fill materials into the waters of the United States,
including most wetlands.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will work with its partners to the North American
Waterfowl Management Plan to protect, enhance, and create critical waterfowl habitat.
The Service will add protected acreage through its Private Land program and increase
surveillance for illegal dredge and fill activities.
• The Soil Conservation Service will continue to promote the protection of wetlands that
are privately owned through incentives to restore previously converted wetlands and
correctly farmed wetlands; to establish vegetative filter-strips along streams; and to
protect wetlands.
Protecting Human Health and Restoring Fish and Wildlife Populations
• States, EPA, and the Soil Conservation Service will implement programs to reduce human
exposure to harmful bacteria in Great Lakes waters. One focus will be ending the discharge
o f untreated human wastes from combined sewer overflows by upgrading municipal sewer
systems and treatment capacity. The Service will promote adoption of waste management
systems to reduce runoff from livestock facilities.
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• The Fish and Wildlife Service, States, Coast Guard, NOAA, the Great Lakes Fisheries
Commission, and EPA will work together to prevent further introductions of nonnative
species and to mitigate the harmful effects of ones that have already entered the Great
Lakes. They will monitor the ecosystem for new nonnative species and conduct research
on environmentally-kind control techniques for disruptive nonnative species. The Coast
Guard will establish requirements governing ship ballast water, a common pathway for
the introduction of nonnative species.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will lead a comprehensive study of fishery resources to
identify the restoration needs of Great Lakes fish species, using the latest quantitative
techniques to analyze the causes of past disruptions to fish populations and to identify the
physical, chemical, and biological needs of important fish and wildlife species.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service and States will continue to stock hatchery-reared fish, such
as lake trout, to bolster the abundance of important species. The Service will also continue
application of lampricides to tributaries where sea lamprey spawn in order to control the
ravages of this nonnative species upon sport fish. In addition, the Service and States will
continue law enforcement efforts to curtail illegal commercial fishing and waterfowl
hunting.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service and States will continue to take measures to protect and
restore populations of endangered and threatened Great Lakes species such as bald eagle,
peregrine falcon, Kirtland's warbler, eastern timber wolf, and lakeside daisy.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will implement the North American Waterfowl Manage-
ment Plan's habitat strategy aimed at restoring waterfowl populations to their levels in
the 1970s.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service and States will pursue Natural Resource Damage Assess-
ments and Claims against Potentially Responsible Parties for past harm to Great Lakes
species.
• EPA and States will continue activities to reduce phosphorus loadings to areas of the Lakes
that are vulnerable to nutrient overenrichment.
Working Together
The partners to the Strategy will support its implementation by various steps, including:
• States and EPA will focus prevention, inspection, enforcement, and cleanup efforts on
critical pollutants and on geographic areas which have the highest ecological and human
health risks. In so doing, they will be targeting the strongest opportunities to restore the
ecosystem and protect human health.
• They will use the Remedial Action and Lakewide Management planning processes to
define ecological needs and appropriate responses to these needs.
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• EPA, in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA, other Federal agencies,
and States, will establish an environmental data storage and retrieval system relating to
the Great Lakes, which will be accessible to all agencies.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with other agencies, will establish data
repositories on habitat uses and on fisheries.
• EPA, working with its partners, will establish and maintain a Great Lakes ecosystem
monitoring plan to address program needs.
• EPA and its partners will establish and maintain research priorities to support management
programs.
• EPA, in conjunction with its partners, will develop a joint report to Congress and to the
people of the Great Lakes region on implementation of their joint Strategy and progress
toward their environmental goals. EPA and its partners will adopt ecological objectives
and measure progress with ecological indicatois.
• The partners to the U.S. Great Lakes Strategy will pursue opportunities to work with their
Canadian counterparts. For instance, the two nations will sponsor biennial conferences
on the health of the ecosystem.
I n the years ahead, the Great Lakes Program will continue evolving to address everchanging
challenges. One constant emphasis, however, will be to inform the public about the state of the
ecosystem. Individuals are vital to further environmental progress through their purchases of
products, choices of lifestyles, and expectations of their civic institutions, including businesses,
environmental organizations, universities, and governments. The Great Lakes Program will
continue to promote public stewardship through education and public participation. Though the
region's human inhabitants have often wrought harm to this extraordinary ecosystem during the
last several centuries, they still hold its future within their collective stewardship.
Report Highlight* 3d
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Table of Contents
1
2
3
4
Introduction 1
The Great Lakes 1
Economy in Historical Perspective 5
Some Ecological Impacts of Development. 8
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 11
Bioaccumulative Toxic Substances 11
Contaminated Bottom Sediments , 18
Diminished Wetlands 19
Exotic Species 20
Depleted and Volatile Fish Populations 24
Excessive Phosphorus 25
The Great Lakes Program: A Holistic Ecosystem Approach 27
A Shared Strategy 27
Identification of Priority Problems 28
Promotion of Pollution Prevention 29
Geographic Targeting 30
Application of Multimedia Tools 31
Promotion of Public Stewardship 34
Strengthening of the Knowledge Base 34
Cooperation with Canada 35
Actions to Implement the Water Quality Agreement 37
Actions to Restore Areas of Concern 40
ARCS Program 44
Lakewide Management 47
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5
6
7
8
Actions By Federal Partners 49
The Army Corps of Engineers 49
The Coast Guard 52
The Rsh and Wildlife Service 53
The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory 57
The Soil Conservation Service 60
Monitoring of the Ecosystem 63
Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network 64
Green Bay Study 65
New Research Vessel 66
System-wide Surveillance 66
Expenditures 69
Toward the Future 71
Reducing Releases of Toxicants to the Environment 71
Protecting and Restoring Habitat 72
Protecting Human Health and Restoring Rsh and Wildlife Populations.................. 72
Working Together .......... 73
End Notes 75
Glossary 79
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Figures and Tables
Figures
1-1 The Great Lakes Watershed 2
1-2 Depth Profileofthe Great Lakes and Summary of Their Physical Features 4
1-3 Mercury Concentrations in Walleye, Lake St Clair 9
2-1 Simplified View of the Great Lakes Food Web 12
2-2 Lake Ontario Food Web Biomagnification, 1982 12
2-3 Contaminants in Herring Gull Eggs, Sister Island, Green Bay 14
2-4 Contaminants in Bloater Chubs, Southeast Lake Michigan 14
2-5 Sediment Contamination in the Lower Detroit River,
as Suggested by Impacts on Bottom Dwelling Organisms 19
2-6 Presettlement Extent of the Black Swamp in Northwestern Ohio 20
2-7 Chronology of Exotic Species 21
2-8 Entry Routes of Exotic Species 21
2-9 Types of Exotic Species 22
2-10 Lake Trout With Lamprey Wounds, Eastern Lake Superior 23
2-11 Estimated Total Phosphorus Loading To Lake Erie 25
2-12 Spring Phosphorus Levels in Lake Erie's Central Basin 25
2-13 Sport Angler Harvest of Walleye From Ohio Waters, Lake Erie 26
2-14 Oxygen Depletion Rate for the Bottom Waters of Lake Erie's Central Basin 26
4-1 Areas of Concern 38
5-1 Great Lakes Harbors with the Most Recorded Oil and Chemical Spills,
January 1980 -September 1989 . 52
6-1 PCB Levels in Coho Salmon 66
6-2 PCB Levels in Lake Trout, Southeast Lake Michigan 66
7-1 EPA Funding for Activities Related to the Great Lakes 69
7-2 EPAFunding for RAPsand LaMPs 69
7-3 Funding for Great Lakes Research 69
7-4 Funding for Great Lakes Enforcement Activities 70
7-5 Funding for General Administration 70
Tables
2-1 Examples of Great Lakes Fish Consumption Advisories 15
2-2 Selected Toxic Contaminants in the Great Lakes 17
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Chapter 1
Introduction
America's inventive and productive genius has been amply realized in the Great Lakes region.
Early in the last century, steamships and the Erie Canal helped to open a 2,200 mile waterway into
the heart of a continent. Through this corridor came timber to build a growing nation and ores to feed
the successive industrial ages of iron, then steel. America's first oil refineries were within the Great
Lakes watershed, helping to spark the region's automobile industry that grew into the preeminent
industry of twentieth century America. The connection of railroads and canals to the Lakes
contributed to unprecedented agricultural development in the Midwest and Great Plains.
During the twentieth century, fuels and industrial minerals have been found elsewhere around
the world, and modern means of transportation have made them widely accessible. With the spread
of industrial economies, the Great Lakes region's disproportionate share of world manufacturing has
inevitably eroded. Yet, productive industries, such as forest products, shipping, agriculture, food
processing, chemicals, mining, metals, and heavy manufacturing continue to be important.
Manufacturing remains the largest sector in the economy of most Great Lakes States.
Before its development, the Great Lakes region was endowed with extraordinary natural
abundance—oceans of freshwater, splendid forests, plentiful animals, rich soil, immense wetlands,
multitudes of waterfowl. The Great Lakes were an important part of the breeding range of the
passenger pigeon, one of the most numerous birds in the world. Waters teemed with fish. Sturgeon
up to 6 feet long were common. A fisherman using a dip net could reap many hundreds of white fish
in a day.
Much of the majesty and plenty of the Lakes remain, although human actions have often changed
or damaged the ecosystem. The last passenger pigeon died early in the twentieth century, the tragic
survivor of a species exterminated by hunting and the loss of oak and beech forest habitat. Today,
few sturgeon survive. Lake trout populations are not self-sustaining. A top predator, the bald eagle,
breeds with less success along the shores of the Lakes than inland. Habitat available to fish and
wildlife is greatly reduced, as are their populations.
To help place today's Great Lakes environmental issues in context, this chapter discusses
physical features of the Lakes, their economic development during the past three centuries, and
ecological outcomes associated with this development.
The Great Lakes
By many measures, the five Great Lakes are freshwater seas. Formed by the melting retreat of
mile-thick glaciers 10 to 12 thousand years ago, the Great Lakes water system represents about 18
percent of the world's surface freshwater and 95 percent of the surface freshwaterof the United States.
If poured over the landmass of the continental United States, the 6 quadrillion gallons of the Lakes
would immerse the "lower 48" States to a depth of almost 10 feet. The Lakes and their connecting
channels have 7,437 miles of shoreline across eight States and the Province of Ontario. Their 201,000
square mile watershed holds nearly 80,000 small lakes—one-third within the United States—that
could collectively cover an area larger than Lake Erie.
Introduction
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Figure 1-1. The Great Lakes Watershed
\^ I Great Lakes Basin Boundary
% Major Citiaa
• Greater than 50,000
PENNSYLVANIA
By virtue of their size, the Lakes affect the climate of their region. Heat stored in the Lakes during
the summer warms adjacent land in the winter. Areas of Michigan, southern Ontario, and western
New York have warmer winters than some other parts of North America at similar latitudes. These
same areas, however, receive heavy snowfalls as prevailing winds from the west pick up moisture
over the Lakes. In spring and summer, the Lakes are slow to warm, cooling nearshore land.
As would be expected across such a large area, the physical characteristics of the Great Lakes
watershed vary. In the north, the land is heavily forested, particularly by conifers. The soil is generally
thin and acidic, covering an ancient bedrock called the Laurentian Shield. The climate is cold.
Principal industries are timber, mining, and hydroelectric power. In the south, soils are deeper and
fertile, rocks sedimentary and nutrient rich, temperatures warmer, the density of human population
2 Chapter 1
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greater. Vast wetlands and deciduous forests have generally been replaced by agricultural, industrial,
and residential uses.
By surface area, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world. It is the second largest
in water volume, trailing only the immensely deep Lake Baikal in Siberia. Superior holds just over
one-half of the water in the Great Lakes system. Because of its huge volume, Superior has a water
retention time of 173 years, which is the longest of the Lakes. The St. Marys River, which flows
southeasterly into Lake Huron, is Superior's outlet.
Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that lies wholly within the United States. The second
largest Lakes in terms of water volume, Michigan holds 21 percent of the water in the system. Lake
Michigan has the second longest water retention time, 62 years. Water from Lake Michigan primarily
flows out through the Straits of Mackinac into Lake Huron. A much smaller outflow is artificially
diverted into the Mississippi River system via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
Lake Huron, the second largest Great Lake in terms of surface area, is slightly larger than Lake
Michigan. Huron holds about 16 percent of the water in the Great Lakes and has a water retention
time of 31 years. Huron's outlet, the St. Clair River, flows into shallow Lake St. Clair (average depth
11 feet).
Lake Erie is the smallest in water volume, having an average depth of only 62 feet. Erie has three
distinct basins, as defined by water depth and underwater ridges. The shallow western basin averages
24 feet in depth. The central basin is deeper, its waters stratify by temperature, and its narrow bottom
layer is vulnerable to depletion of dissolved oxygen. The eastern basin is the deepest; its bottom layer
is thicker and less vulnerable. Erie has the shortest water retention time, 2.1 years, making it the Lake
most responsive to both environmental abuse and cleanup.
Erie is the southernmost of the Lakes. Its waters are the warmest in summer and most productive
biologically, supporting abundant fisheries. Because of its shallowness, Erie is the Lake most affected
by air temperature. As a result, it regularly has 95 percent ice cover in the winter, in contrast to deeper
Lake Ontario, which has an average coverof only 15 percent. Erie's watershed is the most agricultural,
most urban, and least forested; about two-thirds of it is used for farming. Erie has the highest rate of
sedimentation, receiving soil particles from the rich farmlands of its watershed.
Lake Ontario is the smallest in surface area but contains more than three times Erie's water
volume. The Canadian population within Lake Ontario's watershed is about twice that of the United
States and has increased significantly during the 1970s and 1980s, while the U.S. population has
remained stable. Canada's largest industrial region lies along the western and northwestern shores of
Lake Ontario and includes Toronto, a metropolitan area of three million people.
The major source of water to Lake Ontario is the Niagara River flowing from Lake Erie. Lake
Ontario is about 325 feet lower in elevation than Erie, causing the river to cascade at the famous
Niagara Falls. Ontario's outlet is the St. Lawrence River, which has an annual flow that represents
less than one-half of one percent of the water volume of the entire Great Lakes system.
This relatively small outflow is a notable characteristic of the Great Lakes. The system does not
flush contaminants quickly. This attribute makes the Great Lakes ecosystem especially sensitive to
environmental stresses.
Another important characteristic of the Lakes is their clarity. Before intense European settlement
of the region began around 1800, the Lakes contained little phosphorus, were rich in oxygen, and,
with the exception of shallow waters, were very clear. One reason for these phenomena was that
Introduction 3
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Figure 1-2. Depth Profile of the Great Lakes and Summary of Their Physical Features
800
600
400 -
200 -
Elevation (feet)
LAKES
MICHIGAN
AND
HURON
ST. CLAIR
AND
DETROIT LAKE
RIVERS ERIE
Huron 750 Foal
Michigan 923 Fe#
-200 ~
-400
-600 ~
-800
Lake
Superior
Michigan
Huron
Erie
Ontario
Average Depth (feet)
463
279
195
62
283
Area Water (square miles)
31,700
22,300
23,000
9,910
7,340
Volume (cubic miles)
2,900
1,180
850
116
393
Retention Time (years)
173
62
21
2.7
7.5
shorelines were rimmed by forests and wetlands, allowing little nutrient runoff to stimulate production
of microscopic plants (i.e., phytoplankton, such as algae). Although phytoplankton are the foundation
of the Great Lakes food web, excessive algal growth clouds water. Despite today's level of
development, most of Superior and Huron remain very clear, as do parts of the northern basin of Lake
Michigan.
The most biologically productive areas are Green Bay, Saginaw Bay, and western Lake Erie,
relatively warm shallow waters that are fed, respectively, by the Fox, Saginaw, and Maumee Rivers.
The Lakes sustain a rich diversity of birds and other wildlife. Following the Atlantic and Mississippi
4 Chapter 1
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flyways, an estimated three million waterfowl migrate through the Great Lakes each year, relying on
them for food and shelter. During their spring and fell migrations, up to 25,000 birds of prey can be
observed each day from Whitefish Point in eastern Lake Superior. The Lakes host multitudes of
cormorants, egrets, gulls, herons, and terns. Native animals include deer, fox, moose, wolves, and
fur-bearing mammals—beaver, mink, and muskrat—that fueled the early development of the region
by European settlers.
Economy in Historical Perspective
During the past 300 years, various industries have boomed in the Great Lakes region. Fur
trapping, especially of beavers, thrived from the last half of the seventeenth century until the early
nineteenth century. As trapping depleted beaver populations in the region, the fur trade expanded
westward to California, Oregon, the Arctic Ocean. Even after trapping had moved west, the Lakes
remained vital to the industry for waterborne transportation. The Lakes and St. Lawrence River
provided a pathway for canoes laden with animal pelts to the Atlantic coast where furs were shipped
to customers in Europe. Many early settlements in the region were fur-trading posts, including
Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, and Green Bay. Chicago's first non-Native American settler, Jean Baptiste
Pointe du Sable, a Haitian of African and French descent, was a fur trader who built a cabin beside
the Chicago River in 1779.
As the beaver industry declined because of the scarcity of beavers and whims of fashion, early
settlers began harvesting trees on a large scale. Three principal types of forests surrounded the Lakes.
Spruce and Gr trees grew in the north on the Laurentian Shield above Superior and down the eastern
shore of Huron. Birch, hemlock, and pines ranged south of Lake Superior to northern Michigan, north
of Lake Erie, and around Lake Ontario. Hardwoods, such as ash, oak, maple, and dogwood, grew
south of this region. Settlers cleared land for agriculture and buildings. Commercial logging began
in the 1830s, after the opening of the Erie Canal and the advent of steamships, which provided access
to eastern markets. Logging began in Michigan and soon extended to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Loggers cut softwoods first, chiefly white pine, often hundreds of years old and more than 100 feet
high. Softwoods framed homes and ships. Hardwoods became barrels and furniture.
The heyday of lumbering was from 1850 to 1900. Grand Rapids, today Michigan's second largest
city, was a sawmill boom town in the 1850s; later it earned renown as a center for furniture-making.
During the 1890s, there were 100 sawmills adjacent to the Saginaw River, by tonnage shipped,
Saginaw was the largest port on the Lakes. Tugboats pulled enormous floating trains of trees from
Canada to Saginaw mills. Around Muskegon Lake, beside Lake Michigan, there were 50 active
sawmills in 1900. By 1910, there were none.
The Great Lakes lumber industry ran out of trees early in the twentieth century. The climate and
soils of the North Woods and the Laurentian Shield are generally not conducive to farming. With the
passage of time, forests have now returned to much of their former domain in the northern half of the
region, though trees are much younger and smaller than their predecessors. Today, these woods are
harvested for paper. The paper-making industry, which started in the 1860s, remains important in
both the United States and Canada. In 1982, the forest industry of Michigan, Minnesota, and
Wisconsin employed about 150,000 people and had sales of $15 billion. An additional 80,000 persons
were employed in forest recreation.
The mining industry grew concurrently with the lumber industry and remains important today.
In 1845, rich iron ore was found in the Marquette Range of Michigan's upper peninsula. Additional
Introduction 5
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iron ranges were later discovered in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1855, completion of the Sault Canal
opened Lake Superior to shipping and permitted mining of these ranges.
Iron ore from the mineral-rich Lake Superior watershed helped to make the Great Lakes region
a center of iron-making, steel-making, and heavy manufacturing. Ore was shipped to lakeside cities,
such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Gary, and, in Canada, Hamilton and Sault-Sainte Marie. Another
key ingredient for steel-making, limestone, was quarried near the northeast shore of Michigan's lower
peninsula. Coal from Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania fired industrial hearths.
Oil became another significant industry. The world's first oil well was tapped in the northwestern
Pennsylvania town of Titusville in 1859. Oil was later found near the Lakes in such locations as
Midland, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and north-east of Lake St. Clair. Cleveland, Ohio, already an
industrial hub in part because it was the terminus of a canal that linked the Lakes to the Ohio Paver,
became the Nation's oil-refining center. In 1863, a 23-year old bookkeeper, John D. Rockefeller,
invested $4,000 in a Cleveland oil refinery. By 1880, his Standard Oil Company refined 95 percent
of the Nation's oil.
Since iron ore, limestone, coal, oil, and waterborne transportation were readily available, the
Great Lakes region became an industrial heartland of both the United States and Canada. The
automotive industry was bom in a Michigan triangle bounded by Lansing, Flint, and Detroit,
supplanting the carriage industry that had been thriving there. Detroit's population soared by almost
400 percent between 1890 to 1920 as Ford Motor Company began mass production of automobiles.
The Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors corporations were producing eight million vehicles a year
by 1950.
Industries associated with the automotive business, such as tool and die, machining, aluminum,
and rubber, were drawn to the area. By the 1920s, Akron, Ohio, where Benjamin Goodrich had opened
a rubber factory in 1871, was processing almost half the world's rubber. Proximity to the steel industry
attracted appliance and agricultural equipment manufacturers. Proximity to industrial customers
attracted chemical manufacturers. Brine wells in southeastern Michigan were appealing to chemical
firms. To draw on these wells, Herbert Dow founded what became one of America's largest chemical
firms, Dow Chemical Company, in Midland, Michigan, in 1891.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, foreign competition and rising energy costs caused red-ink
and job losses in Great Lakes heavy industry, especially in the United States. By that time, foreign
economies devastated by the Second World War had developed strong competitors to Detroit's
automobile manufacturers. The demand for fuel-efficient cars made lighter materials, such as plastics
and aluminum, desirable alternatives to steel. During the 1970s, Detroit lost 20 percent of its residents.
About one million manufacturing jobs disappeared in the early 1980s in just five Great Lakes States.
Yet heavy industries, including mining, steel, machine tools, and cars, remain important. Today,
manufacturing continues to be the largest sector in the economy of most Great Lakes States. In 1991,
five Great Lakes States made 61 percent of the cars produced in America. Mining and manufacturing
are also major elements in the economy of the Province of Ontario. The Sudbury area produce? the
largest quantity of nickel in the world. Ontario is a major producer of gold, silver, platinum, uranium,
zinc, iron, copper, salt, and gypsum. The province produces nearly 50 percent of Canada's
manufactured goods. Employment in Ontario's manufacturing sector has increased over the last 20
years.
Agriculture is another productive element of the regional economy. During the nineteenth
century, cheap land blessed with ample top soil, flat terrain, and railroads that brought crops to distant
0 Chapter 1
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markets contributed to extraordinary agricultural productivity in the American Midwest. After 1914,
combustion engines supplanted horses in powering farm machinery. Since 1950, farm yields have
soared further because of developments in biology, chemistry, and engineering. Breeding plants has
provided varieties with higher yields. Fertilizers, especially nitrogen, have raised soil productivity,
and pesticides have abated crop losses to weeds, fungi, and insects. Farm machines have become
vastly more effective.
As a result of these developments, agricultural output within the U.S. Great Lakes watershed has
increased during the last 40 years, although farm acreage has actually decreased by one-third.
Cropland accounts for 18 percent of the land in the U.S. counties of the watershed, predominantly in
the south. Corn is the largest crop (42 percent of farm acreage), followed by soybeans (24 percent),
and small grains, especially wheat (17 percent). Dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and tobacco are
also important.
Convenient waterways have abetted the regional economy. The Erie Canal, completed in 1825,
connected Buffalo to the Hudson River at Albany. At the same time, Canada constructed the Lachine
Canal to bypass rapids on the St. Lawrence and the Gist Welland Canal between Lakes Ontario and
Erie to bypass Niagara Falls. The 27-mile long Welland has been enlarged a number of times.
The five parallel locks at Sault-Sainte Marie, connecting Lakes Superior and Huron, are among
the busiest in the world. In 1990, 5,000 vessels carried 90 million tons of cargo (including 50 million
tons of iron ore) through these locks. Many commercial vessels are headed to or from the port of
Duluth/Superior, which ranked 14th in the United States by tonnage shipped in 1987, and Thunder
Bay, Ontario, the port of embarkation for one-half of Canada's grain production.
The St. Lawrence Seaway connects Lake Ontario to Montreal and provides the final link in a
2,200 mile commercial waterway between Duluth and the Atlantic Ocean. Completed in 1959, the
Seaway is 27 feet deep, as are the shipping channels that cut through the St. Marys, St. Clair, and
Detroit Riveis, and Lake St. Clair. This inland waterway is navigable by one-third of the world's
saltwater fleet. In 1989, 40 million tons of cargo passed through the Seaway.
The waters of the Lakes provide other economic benefits. They are a source of drinking water
to millions. Industries use water to make products (as in the beer for which Milwaukee is famous)
and to cool manufacturing processes. Some rivers are harnessed to generate electricity; up to one-half
the natural flow of the Niagara River is diverted for this purpose.
Another large element of the Great Lakes economy is recreation, including sight-seeing, fishing,
boating, camping, and hiking. In 1988, Michigan had more registered boat owners than any other
State. The Lakes sustain both sport and commercial fisheries, although recreational fishing is more
important today. As the value of recreational fishing has increased, some jurisdictions have
established policies that favor sport fishing. The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission has estimated
that five million sport fisherman on the Great Lakes spent $2 billion in 1985; during the same year,
the value of the commercial fish catch was just $41 million. The largest recorded commercial harvests
were in 1889 and 1899. By weight, the commercial yield in recent years has been about two-thirds
of these peak years, yet the value is small since the size and species harvested are less desirable.
At the onset of the twentieth century, the human population of the watershed was slightly more
than 10 million. According to 1986 census data, the region has 35 million residents—27.5 million
U.S. citizens and 7.5 million Canadians. The Lake Superior and Lake Huron watersheds are sparsely
inhabited. The south and southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan, the Canadian shore of Lake
Ontario, and the U.S. side of Lake Erie are heavily populated. The third and sixth most populated
Introduction
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U.S. metropolitan areas (Chicago and Detroit) and the largest Canadian metropolitan area (Toronto)
are situated near the Lakes. Native American tribes also reside in the region. Five U.S. Indian
reservations lie adjacent to the shores of the Great Lakes; 14 do so on the Canadian side.
Some Ecological Impacts of Development
Intense development of the Great Lakes region has wrought vast changes to its ecosystem.
Humans have altered habitat, introduced exotic (i.e., normative) species, and contaminated the Lakes.
Some effects have been dramatic. Through discharge of raw sewage into the Lakes, cities infected
their water supplies with typhoid and cholera during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
By the mid-1950s, normative sea lamprey (parasitic eel-like fish) decimated lake trout to the extent
that commercial catches in Lakes Huron and Michigan fell to 1 percent of the yield obtained 20 years
before. By the 1960s, mats of algae fouled Lake Erie beaches and water intakes. In 1967, millions of
another exotic fish, alewife, washed up on the Lake Michigan shore, victims of the combined effects
of cold weather and starvation. Overpopulation, related to the decline of alewife predators, such as
lake trout, contributed to the massive die-off. In 1969, a stretch of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland
was so laden with oil products, chemicals, and debris that it caught fire. Since the 1960s, researchers
have noted reproductive problems in birds, such as double-crested cormorants, which have been bora
with grotesquely crossed beaks. These problems are probably caused by bioaccumulative toxic
chemicals.
Many of these once acute problems have abated. Treatment of both drinking water and sewage
ended water-related epidemics. Application of a toxicant to spawning grounds slashed the population
of sea lamprey, although this exotic species is firmly established as a resident of the Lakes. Stocking
of lake trout bolstered their numbers; however, the species generally is unable to sustain itself.
Reductions in loadings of phosphorus have lessened many problems associated with nutrient
overenrichment, such as excessive algae. Stocking of salmon and trout has helped to control alewife
numbers. Since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, the reduction in pollutant loadings has
greatly improved overall water quality, allowing fish to return to some harbors from which they had
disappeared. The health of many fish and wildlife populations has improved as their burdens of
contaminants have declined.
Yet the Great Lakes ecosystem has been pervasively changed in other, less dramatic ways, many
of which are permanent. The decline in the beaver population resulted in fewer beaver dams, which
had impeded tributaries and helped to create wetlands. In their absence, river flows increased; faster
rivers captured and carried more silt, burying the spawning grounds of fish.
Harvesting trees exposed soil to direct sunlight, causing drying, and to wind and water, causing
erosion. This, in turn, added silt to rivers. Forests had provided shade along tributaries. In their
absence, the temperature of streams increased, further modifying the fish habitat. Forest clearance
also increased seasonal variation in tributary flow. Low wintertime flow exposed streambeds,
freezing fish eggs.
Agriculture also increased soil erosion. Since 1950, eroding soil particles and rainfall runoff have
carried agricultural chemicals—pesticides and fertilizers. The overenrichment of Lake Erie was partly
the result of increased nutrient use by farmers.
The growth of human population has imposed further ecological change. Roads, sidewalks, roofs,
and parking lots distort natural infiltration of water into the ground. Rain that would otherwise seep
8 Chapter 1
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into the soil is caught by drainage systems and discharged to streams. As a result, tributaries have
become more variable in their flow and less hospitable to fish.
The Lakes have been extensively altered for shipping and flood control. River mouths, critical
habitat for fish and wildlife, have especially attracted development. Hundreds of them have been
dredged and surrounded by breakwaters. Dredging and the wash from ship propellers injure
organisms in bottom sediments upon which fish feed. Canals and ships have introduced nonnative
species. Unchecked by natural predators, some of these have profoundly damaged native species.
Wetlands and sand dunes are two other habitats modified by humans. Wetlands have vital
ecological functions, serving as nursery, resting, and breeding habitat for fish and wildlife. Perhaps
two-thirds of the region's wetlands have been drained or filled since 1800. The downtown areas of
Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee largely rest on Glled-in wetlands. In fact, Chicago takes its name
from an Indian word for the wild garlic that once grew there in marshlands beside Lake Michigan.
Before parks were established to preserve the remaining sand dunes at the base of Lake Michigan,
home to a rich diveisity of wildlife, were mined for glass production and for railway bed fill. Cheap
lakefront land and a large nearby labor force in Chicago also made the dunes and adjacent wild rice
swamps attractive to heavy industry. Standard Oil Company (now Amoco) established a refinery in
Whiting, Indiana, in 1889. Inland Steel Company opened in East Chicago in 1901. The city of Gary
took its name from the surname of the chairman of United States Steel when America's first billion
dollar corporation opened a huge works there in 1906. Bethlehem, National, and LTV steel companies
followed. Today, northwestern Indiana is home to numerous metal, oil, and petrochemical facilities.
In places, large amounts of oil float on the groundwater, during drought, the sinking water table
lowers oil into municipal drainage systems. The Grand Calumet River meanders through this region
receiving most of its waters from industrial and municipal dischargers. Its riverbed holds many toxic
contaminants.
Manufacturing firms have contributed a broad range of contaminants to the Lakes. One of the
most injurious is the family of organic chemical compounds called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
PCBs were widely used from 1929 until EPA prohibited their manufacture in 1977. They are highly
stable, which made them useful as hydraulic fluids and lubricants in high temperature or pressure
processes. Tests have shown that PCBs may cause
reproductive disorders, birth defects, and cancers in
laboratory animals. The stability that made PCBs desirable
in commercial applications has undesirable environmental
consequences; they magnify up the Great Lakes food web
and do not degrade. PCB contamination is the most frequent
grounds for health advisories regarding consumption of
Great Lakes fish.
Though the practice ceased during the 1970s, some
chloralkali plants and some pulp and paper mills released
mercury that was later detected in fish from Lake Huron,
Lake St. Clair, western Lake Erie, eastern Lake Ontario, and
the St. Lawrence River at levels that required closure of
some commercial fisheries (Figure 1-3). In the 1980s, EPA
also recognized that pulp and paper mills, particularly those
using the bleached kraft process, discharge very low
concentrations of chlorinated dibenzodioxins and
Figure 1-3. Mercury Concentrations in Walleye, Lake St Clair
Parts per trillion
0.5
88
Mercury levels in fish have declined in places where they
were most elevated 20 years ago
Introduction
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dibenzofurans as byproducts of pulp and paper bleaching with chlorine. Dioxins and furans represent
a family of 210 related chemical compounds. The most infamous of the dioxin compounds,
2,3,7,8-TCDD, produces a variety of toxic effects in laboratory animals at very low doses.
The pulp and paper industry also continues to be a significant source of conventional pollutants
to the Lakes, particularly to Lake Superior. According to a 1989 report by the International Joint
Commission, pulp and paper mills in the Province of Ontario generally do not use secondary (i.e.,
biological) processes to treat their wastewater. Secondary treatment, usually practiced by U.S. mills,
decreases both conventional pollutants and 25 to 60 percent of toxic organic byproducts. In 1993, the
Province of Ontario announced a multiyear phase-in of enhanced discharge requirements for this
industrial sector.
Chemical companies have left a toxic heritage in the groundwater, bottom sediments, and soils
of the region. American chemical companies were attracted by hydroelectric power generated from
the Niagara River situated near its banks. Canadian chemical companies similarly clustered along the
St. Clair River. Waste sites along the U.S. side of the Niagara have been a source of contamination
to Lake Ontario. Since the inception of the Superfund program, cleanup efforts have focused on these
sites, substantially reducing their loadings to the Niagara River.
In addition, metals-based industries have been a significant source of pollutants. Many presently
used steel-making technologies generate byproducts, including ammonia, cyanide, coal tar, zinc, lead,
and a range of air pollutants, including fly ash, sulfur compounds, and the volatile chemicals benzene,
toluene, and xylene. Steel mills emit benzo(a)pyrene, the most toxic member of the family of
polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Like other PAHs, benzo(a)pyrene is produced by incomplete
combustion of fossil fuels and is suspected of causing lip and liver tumors in bottom-dwelling fish.
PAHs are common in bottom sediments of the Great Lakes.
Conclusion
This chapter has tried to convey that environmental damage cannot be attributed solely and
simplistically to a few leading industries. Damage to the Great Lakes ecosystem during the past three
centuries has been caused by the collective actions of society—by individuals and the public sector
as well as by industry and agriculture. The prominent industries mentioned in this chapter, especially
productive sectors, such as fanning, forest products, metals, and manufacturing, continue to make
vital contributions to our National economy.
In addition, this chapter has suggested that the changes to the Great Lakes ecosystem during the
last three centuries have been vast and that a long-term perspective is useful to appreciate the
magnitude of damage to once abundant fish and wildlife populations. The next chapter discusses
current challenges facing the Great Lakes ecosystem that are the focus of government programs,
discussed later in this report.
10 Chapter 1
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Chapter 2
Aspects of Ecosystem Health
This chapter discusses six general problems facing the Great Lakes ecosystem:
• Contamination of fish and wildlife with bioaccumulative toxic substances
• Contaminated bottom sediments
• Lost, degraded, and threatened wetlands
• Exotic species
• Depleted native fish populations
• Excessive phosphorus.
Substantial progress has been made during the last 20 years in abating several of these problems.
Levels of some targeted contaminants in fish and wildlife are strikingly lower. The impacts of one
especially troublesome exotic species, the sea Imnprey, have been substantially reduced. Levels of
phosphorus are also much lower, notably in Lake Erie where they had been most disruptive.
Yet challenges remain. Public health authorities continue to issue fish consumption advisories
for each Lake. Though the present rate of habitat destruction is much less than in the past, various
human activities encroach on remaining wetlands and other valuable fish and wildlife habitats. The
entry of exotic species has increased since the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, which
permitted more transoceanic shipping. Although much improved, Lake Erie continues to suffer
depletion of dissolved oxygen during late summer.
Bioaccumulative Toxic Substances
Bioaccumulative toxic substances generally do not pose a problem for humans Great Lakes
drinking water. Concentrations of toxic substances in the water column are extremely low because
they tend to bind quickly to particles—phytoplankton or sediment—and either enter the food web or
fall to the bottom where they are eventually buried. They also volatilize into the atmosphere.
Open-lake concentrations of contaminants are measured in parts per billion or trillion. A part per
trillion represents a teaspoon in 1.3 billion gallons of water. A person would have to drink two or
three million gallons of water to be exposed to a quantity of contaminants equivalent to that ingested
by eating a single mature lake trout.
Some bioaccumulative toxicants do pose problems when concentrated in the tissues of predators,
such as lake trout. At the base of the food web, microscopic floating one-celled plants (i.e.,
phytoplankton) use sunlight, dissolved carbon dioxide, and dissolved mineral nutrients for
nourishment. Microscopic animals (i.e., zooplankton) feed on such vegetation and are in turn eaten
by fish. Tiny sediment-dwelling insects and crustaceans are another source of food for some small
fish. Higher predators (e.g., fish and birds) consume smaller fish. Figure 2-1 provides a simplified
view of the food web. The figure does not show the many different species of phytoplankton,
zooplankton, bottom animals, fish, and wildlife that make up the actual Great Lakes food web, but
does display the food web concept.
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 11
-------
Figure 2-1. Simplified View of the Great Lakes Food Web
Figure 2-2. Lake Ontario Food Web Blomagnification, 1982
Herring
GullEgga
Lake Trout
Sim*
Sculpln
Scud
Shrimp
Plankton
gggs.64 \
pi.* \
• 1.7 j
0.32 j
0.08 j
0.01 |
: . •
10 20 30 40
Total PCB» (parti par rnlllon)
SO
Contaminant levels increase up the food web
Phytoplankton, zooplankton, and bottom animals
adsorb and retain contaminants. Fish that graze on plankton
in turn ingest the contaminants that they contain. When fish
ingest contaminants faster than they use or excrete them,
they accumulate levels of contaminants that are higher than
those in their forage. The increasing concentration of
contaminants at successive levels of the food web, known
as bio magnification, is repeated as predator fish feed on
smaller fish, mammals and birds feed on fish, and predator
birds feed on smaller birds. Figure 2-2 illustrates
biomagnification in the Lake Ontario food web. In 1982,
high predators, such as herring gulls and lake trout,
accumulated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) levels that
were, respectively, 6,000 and 560 times greater than those
in plankton.
Fish and birds living in or around Lakes Michigan and
Ontario tend to have markedly higher levels of contaminants
than those of the other three Lakes. The relatively low levels
in Lake Erie biota are a bit surprising since the Lake has a
high surrounding population and is known to receive Ugh
loadings of toxic substances. One possible explanation is
that Erie's relatively high sedimentation rate may remove
toxic substances from the water column, making them less
available to the food web.
There have been striking declines in some targeted
substances during the last two decades. Figures 2-3 and 2-4
show declines in two substances, PCBs and the pesticide
DDT (in its derivitive form, DDE), in Lake Michigan
herring gulls and bloater chubs.
Despite these marked declines, levels of contaminants
remain unacceptably high. State public health authorities
issue fish consumption advisories, usually directed at PCBs,
mercury, and chlordane, for species in each Lake, and in
various rivers and bays. Table 2-1 shows examples of these
advisories.
Effects on Wildlife
During the last few decades, researchers have observed
population declines and health problems in about 15 Great
Lakes fish and wildlife species. These declines and
problems seem to be associated with exposure to various
bioaccumulative toxic substances. Effects have usually
been most pronounced at the top of the food web and across
generations, as expressed in birth defects. Other problems
that have been noted in fish and wildlife include loss of
12 Chapter 2
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Are Great Lakes Fish "Safe" to Eat?
Great Lakes fish of different species, locations, and size carry different burdens of potential
carcinogens. Fish that bear the largest burdens tend to be large, bottom-dwelling, high in the food
web, and high in fat content Modern risk assessment methods generally assume that the
probability of cancer is proportional to dose, so that there is zero probability at zero dosage.
Because risk is based on cumulative exposure, high consumption of "low-risk* fish can actually
pose greater risk than less consumption of "high-risk* fish. Yet it is valuable to inform the public
about which fish species carry the highest burdens of contaminants. State health authorities
usually follow this approach when issuing fish advisories (Table 2-1).
Some clarifications should be made about estimates of risk. First, risk assessments have
uncertainty in that they are usually based on estimates of carcinogenic potency obtained by animal
tests; actual human effects are likely to be different. Second, assessments produce a range of
risk; health authorities commonly use the high end of the range. Third, some methods of cleaning
and cooking fish can lower the dose of potential carcinogens. Fourth, not all potential carcinogens
may have been detected, which would cause an assessment to underestimate risk. And fifth, risk
assessments tend to be based on estimates of cancer incidence and do not consider other harmful
health effects.
This last point is important, since some research during the last decade suggests that there
may be noncancer, transgenerational effects associated with contaminants found in the tissues
of Great Lakes fish. A series of studies of human health effects from eating Lake Michigan fish
containing PCBs began in 1980. The studies have focused on children whose mothers had
regularly eaten Lake Michigan fish. The children were examined at birth, at seven months, and
at four years of age. The studies concluded that infants whose mothers consumed Lake Michigan
fish showed lower birth weights, smaller head circumference, and sbwer responsiveness than
infants whose mothers had notconsumed such fish. Atfouryears, these same children had poorer
short-term memory. The deficits noted were small in magnitude and were not evident outside the
testing situation. There was no indication that the long-term memory of young children was
affected. Since short-term memory is important in the acquisition of reading and arithmetic skills,
however, the deficits may affect later academic perform-
ance. One implication of these studies is that a woman's
lifetime exposure to PCBs may adversely affect her children.
Eliminating exposure during pregnancy or lactation may not
prevent adverse effects.
Because of the Lake Michigan study and other re-
search, public health authorities consider children and
women who anticipate bearing children to be the most
vulnerable consumers of Great Lakes fish. Fish advisories
recommend that these populations avoid eating the fish
species cited in Table 2-1.
WALLEYE
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 13
-------
Figure 2-3. Contaminants In Herring Gull Eggs,
Sister Island, Green Bay
Parts per trillion
Figure 2-4. Contaminants In Bloater Chubs,
Southeast Lake Michigan
Pvts pw rniltofi
200
71 73 75 77 78 81 83 85 87 89
12
10
Targeted pollutants have greatly declined in birds
71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87
YMF
. . . and in fish
appetite and weight, hormonal changes, poor reproductive success, tumors, increased susceptibility
to disease, and behavioral changes. With the reduction of many targeted pollutants in the food web,
the populations of affected species generally seem to be improving.
Since EPA and States cancelled and restricted the bioaccumulative pesticides DDT and dieldrin
in the 1970s, improved bald eagle reproductive success has led to a recovery in the national
population. However, bald eagles have not recovered so vigorously along the shores of the Great
Lakes. Researchers have noted that eagles do not reproduce as successfully along the Lakes as they
do inland. Great Lakes fish may provide too toxic a diet for bald eagles to thrive.
During the 1970s, herring gulls around the Great Lakes were also found to have reproductive
problems. Changes in behavior were a contributing factor to population decline—herring gulls
neglected their nests, which caused low hatching success. During the 1980s, herring gull populations
have strongly increased as PCBs and pesticides have decreased in the food web.
Also during the 1970s, scientists observed deformities in various bird species, such as
double-crested cormorants, common terns, Caspian terns, ring-billed terns, and herring gulls. Birds
were found with crossed bills, jaw defects, and malformed feet and joints. Although the incidence of
these deformities has declined in conjunction with contaminant levels, problems remain in relatively
contaminated areas.
Mink have proved extremely sensitive to a diet of Great Lakes fish. In the mid-1960s, mink
breeders found that their animals were experiencing high mortality rates and almost complete
reproductive failure. The ranch animals were being fed fish from Lake Michigan tributaries.
Laboratory toxicology experiments determined that mink are highly sensitive to PCBs. As with bald
eagles, it is thought that wild mink populations are larger inland than along the shores of the Great
Lakes.
Another suspected effect of bioaccumulative toxic substances on fish has been noted in
bottom-dwelling fish, such as bullheads and suckers. These have been found to suffer a high incidence
of dermal and liver tumors at a number of Great Lakes locations. The incidence of tumors is strongly
correlated with polluted conditions, especially with the presence of polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)
contamination in bottom sediments. Several PAH compounds are known or suspected carcinogens.
Although little is known about the significance of tumors on either the health of fish or on the health
14 Chapter 2
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Table 2-1. Examples of Great Lakes Fish Consumption Advisories*
Location
Lake Superior
Lake Michigan
Green Bay
Lake Huron
Saginaw Bay
Lake Erie
Lake Ontario
St. Marys River
St. dair River
Lake SI Clair
Detroit River
Niagara River
St. Lawrence River
Pollutant of Concern (States)
PCBs (Ml, MN, Wl)
Chlordane (Ml, Wl)
Mercury (Wl, Ml)
Toxaphene (Ml)
PCBs(IL,IN,MI,WI)
Chlordane (IL, IN, Ml, Wl)
DDT (IN, Wl)
DiekJrin (IN, Wl)
Mercury (Wl, Ml)
PCBs (Ml, Wl)
PCBs (Ml)
PCBs (Ml)
PCBs (Ml, NY, OH, PA)
Chlordane (PA)
PCBs, Mir ex, Chlordane, and
Dioxins (NY)
Mercury (Ml)
PCBs and Mercury (Ml)
PCBs and Mercury (Ml)
PCBs and Mercury (Ml)
PCBs, Dioxins, and Mirex (NY)
PCBs (NY)
Restrictions**
Lake Trout 20" -30"
Chinook Salmon 15" -20"
Walleye 18' -26"
Siscowett under 20*
Bloater Chub
Lake Trout 20"-23*
Coho Salmon over 26'
Chinook Salmon 21 '-32'
Brown Trout up to 23*
Splakeupto16"
Brown Trout up to 21*
Lake Trout
Rainbow Trout
Rainbow Trout
Brown Trout
Carp
Catfish
Walleye over 1 9"
Freshwater Drum over 12"
Gizzard Shad over 10*
Walleye over 20", White Bass over 1 3',
Smallmouth Bass over 18",
White Perch over 10", Carp over 22",
Rock Bass over 8", Largemouth Bass over 14",
Bluegill over 8", Freshwater Drum over 14",
Carpsucker over 18", Brown Bullhead over 14",
Northern Pike over 26"
Freshwater Drum over 14"
Carp
Smallmouth Bass
All *sh
Do Not Eat
Lake Trout over 30"
Walleye 18"-26"
Siscowett
Lake Trout over 23 "
Chinook Salmon over 32*
Brown Trout over 23"
Carp
Catfish
Lake Trout Brook Trout over 15",
Rainbow Trout over 22",
Chinook Salmon over 25",
Brown Trout over 12", Splake over 16",
Northern Pike over 28",
Walleye over 20", White Bass, Carp
Brown Trout over 21 "
Carp
Catfish
Carp
Catfish
American Eel, Catfish, Lake Trout,
Chinook Salmon,
Coho Salmon over 21",
Rainbow Trout over 25",
Brown Trout over 20"
Carp
Muskie
Sturgeon
Catfish over 22"
Carp
Channel Catfish, American Eel,
Lake Trout Chinook Salmon,
Rainbow Trout over 25",
Coho Salmon over 21",
Brown Trout over 20"
Channel Catfish, American Eel,
Chinook Salmon, Brown Trout
Lake Trout Coho over 21 ",
Rainbow over 25"
* Advisories also pertain to tributaries into which migratory species enter.
** Nursing mothers, pregnant women, women who anticipate bearing children, female children of any age, and male children age 1 5 or
under should not eat these fish. Other persons should limit their consumption to one meal per week and follow preparation and cooking
recommendations.
Preparation and cooking recommendations: Sport fish can be prepared and cooked in ways that will reduce many contaminants in the
edible portion. These techniques include removal of the skin and fatty tissue associated with the belly lateral line and dorsal area of large
fish and cooking by baking, broiling on a rack, or barbecuing so that fatty oil can drip away from the finished meal. These techniques are not
so effective for mercury contamination, which is evenly distributed through fish.
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 15
-------
of humans who might eat these fish, visible abnormalities reduce the commercial and recreational
value of fish.
Contaminants
EPA has established water quality criteria for about 130 substances that are known or suspected
to be harmful to humans, fish, or wildlife. Criteria numerically define maximum allowable
concentrations of a contaminant in water and serve as a basis for the development of State Water
Quality Standards.
EPA and States have identified a set of pollutants deemed especially injurious and often present
in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Table 2-2 summarizes selected priority pollutants. Pollutants listed in
this table tend to concentrate up the food web. Several are the most toxic members of groups of related
chemicals.
Pathways
Bioaccumulative toxic substances reach the Lakes from a broad range of human activities. Some
sources are more clearly measurable, such as discharges from sewage systems and industry and spills
from ships and shore. Other sources are known to be significant, but are difficult to measure:
deposition of contaminants from the atmosphere, movement of contaminants through groundwater,
and urban and agricultural runoff. Contaminants reach the atmosphere from combustion and
volatilization. They exist in the atmosphere attached to particles, associated with water droplets, and
in their gaseous state. They leave the atmosphere via dry deposition of particles, rain and snow, and
gas exchange to water.
In the late 1970s, studies on Isle Royale, a relatively isolated island in Lake Superior, reported
PCBs, DDT, and toxaphene in the waters of its lakes. Researchers theorized that such pollution must
have resulted from atmospheric deposition. Since toxaphene was principally used to reduce insects
on cotton crops in the Sou Hi, it was thought that toxaphene had been transported a great distance
through the atmosphere.
Researchers have subsequently tried to estimate the extent of atmospheric deposition of
contaminants to the Great Lakes. Atmospheric deposition may be the largest path for some
contaminants to enter Lake Superior, for instance, because of the Lake's relative lack of adjacent
development and its large surface area. Yet there are substantial uncertainties surrounding such
estimates.
Recent research in Minnesota and Wisconsin has concluded that the atmosphere is a significant
pathway for mercury, which is emitted by garbage incinerators and coal-burning power plants, among
other sources. In the last several years, Michigan has issued advisories regarding fish consumption
for thousands of its inland lakes based on levels of mercury, while Minnesota and Wisconsin have
issued similar advisories for hundreds of their inland lakes. The issuance of these advisories partly
reflects the expansion of fish monitoring programs. Though there are atmospheric loadings! of
mercury across the entire region, differences in water chemistry and bacteria between waterbodies
cause mercury levels to be more of a problem in the fish of some lakes than in others. Mercury levels
in walleye and lake trout have sharply fallen in areas of the Great Lakes where they were highest two
decades ago following the modification or closure of pulp and paper mills and chloralkali plants that
were then the major source of loadings. In general, there are no clear indications that mercury levels
16 Chapter 2
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Table 2-2. Selected Toxic Contaminants in the Great Lakes
Pollutants
Sources
Concerns
Poly chlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs)
Industrial Chemicals
PCBs were widely used in the U.S. from 1929 until 1978
for various purposes, including hydraulic fluids and
lubricants. Pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act
in 1979, EPA prohibited the manufacture, distribution,
and many uses of PCBs. PCBs are still used in some
closed electrical equipment because of high heat
resistance and stability.
PCBs are highly bioaccumulative and persistent All five
of the Lakes have fish consumption advisories based on
PCBs. PCBs have been shown to cause liver cancer in
laboratory animals and are probable human carcinogens.
Mercury
Metal
A natural element, mercury was once widely used by the
pulp and paper industry arid in the manufacture of
chlorine and caustic soda. Coal-burning power plants
and waste incinerators are among active sources,
though degassing of mercury from the earth's crust may
exceed anthropogenic releases.
Mercury is converted in lakes to methylmercury (the
organic form of mercury) by bacteria under low oxygen
conditions. Methylmercury is highly bioaccumulative.
Symptoms including deafness, blindness, and death
have been associated with the long-term ingestion of
mercury contaminated fish. Fish advisories based on
mercury are in effect for the St. Marys River and Lake
St. Clair, 10,000 inland lakes in Michigan, and 400
others in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Polychlorinated
dibenzo-paradioxlns
(PCDDs or dloxlns)
Combustion and
Industrial Byproducts
A family of structurally related chemical compounds,
dioxins were present in fungicides and herbicides.
Dioxins are also generated by chlorine bleaching in pulp
and paper manufacture. They are also a byproduct of
combustion of organic material containing chlorine.
Dioxins are highly bioaccumulative and persistent.
2,3,7,8-TCDD, the most toxic of a chemical family of 75
compounds, is an extremely potent animal carcinogen
and teratogen. In humans, it has been linked to a skin
disease. A recent epidemiological study of occupational
exposure to dioxin found greater incidence of cancer
among highly exposed persons. EPA launched a new
assessment of dioxin's risks in 1991.
Polychlorinated
dibenzofurans
(PCDFs or furans)
Combustion and
Industrial Byproducts
A family of structurally related chemical compounds,
furans are present in chlorophenols and derivative
herbicides, are a byproduct of the combustion of
chlorinated organic matter, and are generated by
chlorine bleaching in pulp and paper manufacture.
Furans were also an inadvertent contaminant to some
PCB products.
2,3,7,8-TCDF is inferred to be one-tenth as toxic as
2,3,7,8-TCDD, but it has similar lexicological properties.
Other PCDFs show a similar toxicologies! relationship to
their PCDD analogs.
Benzo(a)pyrene
B(a)P
Combustion and
Industrial Byproducts
Formed by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, wood,
and tobacco, B(a)P is also a byproduct of steel and coke
production, coal liquification and gasification, and waste
incineration. B(a)P is present at high concentrations in
the sediments of some tributaries and harbors.
B(a)P is bioaccumulative in shellfish, but it is not as
bioaccumulative in most finfish species. High
concentrations in river and lake sediments have been
associated with liver and skin tumors in fish. B(a)P is an
animal carcinogen.
Mlrex
Pesticide
An insecticide, mirex was primarily used for fire ant
control in the South from 1962 to 1975. However, its
manufacture in New York State led to its introduction
into the Lake Ontario food web. EPA cancelled all uses
of mirex after December 1976.
Mirex is highly bioaccumulative and persistent. It is a
probable human carcinogen. Mirex levels justify
issuance of fish consumption advisories in Lake Ontario
and the Niagara River.
Dieldrin
Pesticide
An insecticide introduced in 1946, dieldrin was widely
used until restricted by Wisconsin and Michigan in the
late 1960s and restricted by EPA on a national basis in
1974.
Dieldrin is a probable human carcinogen.
Toxaphene
Pesticide
Toxaphene was widely used on cotton crops in the
South until the late 1970s. EPA prohibited its production
in 1982 and all uses after December 1986.
Toxaphene is a bioaccumulative toxic substance.
Hexachlorobenzene
(HCB)
Pesticide and
Byproduct
Originally manufactured as a fungicide, HCB is a
by-product of chlorinated compounds as well as an
impurity in some pesticides.
HCB is a bioaccumulative toxic substance and probable
human carcinogen.
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 17
-------
are rising in Great Lakes Gsh, although the evidence of atmospheric loadings to the region warrants
continued monitoring.
Contaminated Bottom Sediments
Bottom sediments that hold such substances as PCBs and DDT are probably the principal cause
of the continuing contamination of fish and wildlife with these now restricted chemicals. The transfer
of sediment-bound contaminants to the base of the food web takes place both directly, through
accumulation of contaminants in bottom-dwelling organisms, and indirectly, through resuspension
of contaminants to the water column and their ensuing adsorption by phytoplankton. Contaminated
sediments are also toxic to bottom-dwelling organisms, killing them or impairing their normal
functioning. Sublethal effects associated with contaminated sediments include tumors in bottom fish.
Brown bullheads, a variety of bottom-feeding catfish, have been found with a high incidence of facial
tumors in the Buffalo River in New York and the Black River in Ohio where they are exposed to
contaminated sediments.
Contaminated sediments also impose economic costs. Special steps are required to dredge and
dispose of contaminated sediments, which increase the cost of maintaining waterways for navigation.
In a number of locations, including Indiana Harbor, Indiana; Ashtabula River, Ohio; Sheboygan
Harbor, Wisconsin; and Menominee River, Michigan, navigational dredging has been delayed for
years because of issues surrounding disposal of dredged sediments. Reduced dredging increases
transportation costs because industries must find alternative transportation methods or reduce ship
loads.
Yet, the natural sedimentation process can also cover old contamination with cleaner sediments.
This can be an important natural means for the recovery of the ecosystem. The rate of burial differs
from location to location and from lake to lake, with Lake Erie having a relatively high rate of
sedimentation, and Lakes Michigan and Superior low rates.
EPA and States have designated 31 harbors and rivers in the region, all of which have
contaminated bottom sediments, as Areas of Concern. Bottom sediments in these areas contain a wide
range of contaminants, including toxic metals, such as copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, as well as
Table 2-2. Selected Toxic Contaminants in the Great Lakes (continued)
Pollutants
Sources
Concerns
DDT and
metabolites (DDE)
Pesticide
An insecticide introduced in 1946, DDT was widely used
until banned by Wisconsin and Michigan in the late
1960s and by EPA on a national basis in 1972.
Environmental concentrations have fallen significantly
since that time. States still receive unused DDT stocks
turned-in by U.S. farmers.
DDT is converted to DDE by natural processes. DDE is
highly bioaccumulative and persistent. It is known to
cause eggshell thinning in birds and benign tumors in
laboratory animals.
Chlordane
Pesticide
Chlordane was once widely used in a variety of pest
control applications. EPA restricted its uses in 1978. In
1989, manufacturers voluntarily cancelled all remaining
uses of chlordane, with the exception of fire ant control
in power transformers.
Chlordane is a probable human carcinogen and has a
high potential for bioaccumulation.
18 Chapter 2
-------
chemicals. Figure 2-5 illustrates the geographical zone of sediment contamination in one Area of
Concern, the Detroit River.
Another indication of the scope of the contaminated sediment problem is that in recent years, to
maintain navigation channels, the Army Corps of Engineers has dredged a large volume of sediment
from the Lakes that is too contaminated for open-lake disposal. As directed by the Water Resources
Development Act, the Corps places such material in confined disposal facilities (CDFs), which are
structures designed to hold and isolate contaminated dredged materials. There are 43 CDFs completed
or under construction; one-third are on land, and two-thirds displace water. The Corps adds about
two million cubic yards of sediments to them annually. This represents about one-half of the total
volume of sediment dredged by the Corps each year in the Great Lakes. Although they may lower
the transfer of contaminants to the Great Lakes food web that would otherwise take place if
contaminated bottom sediments remained in place, CDFs encroach on the Lakes and require ongoing
monitoring and periodic maintenance.
Diminished Wetlands
A wetland is an area such as a marsh, swamp, bog, or
fen. A vital component of the Great Lakes ecosystem,
wetlands serve a variety of important functions, providing
nursery, resting, feeding, and breeding grounds for a rich
diversity of birds, fish, and wildlife. Wetlands protect a
variety of fish species from waves and predators. Coastal
wetlands offer fish warmer temperatures than open-lake
waters. Larval and juvenile fish harbored by wetlands are
an important food source for waterfowl. Ducks consume
plants that extend above and below the water, and geese
graze on plants above water. Wetlands also protect
shorelines from erosion, store flood waters with their dense
vegetation, and trap sediments that can pollute waterways.
Many of the wetland areas of the Great Lakes watershed
have been lost during the last two centuries. On the
Canadian side, it is estimated that between 1800 and 1982,
more than 60 percent of the wetlands in southern Ontario
were lost. In southwestern Ontario, more than 90 percent
have been converted to other uses. Similar losses have
occurred in the United States. On a statewide basis, Illinois
and Indiana have each lost more than 80 percent of their
original wetland acreage. Ohio is believed to have lost 90
percent of its wetlands, with the 1,500 square mile Black
Swamp of northwest Ohio almost entirely converted to
farmland by the 1920s (Figure 2-6).
The most extensive losses took place in the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries when many wetlands were
drained for agricultural use. Remaining wetlands continue
to be threatened by building construction, waste disposal,
Figure 2-5. Sediment Contamination in the Lower Detroit River,
as Suggested by Impacts on Bottom Dwelling Organisms
LAKE ST. CLAIR
STATUS OF MACROBENTHOS
COMMUNITIES
I | NORMAL
INTERMEDIATE
SEVERELY IMPACTED
LAKE ERIE
The U.S. side of the lower Detroit River is an area
with contaminated bottom sediments
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 19
-------
and mining of sand. Consumption of groundwater has diminished recharge of certain wetlands. There
are also indications that wetlands have been disrupted by nonnative plants, such as purple loosestrife,
and fish, such as carp.
Exotic Species
During the past 200 years, humans have introduced more than 130 exotic (nonnative) species to
the Great Lakes, many of which have profoundly affected the populations of native species. Exotics
damage native populations through direct competition for food, displacement from physical
environments, direct attack, and alteration of the chemical or physical conditions needed by other
species.
Some introductions have been intentional, such as those of carp and Pacific salmon (chinook and
coho). Since the 1960s, salmon have been regularly stocked by States and the Province of Ontario to
provide an additional predator to control the numbers of smelt and alewife (which are also exotic
species). In addition, salmon provide sport fishing alternatives to greatly diminished lake trout
populations. Many other introductions of exotics have been unintentional, such as sea lamprey,
alewife, zebra mussel, and smelt.
Introductions of exotics have accelerated during the last 30 years, as shown by Figure 2-7. Of
the exotics introduced to the Lakes since 1810, about one-third have appeared since 1960. This
increased pace is largely due to greater transoceanic shipping traffic on the Great Lakes since
completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. Oceangoing vessels have often taken on ballast
water in a distant port and laterdischarged it into the Lakes to compensate for the on-loading of cargo.
Ballast watercan sustain exotic organisms until it is released into the Lakes. Thus, oceangoing vessels
have often spanned saltwater barriers to freshwater species from other continents.
Figure 2-8 shows the routes by which exotic species are believed to have entered the Great Lakes.
Nearly one-third of exotics have been stowaways on ships in cargo, ballast tanks, or attached to hauls.
Organisms that can survive in ship ballast tanks are frequently very adaptable and aggressive. When
released to an ecosystem in which they have few natural predators, they can proliferate and severely
affect the existing balance between native species. The transfer of exotics through ballast water can
be prevented if ships take on ballast waterat sea before entering the Great Lakes. Saltwaterorganisms
are unlikely to survive in the Lakes.
Figure 2-9. Presettlement Extent of the Black Swamp in Northwestern Ohio
N
t
DttroHRIvtr
Exotics have also made their way into the
Lakes via canals. Species that had been barred
from the upper Lakes by Niagara Falls were able
to enter them after the Welland Canal was
completed or enlarged.
Fish species are among the best known of
the exotics. Yet, numerous other exotics have
also been introduced. Plants represent about 45
percent of exotics, Gsh 18 percent, and algae 18
percent (Figure 2-9).
0 10 20 M
0 10 20 30X111
Location Map-Black Swamp
The Black Swamp was almost entirely converted to farmland by the 1920s
20 Chapter 2
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Zebra Mussel
Zebra mussels may prove to be the most harmful exotic yet introduced to the Great Lakes. Named
for their distinctive black and yellow bands, this tiny barnacle-like shellfish (up to two inches long)
is found throughout Europe. Zebra mussels are prolific breeders; female mussels produce as many
as 400 surviving offspring each year. Zebra mussels were first noted in Lake St. Clair in 1988.
Since then, they have been found in numerous locations, from Duluth to the entrance of the St.
Lawrence River. They have infested Lake Erie with impressive speed, colonizing nearly every
available surface in just two years. It is expected that the species will occupy most of its suitable
living environments within the Lakes over the next several years. It also seems inevitable that the
zebra mussel will eventually spread through much of America, via pathways such as the Chicago
River to the Mississippi Riversystem and carried by ships and recreational boats. Adult mussels cling
to boat hulls from which they detach during journeys. As of fall 1991, mussels had already been noted
in the Hudson, Susquehanna, and Mississippi drainages.
Zebra mussels cement themselves to hard surfaces, building grape-like clusters more than six
inches thick; densities up to 700,000 to the square meter have been found in Lake Erie. The lifespan
of the species is three to five years. Zebra mussels favor relatively warm, nutrient-rich, shallow water
(6 to 30 feet deep). Microscopic mussel larvae float freely for 10 to 15 days, carried by currents before
finding a suitable hard surface to which they attach and mature into the familiar mussel form.
The zebra mussel poses many ecological problems. One adult mussel filters the suspended
phytoplankton from one liter of water per day. A large population of zebra mussels can devour a vast
quantity of phytoplankton, the foundation of the Great Lakes food web, and may in time create a food
shortage for other phytoplankton grazers and ultimately reduce the food supply of predators, such as
lake trout, salmon, walleye, and bass. Zebra mussels also threaten the spawning sites of native fish.
Many species, including walleye, prefer rocky shoals for spawning and must compete with zebra
mussels which favor this habitat for colonization. In addition, zebra mussels coat clams and crayfish,
making it difficult for them to open or move.
The mussels have economic impacts as well, because they clog municipal and industrial water
intakes. Many hundreds of millions of dollars will have to be invested in the redesign of intakes to
reduce their vulnerability to mussel fouling, extension of pipes into deeper water, and periodic mussel
removal. Mussels also encrust and slow ships and infiltrate and clog theirballast and cooling systems.
Figure 2-7. Chronology of Exotic Species
Figure 2-8. Entry Routes of Exotic Species
Erie Canal (1825)
WeDand Canal (1829)
WeKand upgraded (1932)
St Lawrence Seaway (1959)
20 30
Number of Species
40
50
The introduction of exotic species has increased
20 30
Number of Spedes
Shipping is the leading source of exotic species
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 21
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Aquatic Plants (48%)
Fish (17%)
Beaches can be fouled by the odor of decaying zebra mussels, and bathers at some beaches have to
wear foot protection to prevent cuts from mussel shells. Dead mussels also give off methane gas,
imparting a foul taste and smell to water. In addition, the mussel attaches to navigational buoys,
breakwater rocks, piers, and fish nets.
Freshwater drum, also known as sheepshead, is a native fish species that feeds on zebra mussels.
Scaup, a diving duck that migrates through the Lakes, is another mussel predator. Yet, scientists think
that these natural predators will be unable to arrest the explosive growth in numbers of zebra mussels.
Sea Lamprey
The sea lamprey was one of the first exotic species to devastate native populations. This small,
parasitic, eel-like fish attaches to larger fish and lives off their bodily fluids, often killing the host.
Native to the Atlantic Ocean, sea lamprey may have made their way into Lake Ontario via the St.
Lawrence River or the Erie Canal. By the mid-nineteenth century, they were present in Lake Ontario
but were barred from the other Lakes by Niagara Falls. In the 1920s after enlargement of the Welland
Canal, they escaped into the upper Lakes and during the next three decades spread throughout them.
Partly as a result of lamprey depredations, lake trout populations in Lakes Huron, Michigan, and
Superior collapsed; commercial catches in the 1950s were only one percent of those 20 years earlier.
Whitefish and burbot populations were likewise decimated, and walleye and sucker populations were
also attacked. As large prey disappeared, lamprey turned to smaller fish, virtually extinguishing
several of the larger species of cisco in the upper three Lakes.
The sea lamprey has wreaked less destruction on Lake Erie fish populations. This may be because
Erie is warmer and the lamprey prefers the cold environment of the upper Lakes. Or it may be that
the lamprey has lacked spawning areas in Lake Erie.
In 1961, the United States and Canada began to apply
a chemical to sea lamprey spawning grounds. This
lampricide application program has decreased numbers of
lampreys by about 90 percent (Figure 2-10). However,
complete eradication of the lamprey is probably not
feasible, and the control program will need to continue
indefinitely to keep the lamprey's predations in check.
Today, the lamprey is concentrated in northern Lakes Huron
and Michigan and in Lake Superior. The strong currents of
the St. Marys River lessen the effectiveness of lampricide
application. As a result, a large population of lamprey lives
in the river and in nearby reaches of Lake Huron. Lamprey
continue to exact a heavy toll, for example, on lake trout in
Lake Superior, particularly west of the Keewenaw
Peninsula. In the late 1980s, lamprey were estimated to have
killed about one-half to one million pounds of lake trout per
year in the U.S. waters of Lake Superior.
Figure 2-9. Types of Exotic Species
Crustaceans (4%)
Other (7%)*
Mollusks (7%)
Algae (18%)
* Other: Flatworm (1%), Insect (1%), Cnidarians (1%),
Disease Pathogens (2%), Oligochaetes (2%)
Plants and fish are the most frequent exotics
River Ruffe
The river ruffe, a small (typically six to eight inches)
perch-like fish from northern Eurasian freshwaters, entered
22 Chapter 2
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Duluth harbor around 1986 probably from the discharge of ballast water from an oceangoing vessel.
The ruffe is hardy and a rapid breeder. A growing population has been noted in the relatively warm
and nutrient-rich St. Louis River estuary. In 1989, the ruffe's population was estimated at 300,000;
a year later, its population was estimated to have doubled.
Scientists doubt that the temperature or food supply of Lake Superior will be a barrier to the
ruffe. They think the ruffe will spread eventually, although its pace will not rival that of the zebra
mussel. If the ruffe spreads, it may injure desirable native species. It competes for food with native
fish, such as yellow perch, and feeds on the eggs of whitefish.
As a first attempt to control the ruffe population in Duluth harbor, fisheries managers stocked
walleye and northern pike. Early indications are that walleye are not effective in controlling ruffe if
alternative prey is available. Limited sampling of burbot, a voracious member of the cod family, and
northern pike show that some had eaten ruffe. Further work is underway to assess the potential of
these predators to control the ruffe population.
Spiny Water Flea
Another recent invader to the Great Lakes is the large zooplankton Bythotrephes cederstroem.il
(spiny water flea). At up to one-half inch in length, it derives its name from its long spiny tail. First
noted in Lake Huron in 1984, the spiny water flea is native to Eurasian freshwater.
The effects that the spiny water flea may have on the Great Lakes ecosystem are not yet apparent.
The flea feeds on a few species of Daphnia, another form of zooplankton. Daphnia are an important
food source for young fish, such as the bloater chub, and its decline might also bring about an increase
in algae on which it feeds. Recent evidence, however, indicates that alewife may consume the spiny
water flea, providing a constraint on its population.
Alewife
The sardine-like alewife is a 4- to 11-inch long member of the herring family. Alewife are native
to the Atlantic Ocean and entered Lake Ontario presumably through the Erie Canal in the mid-1800s.
Alewife spread to the other Lakes from 1931 to 1954, after enlargement of the Welland Canal allowed
the species to bypass Niagara Falls.
Figure 2-10. Lake Trout With Lamprey Wounds, Eastern Lake Superior
Percentage of Lake Trout with wounds
Lake Trout abundance (catch per effort)
40
30
20
10
3,000
2,250
1,500
750
59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79
Year
59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79
Year
As lampreys have been controlled, lake trout populations nave responded to stocking
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 23
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Alewife have become a favored food of lake trout and salmon. With the precipitous decline of
lake trout populations, alewife populations exploded. In 1967, millions of alewife in Lake Michigan
died and washed ashore because of the effects of cold temperatures and hunger. The species may be
more vulnerable to such stresses in the Great Lakes than in its native Atlantic waters. It has
experienced other occasional die-offs in Lakes Huron and Ontario. Such instability can abruptly
decrease available food for valued sportfish that feed on alewife.
Stocking of salmon and lake trout have subsequently helped to control alewife numbers, and the
species has been harvested commercially for fertilizer and pet food. Alewife are believed to have
damaged the populations of several native species through competition for food. Among these are
lake herring and emerald shiner, whose numbers have never recovered since the control of alewife.
Depleted Native Fish Populations
Before 1800, about 170 fish species existed in the Lakes. Smallmouth and largemouth bass,
channel catfish, muskellunge, northern pike, and sturgeon lived nearshore. Blue pike, freshwater
drum, grayling, lake herring, lake trout, lake white fish, sauger, walleye, and white bass inhabited
deeper waters. Sturgeon lived 90 years, frequently exceeding six feet in length and 100 pounds; lake
trout lived 75 years.
The species mix varied between lakes. A large population of Atlantic salmon was confined to
Lake Ontario. Eastern Lake Erie supported lake trout, whereas Erie's warmer, shallower western
basin did not. Lake trout and lake whiteGsh were prevalent and were staples in the diets of Native
Americans.
Fish populations were richly abundant. Around 1890, commercial fishermen took about five
million pounds each of lake trout and lake white fish from Lake Superior each year. From 1920 through
1960, they harvested more than ten million pounds of lake herring from Superior each year.
Today, fish populations arc very different. Fish are generally smaller and do not live as long as
they did two centuries ago. The populations of many native species are not as plentiful and their
numbers are much more volatile. Populations surge and fall abruptly.
These changes are caused by a variety of reasons. Food chains have been disrupted (e.g.,
increased phosphorus levels altered the plankton communities). Nonnative species prey on or
compete with indigenous ones (e.g., lamprey feed upon large fish, while alewife and rainbow smelt
have displaced lake herring). Fish habitat has been lost or disrupted (e.g., wetlands have been drained,
spawning beds have been covered with silt, and dams have impeded passage to spawning grounds).
Sport and commercial fishing have sometimes reaped excessive harvests. Fishermen have also done
incidental damage to fish populations (e.g., sturgeon were killed because of the damage they did to
nets). And, some pollutants are suspected of hindering fish reproduction (e.g., contaminants in lake
trout may reduce its reproductive success).
The decline of once native prolific fish populations is profound. Grayling were extirpated by
forestry practices that polluted their spawning streams. Atlantic salmon disappeared from Lake
Ontario in the nineteenth century, and blue pike vanished in the 1950s. Several species of deepwater
cisco in the upper lakes were eliminated by the sea lamprey. Sturgeon and the once predominant
forage fish, lake herring, survive in much depleted numbers. Though more thriving, walleye, white
bass, and yellow perch are also much reduced from nineteenth century abundance. Hatchery-reared
lake trout must be stocked to maintain ecological balance as well as losses to sea lamprey and sport
24 Chapter 2
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fishing. Lake white fish in Superior and parts of Lakes Michigan and Huron are sufficiently plentiful
to support commercial fishing. Stocked, nonnative Pacific salmon—coho and chinook—are the most
abundant top predatois, except in western Lake Erie where the top predator is walleye.
The depletion and vulnerability of fish populations have brought both ecological losses and
economic costs. Populations of fish-eating birds and other wildlife have declined in part because of
loss of forage. Programs to stock fish and reduce lamprey have costs. Employment in commercial
fisheries has withered.
Nevertheless, heartening progress to improve Great Lakes fish resources has been made. The
control of sea lamprey and the stocking of valued fish, notably lake trout and Pacific salmon, have
bolstered fish resources and permitted the growth of an important sport fishing industry.
Excessive Phosphorus
By the late 1960s, various areas of the Lakes exhibited eutrophic conditions, marked by thick
algal blooms that imparted unpleasant odors and taste to the water and depleted dissolved oxygen
following its decay in late summer. These conditions were most pronounced in Lake Erie, which, as
the shallowest, wannest, and biologically most productive lake, is most susceptible to nuisance levels
of algae. Lake Erie has also been vulnerable because it surpasses other Lakes in receipt of effluent
from sewage treatment plants and of sediment from the rich farmland in its watershed. Both effluent
and sediment carried phosphorus to the Lake, altering its chemistry and, as a result, its algae
populations. To a lesser degree, eutrophic conditions were also evident in Lake Ontario and in
shallow, naturally productive embayments, including Saginaw Bay, Green Bay, and the Bay of
Quinte.
During the last two decades, the United States and Canada have generally reduced phosphorus
levels across the Great Lakes. Lake Erie's improvement, in particular, has been visible and dramatic.
Scientists determined that lowering phosphorus concentrations would have the greatest limiting effect
on algal productivity. The United States and Canada passed laws limiting phosphorus content in
household detergents and constructed more effective municipal sewage treatment plants, cutting
their phosphorus discharges (Figure 2-11). As a result, open-lake phosphorus concentrations have
declined (Figure 2-12).
Rgure 2-11. Estimated Total Phosphorus
Loading To Lake Erie
Figure 2-12. Spring Phosphorus Levels
In Lake Erie's Central Basin
Thouaand ol ton*
Parts par billion
U.S. and Canadian Target •
70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88
15
10
Restoration Target
Phosphorus loadings have been cut
68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92
Year
Phosphorus levels in the water column have fallen
Aspects of Ecosystem Health 25
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Figure 2-13. Sport Angler Harvest of
Walleye From Ohio Waters, Lake Erie
Figure 2-14. Oxygen Depletion Rate for the
Bottom Waters of Lake Erie's Central Basin
Walleye Harvest In thousand*
mgC^/LAnonth
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
75 77 79 81 83 85 87 80 91
Year
Anglers have enjoyed increased catches since the
restoration of Lake Erie from phosphorus and mercury
troubles. (The recent catch decline probably has natural
causes such as varibility in available forage and in water
temperatures during walleye spawning.)
iOYMTAnrag* • •• ~ * •
• e
Approximate Target
69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91
Year
In some recent years, the oxygen depletion rate has
fallen by about 25% from that typical of the 1970s.
(Subsequent increases are probably attributable to
natural variability in weather conditions.)
Phosphorus levels have also declined in Saginaw Bay and Green Bay. A facility that draws
drinking water from Saginaw Bay has not found taste or odor problems since 1980. This facility had
56 days of such problems in 1974. During the 1980s, phosphorus levels in lower Green Bay decreased
by about 25 percent from the average during the 1970s.
The bottom waters of Lake Erie's central basin continue to suffer depletion of dissolved oxygen
during late summer. During the summer, the central basin stratifies by temperature, forming a thin
bottom layer. When algae die and sink to the bottom, their decay exhausts the limited supply of
dissolved oxygen in that layer, creating during late summer a zone that cannot support
bottom-dwelling fish.
However, in many other respects, Lake Erie has recovered. Increased catches of sport fish, such
as walleye, are indirect evidence of this rebound (Figure 2-13). Another indication of Lake Erie's
improved quality is that the rate of oxygen depletion in the bottom layer of the central basin has
steadily declined and in 1989 was at its lowest rate in 20 years (Figure 2-14). This reduction means
that the period of oxygen depletion is shorter than in the past.
20 Chapters
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Chapters
The Great Lakes Program:
A Holistic Ecosystem Approach
This chapter presents the holistic approach to ecosystem protection that EPA has launched to
address Great Lakes environmental problems. Under this approach, the Agency began to develop a
joint Gve year strategy among the different agencies involved in protection of the Lakes, rank
ecological and human health risks facing the region, promote pollution prevention as the preferred
means to reduce risks from contaminants, target priority geographic areas, meet local needs with a
blend of solutions from across the range of environmental programs, enforce environmental laws in
a comprehensive, integrated manner, encourage public participation, and evaluate progress using
ecological indicators. In all these elements, the Agency is taking advantage of every opportunity for
cooperative actions with States, partner Federal agencies and Canada.
EPA has successfully used many individual elements of this approach in the past. The
fundamental changes now being pioneered for the Great Lakes are to promote innovative pollution
prevention measures, enforce environmental laws in a comprehensive way while focusing on targeted
geographic areas, harness local community participation in the remedial planning process, and
integrate the Agency's programs around the ecosystem, setting goals on the basis of environmental
needs and measuring progress with ecological yardsticks.
This innovative approach is consistent with, and enhances implementation of, the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada. Under this Agreement, the two
nations have dedicated themselves to restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological
integrity of the Great Lakes ecosystem by virtually eliminating releases of bioaccumulative toxic
substances to the Lakes. EPA's new ways of doing business are aimed at fuller achievement of the
Agreement.
A Shared Strategy
In 1991, EPA joined States and Federal agencies that have stewardship responsibilities for the
Lakes in developing a shared Gve year strategy that started in 1992. In addition to the eight Great
Lakes States, partneis to the plan include the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, the Fish
and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Soil
Conservation Service. The strategy joins environmental protection agencies with natural resource
agencies in pursuit of common goals. These partneis envision updates that will keep the strategy a
current, action-forcing document that targets different problems in succession.
The ultimate purpose of the strategy is that of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement—to
restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
To realize this purpose, the strategy has three long-term goals:
• Reduce Toxic Loadings: Prevent and reduce releases of toxic pollutants and remedy past
contamination with an emphasis on bioaccumulative pollutants
The Great Lakes Program 27
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• Protect and Restore Habitat: Protect and restore wetland, land, and aquatic habitats vital
for healthy communities of plants and animals, emphasizing the habitat needs of threatened
species
• Protect the Health of Human Residents and the Ecosystem's Living Resources: Protect
the health of human residents of the region from pathogens and protect the abundance and
biological diversity of its plant and animal communities.
The strategy relies on pollution prevention as the preferred means to reduce releases of toxic
substances. While the partners to the strategy recognize that full attainment of its goals is a long-term
proposition, the strategy spells-out numerous practical steps to make progress toward these goals.
The partners envision that their ultimate attainment will provide an ecosystem in which fish are safe
for human consumption in unlimited quantities and there are thriving populations of vulnerable
species, such as bald eagle and lake trout.
Identification of Priority Problems
During 1991, EPA conducted a comparative, risk-based characterization of human health and
ecological hazards facing the Great Lakes region. The study looked at evidence on 23 different
problems. It helped EPA and its partners identify priority problems and the best opportunities, for
making environmental progress. Among its Gndings, the comparative risk study concluded that the
the greatest ecological risks are the following:
• Bioaccumulative toxic substances that cause health problems for fish and wildlife
• Bottom sediments that harbor such contaminants and that contribute to poisoning the food
web
• Water runoff from agricultural and urban lands that carries pesticides and other pollutants
• Industrial and municipal discharges to surface water
• The possibility of large accidental spills of toxic substances
• Introduction of exotic species, such as the zebra mussel, that can greatly affect the balance
between existing species
• Destruction of valuable wildlife habitats, such as fish spawning areas, wetlands, prairies, and
old growth forests, by agricultural, residential, and other development activities
• Atmospheric depositionof sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury which affect inland lakes
• Global climate change.
The study concluded that the following posed the most significant human health risks:
• Consumption of Great Lakes sport fish because of their widespread contamination with PCBs,
and contamination in certain areas with chlordane, mercury, dioxins, and mirex
• Consumption of sport fish from inland lakes because of their contamination with mercury
• Accidental spills
• Respiratory exposure to toxic air pollutants.
In addition, the study concluded that the most significant sources of environmental contaminants
were concentrated around Chicago, Illinois, and Gary, Indiana; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo and
Niagara Falls, New York; and Cleveland, Ohio. This information helped the Agency begin to target
several of these areas for reduction of toxic releases and for habitat restoration.
28 Chapters
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Promotion of Pollution Prevention
EPA sees the Great Lakes as a proving ground for its pollution prevention efforts. Buttressed by
other Agency activities, pollution prevention is to be the preferred means to reduce toxic pollutants.
EPA is weaving pollution prevention into the fabric of all its Great Lakes activities and encouraging
all sectors of society to contribute their ideas for reducing the quantity and harmfulness of resources
used to satisfy human needs.
In April 1991, in conceit with the eight Governors of Great Lakes States, EPA launched a
Pollution Prevention Action Plan for the Lakes. The Action Plan augments State pollution prevention
programs. During recent years, States have started various prevention initiatives, involving education,
research, technical assistance, and recognition of prevention successes. Some States are also
exploring ideas such as issuing one permit to cover all the pollutant releases from a facility as a means
to increase pollution prevention, incorporating pollution prevention into enforcement settlements,
and linking permit fees to the generation of pollution. EPA will continue to work closely with States
in support of their prevention programs.
The Action Plan also complements EPA's national pollution prevention strategy, which includes
the 33/50 Program. EPA has identified 17 high risk chemicals that offer strong opportunities for
prevention. In February 1991, EPA announced a goal of encouraging firms across the Nation to cut
their releases of these substances 33 percent by the end of 1992 and 50 percent by the end of 1995.
Among the 17 high risk chemicals are three metals — cadmium, lead, and mercury — that can
Pollution Prevention: Some Whats, Whys, and Hows
Pollution prevention is the adoption of "greener* tech-
nologies or practices. It entails everyday decisions by Indus-*
try, agriculture, governments, universities, and
individuals—in short, by everyone—that cause the least
environmentaS harm, PoSutiori prevention heads-off envi-
ronmental irqury at its origins. :
Pollution prevention takes innumerable forms. In the
manufacturing context; pottuKon prevention involves fore-
thought about the ultimate disposal of a product at its core
cepfon and design stages; firms prevent pollution by
methods, such as product reformuiattorv changes in proc-
esses; and equipment redesign Farmers prevent pollution
by sound tillage practices and handling of pesticides and
fertilizers. Universities conduct research on promising pre-
ventive technologies, individuals hold a key to environ-
mental progress by their purchases of consumer products
and by their lifestyles, ;
For many firms, pollution prevention has compelling
attractions. It can reduce worker exposure to toxic sub-
stances, lowering medical and insurance costs, tt can tower
the cost of compliance with environmental regulations re-
garding treatment, cleanup, or disposal of hazardous sub-
Stances. And it can save raw materials wasted as pollutant
byproducts and lower the disposal costs of nonhazardous
rubbish. :
Pollution prevention also boosts a fjrnh's reputation with
its customers, surrounding community, and employees. In- :
creasingly, consumers stop buying products that they re-;
gard as environmentally unkind in their generation or;
disposal, presenting profit opportunities for firms clever:
enough to provide green products. Rrmswfth green records ;
may find it easier to earn community support for new facili-
ties and to recruit and motivate employees, : '" : 1
For such reasons, many U.S. firms! have well-estab-
lished pollution prevention programs, This welcome devel-:.
opment harnesses their innovatory energies to go beyond
EPA's standards for treatment technblogte»;: -"\
!EPA encourages and assists all sectors of society in
preventing pollution and is pursuing innovative ways to da:
so. The Agency will continue to release information on\
polluters, bringing companies that need to prevent pollution
to public notice. EPA disseminates pollution prevention in-
formation and sponsors research into preventive technolo-;
gies. Other potential means of fostering prevention are;
incentives for firms that reduce their use of raw materials,:
their toxic emissions, or energy consumption, i
The Great Lakes Program 29
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concentrate at upper levels of an aquatic food web. Mercury contamination is the basis forthe issuance
of several Great Lakes fish advisories.
Large manufacturing firms report their annual releases or transfeis of more than 300 toxic
substances. Under the 33/50 Program, EPA has asked firms that have reported releases of the target
chemicals to voluntarily reduce these through pollution prevention. EPA anticipated widespread
cooperation because pollution prevention offers economic benefits to firms. By the end of 1991, the
Agency had received voluntary commitments from companies to cease 280 million pounds of releases
of the 17 chemicals by 1995.
Pollution Prevention Action Plan
The Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Action Plan is predicated on challenging all sectors of
society; focusing on high risk pollutants, sources, and areas; and measuring progress. The Plan
contains five elements:
• The Challenge: The Governors challenged all sectors of society to reduce, on a voluntary
basis, releases of pollutants harmful to the Great Lakes.
• Lake Superior: EPA and the Lake Superior States agreed to define procedures to prevent
degradation of this relatively pristine lake, end loadings of bioaccumulative pollutants, and
establish air deposition sites to monitor loadings of air pollution to the Lake.
• Car Manufacturing: EPA and States announced that they would work with the Chrysler,
Ford, and General Motors Corporations to promote prevention of substances that injure the
Great Lakes ecosystem. These companies are joining EPA and States to determine substances
of concern, to evaluate which substances are being used in their operations, and to reduce this
use..
• Urban Nonpoint Pollution: EPA and New York announced that they would co-sponsor
education campaigns in four New York State counties to prevent urban nonpoint source
pollution from households.
• Binational Symposium: In September 1991, EPA co-sponsored with Environment Canada
a symposium to bring together representatives from government, industry, and the public to
share information on pollution prevention.
Geographic Targeting
A hallmark of the ecosystem approach is to focus on priority ecological problems and geographic
areas, though Special Geographic Initiatives and Remedial Action and Lakewide Management
Planning.
Special Geographic Initiatives
Under Special Geographic Initiatives, EPA and States focus prevention, inspection, enforcement,
and cleanup efforts on a targeted area. During FY 1992, EPA and States targeted southeast
Chicago-northwest Indiana and the Niagara River watershed because of their high ecological risk
and noncompliance with permits and regulations.
Remedial Action Planning
The United States and Canada have committed to develop and implement plans—termed
Remedial Action Plans (RAPs)—to restore the most impaired areas around the Great Lakes. In
30 Chapters
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general, these Areas of Concern are bays, harbors, and river mouths with damaged fish and wildlife
populations, contaminated bottom sediments, and past or continuing loadings of toxic and bacterial
pollution. The United States has 31 Areas of Concern, including five shared with Canada. The
Remedial Action Planning process defines ecological problems, identifies appropriate solutions, and
measures progress toward ecological goals. States develop and implement RAPs, drawing on
grass-roots colloboration from local communities.
Through 1992, States had completed initial versions of 23 Stage I (problem definition) and 12
Stage n (remedial action definition) RAPs. RAPs will be updated periodically as the results of
preventive and remedial measures warrant.
Even while RAPs are being developed, EPA and States concurrently take many warranted actions
to protect and restore Areas of Concern. Examples of such actions are summarized in the next chapter.
In further support of RAPs, EPA is continuing its Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated
Sediments (ARCS) program that has assessed contaminated sediment problems and is demonstrating
innovative treatment technologies in five Areas of Concern. ARCS will develop guidance on
assessment methods and on remedial alternatives to assist local decisionmakers in addressing
contaminated sediment situations within Areas of Concern. ARCS is also discussed at greater length
in the next chapter.
Lakewide Management Planning
The United States and Canada have also committed to develop and implement Lakewide
Management Plans (LAMPs) to address whole-lake problems that extend beyond Areas of Concern.
While EPA has the lead responsibility within the United States for developing these plans,
participation by other Federal agencies, States, Tribes and local communities is fundamental to their
success. A joint Federal-State policy committee has been established to guide the LAMP process and
to incorporate participation by the public.
During FY 1991, EPA completed LAMPs for the Lakes that have experienced the greatest
contamination—Michigan and Ontario. The early objectives of LAMPs are to identify key pollutants
and their sources and to schedule reduction measures. In FY 1992, the Agency began working with
partners on a LAMP for Lake Superior, plans for Lakes Erie and Huron will follow.
Application of Multimedia Tools
To implement geographic targeting, EPA and States apply appropriate measures from their full
range of programs—air, land, and water. This section discusses some of these programs and their
application to the Great Lakes.
Air Programs
Since the discovery of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other bioaccumulative toxicants
on remote Isle Royale in Lake Superior in the late 1970s, the Great Lakes scientific community has
been aware of the potential importance of the atmosphere as a pollution pathway. Researchers
theorized that this contamination could only have resulted from atmospheric deposition. More recent
research has concluded that the atmosphere is a significant pathway for mercury, which accumulates
in fish in some inland lakes, posing risks to consumers of sport fish.
The Gnat Laket Program 31
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Under amendments to the Clean Air Act passed in 1990, all U.S. industrial sources of airpollution
must significantly decrease their emissions of 189 different toxic pollutants over a ten year period.
In addition, EPA and Canada have recently established stations on each of the Great Lakes to begin
routine monitoring of toxicants. And during 1994, EPA will complete its first report on the extent,
sources and effects of atmospheric deposition to selected water bodies, including the Great Lakes.
Land Programs
Under the Superfund Program, EPA and States address abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous
waste sites that endanger public health, welfare, or the environment. Currently, about 140 NPL sites
in the Great Lakes watershed are targeted by Superfund for permanent cleanup; 25 of these are vital
to restoration of 14 Areas of Concern. For instance, the Superfund Program is addressing the site of
greatest PCB contamination in the Great Lakes — Waukegan Harbor, Illinois. Through 1993, one
million pounds of PCBs in and around this harbor are being removed, treated, burned, or isolated.
Whereas Superfund generally addresses past contamination, the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) regulates today's management of hazardous wastes, from generation through
disposal. Facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste must obtain permits that set forth
management standards and closure requirements. If contamination is suspected at a RCRA-regulated
facility, EPA or States may require the facility to conduct an investigation and correct any problems.
Inspections of RCRA-regulated facilities are an important element of Special Geographic Initiatives.
In the past several years, EPA and States have required RCRA-regulated facilities to conduct
investigations and take corrective measures in five Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
EPA has also issued regulations for onshore and offshore oil facilities to prevent accidental spills
of oil. These regulations require such facilities to follow Spill Prevention Control and
Countermeasures (SPCC) Plans, which are subject to EPA inspection. During 1991, EPA planned
182 SPCC inspections within the Great Lakes watershed and completed 196, almost triple the number
conducted in 1990.
Protecting Gitchl Gumml
In September 1991, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
EPA and Canada announced their agreement to end bioac-
cumulative toxicant discharges to Lake Superior. Their W-
nationaf program will fulfill a recommendation by the
International Joint Commission that the largest of the Great
Lates be a demonstration zone/for "zero discharge* of
toxicants. \ •-.'••-. . i
The biriatJonal program entails a number of elements.
First, the governments will develop uniform water quality
standards for the Lake. Second, they will work to end dis-
charges, emissions, and runoff of bioaccumulative toxi-
cants. They targeted nine substances initially, including
PCBs, mercury, chlordane, DDT, and dioxin. On the U.S.
Side, dischargers will be required to submit toxicant reduc-
tion plans with each application to reissue a NPDES permit,
and all increased or new municipal and industrial discharges
will be required to use the most advanced technologies in;
their manufacturing processes or effluent treatment On the;
Canadian side, new discharge requirements will be Intro-;
duced for the pulp and paper Industry. Third, States and the
US; government will designate parts of Cake Superior as
outstanding national resource areas where; under the Clean
Water Act, no new or increased discharges of certain bbac-
cumulative toxicants will be permitted. The binational pro-
gram will promote pollution prevention mjeasures and seek
public involvement through periodic meetings. ;
Centuries ago, Chippewa Indians called Lake Superior:
Gitchi Gummi, or'great water.* The Lake Superior Program:
recognizes and aims to protect this greatness.
32 Chapters
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Water Programs
A discharge of pollutants into the surface waters of the United States is regulated by a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by EPA or a State. Permits limit the
discharge of contaminants and establish treatment performance requirements for industrial and
municipal wastewater. There are about 600 major and 3,000 minor NPDES dischargers in the Great
Lakes watershed.
Two principles govern NPDES permits. The first principle is that dischargers meet
technology-based treatment standards by industrial category. The second is that more stringent limits
are imposed to protect water quality where technology-based limits prove insufficient to maintain
designated water quality. Through water quality standards, States define the chemical and biological
conditions necessary to maintain water quality. To assist States in establishing these standards, EPA
prepares criteria to define the maximum allowable concentrations of pollutants that are acceptable
for human health and aquatic life, based on scientific evidence.
In 1989, EPA and States began a "Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative" to develop binding
guidance for States on water quality criteria for the Great Lakes, implementation procedures, and
antidegradation policy. EPA published this proposed guidance in April 1993. Implementation of the
guidance will fulfill several purposes. It will ensure that Great Lakes environmental needs are fully
incorporated into State water quality programs, which will provide a sound scientific basis for water
quality-based protection of the Lakes. It will also promote consistency among States in their standards
and implementation procedures for the Lakes, and serve as the basis for agreeing with Canada on
chemical specific objectives for the Great Lakes.
Other water programs also benefit the Great Lakes ecosystem. For example, one program
addresses contaminated storm water (rainwater runoff). Before entering a sewer, rain runoff can
collect soil-surface contaminants that are then tunneled into receiving surface waters by storm sewers.
Following a rule that EPA issued in 1990, large cities and certain industries are curtailing discharges
of contaminated storm water, subject to the terms of NPDES permits, which emphasize management
practices and pollutant monitoring.
Particularly in older urban areas, storm water and household wastewater are delivered to
municipal wastewater treatment facilities via combined sewers. During rainstorms, increased flow
can exceed either a facility's treatment capacity or the carrying capacity of a sewer, leading to the
release of untreated wastewater. The significance of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) varies around
the Great Lakes. Michigan reports that CSOs are a major cause of impairments to its rivers, including
the Rouge River, which receives an estimated 7.8 billion gallons of untreated water each year as it
flows through metropolitan Detroit. States with such problems are pursuing strategies to control CSO
releases to meet their water quality standards. In some areas, these strategies entail major capital
investments, such as sewer separation and tunnels or basins to store untreated water. It is expected
that, together, the storm water and CSO control programs will significantly reduce wet weather
loadings of pollutants to the Great Lakes, especially around urban areas.
During the last two decades, EPA, States, and municipalities have made a concerted investment
to improve municipal wastewater treatment. As a result, 95 percent of U.S. treatment facilities in the
region now provide at least "secondary" treatment. Remaining jurisdictions are following schedules
to achieve this treatment level and continue to improve their facilities.
The Clean Water Act also requires certain industries to "pretreat" toxic discharges to municipal
treatment systems. Approximately 170 major municipal dischargers on the U.S. side of the Great
The Great Lake* Program 33
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Lakes have industrial pretreatment programs that are subject to regular inspections by EPA and States.
Implementation of pretreatment requirements has effected sharp reductions in contaminant inflows
to many facilities.
EPA jointly administers the principal Federal regulatory program to protect wetlands with the
Army Corps of Engineers. This program issues permits to regulate the discharge of dredge or fill
materials into water, including wetlands. The Agency seeks to prevent a net loss of wetlands on a
national basis in the short term and to increase the quantity and quality of wetlands in the long term.
EPA also joins States in identifying high value wetlands in order to give advance notification to
landowners prior to permit applications.
In addition, the Agency has made the Great Lakes watershed a priority in its support to State
nonpoint source control programs, including education and incentive programs to abate runoff of
pesticides, fertilizers, and animal wastes from farmland and others to prevent urban runoff of wastes
from homes and industries.
Promotion of Public Stewardship
EPA and States are encouraging public involvement in their activities and promoting public
stewardship of the Lakes:
• Local community "stakeholders" are strongly involved in Remedial Action Planning, helping
governments be more responsive to local concerns.
• Representatives from environmental groups, business associations, and municipalities were
invited to comment during development of guidance under the Water Quality Initiative.
• In 1991, EPA put into service a state-of-the-art research vessel that will also serve as an
educational platform. Tours for the public, including school children, will promote broader
awareness of Great Lakes environmental issues.
• EPA's Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS) program to test
innovative remedial technologies for sediment contamination has held public meetings to
inform residents living near the areas of study.
Strengthening of the Knowledge Base
To ensure that their decisions are based on the best current scientific information, the Agency
and its partners are working to improve their measurement of the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem
and to sharpen their integration and analysis of environmental data. In the past, EPA has often relied
on administrative statistics, such as numbers of permits, grants, and enforcement actions, as surrogate
measures of effectiveness. In the future, the Agency will increasingly assess environmental progress
by monitoring water, land, and air conditions and by monitoring biological responses of plants and
animals to these conditions. Biological measures of well-being could include the balance between
pollution-tolerant and pollution-sensitive species, or the balance between algae-grazing and predator
fish. The foundation of the Agency's strengthened monitoring effort will be the Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), which is a national program that gauges the health
of our Nation's ecosystems. One ecosystem that EMAP will study will be the Great Lakes.
Recently, the following steps have been taken to assess the health of the Great Lakes:
• In 1991, EPA put into service a new 180 foot long research vessel, IbeLake Guardian. This
ship can sample water quality to the deepest depths of the Great Lakes and bottom sediments
34 Chapter 3
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to a depth of 40 feet. The ship was named through a contest among elementary school students
around the Great Lakes.
• Since 1989, EPA has sponsored a major study and demonstration program—the ARCS
program—to assess contaminated Great Lakes bottom sediments, test promising remedial
technologies, and develop guidance on addressing such contamination. Through 1992, EPA
had assessed five Areas of Concern, identified treatment technologies to be tested at each, and
demonstrated these in the field.
• In 1991, EPA established three master stations to monitor atmospheric deposition of toxic
contaminants. Between them, the United States and Canada now have one master station on
each of the Great Lakes.
• During 1992, EPA, Wisconsin, and partners concluded analytic aspects of their study of the
sources, paths, and fates of several toxicants in Green Bay. The study has provided valuable
lessons for whole-lake analyses in support of LAMPs.
• As part of the LAMP processes, ecosystem objectives are being developed for each of the
Lakes.
• EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and States continue to monitor targeted toxic contaminants
across several fish and wildlife species.
• In 1992, EPA bought a high performance computer that will be placed in Bay City, Michigan,
for modelling of the Great Lakes, including hydrodynamic processes, air deposition, pollutant
loadings, and sedimentation. This will be an early step toward establishing an environmental
center at the head of Saginaw Bay that will be dedicated to scientific study of the Lakes.
EPA is also working to strengthen its integration and analysis of environmental data on the Great
Lakes. Through its various programs, the Agency collects data on air and water pollution, hazardous
waste sites, pesticides, drinking water, radiation, and the health effects of pollutants. Much of this
information is obtained pursuant to separate laws and is narrowly focused to serve these mandates.
In general, it is difficult to integrate these data to obtain a comprehensive view of total pollutant
releases by a facility and surrounding ecological conditions. Such an overview would assist
decisionmaking for permits and enforcement. Accordingly, the Agency is working to increase the
availability of environmental data to support decisionmaking by Federal, State, and local
governments and to make information more accessible to the public.
Cooperation with Canada
EPA and States are taking advantage of all opportunities to work with their counterparts in
Canada. Canadian representatives have been invited to ARCS program meetings to keep apprised of
U.S. findings regarding technologies to address contaminated sediments. Canadian observers have
also been invited to attend meetings concerning the Water Quality Initiative. In addition, EPA and
States are working with Canadian counterparts on RAPs for shared Areas of Concern and on LAMPs
for shared Lakes. The two nations are also sponsoring joint activities, such as the symposium on
pollution prevention and their binational Lake Superior Initiative, mentioned previously.
The Great Lake* Program 35
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Chapter 4
Restoration of the Ecosystem:
Actions to Implement the Water
Quality Agreement
This chapter reports recent actions by EPA and States to implement the three major approaches
of the Water Quality Agreement: Remedial Action Planning, Lake wide Management Planning, and
the Phosphorus Load Reduction Plan. Following the section on remedial action, it discusses EPA's
Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS) program that will develop
guidance on addressing contaminated bottom sediments. Before discussing these activities, however,
the framework of the Water Quality Agreement is presented.
Background
The United States and Canada have a long history of cooperation in their joint stewardship of
the Lakes. In 1905, the two nations formed an International Waterways Commission to advise them
about Great Lakes water levels and flows. Under their Boundary Wateis Treaty of 1909, they created
an International Joint Commission (IJC) that superseded the earlier commission and continues today.
The IJC has six commissioners, three from each nation. The Commission has limited authority
to approve diversions, obstructions, and uses of the Lakes that affect water flow or levels across the
international boundary. Since the U.S. and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
in 1972, the IJC has assessed progress under it and reported findings to the governments and their
citizens. The thrust of the 1972 Agreement was to reduce loadings of phosphorus that were causing
nuisance levels of aquatic plant life. The two nations also agreed to coordinate their surveillance of
the ecosystem.
In 1978, the two nations revised their Agreement. By that time, clear progress had been made in
reducing phosphorus. There was also growing appreciation of the threat to fish, wildlife, and human
health from bioaccumulative toxic substances. Some species of Gsh in many locations had been found
to contain unacceptable levels of contaminants. Therefore, the 1978 Agreement added commitments
to prohibit the discharge of toxic substances in toxic amounts, virtually eliminate all bioaccumulative
toxic substances, and restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the ecosystem. In
1983, the two nations further agreed to develop phosphorus reduction plans to reduce excessive plant
life in areas that remained impaired.
In 1987, the nations revised their Agreement again, committing to ecosystem cleanup plans for
Areas of Concern and to resolution of whole-lake problems associated with critical pollutants. The
two types of plans are called Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) and Lakewide Management Plans
(LAMPs), respectively. The nations agreed that these plans would be provided to the IJC for
independent comment at various stages.
Restoration of the Ecosystem 37
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Figure 4-1. Areas of Concern
38 Chapter 4
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Areas of Concern
Since 1973, the United States and Canada have identified geographic problem areas around the
Lakes. Over time, they have increased or decreased the number of these areas as they have learned
more about their conditions. There are presently 43 Areas of Concern, of which the United States has
31, including five shared with Canada. Figure 4-1 shows their locations.
Although the United States has identified its Areas of Concern for more than a decade, it should
be noted that there have generally been substantial environmental improvements in these areas during
the same period. For instance, as result of a $ 1.5 to $2 billion investment in water pollution abatement
along the Cuyahoga River, dissolved oxygen levels have been restored to the 30-mile stretch of river
between Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. Though deep bottom sediments of the lower Ashtabula River
in Ohio are highly contaminated, a 1990 survey found that the upper layer of sediments is not
contaminated, indicating that the contamination source ceased a number of years before.
The Fox River and lower Green Bay, Wisconsin, is an Area of Concern where there has been
encouraging biological responses to improved water quality. In the early 1970s, low dissolved oxygen
in the Fox made hardy fish, such as carp and bullhead, the dominant species. Since that time, the fish
community in the river has returned to a more natural, year-around diversity of species, including
walleye, northern pike, small-mouth bass, and perch. A recent report on the area also noted that the
number of different bottom-dwelling species in Green Bay doubled in the ten years after 1978. Wild
celery, a favored food of waterfowl and habitat for fish, began to reappear in the lower bay after a
20-year absence. The reproductive success of endangered Forster's terns in Green Bay improved
during the 1980s, and the number of nesting pairs increased about 500 percent from 1986 through
1988 to nearly 600 pairs. In 1990, the mayfly, Hexagenia, an aquatic insect sensitive to pollution,
was noted for the first time since 1939.
Remedial Action Planning
The United States and Canada formally agreed to prepare RAPs in 1987. One of the Agreement's
general principles regarding RAPs is use of an ecosystem approach. Each RAP is to identify the
nature and causes of problems and to indicate remedial actions. RAPs are provided to the LTC for
independent comment at three stages—Stage I, after problems have been defined; Stage n, after
appropriate remedial measures have been developed; and Stage in, after monitoring indicates that
impairments have ended.
Another provision of the Agreement is that the public, particularly communities adjacent to the
Area of Concern, be involved in RAP planning and implementation. The two nations realize that
cleanup of many Areas of Concern will be a lengthy, costly process. Continuing public interest is
integral to its success.
RAPs are developed and implemented by States. The completion of these planning documents
is a measure of RAP progress. Through FY 1992, States had developed 23 Stage I and 12 Stage II
RAPs. Other RAPs are under initial development.
As more is learned about Areas of Concern and the results of preventive and remedial actions
are known, RAPs will be continually improved. EPA and States consider Remedial Action Planning
a valuable, ongoing management process for identifying priority environmental problems,
determining remedial steps, and evaluating progress.
Restoration of the Ecosystem 39
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Actions to Restore Areas of Concern
Even as RAPs are being developed, EPA, States, and other participants are taking warranted
actions to improve Areas of Concern. Highlights are summarized below.
• Industrial Dischargers: During the last 20 years, regulation of dischargers to surface water
has greatly reduced pollutant loadings to the Lakes. EPA took enforcement actions under the
Clean Water Act against industrial dischargers in three Areas of Concern—Black River, Grand
Calumet River, and Menominee River. In the Black River case, a steel company dredged
35,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the river in 1990.
• Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO): U.S. urban areas are required to eliminate or treat their
CSO discharges of untreated waste water. Multiyear programs to eliminate CSOs are under-
way in many U.S. communities around the Lakes. CSO correction activities are of importance
to 12 Areas of Concern—Clinton River, Cuyahoga River, Grand Calumet River, Detroit River,
Maumee River, Menominee River, Milwaukee Harbor, Rochester Embayment, Rouge River,
Saginaw River, St. Clair River, and St. Marys River. CSO improvements often involve major
infrastructure investments. The CSO plan for Rochester, New York, for instance, is estimated
to cost $475 million.
• Municipal Sewage Treatment Plants: Major investments in municipal wastewater treatment
plants have improved water quality in many Areas of Concern. Since 1972, EPA, States, and
towns have invested more than $8 billion in sewage system improvements around the Great
Lakes watershed. As a result, 95 percent of U.S. treatment facilities in the Great Lakes region
Targeting the Grand Calumet River
The Grand Calumet River, at the base of Lake Michi-
gan, is tile focus of EPA and State activities that have
resulted in several multistatute enforcement actions and
settlements that incorporate provisions to prevent future
pollution. Selected activities are listed below:
• In 1990, EPA and USX Corporation, which operates
, a steel-making facility in Gary, Indiana, settled a suit
brought by EPA in 1989 for alleged National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) violations.
Under the innovative settlement, USX agreed to pay
a penally of $1.6 million, conduct a sediment study
in the riverat a cost of $2.5 million, cleanup sediment
at a cost of $5 million, and invest $25 million in
environmental improvements within its facility,
» In March 1993, EPA and Inland agreed to a
settlement under which Inland will invest $25 million
to comply with air, water, and hazardous waste
requirements. In addition, the firm will pay a $3.5
million fine and invest $26 million in supplemental
environmental projects, including cleanup of
contaminated sediments in portions of Indiana
Harbbt
* In 1990, the State of Indiana filed suit against LTV!
Corporation, which operates a steel-making facility,.:.
for alleged NPDES violations. ;
* In 1990, EPA filed suit against Bethlehem Steel'
Corporation under the Safe Drinkjng Water Act and:
RCRA. = ;
* EPA issued administrative orders to various:
Potentially Responsible Parties to cleanup the!
\: Midco t and It S uperfund NPL sites in Gary, I ndiana.
• In 1991, the Atlantic Richfield Corporation and the
city of East Chicago reached agreement with the
: Indiana Department of Environmental Management::
;; (IDEM) that they would recover petroleum;
contamination beneath a site adjoining the Grand\
Calumet Estimates of the petroleum beneath the;
: site range from 3 to 17 mitlion gallons, .
:• In 1991, EPA reached agreement with the East;
•. Chicago Sanitary District that the District would pay;
a penalty for alleged violations of a 1988 Consent;
Decree. j' ' " : '. "•:•
* EPA continued enforcement actions against the;
Hammond and. Gary Sanitary Districts for alleged:.
violations of Consent Decrees, IDEM joined the I
Hammond suit as a co-plaintiff in 1991. ; ;
40 Chapter 4
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practice at least "secondary" treatment, and remaining jurisdictions are following schedules
to achieve this level of treatment effectiveness. Upgrades have recently been completed or are
in progress in five Areas of Concern—Black River, Cuyahoga River, Green Bay, Maumee
River, and Milwaukee Harbor.
• Industrial Pretreatment: Of 314 major U.S. municipal dischargers in the Great Lakes
watershed, more than 65 percent are required to have industrial pretreatment programs. EPA
and States took actions to enforce the pretreatment of industrial effluent in three Areas of
Concern—Detroit River, Niagara River, and Rouge River.
• Super-fund Cleanups: The cleanup process is continuing at 14 Superfund sites integral to
the restoration of seven Areas of Concern—Ashtabula River, Kalamazoo River, Niagara
River, St. Lawrence River, Sheboygan River, Torch Lake, and Waukegan Harbor.
Targeting Lake Michigan
Contamination of sport fish with polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) is the principal basis tor the issuance of
health advisories regarding consumption of Great Lakes
fish. Recently, EPA and States have taken the following
actions to attack this priority problem in Areas of Concern
ringing Lake Michigan: i
» The largest reservoir of PCS contamination in the
Great Lake* 1$ Waukegan Harbor, Illinois, from
• where hundreds of thousands of pounds of PCBs
nave ertered Lake Michigan. EPA designated an
Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) site for the
Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1981.
EPA determined a cleanup plan in 1984. In 1988,
OMC agreed to dredge parts of the harbor and
extract PCB$ from soil and sediment for inpineration,
EPA estimates that there are more than 700,000
pounds of PCBs on CMC's properly and 300,000 in
Waukegan Harbor. Under the cleanup being carried
out through 1993, 97 percent of the PCBs in the
: harbor will be removed. The cleanup is estimated to
: : cost $20 million.
i • Among Lake Michigan tributaries, the Fox River,
which empties into Green .Bay, is believed to carry
the highest load of PCBs. The Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and
EPA, joined by other agencies and universities, have
conducted a major study of the sources and fates of
four pollutants, including PCBs, in Green Bay.
Recently, WDNR also found 34 acres of
PCB-contaminated bottom sediments that are
: thought to be the origin of about one-third of PCB
loadings to the tower Fox River. WDNR is studying
remedial alternatives for this site. '•
• The Sheboygan River is also contaminated by
PCBs. EPA designated Sheboygan Harbor and 12
miles of the river as a Superfund NPt site in 198S,
; In 1986, Tecumseh Products Company agreed to I
conduct a remedial study of the site. jNearing i
completion, this study is testing innovative ways of;
bieaking down f*CBs lodged insedlmenfe. Remedial I
actions will begin in 1993. \ :. : !
• The Kalamazoo River also carries PCBs, Irt May;
1989, EPA and Michigan proposed a 35-mile stretch ]
of the river as a Superfund NPLsite, In December
1990, three Potentially Responsible Parties entered.
an agreement; with the Michigan Department:of
- Natural Resources (MDNR) to conduct a remedial \
investigation and feasibility study, which began in i-
j 1991. ' - \\. _ ; "> |H
• In 1990, EPA and Chemical Waste Management =
(CWM) signed a Consent Agreement pursuant to
which CWM agreed to pay a $3,75 million cfviH
penalty fo r violating PCB disposal requirements at its;
south Chicago hazardous waste incinerator. At the '-
time, this penalty was the largest administrative
penalty EPA had imposed on a single facility. :
» In July 1990J Menominee Paper Company of
Menominee, Michigan, pled guilty to a 10-count
Indictment on cjiminal misdemeanors for knowingly;
under-reporting pollutant discharges during 1985
and 1986. The company agreed to a $100,000 fine.
In a related civil case, Menominee Paper also agreed
to pay a $2,1 mittion penalty, which was the second
highestcMI pehafty levied under;tne Clean Water Act
atthattime/ . : i
Restoration of the Ecosystem 41
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The Superfund program is also addressing another 11 sites that are significant, though generally
to a lesser degree, to the restoration of seven other Areas of Concern—Clinton River, Grand Calumet
River, Green Bay, Oswego River, St. Louis River, St. Marys River, and Saginaw River (its Shiawasee
tributary).
• Hazardous Waste Management Programs: EPA and States have obtained agreements from
hazardous waste handlers to conduct facility assessments, investigations, or corrective actions
relating to five Areas of Concern—Menominee River, Niagara River, Grand Calumet River,
River Raisin, and St. Lawrence River.
• Nonpoint Source Programs: Programs to prevent agricultural nonpoint pollution have
focused on six Areas of Concern—Buffalo River, Green Bay, Maumee River, Milwaukee
River, Saginaw River, and Sheboygan River.
• Wetland Programs: EPA and States have completed Advance Identification projects of
wetlands in northwest Indiana; southeast Wisconsin; Lake County, Illinois; Green Bay;
Oswego County, New York; and northwest Ohio. These projects identify wetlands of lu'gh
ecological value and notify land-users.
Targeting the Niagara River
The U.S. side of the Niagara River, which attracted a
cluster of chemical companies in the years after World War
II, has been a leading source of toxic pollutants, including
lOof the 15 mosttroublesome in the Lake Ontario food web.
Studies indicate that nonpoint loadings, such as teachate
and runoff from waste sites, are the dominant source of
priority pollutants to the Niagara. Many hazardous waste
sites exist near the river, the most infamous of which is a
former landfill called Love Canal that was developed as a
residential area in the 1950s. After contamination was dis-
covered in 1978, 950 residents were evacuated Since this
time, EPA and the New York State Department of Environ-
mental Conservation (NYSDEC) have continued to focus
attention on the Niagara frontier.
• In 1985, NYSDEC completed landfill containment at
Love Canal, covering 3 acres with a clay cap, fn
1990, NYSDEC completed a study that determined
. that four areas were once again suitable for
residential use.
• EPA and NYSDEC Joined counterpart Canadian
agencies in a major binational study of the Niagara
River which was completed in 1985,
* EPA and NYSDEC estimate that there has been an
80 percent decline in loadings of priority pollutants
from NPDES dischargers between 1982 and 1987,
• In 1987, EPA and the State of:New York joined;
Canadian counterparts in a declaration dedicated to:
halving toxic loadings (from 1987 levels) to the
Niagara by 1996. : |
* The two U.S. agencies have taken many actions
related to remedying waste sites, including five
; Superfund sites and many others addressed by
RCRA and the; State's waste program They have
announced schedules to remediate, by 1998, the 22
waste sites considered potentially responsible for 99
percent of U.S. waste site loadings to the Niagara. j
Through October 1992,68 milestones toward re media-;.
tion of the 22 sites had come due. Of these 68 actions, 44
(or 65%) had been accomplished to that point Some recent
actions Include: i V : : =•
• Removal of 6,500 cubic yards of PCS contaminated
: : bottom sediments from Gill Creek, a tributary to the :
: Niagara River estimated to contribute.20% of the ;
: PCS load from the Niagara River to Lake Ontario. ;
; This removal was completed between June to
December 1992. ; •..-..]
• In March 1993, EPA reached agreement with the
City of Niagara Falls to resume diversion of dry
weather waste flow from the Falls Street Tunnel to :
the city's wastewater treatment plant which wilt
: greatly reduce toxic releases from the largest point
source of toxic chemicals to the Niagara River,
42 Chapter 4
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RAP Process Lessons
Some successes of the RAP process to date are:
• Local community "stakeholder" groups are strongly involved in many RAPs. This grass roots
participation has molded the goals of RAPs and strengthened the sense of local ownership of
both problems and their solutions.
• Stakeholder participation has helped to increase public awareness of environmental issues.
• Stakeholder groups have provided an opportunity for local industry to join in restoration
planning and to identify opportunities to prevent pollution.
• The development of some RAPs has brought together nearby municipalities to address
regional problems (e.g., Green Bay, Rouge, and Maumee RAPs).
• RAPs developed to date represent an impressive assemblage of information on environmental
problems and solutions. They serve to inform the public, guide government actions, and justify
investments in Great Lakes restoration (e.g., the Great Lakes governors launched a $100
million Great Lakes Protection Fund in 1988).
• RAPs have called upon a broad range of environmental programs to meet ecological needs.
For instance, they rely on nonpoint source measures (Saginaw and Green Bays), industrial
pretreatment (Rouge River), groundwater cleanup (Niagara River), better sewage treatment,
and wetlands restoration (Green Bay).
The following general lessons have emerged from the Remedial Action Planning process:
• The development of a strong RAP can be complex and protracted. The Rouge River RAP took
three years to develop and grew into seven separate volumes.
• Some RAP development efforts encounter a host of questions about the extent and causes of
ecosystem impairments. Establishing causality between known sources of pollution and
impaired fish and wildlife may entail years of study.
• The RAP process is iterative and incremental. The Grst generation of the Rouge River RAP,
for example, is a superb achievement, resulting from exemplary involvement by many
communities. It addresses the most immediate problems of the Area of Concern—overflows
from combined sewers and bacteria problems. In the future, the Rouge River RAP will be
updated to address the problem of toxic substances.
• There is considerable asymmetry of information available to different RAP teams. Sometimes
there is extensive information about an Area of Concern (e.g., Green Bay) and, in other cases,
the development effort must include analyses of water, fish, and sediment samples to fully
define use impairments and their causes (e.g., Cuyahoga and Maumee Rivers).
• Some communities have citizens with a strong knowledge of local environmental conditions,
which has helped their stakeholder groups (e.g., Duluth, Green Bay, and Milwaukee).
• The RAP development process can be greatly helped by information provided by PRPs
pursuant to enforcement actions (e.g., Ashtabula, Kalamazoo, and Sheboygan).
• Major investments are required to restore some Areas of Concern. Large sewage system and
treatment facility improvements are underway or will be needed in many Areas of Concern
(e.g., Maumee, Rouge, and Detroit Rivers, and Milwaukee Harbor). Michigan estimates that
the total cost of all improvements for CSOs that discharge into the Rouge River to be $1 billion
and for those that discharge into the Detroit River to be $2.6 billion.
• Ways to address the common problem of contaminated bottom sediments in rivers and harbois
are often unclear. EPA is testing technologies and will develop guidance to assist local
decisionmakers.
Restoration of the Ecosystem 43
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Targeting the St Lawrence River
EPA and State actions are focused on eliminating local
problems, such as those of the St. Lawrence River Area of
Concern. During the 1960s and 1970s, industries poured
wastes, including PCBs and mercury, into riverside landfills
and the river itself, damaging the traditional fishing, farming,
and hunting economy of Mohawks living within the Akwe-
sasne Indian Reservation in New York State, Fish, ducks,
and turtles, traditional sources of protein for the Mohawks,
became contaminated with PCBs and mercury. The follow-
ing activities have been taken to address problems in the St
Lawrence River Area of Concern: :
• In 1983, EPA added a; General Motors (GM) site on
the St Lawrence River to its Superfund NPL
• In October 1990V EPA issued Superfurid
Administrative Orders to the Aluminum Company of
America (ALCOA) and the Reynolds Metal
Company to perform remedial investigations,
designs, and cleanups of PCB-corrtaminated bottom
sediments in the St Lawrence River system.
In December i 990, EPAsetected a remedial plan for
part of the GM site which is estimated to cost $78
million; I i
lnMarch1991,NYSDECselectedaremedyforeight
subsites at the ALCOA site. The remedy entails a
combination of pollutant removal, treatment, and
containment at an estimated cost of $46 to 52 million.
In May 1991, EPA proposed a cleanup plan for the
rest of the GM site, which is estimated to cost $33 to
$47 million. I
In July 1991, ALCOA agreed to fiay New YorkState
$7.5 million, including $3.75 million for criminal
Violations, in relation to various environmental
offenses in its- handling of hazardous wastes at its
Massena, New York, facility. ;
ARCS Program
EPA continued to sponsor a study and demonstration program—the Assessment and
Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS) program—to assess contaminated bottom
sediments in the Great Lakes, test remedial technologies, and develop guidance on addressing such
contamination. Five areas are receiving priority consideration: Ashtabula River, Ohio; Buffalo River,
New York; Grand Calumet River, Indiana; Saginaw Bay, Michigan; and Sheboygan Harbor,
Wisconsin. EPA is joined in the ARCS program by Federal and State agencies, including the Army
Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Mines, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Michigan Department of
Natural Resources, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and a number of
universities.
All 31 U.S. Areas of Concern, including the five given priority by ARCS, have contaminated
bottom sediments. Developing scientific grounds and improved technologies for addressing
contaminated sediments will be critical to restoring the Great Lakes ecosystem. Many existing
technologies for removing contaminated sediments have unwanted environmental side effects. For
example, many current methods of dredging bottom sediments release some contaminants from
sediments.
The ARCS program assesses the scope and nature of contamination in the study areas, evaluates
human and ecological health impacts of the contamination and of alternative remedial measures, and
tests the efficacy of innovative remedial technologies. ARCS also informs and solicits comments
from interested citizens in communities adjacent to the study areas about the intent and findings of
the program. A final report on the ARCS program will be available in 1994. It will include guidance
on how to assess freshwater contaminated sediment problems and guidance on remedial alternatives.
44 Chapter 4
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Assessment
During FYs 1989-90, the ARCS program sampled bottom sediments at different depths in the
Indiana Harbor/Grand Calumet River, Buffalo River, and Saginaw River. ARCS started analyzing
sample chemistry, toxicity (both acute and chronic) to aquatic organisms exposed to the sediment,
and identification of benthic organisms. These analyses were completed in 1991, and
three-dimensional maps of the extent and nature of contamination will be prepared.
Preliminary data from Indiana Harbor samples indicate their acute toxicity to test organisms;
they are among the most toxic Great Lakes sediments ever analyzed. Since this is true of samples
from the surface o f bottom sediment, continued contamination from sources in the area is a possibility.
In the Grand Calumet River, surface sediments were also found to be highly toxic. Preliminary
analytic results of surface samples from the Buffalo River indicate their toxicity was generally lower
than those of samples from Indiana, though sediments from one Buffalo River site were found to be
acutely toxic to some organisms. In 1989, ARCS took surficial samples in the Saginaw River.
Preliminary analysis of these samples generally indicates less toxicity than in the Buffalo River,
although two Saginaw sites had notably higher toxicity than the others.
Benthic organisms found living in the Indiana Harbor Canal were mainly pollution-tolerant
species, whereas more pollution-sensitive species were found in the Saginaw and Buffalo Rivers.
The Fish and Wildlife Service surveyed Gsh (bullheads) for tumors and abnormalities in the
Ashtabula, Saginaw, Grand Calumet, and Buffalo Rivers. No bullheads or white suckers could be
found in the Grand Calumet. The Service also began studying the transfer of contaminants from
sediment to fish in the Saginaw and Buffalo Rivers.
ARCS is drawing on Superfund activities in the Ashtabula River to obtain samples and chemical
analyses, both surficial and with depth. ARCS is also able to obtain its bioassays and chemistry
analyses from a Superfund site in Sheboygan Harbor.
Hazard Evaluation
As contaminants in sediments are identified, the ARCS study evaluates their risks under current
conditions and under various remedial alternatives. During FYs 1989-90, ARCS continued to assess
human and ecological health impacts of sediment contamination and of remedial alternatives. The
ARCS program continued evaluations of current hazards at each of the five priority locations.
In the Buffalo and Saginaw Rivers, the ARCS program began comprehensive hazard evaluations
to assess risks under various remedial alternatives. Many industrial firms along the Buffalo River
have closed since the 1970s or directed their discharges to municipal treatment facilities; thus, the
Buffalo River analysis may prove to be less complex than that of the Saginaw River, which contains
a larger watershed and likely a greater number of current sources of pollutants.
These comprehensive evaluations studied the sources and fates of contaminants in the Buffalo
and Saginaw Rivers over a six week period. Water column, fish, and sediment samples were analyzed
for selected pollutants. Contaminants being studied in the Buffalo River are PCBs, DDT, dieldrin,
chlordane, lead, copper, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benz(b/k)fluoranthene, and
chrysene. PCBs, zinc, copper, and lead are being studied in the Saginaw River.
Once models of the sources and fates of these pollutants are refined, the ARCS program will
predict risks under various remedial alternatives, including leaving sediments undisturbed (i.e.,
no-action alternative); dredging only the two or three worst hot spots; capping stretches of river with
clean material rather than dredging them; and removing contaminated sediment completely. The
Restoration of th* Ecotystem 45
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ARCS program is considering all possible risks associated with each option, including dredging,
treatment, and ultimate disposal of contaminated sediments.
Technology Evaluation
During FYs 1989-90, the ARCS program conducted small-scale laboratory tests of treatment
technologies on sediments from the five study locations. These tests used between a few grams to a
few kilograms of sediment. The laboratory tests provided information to help the study team select
promising technologies to demonstrate in the field. The ARCS program also sponsored a binational
research conference on biological treatment of sediments contaminated by PCBs, PAHs, and some
metals.
The ARCS program chose 16 technologies as candidates for pilot-scale field demonstrations in
the five study locations. Each was selected based on a number of criteria, including effectiveness and
cost, the latter an important consideration given the large volume of contaminated sediments across
the Lakes. Technologies fall into five general categories: thermal technologies (including
incineration, but more often the use of high temperatures short of combustion to vaporize
contaminants and water from sediment), chemical destruction (using chemical reactions to break
down contaminants), biological treatment (using bacteria to break down contaminants), extraction
technologies (using solvents to separate contaminants from sediments), and immobilization (such as
processes that mix cement with sediments to reduce the availability of contaminants to the food web).
The ARCS program conducted pilot-scale field demonstrations in all five priority locations
during FYs 1991-92.
• On the Ashtabula River, ARCS demonstrateed a thermal stripping process to vaporize organic
contaminants from sediment.
• On the Buffalo River, ARCS demonstrated a thermal extraction process similar to that used
at Ashtabula but tailored to the needs of the Buffalo sediment.
• On the Grand Calumet River/Indiana Harbor, ARCS demonstrated the application of a solvent
extraction process to separate organic contaminants.
• On the Saginaw River, ARCS separated sediments by particle size, using a hydrocyclone.
Since contaminants tend to adhere to finer sediment particles, this demonstration is expected
to reduce the volume of heavily contaminated sediment by separating coaise-grained sedi-
ments that bear relatively less contamination from fine-grain particles that hold more contami-
nants. Thereafter, ARCS demonstrated bioremediation of the fine-grain particles in the
confined disposal facility in Saginaw. Using native bacteria, the study team will add nutrients
to stimulate the growth of bacteria and vary the amount of oxygen available to the bacteria to
try to increase the effectiveness of the bioremediation.
• On the Sheboygan River, ARCS provided technical assistance to Superfund cleanup activities
through EPA's Environmental Research Laboratory-Athens. This entailed a scientific review
of the Sheboygan bioremediation pilot project already underway, including design and
statistical recommendations.
Public Communication
A work group, including citizens living near the study areas, was formed to promote information
exchange with the public. The work group established repositories in libraries near each of the five
areas. ARCS also developed a slide-show presentation and sponsored public meetings to inform
residents living near the priority areas about program activities and results.
48 Chapter 4
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Lakewide Management
The second major remedial approach under the Water Quality Agreement is the development of
LAMPS for critical pollutants to address whole-lake problems that extend beyond Areas of Concern.
As with the RAF process, LAMPs are intended to follow a comprehensive ecosystem approach,
drawing on the full range of Federal, State, and local environmental programs, as needed. Again, as
with the RAP process, EPA and States view Lakewide Management Planning as an ongoing
management process to identify priority environmental problems, the steps needed to solve the
problems, and ecological outcomes.
EPA and States gave priority to completing Stage I LAMPs for Lakes Ontario and Michigan in
FY 1991. The objectives of Stage I LAMPs are to identify key pollutants and their sources and to
schedule reduction measures. In FY 1992, the Agency and states began work on a LAMP for Lake
Superior. LAMPs for Lakes Erie and Huron will follow.
EPA will invite public participation in the LAMP process. The Agency will notify the public of
proposed LAMPs through the Federal Register and conduct public meetings on these plans.
Lake Ontario
The LAMP will build upon the existing Lake Ontario Toxics Management Plan. In 1987, EPA,
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), and counterpart
agencies in Canada (Environment Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment) agreed to
develop such a plan. Its first generation was adopted in February 1989. The goal of the Toxics
Management Plan is a lake that provides drinking water and fish safe for unlimited human
consumption and that allows natural reproduction of the most sensitive native species, such as bald
eagles, ospreys, mink, and otters.
Under the plan, the four agencies have compared concentrations of toxic substances in fish and
in water with water quality standards. They found no exceedances of drinking water standards.
However, fish tissue concentrations exceeded human or wildlife health protection levels for dioxin,
PCBs, chlordane, mirex, mercury, dieldrin, DDT and its metabolites, octachlorostyrene, and
hexachlorobenzene.
The plan uses four approaches to address these exceedances. First, it relies on reduction of toxic
inputs by the entire range of Federal and State programs, including the RCRA, CERCLA, and NPDES
programs. Second, it calls for further reductions through special focus on five New York Areas of
Concern and four others in the Province of Ontario. Third, it seeks future reductions based on lakewide
analyses of pollutant fate to provide grounds for water quality-based regulation. Fourth, the plan calls
for zero discharge of bioaccumulative toxic substances into Lake Ontario.
During FY 1989, the four agencies completed initial characterization of toxics in Lake Ontario.
Differences in chemical-specific standards were identified and commitments made for their
resolution. Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada committed to work with
Health and Wei rare Canada to develop Canada's first water quality criteria for the protection of human
health from contaminants in fish. During FY 1990, work continued on a model of steady-state
exposure and bioaccumulation for toxic chemicals in Lake Ontario, including development of a
time-response model of exposure and bioaccumulation of toxic substances. FY 1991 activities
included a comprehensive estimation of loadings from groundwater, air, and sediment to test the
bioaccumulation model. Also in 1991, EPA and NYSDEC started to incorporate pollution prevention
measures into their lakewide efforts. Such measures included focusing on the Rochester and Buffalo
Restoration of the Ecosystem 47
-------
areas for urban nonpoint source prevention, focusing on facilities that emit any of the priority lake wide
pollutants, and implementing a New York regulation for a 50-percent reduction of fugitive air
emissions and New York State's requirement for progressive reduction in toxic chemicals generated
by key dischargers.
During FY1990, a team from EPA, NYSDEC, New York State Department of Health, Fish and
Wildlife Service, and counterpart Canadian agencies developed ecosystem objectives for Lake
Ontario. In 1992, the team continued to develop measurable ecosystem indicators for nearshore and
open-lake water quality (trophic condition), human health, wildlife health, and habitat.
Lake Michigan
During 1991, EPA worked with the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin to
develop a LaMP for Lake Michigan. This was published in the Federal Register for public comment
in 1992.
Two early LaMP activities aim to prevent potential environmental releases of pesticides and
PCBs. Under agricultural "clean sweeps," States invite fanners and pesticide dealers to turn-in
pesticide stocks for proper disposal. The Lake Michigan States collected in excess of 120,000 pounds
of pesticides in that Lake's watershed during 1992, including more than 10,000 pounds of suspended
and cancelled pesticides such as DDT. Under the PCB prevention activity, EPA asked utility
companies to accelerate their phase-out, within the Great Lakes watershed, of electrical equipment
containing PCBs. By early 1992, the majority of utilities had already committed to speeding-up their
PCB phaseouts.
49 Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
Actions By Federal Partners
This chapter presents FYs 1989,1990, and 1991 accomplishments pertaining to the Great Lakes,
as reported by five Federal agencies: the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, the Fish and
Wildlife Service, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and the Soil Conservation Service.
The Army Corps of Engineers
Under the Rivers and Harbors and Flood Control Acts, the Corps maintains navigational channels
in authorized harbois and riveis of the Great Lakes, necessitating periodic dredging of bottom
sediments. In recent years, the Corps has dredged four million cubic yards of sediments annually
from the Great Lakes. Since half of this volume is contaminated and unsuitable for disposal in
open-lake waters, the Corps builds confined disposal facilities (CDFs), which are structures designed
to hold and isolate these sediments. Forty-three CDFs are completed or under construction within the
Great Lakes.
The following Corps activities also relate to the Great Lakes:
• Administration of the Federal program under the Clean Water Act that regulates the discharge
of dredge or fill materials into U.S. waters, including most wetlands
• Flood control and shoreline erosion projects
• Technical support to EPA and States on Superfund site cleanups
• Technical support to EPA and States in construction of municipal wastewater treatment plants
• Technical support to environmental agencies on Great Lakes Remedial Action Plans (RAPs)
• Technical support to EPA's Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments
(ARCS) program
• Cleanup of hazardous materials at formerly used defense sites through the Defense Environ-
mental Restoration Program (DERP)
• Participation on various International Joint Commission (IJC) boards that regulate lake water
levels.
FY1989 Accomplishments
• The Corps administered the dredge and fill permit program. Applications were reviewed in
cooperation with Federal and State agencies, public comments were reviewed, environmental
impacts were assessed, and mitigation were requirements determined.
• The Corps analyzed bottom sediments at 19 navigational projects in the Great Lakes:
Ashtabula, Cleveland, and West Harbors in Ohio; the Saginaw, Rouge, and St. Clair Rivers,
Manistique Harbor, Keweenaw Waterway, and Lake St. Clair in Michigan; Buffalo and Olcott
Harbors in New York; Chicago River and Waukegan Harbor in Illinois; Erie Harbor in
Pennsylvania; Indiana Harbor in Indiana; Milwaukee and Sheboygan Harbors and Green Bay
in Wisconsin; and Duluth/Superior Harbor in Minnesota/Wisconsin, Sediment analyses
included physical, chemical, and biological testing. The results of Corps' sediment analyses
Actions by Federal Partner* 49
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represent the largest data base of its kind on the Great Lakes. Results have been made available
to Federal and State agencies and have been widely used for Remedial Action Planning. These
analyses are applicable to a wide range of water quality issues, including bench-top investi-
gations of advanced treatment technologies for contaminated sediments at Indiana Harbor,
studies of microbiological degradation of PAHs in sediments, and comparative analysis of
sediment bioassays.
• Navigational dredging and confined disposal removed nearly two million cubic yards of
polluted sediments from the Great Lakes. Navigation projects where polluted sediments were
removed and placed in a CDF included the Calumet River and Harbor in Illinois; Cleveland
and Toledo Harbors in Ohio; the Rouge and Saginaw Rivers, Monroe Harbor, and Keweemaw
Waterway in Michigan; Milwaukee and Green Bay Harbors in Wisconsin; and Duluth-Supe-
rior Harbor in Minnesota/Wisconsin.
• A new CDF was completed at Clinton River, Michigan.
• The Corps participated in the development of RAPs for several Areas of Concern, including
Ashtabula, Buffalo, Cleveland, Grand Calumet River, and Milwaukee.
FY199Q Accomplishments
• The Corps continued to administer the dredge and fill permit program. Approximately 6,500
permits were issued and 343 enforcement actions were taken by Corps districts within the
Great Lakes watershed.
• The Corps analyzed bottom sediments from 19 Great Lakes navigation projects: Waukegan
Harbor in Illinois; Cleveland, Conneaut, and Sandusky Harbors, and Rocky River in Ohio;
Grand Traverse Bay, Manistique, and Ontonagon Harbors and the Saginaw and Black Rivers
in Michigan; Ashland, Bayfield, Cornucopia, LaPointe, Manitowoc, and Milwaukee Harbors
in Wisconsin; Duluth-Superior Harbor in Minnesota/Wisconsin; and Oswego Harbor and
Rochester Harbor in New York.
• Navigational dredging removed about 4.1 million cubic yards of bottom sediments. About 2
million cubic yards were determined to be unsuitable for open-water disposal and were placed
in CDFs. Dredging projects were conducted in Buffalo Harbor, New York; Cleveland, Huron,
Lorain, and Toledo Harbors in Ohio; the Detroit River, Saginaw, and St. Clair Rivers,
Keweenaw Waterway, and Holland and Monroe Harbors in Michigan; Duluth-Superior
Harbor in Minnesota/Wisconsin; and Green Bay and Milwaukee Harbors in Wisconsin. These
projects included CDF operation, maintenance, and water quality monitoring.
• The Corps assisted EPA's ARCS program by providing technical support, performing bench-
scale testing of treatment technologies, developing plans for pilot-scale demonstrations,
creating procedures for estimating contaminant losses, designing concept plans for full-scale
remediation, and participating in five ARCS work groups.
• The Corps assessed contaminant loss and bioaccumulation in fish at the Saginaw CDF and
PCB bioaccumulation and volatilization at the Chicago CDF.
• Construction of the Maumee Bay Shoreline Erosion and Beach Restoration and Reno Beach-
Howard Farms Flood control projects were started in Ohio,
• The Corps began a study of sediment and water quality in Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, New
York.
• Construction of two major flood damage reduction projects was started. The Chicagoland
Underflow Plan is the reservoir portion of Chicago's Tunnel and Reservoir Project (TARP).
The TARP will reduce the backflow of stormwater and sewage from Chicago area rivers into
Lake Michigan. Construction also began on the Little Calumet River Flood Protection and
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Recreation Project in northwest Indiana. This project includes significant wetland mitigation
and enhancement and will provide a recreational corridor along the river.
• The Corps removed underground storage tanks and transformers from a site near Sault St.
Marie, Michigan, under the DERP program. Remedial investigations and feasibility studies
are ongoing at this and other sites.
• Water level impacts on wetlands along the St. Marys River were evaluated in support of the
IJC Levels of Reference Study.
• The Corps provided technical support to EPA's Superfund project at the Sinclair Oil Site in
Wellsville, New York.
• Technical review of a sediment sampling plan was conducted for the Fields Brook Superfund
site in Ashtabula, Ohio.
• Technical review of remediation designs was conducted for the Superfund site at Waukegan
Harbor, Illinois.
• The Corps provided support to Wisconsin in the development of management alternatives for
contaminated sediments.
• The Corps studied wetland mitigation, restoration projects, and environmental management
of CDFs for the State of Michigan.
• The Corps assisted States in the development and implementation of RAPs at a number of
Areas of Concern (e.g., Milwaukee, St. Louis River, and Manistique).
• A study of the movement of dredged material placed in Sandusky Bay, Ohio, was started under
the Dredging Research Program.
FY1991 Accomplishments
• The Corps continued to administer the dredge and fill permit program.
• An EPA/Corps task group on Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(l) implementation met to
develop guidance on dredged material testing and decisionmaking.
• Continuing support to the ARCS program, the Corps demonstrated pilot-scale sediment
remediation technologies and continued support to an EPA project to remove contaminated
sediments from the Buffalo River.
• Testing of bottom sediment was conducted at 21 navigation projects: Arcadia, Au Sable,
Caseville, Holland, Lexington, Ludington, Manistee, Manistique, and Port Sanilac Harbors
and the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers in Michigan; Waukegan Harbor in Illinois; Bums
Waterway and Michigan City Harbors in Indiana; Dunkirk Harbor in New York; Erie Harbor
in Pennsylvania; Fairport, Huron, Port Clinton, and West Harbois in Ohio; and Sheboygan
Harbor in Wisconsin.
• Dredging of polluted sediments and confined disposal was conducted for the following sites:
the Clinton, Detroit, Rouge, and Saginaw Rivers, and Lake St. Clair and Bolles Harbor in
Michigan; Buffalo Harbor in New York; Cleveland, Huron, Lorain, and Toledo Harbois in
Ohio; Duluth-Superior Harbor in Minnesota/Wisconsin; and Green Bay and Manitowoc
Harbois in Wisconsin.
• The Corps constructed new CDFs or offloading facilities or made major modifications to
existing CDFs at Erie Harbor in Pennsylvania; Duluth-Superior Harbor in Minnesota/Wiscon-
sin; Green Bay Harbor and Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin; St. Joseph Harbor in Michigan; and
Toledo Harbor in Ohio. Routine maintenance and water quality monitoring was performed at
other CDFs.
Action* by Federal Partner* 51
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• The Corps started construction of small boat harbors in Buffalo, New York, and in Little
Calumet River, Indiana, and continued the Chicagoland Underflow Plan flood damage
reduction project.
• The Corps continued to identify and remediate hazardous wastes at former defense sites. An
analysis was completed on a sample of the 1,400 barrels dumped into Lake Superior more
than 30 yeais ago.
• The Corps participated in a Fish and Wildlife Service assessment of the management and
restoration needs of Great Lakes fisheries resources.
• The Corps issued grants to States for programs aimed at reducing zebra mussels at public
facilities.
The Coast Guard
The Coast Guard promotes prevention of pollution from vessels by promulgating regulations and
by conducting marine safety and law enforcement inspections. The Coast Guard is also responsible
for responding to spills of oil and hazardous substances into the Great Lakes. Figure 5-1 provides
selected statistics on spills within Great Lakes Harbors. As the Federal On-Scene Coordinator for spills
from ships, the Coast Guard monitors cleanup activities and conducts the cleanup when responsible paities
do not do so effectively. The Coast Guard operates nine marine safety units on the Great Lakes to perform
pollution response and investigation functions. The Coast Guard also attempts to prevent the introduction
of exotic species from ships into the Great Lakes.
100
Recent Accomplishments
• In May 1989, the Coast Guard collaborated with the Canadian Coast Guard to establish
voluntary guidelines to protect the Great Lakes from further introduction of exotic species
through discharge of ship ballast water. Under these guidelines, ships scheduled to enter the
Great Lakes system are advised to exchange their ballast water beyond the continental shelf
or, if this is not possible, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The International Maritime Organization
distributed these guidelines to its 133 member governments and organizations. The St.
Lawrence Seaway Authority is monitoring compliance with the guidelines, and the Canadian
Coast Guard plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the guidelines. The Authority reported 85
percent compliance with the guidelines during the 1989 shipping season.
• In April 1989, the Coast Guard promulgated regula-
tions to implement Annex V of the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships (MARPOL 73/78). These regulations, which
apply to all ships, including recreational boats, pro-
hibit the discharge of garbage into the navigable
waters of the United States. These regulations were
amended in May 1990 to require maintenance of
waste management plans and display of MARPOL
Annex V placards on all oceangoing vessels greater
than 40 feet in length. This amendment will help
ensure that all persons on board are aware of garbage
pollution laws and will promote proper disposal.
• The Coast Guard continued to verify pollution inci-
dents in U.S. waters of the Great Lakes. During
calendar year 1989, the Coast Guard recorded 262
Flgura 5-1. Great Lakes Harbors with the Most Recorded Oil
and Chemical Spills, January 1980 - September 1089
Qnnd
HwwvMuskegon
SauftStMM*
200
300
400
500
000
Number of Spite
52 Chapters
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such incidents. Of these, 13 involved hazardous materials, and the remainder involved oil. The
Federal Government funded cleanups for 17 incidents.
• The U.S.-Canada Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan (JCP) was amended to include
provisions for periodic meetings and exercises of the Joint Response Team and on-scene
coordinator organizations. A binational exercise of the JCP took place at St. Catherine's,
Ontario, in February 1989.
• The Coast Guard reviewed all its oil contingency plans, including those for the Great Lakes.
In conducting the review, Coast Guard on-scene coordinators considered preparedness to
respond to the average, largest, and most complex oil spills that have occurred in their zones.
In addition, they considered the most catastrophic potential incidents, given shipping patterns
and cargos. The on-scene coordinators have amended their local contingency plans accord-
ingly.
The Fish and Wildlife Service
The Fish and Wildlife Service maintains fish and wildlife resources and provides public access.
The Service collects and interprets diverse information on Gsh and wildlife species, populations, and
habitats to assist resource managers in making decisions about the protection and restoration of the
Great Lakes ecosystem. The Service's activities generally fall into five functional categories:
fisheries, refuges and wildlife, law enforcement, fish and wildlife enhancement, and public affairs.
Major activities include permit review, land acquisition and habitat management, management of
migratory birds, anadromous fish (fish that spend their adult life in the sea but swim up rivers to
reproduce) and endangered species, and research. As part of the permit review process, the Service
reviews Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydroelectric projects, Army Corps of Engineers
dredge and fill permits, Farm Bill habitat easements, and wetland restorations. The Service's research
activities address both needs of the Service and, when feasible, the needs of other Federal agencies,
Indian tribes, State agencies, and international groups, such as the LJC and the Great Lakes Fisheries
Commission.
The Service manages the National Fishery Center-Great Lakes, five National Fish Hatcheries
that support Great Lakes lake trout restoration efforts, and six National Wildlife Refuges within the
Great Lakes watershed—Iroquois and Montezuma in New York, Erie in Pennsylvania, Ottawa in
Ohio, and Seney and Shiawassee in Michigan. In addition, the Service conducts surveys of wetlands
to support the National Wetlands Inventory Program. The Fisheries Center studies fish populations
and their responses to such stresses as exotic species, habitat modification, contamination, and fishing.
The Center particularly focuses on the restoration of naturally reproducing lake trout populations. It
operates five research vessels.
Some recent accomplishments are provided below by functional area.
Fisheries
FY1989 Accomplishments
• The Service stocked the Great Lakes with about 6.4 million lake trout. This native species
serves as a valuable biological indicator of water quality because of its need for clean water
and its long life span.
• An offshore stocking vessel (the M/V Togue) was used to stock fish over traditional offshore
spawning reefs to enhance fish survival.
Actions by Federal Partner* 53
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• The Sendee continued monitoring bloater chubs from Lake Michigan. The National Fisheries
Research Center-Great Lakes has analyzed Lake Michigan bloater chubs for DDT and dieldrin
since 1969 and added analysis for PCBs in 1972 and for chloidane in 1982.
• As part of its sea lamprey control program, the Service applied lampricides to 31 Great Lakes
tributaries. Parasitic and spawning adult populations, larval populations, and nontarget organ-
ism populations were also evaluated. Operational fishery research was conducted on alternate
control techniques, registration of lampricides, and special problems encountered by field
crews.
• Fishery assistance biologists continued to study exotic aquatic organisms that appear in the
Great Lakes.
FY1990 Accomplishments
• The Service stocked the Great Lakes with 3.4 million lake trout. More than 2 million were
stocked by ship over traditional offshore spawning reefs to increase their survival rate. Also,
more than 300 thousand were stocked by airplane.
• The Service applied lampricides to 28 Great Lakes tributaries.
• The Service developed an interactive computer program ("expert system") that uses the
structure of an organic molecule to predict acute toxicity to aquatic life. The system is being
used to estimate toxicity of chemicals before starting bioassays.
FY1991 Accomplishments
• The Service began to implement the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990
that calls for the Service to conduct a comprehensive fishery resources study through FY 1994.
• The Service continued the lake trout stocking program.
• The Service applied lampricides to 39 Great Lakes tributaries.
• The Service continued monitoring bloater chubs from Lake Michigan. In addition, archived
Gsh samples were analyzed by PCB and chloidane congeners to determine historical trends
in these contaminants by congener.
• The Service increased activities with State and Tribal cooperators to assess Great Lakes Gsh
populations.
Refuges and Wildlife
FY 1989 A ccomplishments
• The Service increased wetland acreage in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge as part of
the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, which is a cooperative effort between the
Service and the Forest Service to preserve waterfowl habitats.
• Under the Waterfowl Management Plan, the Service conducted a waterfowl breeding survey
and developed a plan for Fort Drum, New York, which has 12,000 acres of wetlands.
• The Service funded three studies that assessed the impacts of contaminants on Great Lakes
wildlife. The Grst study, of St. Lawrence River contaminants, analyzed water and bird eggs
for levels of PAHs. The others studied contaminants in two bin! species: the double-crested
cormorant and black-crowned night heron.
• Samples of water, sediment, and biota were collected in five national refuges for analysis of
chemical contamination.
54 Chapters
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• Substantial pump, levee, and dike restorations were made at the Ottawa and Shiawassee
Refuges to repair flood damage.
FY1990 Accomplishments
• The staff of two refuges supported wetland restorations through cooperative agreements with
landowners. A total of 971 acres of wetlands were restored, including 109 acres in counties
adjacent to Lake Erie.
• The Service began a preliminary study to identify lands within 10 miles of Lake Erie that have
potential for wildlife habitat and public recreation and that have unique natural, historic, or
scenic features.
• The Service continued to assist the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) in
monitoring reproductive success of bald eagles nesting near Lake Erie. During the previous
eight years, active nests have risen from 2 to 16.
• The Service continued to support a survey of colonial waterbirds of the Great Lakes. This three
year study, begun in 1989, will indicate where the Service should direct future management
activities.
• The Service began a study of black ducks in Ohio's Lake Erie marshes. This study should
provide information on black duck habitat use, movements, and survival in this critical
migration area.
FY1991 Accomplishments
• In cooperation with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, the Service
began to implement the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture.
• The Service continued to reintroduce common terns at Ottawa Refuge.
• The Service continued to fund the restoration of wetlands on private lands through challenge
grants to landowners.
• The Service continued to monitor black ducks on Lake Erie and bald eagles.
• The Service completed its preliminary Lake Erie shoreline study.
Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
FY 1989 Accomplishments
• The Service participated in the LTC's water levels study that evaluated wetland changes and
resulting ecosystem effects during low and high water-level years from 1979 to 1988. The
Service examined Kakagon Slough, Wisconsin, on Lake Superior; Cecil Bay Marsh, Michi-
gan, on Lake Michigan; Fish Point, Michigan, on Lake Huron; Dickinson Island, Michigan,
on Lake St. Clair, and the St. Lawrence River, Sage Creek, and Campbell marshes, in New
York.
• Working with EPA and States, the Service began to develop water quality criteria for wildlife
as part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative.
• The Service prepared natural resource damage surveys for two Superfund sites (General
Motors Central Foundry located along the St. Lawrence River and Hooker Chemical along
the Niagara River) and reviewed a report concerning tumors in fish at the 102nd Street site on
the Niagara River.
• To support EPA's ARCS program, the Service surveyed fish (bullheads) for tumors and
abnormalities and sediments in Saginaw, Grand Calumet, and Buffalo River. The sediment
Actions by Federal Partner* 55
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collected will be used to study bioaccumulation of chemicals in fish collected at these three
locations.
• In New York, the Service participated in the licensing effort for 23 hydroelectric projects,
recommending changes in operation or shutdown of three projects and minimum Oow
requirements at six plants because the projects were causing adverse effects on fish popula-
tions. Approximately 26 projects were reviewed by the East Lansing Field Office.
• Also in New York, the Service reviewed about 300 dredge and fill permits, requesting
modifications to approximately 100 projects to reduce habitat impacts and recommending
denial of 10 projects due to unacceptable impacts.
• Under its Farm Bill activities, in New York, the Service obtained easements on about 700
acres of wildlife habitat, transfers of approximately 500 acres of wetlands, and a wetland
restoration project on a former farm. In the East Lansing Office, conservation easements were
staked for 36 proposals. Twenty-one restorations under the Conservation Reserve Program
were inspected—all are filled with water, and wildlife have been observed on most.
• Endangered species consultations were conducted under Section 7 of the Endangered Species
Act on about 30 projects in New York.
• The Service began an effort with the Forest Service to reduce beaver pond destruction and to
develop small forest ponds to improve black duck breeding habitat.
• The Service supported the development and review of RAPs for the Sheboygan, Marinette,
Milwaukee, Oswego, Niagara, and St. Lawrence Rivers, Duluth-Superior Harbor, and Sagi-
naw Bay.
FY1990 Accomplishments
• The Service reviewed bald eagle population and productivity data to evaluate the species'
endangered status.
• In cooperation with States and duck hunter organizations, the Service continued efforts to
restore beds of wild celery along the Great Lakes. Wild celery provides foraging opportunities
for fish, and the vegetation is eaten by waterfowl. In spring 1988, celery was planted at two
locations in the lower Detroit Riven While the celery failed at one site, about 5,000 plants took
hold at the other. This work indicates that restoration of wild celery in the lower Detroit Fiver
is possible under suitable conditions.
• The Service completed a recovery plan for the lakeside daisy, found only in Ottawa and Erie
Counties, Ohio, and in Ontario.
• The Service continued involvement in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydroelectric
projects, Clean Water Act dredge and fill permits, Farm Bill habitat easements and wetland
restorations, EPA's ARCS program, and EPA's initiative to develop water quality criteria for
wildlife. In New York, the Service participated in the licensing effort for 12 hydroelectric
projects, and reported about 30 dredge and fill permit violations to the Corps.
• The Service worked with EPA on a wetlands inventory in the Green Bay watershed. This will
be available to planning and regulatory agencies to assist them in making various decisions,
including permit issuance and zoning.
• The Service continued a pre-assessment of natural resource damages for Waukegan Harbor,
Illinois and began a natural resources damage assessment for Saginaw Bay.
• The Service continued to work with ODNR, Ohio EPA, EPA, and the Army Corps of
Engineers on the proposed siting of a CDF for Toledo Harbor dredged materials. The proposed
CDF would occupy 176 acres of productive shallow water habitat in Maumee Bay.
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• The Service studied gulls and bald eagles around the Torch Lake, Michigan, Area of Concern
to determine if the high copper level in the lake was hurting their reproductive success. Initial
indications were that the productivity of the species was normal. A companion study of yellow
perch reproduction in Torch Lake found impaired hatchability of perch eggs.
• The Service continued to support remedial action planning for the Cuyahoga, Grand Calumet,
Menominee, and Maumee Rivers and Milwaukee Harbor.
FY1991 Accomplishments
• The Service completed recovery plans for Houghton's goldenrod and Pitcher's thistle. Both
exclusively inhabit the Great Lakes watershed, primarily in sand dunes and beaches. The
Service also completed a revision to the Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Plan that addressees
wolf populations in Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan.
• The Service proposed the Lake Erie water snake for threatened status and Hungerford's
crawling water beetle for endangered status. The snake is found only on several Ohio and
Ontario islands, while the beetle is found only on two Michigan sites and one Ontario site.
• The Service supported the advanced identification of important wetland resources in northwest
Ohio (Erie, Lucas, Ottawa, and Sandusky Counties) that are unsuitable for the discharge of
dredged or filled materials. This is a joint activity with EPA, Ohio EPA, Ohio DNR, and the
Army Corps of Engineers. The Service also continued to support a similar advanced identifi-
cation of wetlands near Green Bay.
• The Service continued its support to Remedial Action Planning.
• The Service began a natural resource damage assessment for the Indiana Harbor and Grand
Calumet River Area of Concern.
The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
The Laboratory conducts research on Great Lakes ecosystem dynamics and physical processes,
performing integrated, interdisciplinary research in support of resource management and
environmental services in coastal and estuarine waters, with special emphasis on the Great Lakes.
This program includes both basic and applied studies and combines experimental, theoretical, and
empirical approaches. Field, analytical, and laboratory investigations are performed to improve
understanding and prediction of environmental interdependencies between atmosphere, land, water,
and sediments. The Laboratory emphasizes a systems approach to environmental problems and the
development of environmental service tools to assist resource managers and others in the application
of scientific Gndings to specific resource management problems. The Laboratory's work is discussed
in the following paragraphs under the topics of bioaccumulative toxic substances, ecological
processes, and benthic populations.
Bioaccumulative Toxic Substances
The Laboratory works with EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and various Canadian agencies
to improve understanding of the processes that control the distribution, cycling, and fate of organic
contaminants, their toxicology, and the kinetics of transfer. A major focus is the association of toxic
organics with suspended and deposited sediments. The adsorption of organic contaminants onto
sediment particles, followed by settling and eventual burial, commonly controls the residence time
and concentration of these compounds in the water column. Understanding the interactions between
different types of suspended matter and dissolved organic contaminants is critical to modeling the
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behavior of such contaminants in the environment. Resuspension of bottom sediments in the Great
Lakes is a primary process that introduces nutrients and contaminants into the water. Direct exchanges
between bottom sediments and overlying water are also important processes but are poorly
understood.
The Laboratory uses radiotracers to identify and model sediment transport processes because of
their relative ease of measurement and dating. These measurements are used to discriminate between
resuspended and fresh materials and to study horizontal sediment transport and the movement of
sediments into ultimate depositional zones, the seasonal resuspension of sediments, and geochemical
changes to sediments over time.
The Laboratory has collected and analyzed sediment cores from all of the Great Lakes during
the past 15 years and has deployed sediment traps to obtain samples of suspended sediments from
the water column. Sediment traps have been deployed for 10 years, primarily in Lake Michigan and
to a lesser extent in Lakes Superior and Huron.
Extensive resuspension of sediments has been found in all three lakes, especially during winter
months. Data are being integrated with data obtained by Canada from Lakes Erie and Ontario that
will permit a comprehensive view of Great Lakes sediment resuspension.
The Laboratory's various sediment projects provide understanding that can be applied in the
development of mass balance models and Remedial Action and Lakewide Management Planning.
Better understanding of the physics, toxicology, and availability of Great Lakes sediments can be
used to help define the assimilative capacity of the lakes for certain pollutants, the hazards that the
reservoir of contaminated sediments pose to aquatic life, and the effects of alternative ways of dealing
with sediments. The effects of possible remediation measures on contaminated sediment are poorly
understood and are one of the fundamental unresolved issues concerning long-term restoration of the
Great Lakes.
During FY 1989, some of the Laboratory's projects in the area of toxic organics focused on:
• The sediment resuspension process, using radiotracers to identify fundamental sediment
transport processes.
• The physics of the bottom 25 meters of the Lake Michigan water column, with focus on bottom
currents and resuspension of sediments.
• The toxicology and bioavailability of contaminated Great Lakes sediments.
• A 28-day mortality bioassay using a benthic organism to assess the presence of toxic organic
compounds.
• Testing of a gamma scan system to measure the porosity of sediments in a nondestructive
manner.
• The development of tolerances to toxic substances by exposing benthic worms collected from
offshore sites in Lake Michigan near Grand Haven and Benton Harbor to sediments collected
from these two sites. The Benton Harbor sediments were toxic to the organisms from Grand
Haven, whereas the same type of organisms from Benton Harbor were unaffected by Grand
Haven sediments. These results indicated, but seldom demonstrated, that organisms collected
off Benton Harbor have developed tolerance to the generally higher concentrations of
contaminants found in their habitat.
In addition, the Laboratory conducted three projects that contributed to the major interagency
study of toxicants in Green Bay:
• Water volume movement through Green Bay and between the Bay and Lake Michigan.
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• The food web of fish in Green Bay to increase understanding of the relative importance of the
various food and water pathways of PCB accumulation by fish.
• The relationship between current velocity and sediment ^suspension in Green Bay.
During FY 1990:
• The Laboratory completed the initial examinations of major variables that could affect the
bioavailability of sediment-associated toxicants to the food chain.
• The Laboratory measured the water volume exchange between the upper and lower parts of
Green Bay.
• The Laboratory quantified the seasonal flux of resuspended sediments and estimated particu-
late and POC settling velocities within Green Bay.
During FY 1991, the Laboratory analyzed trap samples for organic carbon and PCBs, developed
empirical sediment resuspension models for Green Bay, and completed projects in support of EPA's
Green Bay Study.
Ecological Processes
In addition to physical processes, the Laboratory research focuses on ecological processes and
mechanisms. In general, knowledge of many ecosystem processes is at an early stage. Food web
processes have a dominant influence on the transfer of energy and contaminants throughout the
ecosystem, yet predictive and simulation models of these processes are rudimentary. The Laboratory
conducts research on both pelagic (i.e., water column) and benthic ecosystem dynamics to advance
understanding of the flow of materials and energy within the food web.
During FY 1989, the Laboratory conducted numerous activities, including the following:
• A project on the effects of contaminants on the fisheries and water quality of Lake St. Clair.
Lake St. Clair food web models indicate that the benthic food chain is twice as important to
fish productivity as the pelagic grazing food chain and that four times more carbon is available
for aquatic food chains from external participate sources as from aquatic vegetation and algae.
• A study of the interactions between phosphorus, phytoplankton, and bacteria in Lake Michigan
to help develop a better understanding of the seasonal succession of algae.
• A project that studied the feeding dynamics of zooplankton to better understand the seasonal
succession of plankton.
• A project addressing benthic ecology and sediment nutrient/energy transformations. Benthic
invertebrates feed on material settled from the water column and are in turn consumed by most
species of Great Lakes fish.
During FY 1990, the Laboratory conducted the following projects:
• Analysis of two nonindigenous species to the Great Lakes ecosystem: the zebra mussel and
the spiny water flea.
• A study of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and benthic populations in Saginaw Bay to determine
the impact of the zebra mussel on the lower food web.
• A study of the seasonal oxygen consumption and nitrogen (ammonia) excretion of zebra
mussels collected from Lake St. Clair.
• A study, using aquaria and fish-holding tanks, to demonstrate the development of aversion
conditioning in perch to attacking the spiny water flea.
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• Initial analysis of the results of in situ feeding experiments performed during the past 2 years
on the selectivity and predation rates of the spiny water flea on zooplankton in Great Lakes,
and determination of the effect of the spiny water flea on the food web structure.
• Initial observations of ecosystem components to demonstrate the variability in time and space
and to improve predictions of food web dynamics that support the Great Lakes salmonid
fishery.
During FY 1991, the Laboratory continued many studies started in FY 1990, including the
identification of causes of ecosystem variability and continued seasonal research on oxygen
consumption, nitrogen excretion, and lipid content in zebra mussels of Lake St. Clair and Saginaw
Bay. New projects included examination of toxicokinetics and bioaccumulation analysis of organic
contaminants in the zebra mussel, and the development of eutrophication models.
Benthic Populations
A third area of research by the Laboratory is long-term trends in benthic populations and the
relation of these to water quality. Benthic communities are excellent indicators of trophic trends in
the Great Lakes. Because of their limited mobility and relatively long life (compared to plankton),
benthic fauna form stable communities that reflect the effects of environmental conditions over long
periods of time.
During recent years, the Laboratory:
• Identified benthic organisms collected from Saginaw Bay during 1989. Identification of the
organisms collected showed a two-fold increase in pollution-tolerant worms since the early
1970s, which may be evidence of a degraded habitat since that time.
• Collected additional benthic samples from inside and outside fish enclosures placed in Lake
Superior during FY 1986.
• Completed a study of long-term trends in mussel abundance over the past three decades in
western Lake Erie.
• Assembled and began to use a personal computer-based microscope/digitizer system that
allows for rapid and reliable completion of body length measurements needed to estimate the
energy budget in Great Lakes amphipods.
• Sorted organisms collected in White fish Bay as part of fish enclosure experiments.
• Continued periodic sediment grab sampling at 45 meters and 100 meters sites to determine if
Diporeia production is still declining.
The Soil Conservation Service
The Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides technical
and financial assistance to land users, including farmers, ranchers, and foresters, and to other
government agencies on a variety of natural resource issues. The Service contributes to conserving
the Nation's soil, water, plant, and animal resources by informing land users of best management
practices and resource management systems that control erosion, protect the quality of surface water,
and reduce the contamination of groundwater by agricultural chemicals.
Through its nationwide network of conservation specialists, the Service provides assistance on
topics such as pesticide and nutrient management, reduced tillage practices, fish and wildlife habitat
development, soil mapping and interpretation, and watershed protection. It also conducts natural
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resource inventories and maintains extensive data on soil erosion, land use and cover, conservation
practices, and land treatment needs. To assist land users in protecting natural resources, the USDA
(through the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service) also administers cost-sharing
programs to pay land useis for following certain conservation practices, protecting wetlands, and
improving water quality. The Service is working with States in their development of Nonpoint Source
Management Plans pursuant to Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.
The Service is participating in 10 major USDA projects that are currently underway or planned
in the Great Lakes watershed. Five of these projects are Water Quality Special Projects: Cattaraugus
Creek, New York; LaGrange County Lake Enhancement Program, Indiana; Vermillion River and
the West Branch of the Black River, Ohio; and the Clam River, Michigan. These projects seek to cut
agricultural loadings of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) and of sediments to surface waters.
USDA is also conducting two demonstration projects in the Basin. The East River Watershed
project in Wisconsin, which affects the Green Bay Area of Concern, demonstrates crop management
systems that reduce the quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and pesticides required to produce
acceptable crop yields. The goals of the project are to prevent excessive loadings to surface water
and groundwater and enhance farm incomes. The 10-year project will provide landowners up to 70
percent cost-sharing for installing land management improvements. The Saginaw Bay project in
Michigan will not only focus on nutrients and sediment, but will also implement Integrated Pest
Management practices to prevent groundwater contamination.
In the Saline Valley Rural Clean Water Project, the emphasis is on reducing the amount of
phosphorus entering Lake Erie from southeastern Michigan. Final evaluation of the project, including
an analysis of practices to reduce phosphorus in runoff, is underway. A hydrologic unit project related
to Sycamore Creek, Michigan, is using fertilizer, pesticide, and crop management techniques to
reduce agricultural pesticides and sediment from entering surface waters. Another hydrologic unit
project, in the Wolf Creek watershed, is working to protect Lake Adrian from sediment, phosphorus,
and pesticides.
Recent Accomplishments
In FY 1989, the Service contributed to the RAP development process in Ohio (Maumee and
Cuyahoga Rivers), Minnesota (St. Louis River), Wisconsin (Menominee River and Green Bay), New
York (Rochester Embayment, Oswego River, St. Lawrence River, and Buffalo River), and Michigan
(multiple sites). The Service assigned one staff person to EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office
and another to the LJC's Regional Office in Canada to work on Great Lakes environmental issues.
Service personnel also evaluated progress under the Great Lakes Phosphorus Load Reduction Plan.
Additional Service accomplishments included:
• Completed transect tillage surveys in the Saginaw Bay and Lake Erie watersheds
• Developed conservation plans for 250,000 acres of highly credible lands in Wisconsin
• Designed and installed 68 animal waste management systems in Wisconsin
• Completed the first phase of a direct drainage study of Lake Ontario
• Completed inventories of Indiana wetlands within the Great Lakes basin and in 13 Michigan
counties
• Completed a stream bank erosion survey for the Au Sable River, Michigan
• Contributed to a Saginaw Bay drainage project to assess the effects of crop production on
surface water and groundwater
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• Participated in the Lost Creek Experimental Watershed Project in Ohio with Defiance Soil
and Water Conservation District and Heidelberg College to assess the movement of pesticides,
nutrients, and sediments
• Worked with Ottawa County, Ohio, to measure effects of tillage practices on water quality.
During FY 1990, the Service continued to emphasize water quality benefits in all program
delivery elements. All initiatives begun in FY 1989 continued into FY 1990. The Service assigned
one staff person to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for two years to assist in
prioritizing watersheds affected by nonpoint source pollution. Significant accomplishments include
the development of standards and specifications for nutrient and pest management, and revision of
the standard and specification for waste utilization. Additional Service accomplishments included:
• Completed wetland inventories in five Michigan counties
• Started a new river basin study for the Me nominee River Basin in the western Upper Peninsula
of Michigan and Northeastern Wisconsin
• Started a streambank erosion inventory on the Rifle River in north-central Michigan
• Started implementation of the South Branch Kawkawlin River Watershed Work Plan
• Prepared a watershed work plan for Mud Creek in Barry County, a highly intensified
agricultural area with identified sediment and nutrient loadings
• Participated in the preparation and implementation of four nonpoint source watershed dem-
onstration projects.
During FY 1991, the Service continued to participate in the 10 major USDAprojects in the Great
Lakes watershed. It also increasingly emphasized integrated crop management in all its programs to
reduce agricultural use of nutrients and pesticides to improve water quality.
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Chapter 6
Monitoring of the Ecosystem
This chapter discusses U.S. monitoring of the Great Lakes system, including three EPA initiatives
on bioaccumulative toxic substances:
• Establishment of a binational Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) that will
monitor airborne deposition of trace organics on a routine basis
• A multiagency study of the sources and fates of several bioaccumulative toxic substances in
Green Bay
• Conversion and outfitting of a new ship to establish a capability to monitor trace organics in
open-lake waters on a routine basis.
The chapter also discusses system-wide surveillance programs, including chemical and
biological open-lake limnology, fish monitoring programs, the Great Lakes Atmospheric Deposition
(GLAD) network, and the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program Great Lakes.
Background
During recent years, there have been three primary elements of EPA's Great Lakes surveillance
efforts: open-lake surveys of ambient water quality, monitoring of toxicant levels in fish tissues, and
monitoring of atmospheric deposition. The Agency has conducted open-lake spring and summer
surveys of ambient water quality in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie since 1983, in Lake Ontario
since 1986, and in Lake Superior since 1992. Prior to these routine surveys, each of the lakes was
surveyed intensively. The current program includes nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, silica),
conservative ions, alkalinity (alkali and alkaline earth metals), biological structure (phytoplankton
and zooplankton), chlorophyll a, and physical parameters. Surveys measure conditions and trends in
the open-waters of the Lakes. These waters best indicate long-term trends because they are less
influenced by local discharges of pollutants than shallower, nearshore waters. The productivity
measures obtained under the open-lake program enable EPA to assess the response of the Lakes to
nutrient control measures and trends in plankton populations.
Since 1977, EPA, State, and other Federal agencies have monitored toxic organics in Great Lakes
fish tissues. Fish are excellent indicators of water quality and ecosystem health because they tend to
build up bioaccumulative toxic substances, whereas open-water concentrations of toxic organics are
generally so low that it is difficult to monitor them directly on a routine basis.
With lake-to-lake variations in the number of collection sites and periodicity, States collect adult
resident fish and spot-tail shiners from harbors and tributaries on a 5- to 10-year cycle and open-lake
salmon as part of a game fish-monitoring program. The Food and Drug Administration analyzes the
fish samples. The Fish and Wildlife Service also collects open-lake whole-fish samples of lake trout
(walleye on Lake Erie) and smelt on a biennial basis for analysis by EPA. In addition, the Service
has analyzed Lake Michigan bloater chubs for DDT and dieldrin since 1968, for PCBs since 1972,
and for chlordane since 1982. States conduct additional fish-monitoring programs that are directed
toward protecting human health by issuance of fish consumption health advisories.
Monitoring of the Ecosystem 83
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The third primary element of EPA's surveillance activities, also a joint Federal/State endeavor,
is monitoring of atmospheric deposition. The United States operates a 20-station GLAD network.
GLAD presently addresses nutrients and metals, including lead, cadmium, nitrate/nitrite, and
phosphorus, among about 35 parameters.
In addition, States and the U.S. Geological Survey monitor Great Lakes tributaries for pollutants
on an ongoing basis, since tributaries are major conveyors of pollutants from both nonpoint and point
sources.
Since 1991, in cooperation with other Agencies, EPA has begun to design and implement a
monitoring program whose goal is to estimate conditions in the Great Lakes with known confidence.
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment P rogram (EMAP) Great Lakes is an interage ncy,
interdisciplinary program whose goals are to monitor and assess the condition of the Great Lakes and
to contribute to decisions on environmental protection and management. EMAP Great Lakes has
four objectives:
• Estimate the current status, trends and changes in selected indicators of the condition of the
Great Lakes on a regional basis with known confidence;
• Estimate the geographic coverage and extent of the harbors, bays and wetlands;
• Seek associations between selected indicators of natural and anthropogenic stresses; and
indicators of condition of ecological resources;
• Provide annual statistical summaries and periodic assessment of the Great Lakes.
For the Great Lakes, the individual lakes have been established as the regional scale of resolution
and each lake will be separated into resource classes (offshore water, nearshore, bays/harbors, and
wetlands) with sampling frames and indicators that are appropriate to characterize each class. Biiotic
integrity and trophic condition have been identified as important environmental values. These values
will influence the selection of indicators and assessment questions for the offshore, nearshore and
bays/harbors resource class. To assess overall biotic integrity, EPA has focused on three major
components: benthic macroinvertebrates, primary producers, and fish.
Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network
Since the late 1970s, the Great Lakes scientific community has been aware of the potential
significance of the atmosphere as a pollution pathway. Studies of Isle Royale, a relatively isolated
island in Lake Superior, revealed levels of PCBs, toxaphene, and other bioaccumulative toxic
substances in its lakes. Researchers theorized that such pollutants could only have resulted from
atmospheric deposition.
Since the Isle Royale findings, EPA has promoted ways of assessing the absolute and relative
magnitude of atmospheric loadings of toxic substances. The Agency supported conferences in 1980,
1986, and 1987 to assess the state of knowledge of the airborne deposition problem and developed a
strategy in 1987 to monitor these substances. In recognition of the potential importance of air
deposition to the Great Lakes, the United States and Canada agreed in 1987 to establish an Integrated
Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) to monitor both wet and dry atmospheric loadings of toxic
substances to the Great Lakes.
It should be noted that the concentrations of toxic organics in precipitation are very minute and,
therefore, difficult to collect and analyze. Scientists are developing methods to do this routinely, and
it is likely that the feasibility of monitoring atmospheric deposition will differ from parameter to
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parameter. EPA implemented its first master station and two satellite stations for monitoring airborne
PCBs and dieldrin in fall 1988. These are located around Green Bay.
During FYs 1989 and 1990, the United States and Canada coordinated various management,
parameter, siting, and methods issues pertaining to establishment of a network to monitor atmospheric
deposition of bioaccumulative toxic substances. During 1991, the two nations completed the
installation of one IADN master station on each of the Great Lakes. The United States has established
master stations on Lakes Superior, Erie, and Michigan, while Canada has established them on Lakes
Huron and on Ontario. Data will be shared by each nation, and the United States will be able to place
equipment at the Lake Ontario site.
Green Bay Study
This special study, begun in 1987, has helped EPA develop an understanding of the sources,
pathways, and fates of PCBs within a large waterbody.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and EPA's Great Lakes National Program
Office were the major sponsors of the study, with aspects supported by EPA's Environmental
Research Laboratory-Duluth, Minnesota, and its Large Lakes Research Station at Grosse Be,
Michigan; the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and Wisconsin Sea Grant of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the U.S. Geological Survey; the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Illinois State Water Survey; and a
number of universities.
Numerous field activities were undertaken during FYs 1989 and 1990. EPA's research vessel,
the Roger Simons, conducted a field sampling shakedown cruise on Green Bay in October 1988 and
conducted five sampling cruises in May, June, July, September, and October 1989. A winter survey
was conducted from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter in February 1989. Another winter survey and a
spring survey were conducted in FY1990. In cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources and the U.S. Geological Survey, tributary monitoring was performed on all important
tributaries to Green Bay. Wisconsin also collected fish samples. A master and two routine monitoring
stations collected air deposition samples. Other studies addressed water/land/air vapor flux of
contaminants, groundwater loadings, and sediment contamination.
The study has refined laboratory methods for handling a large number of samples that must be
analyzed for trace organics. Detection of these trace contaminants in the water column requires
sampling large volumes of water. Previously, such analyses were, in essence, small-scale research
activities. However, the Green Bay Study has developed methods that can be employed on a more
routine basis.
In FY 1991, the study team completed analysis of samples, compiled data, and calibrated existing
models. Study findings were developed in FY 1992.
New Research Vessel
Early in 1990, EPA concluded negotiations with the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime
Administration for purchase of a vessel that was subsequently converted into a replacement research
vessel for open-lake water quality monitoring. This vessel was needed because the previous ship was
more than 50 years old. The new vessel has more capabilities than the old ship and will expand the
Monitoring of the Ecosystem 66
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capability for routine monitoring of bioaccumulative toxic substances in open-lake wateis. The new
vessel, christened the Late Guardian, underwent shipyard conversion during the second half of 1990.
It began operations during FY 1991.
System-wide Surveillance
During 1992, the Agency accomplished all open-lake water quality sampling that was planned
for Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Ontario. During the summer survey, EPA sampled for 33
parameters at 20 sites in Lake Erie, 20 sites in Lake Huron, 11 sites in Lake Michigan, and 8 sites in
Lake Ontario. Spring and summer surveys were also completed in 1990 and 1991.
Through an agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Agency supports an annual
monitoring program for dissolved oxygen in Lake Erie. Dissolved oxygen is measured from June
through September at 10 stations in the central basin of Lake Erie. Oxygen depletion rates in Lake
Erie's central basin were lower in 1988 and 1989 than at any time in the last 20 years. In 1989, the
bottom waters did not become anoxic, although severely reduced dissolved oxygen levels were
observed in mid-September, which is an encouraging sign that phosphorus load reductions may be
achieving their desired effect. In several previous years, anoxic conditions developed about
mid-August.
EPA, States, and the Fish and Wildlife Service continued fish surveillance programs during FY
1992; this activity will continue during FY 1993. Figures 6-1 and 6-2 show some results of this
monitoring program. Figure 6-1 shows that PCB levels in coho salmon have been highest in Lake
Ontario during the 1980s. Figure 6-2 shows PCB contamination in another predator species, lake
trout, is higher than in coho.
States and EPA continued their joint support of a 20-station atmospheric deposition network
during 1992; this activity will continue during FY 1993. The sampling stations monitor nutrients
(nitrate/nitrite and phosphorus), metals (including lead, cadmium, and mercury), and acidity in
precipitation among about 35 parameters. States and universities operate the sampling stations and
provide samples to EPA on a weekly basis, if sufficient precipitation occurs.
Figure 8-1. PCB Level* In Coho Salmon
Figure 6-2. PCB Levels In Lake Trout,
Southeast Lake Michigan
Parts par mWton
Pcvtv pw mlwon
Laka Huron Laka Michigan Late Erie
Ujfca Ontario
Tgs% UkeHwod that tha Maan
I PCB Laval o* tha Treul
Population Uaa within this Range
808182838485868768
Yaar
PCB contamination in coho salmon has declined from levels
detected in the early 1980s. Levels in Lake Superior coho
have continually been beneath detection; Lake Ontario coho
consistently show the greatest contamination with PCBs.
70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 86 80
Being longer-lived, lake trout accumulate higher levels of
PCBs than do coho. Levels in Lake Michigan lake trout
have strongly declined since the mid-1970s.
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EPA, Environment Canada's National Water Research Institute (NWRI) and NOAA-GLERL
conducted EMAP Great Lakes pilot activities on Lakes Michigan and Superior in FY 1992. Spring
surveys were completed on both lakes, while two additional surveys, one summer and one fall, were
completed on Lake Michigan. Offshore trophic status from EMAP grid sites was assessed.
Measurements of spring trophic status were sampled at 12 EMAP sites in Lake Michigan and at 19
EMAP stations in Lake Superior. During the summer cruise in Lake Michigan, sediments were
collected to examine variability in offshore benthic macroinvertebrate communities and to assess the
adequacy of the base grid sampling intensity. The fall cruise in Lake Michigan was part of a
cooperative nearshore study with NWRI and NOAA-GLERL to assess the adequacy of sampling
intensity and sampling method (Ponar vs. box core). Benthic macroinvertebrates in nearshore areas
will be used to determine nominal conditions in Lake Michigan.
Monitoring of t/M Ecoayttem 87
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Chapter 7
Expenditures
To cany out its focus on the Great Lakes, EPA has
during recent years consistently increased expenditures for
activities concerned with this ecosystem. This chapter
discusses the Agency's expenditures on Great Lakes
activities, including expenditures by categories (such as
State cooperative efforts, judicial enforcement, research,
and general administration) speciGed in Section 118(c)(10)
of the Clean Water Act, which defines this report.
EPA Great Lakes Funding
During recent years, EPA has steadily increased
funding to the Great Lakes Program. EPA spent more than
$41 million on an Agency-wide basis during FY1991. This
includes the Great Lakes Program and other activities
related to the Great Lakes. This level of effort was increased
by more than 50 percent in 1992. The Administration's 1993
budget called for a further increase to more than $61 million.
State Cooperative Efforts
One major element of EPA's increased funding to the
Great Lakes Program is increased resources to State
agencies expressly for development and implementation of
Remedial Action and Lakewide Management Plans. In 1989
and 1990, funding to States for these ecosystem restoration
efforts totalled just under $500,000. During 1992, the
Agency increased funding for Remedial Action Plans and
Lakewide Management Plans to over $9 million.
Research
Funding for the Agency's research activities pertaining
to the Great Lakes has also increased, from $2.4 million in
1991 to over $9 million in 1992. The Administration's 1993
budget sought a further increase.
Figure 7-1. EPA Funding for Activities Related to the Great Lakes
Dolors In mWbne
1061
1S02
1S93
EPA has strongly increased funding for
Great Lakes activities
Figure 7-2. EPA Funding for RAPs and LsMPs
Dote/mlnmttiont
1869
1980
1891
Y*v
1992
1993
Funding to States is up sharply
Figure 7-3. Funding for Great Lakes Research
DoflmlnnilMom
Research Hinds have increased threefold
Expenditure* 89
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Figure 7-4. Funding for Great Lake* Enforcement Activities
DoHflra in milNonB
1969
1990
1S91
Yew
1992
1993
Expenditures for enforcement have
steadily increased
Figure 7-S. Funding for General Administration
Dotaf* In miltons
Enforcement
The Clean Water Act specifies that this report provide
expenditures on "judicial enforcement" pertaining to Great
Lakes water quality. Judicial enforcement is a subset of
enforcement activities which also include administrative
actions. While the Agency does not have an estimate of
expenditures solely for judicial enforcement activities, this
report can cite resources applied to the enforcement, as a
whole, in the Great Lakes watershed. Resources have
steadily increased for five years. In 1989, $2.6 million was
expended on enforcement in the Great Lakes watershed.
This increased to $4.9 million in 1992.
General Administration
The Clean Water Act also specifies that this report
provide expenditures for "general administration." This
report defines general administrative expenditures as
consisting of funds in the "salaries and expenses"
classification. As the Agency has focused more personnel
on the Great Lakes ecosystem, these have risen, as shown
in Figure 7-5.
70 Chapter 7
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Chapter 8
Toward the Future
The Great Lakes Program is guided by its five year Strategy. Within this context, some future
endeavors are discussed in the following subsections.
Reducing Releases of Toxicants to the Environment
• Pollution prevention will continue to be the preferred means to reduce emissions and dis-
charges of environmental contaminants. States and EPA will continue to implement their
pollution prevention action plan for the Lakes. This will supplement EPA's national initiative,
the 33/50 Program, to encourage voluntary reductions of 17 priority contaminants through
1995.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), States, and EPA will continue nonpoint source
pollution prevention programs. Many of these programs will focus on tributary watersheds in
which nonpoint source problems are pronounced, such as Saginaw Bay, Lake Erie, and Green
Bay. In addition to education and incentives for environmentally-kind agricultural practices,
these agencies will invite the public via "clean sweep" campaigns to dispose of pesticide
stocks.
• Implementation of the binational Lake Superior Program will aim to achieve "zero discharge"
of bioaccumulative toxicants to this Lake.
• Proposed Great Lakes Water Quality Guidance will be finalized, after consideration of public
comments. USEPA anticipates publication of the final Guidance by March, 1995. The Agency
will seek to achieve water quality criteria set forth in the Guidance through reductions in both
point and nonpoint sources of contaminants.
• States, in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration, will develop regional guidance
regarding human health advisories for consumption of contaminated Great Lakes fish and
wildlife. This will foster consistency among States in their advisories, which will help the
public better understand the risks associated with consumption of contaminated sportfish and
game.
• Nationwide implementation of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act will significantly
cut toxic emissions by U.S. firms by the end of this century. EPA and States will give priority
to implementing its provisions for suspected sources of critical pollutants to the Great Lakes.
• States and EPA will continue cleanup of priority abandoned hazardous waste sites and
oversight of active ones, focusing cleanups and corrective actions on sites suspected of loading
bioaccumulative contaminants to the Lakes.
• States and EPA will continue to inspect oil facilities in order to review their spill prevention
measures and readiness to respond to accidental spills.
• EPA and its partners in the Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS)
program will complete field demonstrations o f contaminated sediment treatment technologies.
EPA will complete an inventory of contaminated sediment sites in six Great Lakes States and
start to assess and address priority sites.
• EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and States will continue to phase-in a comprehensive
monitoring system of ecosystem health. Elements that focus on toxic contaminants will be
Toward the Future 71
-------
open-lake monitoring of critical pollutants in the water column, monitoring of tributaries to
prioritize active sources of contaminants, monitoring of endpoint levels of contaminants in
the tissues of birds and fish high in the food web, and monitoring of the atmospheric deposition
of critical pollutants.
• The Agency will report to Congress on the extent and effect of atmospheric deposition of
contaminants to the Great Lakes.
• The Agency for Toxics Substances and Disease Registry will evaluate the adverse effects of
water pollutants in the Great Lakes system on the health of persons in the Great Lakes States
and on the health of fish, shellfish, and wildlife. Findings will be reported to Congress in 1994.
Protecting and Restoring Habitat
• USEPA will work with partners, including the Fish and Wildlife Service, States, Tribes, and
the Nature Conservancy, to develop a strategic conservation plan to identify high quality
habitats for protection and restoration. Habitats to be inventoried include wetlands, fish
spawning and nuisery areas, old growth forests, prairies, dunes, savannas, and areas needed
by endangered and threatened plant and animal species.
• EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and States will work together on demonstration projects
to restore important Great Lakes habitats.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will support States in planning the renewal of Areas of Concern
by identifying the habitat requirements of various fish and wildlife species in these areas. The
Service will similarly work with EPA and States to identify the habitat needs of species on a
lakewide basis.
• States and EPA will pursue Advance Identification projects that identify wetlands of high
ecological value and inform landowners of this information.
• The Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, and Michigan will continue their administration of the
primary Federal program regulating the physical modification of wetlands and others waters.
Pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, they administer a permit program to regulate
the discharge of dredge or fill materials into the wateis of the United States, including most
wetlands.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will work with its partners to the North American Waterfowl
Management Plan to protect, enhance, and create critical waterfowl habitat. The Service will
add protected acreage through its Private Land program and increase surveillance for illegal
dredge and fill activities.
• The Soil Conservation Service will continue to promote the protection of wetlands that are
privately owned through incentives to restore previously converted wetlands and correctly
farmed wetlands; to establish vegetative filter-strips along streams; and to protect wetlands.
Protecting Human Health and Restoring Fish
and Wildlife Populations
• States, EPA, and the Soil Conservation Service will implement programs to reduce human
exposure to harmful bacteria in Great Lakes waters. One focus will be ending the discharge
of untreated human wastes from combined sewer overflows by upgrading municipal sewer
systems and treatment capacity. The Service will promote adoption of waste management
systems to reduce runoff from livestock facilities.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service, States, Coast Guard, NOAA, the Great Lakes Fisheries
Commission, and EPA will work together to prevent further introductions of nonnative species
72 Chapter a
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and to mitigate the harmful effects of ones that have already entered the Great Lakes. They
will monitor the ecosystem for new normative species and conduct research on environmen-
tally-kind control techniques for disruptive normative species. The Coast Guard will establish
requirements governing ship ballast water, a common pathway for the introduction of
normative species.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will lead a comprehensive study of fishery resources to identify
the restoration needs of Great Lakes fish species, using the latest quantitative techniques to
analyze the causes of past disruptions to fish populations and to identify the physical, chemical,
and biological needs of important fish and wildlife species.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service and States will continue to stock hatchery-reared fish, such as
lake trout, to bolster the abundance of important species. The Service will also continue
application of lampricides to tributaries where sea lamprey spawn in order to control the
ravages of this normative species upon sport fish. In addition, the Service and States will
continue law enforcement efforts to curtail illegal commercial fishing and waterfowl hunting.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service and States will continue to take measures to protect and restore
populations of endangered and threatened Great Lakes species such as bald eagle, peregrine
falcon, Kirtland's warbler, eastern timber wolf, and lakeside daisy.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service will implement the North American Waterfowl Management
Plan's habitat strategy aimed at restoring waterfowl populations to their levels in the 1970s.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service and States will pursue Natural Resource Damage Assessments
and Claims against Potentially Responsible Parties for past harm to Great Lakes species.
• EPA and States will continue activities to reduce phosphorus loadings to areas of the Lakes
that are vulnerable to nutrient overenrichment.
Working Together
The partners to the Strategy will support its implementation by various steps, including:
• States and EPA will focus prevention, inspection, enforcement, and cleanup efforts on critical
pollutants and on geographic areas which have the highest ecological and human health risks.
In so doing, they will be targeting the strongest opportunities to restore the ecosystem and
protect human health.
• They will use the Remedial Action and Lakewide Management planning processes to define
ecological needs and appropriate responses to these needs.
• EPA, in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA, other Federal agencies, and
States, will establish an environmental data storage and retrieval system relating to the Great
Lakes, which will be accessible to all agencies.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with other agencies, will establish data
repositories on habitat uses and on fisheries.
• EPA, working with its partners, will establish and maintain a Great Lakes ecosystem moni-
toring plan to address program needs.
• EPA and its partners will establish and maintain research priorities to support management
programs.
• EPA, in conjunction with its partners, will develop a joint report to Congress and to the people
of the Great Lakes region on implementation of their joint Strategy and progress toward their
environmental goals. EPA and its partners will adopt ecological objectives and measure
progress with ecological indicators.
Toward th* Future 73
-------
• The partners to the U.S. Great Lakes Strategy will pursue opportunities to work with their
Canadian counterparts. For instance, the two nations will sponsor biennial conferences on the
health of the ecosystem.
In the years ahead, the Great Lakes Program will continue evolving to address everchanging
challenges. One constant emphasis, however, will be to inform the public about the state of the
ecosystem. Individuals are vital to further environmental progress through their purchases of
products, choices of lifestyles, and expectations of their civic institutions, including businesses,
environmental organizations, universities, and governments. The Gieat Lakes Program will continue
to promote public stewardship through education and public participation. Though the region's
human inhabitants have often wrought harm to this extraordinary ecosystem during the last several
centuries, they still bold its future within their collective stewardship.
74 Chapters
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End Notes
Chapter One
Figure 1-1. The Great Lakes Watershed
Environment Canada, UJS. Environmental Protection Agency, Brock University, and Northwestern University, The Great
Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book (Toronto: Environment Canada, Ontario Region, and Chicago: U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, 1987).
Figure 1-2. Depth Profile of the Great Lakes and Summary of Their Physical Features
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Laurentian Great Lakes, Miscellaneous Facts and Figures, Draft Environmental Impact
Statement, Lake Level Regulation Plan. SO-901 (1974).
Quinn, F., "Hydraulic Residence Times for The Laurentian Great Lakes." Journal of Great Lakes Research 18(1) (1992), pp.
22-28.
Figure 1-3. Average Mercury Concentrations In Walleye From Lake St. Clalr
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toxic Chemicals in die Great Lakes and Associated Effects ( Environment Canada,
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Health and Welfare Canada, 1991).
Chapter Two
Figure 2-1. Simplified View of the Great Lakes Food Web
Colborn, T.E, Davidson, A., Green, S.N., Hodge, RA., Jackson, CJ, and Liroff, R.A., Great Lakes. GreatLaegacy?
(Conservation Foundation: Washington, DC, and the Institute for Research on Public Policy: Ottawa, Ontario, 1990).
Figure 2-2. Lake Ontario Food Web BlomagnMcatlon, 1982
Environment Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans as cited in Toxic Chemicals in the Great Lakes and
Associated Effects (Environment Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Health and Welfare, 1991), p. 11.
Figure 2-3. Contaminants In Herring Gull Eggs, Sister Island, Green Bay
Bishop, C. and Weseloh, D.V. Contaminants in Herring Gulls from the Great Lakes, Environment Canada, Catalogue No.
EN1-12/90-2E (1990), p. 6-7.
Figure 2-4. Contaminants In Bloater Chubs, Southeast Lake Michigan
Data provided by Hesselberg, RJ., U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fisheries Research
Center - Great Lakes, Ann Arbor, MI (1991).
Table 2-1. Examples of Great Lakes Fish Consumption Advisories
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Division of Water Pollution Control, Illinois Water Quality Report,
1988-1989 (Springfield, IL: Dlinois EPA, 1990).
Indiana Department of Environmental Management (DEM), 1986-87305(6) Report (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana DEM).
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Surface Water Quality Division, Michigan 305(6) Report, Volume 11
(Lansing, MI: Michigan DNR, 1990).
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (PCA), The 1990 Report to the Congress of the United States of America by the State of
Minnesota Pursuant to Section 305(6) of the Federal Water Pollution Act (Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota PCA, 1990).
End Note* 75
-------
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Bureau of Monitoring & Assessment Division of Water,
New York State Water Quality 1990 (Albany, NY: New York State DEC, April 1990).
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Division of Water Quality Planning & Assessment, Ohio Water Resource
Inventory (Cincinnati, OH: Ohio EPA, 1990).
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (DER), Bureau of Water Quality Management, Water Quality
Assessment 305(b) Report (Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania DER, 1990).
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Wisconsin Water Quality Assessment Report to Congress 1990
(Madison, WI: Wisconsin DNR, 1990).
Data from Nonpoint Source Bulletin Board System (BBS), U.S. EPA-Risk Assessment and Management Branch, 1992.
Figure 2-5. Sediment Contamination In the Lower Detroit River, as Suggested by Impacts on Bottom
Dwelling Organisms
Thomley, S., "Macrobenthos of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers with Comparisons to Neighboring Waters." Journal of Great
Lakes Research 11 (1985), pp. 290-296.
Figure 2-6. Presentment Extent of the Black Swamp In Northwestern Ohio
Colborn ef a/., (1990), p. 144, from Forsyth, J.L., The Black Swamp. Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of
Geological Survey (1960); in Herdendorf, C.E., "The Ecology of the Coastal Marches of Lake Erie: A Community
Profile." Biological Report 85:7.9 (Washington, DC: US. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1987), p. 140.
Figure 2-7. Entry Periods of Exotic Species
Mills, E., Leach, J., Carlton, J.T., and Secor, C., Exotic species in the Great Lakes: a history ofbiotic crises and
anthropogenic introductions. (Great Lakes Fishery Commission Report, 1992), p. 117.
Figure 2-8. Entry Routes of Exotic Species
Ibid.
Figure 2-9. Types of Exotic Species
Ibid.
Figure 2-10. Lake Trout With Lamprey Wounds, Eastern Lake Superior
Curtis, G.L., "Recovery of Offshore Lake Trout Population in Eastern Lake Superior." Journal of Great Lakes Research 16,
no. 2 (1990), pp. 279-287.
Figure 2-11. Estimated Total Phosphorus Loading to Lake Erie
1988 and 1989 data provided by Dolan, D., LJC's Great Lakes Regional Office. Earlier data from IJC's Water Quality Board
Report on Great Lake Water Quality, 1987. Data were originally developed by U.S. and Canadian monitoring
programs.
Figure 2-12. Spring Phosphorus Levels In Lake Erie's Central Basin
Data provided by Bertram, P., U.S. EPA-Great Lakes National Program Office, 1991.
Figure 2-13. Sport Angler Harvest of Walleye From Ohio Waters, Lake Erie
Personal communication, January, 1992, with Carl Baker, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife.
Figure 2-14. Oxygen Depletion Rate for the Bottom Waters of Lake Erie's Central Basin
Makarewicz, J.C. and Bertram, P, "Evidence for the Restoration of the Lake Erie Ecosystem." BioSdence 41, no. 4 (1991),
pp. 216-223.
76 End Mot**
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Chapter Five
Figure 5-1. Great Lakes Harbors With The Most Recorded Oil and Chemical Spills,
January 1980 • September 1989
U.S. Coast Guard Report to U.S. Senate Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee, April 1990.
Chapter Six
Figure 6-1. PCS Levels In Coho Salmon
Data provided by DeVault, D., U.S. EPA-Great Lakes National Program Office, 1991. Fish collection by State
environmental agencies with laboratory analysis by the Food and Drug Administration.
Figure 6-2. PCB Levels In Lake Trout, Lake Michigan
Data provided by DeVault, D., U.S. EPA-Great Lakes National Program Office, 1991.
Hesselberg, RJ., Hickey, J.P., Nortrup, DA., and Willford, WA., "Contaminant Residues in the Bloater (Coregonus Hoyi)
of Lake Michigan, 1969-1986." Journal ofGreat Lakes Research 1, ao. 1 (International Association Great Lakes Research,
1990), pp. 121-129.
End Notes 77
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Glossary
Acute Taxicity: The ability of a substance to cause poisonous effects that result in severe biological harm or death soon after
a single exposure or dose. (See chronic toxicity.)
Administrative Order: A legal document signed by EPA directing an individual, business, or other entity to take corrective
action or refrain from an activity. The order describes the violations and actions to be taken and can be enforced in court.
Such ordets may be issued, for example, as a result of an administrative complaint whereby the respondent is ordered to
pay a penalty for violations of a statute.
Adsorption: The adhesion of molecules of gas, liquid, or dissolved solids to a surface.
Advisory: A noiuegulatory document that communicates risk information.
Air Pollutant: Any substance in air that could, if in high enough concentration, harm living things.
Algae: Simple rootless plants that grow in sunlit waters in relative proportion to the amounts of light and nutrients available.
They are food for fish and small aquatic animals.
Antidegradation Policies: Part of Federal air quality and water quality requirements prohibiting environmental deterioration.
Areas of Concern: A geographic area that fails to meet the general or specific objectives of the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement where such failure has caused or is likely to cause impairment of beneficial use or of the area's ability to sup-
port aquatic life. In general, these are bays, harbors, and river mouths with damaged fish and wildlife populations, contami-
nated bottom sediments, and past or continuing loadings of toxic and bacterial pollutants.
Atmospheric Deposition: Pollution from the atmosphere associated with dry deposition in the form of dust, wet deposition in
the form of rain and snow, or as a result of vapor exchanges.
B
Bacteria: A group of universally distributed, rigid, essentially unicellular microscopic organisms lacking chlorophyll. Some
bacteria can aid in pollution control by consuming or breaking down organic matter in sewage or by similarly acting on oil
spills or other water pollutants. Bacteria in soil, water, or air can also cause human, animal, and plant health problems.
Benthic Organism (benthos): A form of aquatic plant or animal life that is found near the bottom of a stream, lake, or ocean.
Benthic populations are often indicative of sediment quality. The benthos comprise:
1. Sessile animals, such as sponges, some worniN, and many attached algae
2. Creeping forms, such as snails and tlatworms
3. Burrowing forms, which include most clams, worms, mayflies and midges.
Benthic Region: The bottom layer of a body of water.
Bioaccumutauve Substances: Substances that increase in concentration in living organisms (that are very slowly metabo-
lized or excreted) as they breathe contaminated air or water, drink contaminated water, or eat contaminated food. (See bio-
logical magnification.)
Bioassay: An evaluation using organisms to measure the effect of a substance, factor, or condition by comparing before and
after data.
Biological Magnification: Refers to the process whereby certain substances become more concentrated in tissues at each suc-
cessive stage up the food web. (See bioaccumulative substances.)
Glossary 79
-------
Biomass: AH the living material in a given area: often refers to vegetation. Algal biomass is often indicative of the trophic
status of a water body.
Byproduct: Material, other than the principal product, that is generated as a consequence of an industrial process.
Carcinogen: Any substance that can cause or contribute to the production of cancer.
Chlorophyll*: The photosynthetic pigment found in most algae. Chtorophyll-a is used to measure the rate of photosynthesis
in a body of water.
Chronic Toxicity: The capacity of a substance to cause poisonous effects hi an organism after long-term exposure. (See acute
toxicity.)
Combined Sewers: A sewer system that carries both sewage and stormwater runoff. Normally, its entire flow goes to a waste
treatment plant, but during a heavy storm, the stormwater volume may be so great as to cause overflows (combined sewer
overflow). When this happens, untreated mixtures of stormwater and sewage may flow into receiving waters. Stormwater
runoff may also carry toxic chemicals from industrial areas or streets into the sewer system.
Consent Decree: A legal document, approved by a judge, that formalizes an agreement reached between EPA and Potentially
Responsible Parties (PRPs) through which PRPs will conduct all or part of a cleanup action at a Superfund site, cease or
correct actions or processes that are polluting the environment, or otherwise comply with regulations where the PRP's fail-
ure to comply caused EPA to initiate regulatory enforcement actions. The consent decree describes the actions PRPs will
take and may be subject to a public comment period.
Conventional Pollutants: Such contaminants as organic waste, sediment, acid, bacteria and viruses, nutrients, oil and grease,
or heat.
Decay: The breakdown of organic matter by bacteria and fungi.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO): The oxygen freely available in water. Dissolved oxygen is vital to fish and other aquatic life. Tradi-
tionally, the level of dissolved oxygen has been accepted as the single most important indicator of a water body's ability to
support desirable aquatic life.
Drainage Basin: A water body and the land area drained by it
Dredging: Removal of sediment from the bottom of a water body.
Ecosystem: The interacting system of a biological community and its environmental surroundings.
Effluent: Wastewater—treated or untreated—that flows from a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial outfall. Generally refers
to discharges into surface waters.
Emission: Discharges into the atmosphere from such sources as smokestacks, residential chimneys, motor vehicles, locomo-
tives, and aircraft.
Erosion: The wearing away of land surface by wind or water. Erosion occuis naturally but can be caused by fanning, residen-
tial or industrial development, mining, or timber-cutting.
Eutrophication: The process of fertilization that causes high productivity and biomass in an aquatic ecosystem. Eutrophica-
tkm can be a natural process or it can be a cultura I process accelerated by an increase of nutrient loading to a lake by hu-
man activity.
80
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Exotic Species: Species that are not native to the Great Lakes and that have been intentionally introduced to or have inadver-
tently infiltrated the system. Exotics prey upon native species and compete with them for food or habitat
Fertilizer: Materials, including nitrogen and phosphorus, that provide nutrients for plants.
Food Chain: A sequence of organisms, each of which uses the next, lower member of the sequence as a food source. Mem-
bers of a chain are interdependent so that a disturbance to one species can disrupt the entire hierarchy.
Food Web: The complex feeding network occurring within and between food chains in an ecosystem, whereby members of
one food chain may belong to one or more other food chains.
Game Fish: Fish species caught for sport, such as trout, salmon, or bass.
Groundwater: The supply of fresh or saline water found beneath the Earth's surface, usually in aquifers, often supplying
wells and springs.
H
Habitat: The place where a population (e.g., human, animal, plant, micro-organism) lives and its surroundings.
Heavy Metals: Metallic elements with high atomic weights (e.g., mercury, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, and lead) that tend
to be toxic and bioaccumulate.
Herbicide: A chemical pesticide designed to control or destroy plants, weeds, or grasses.
I
Indicator: An organism, species, or community whose characteristics show the presence of specific environmental condi-
tions.
Insecticide: A chemical specifically used to kill or control the growth of insects.
Internationaljoint Commission (LJC): A binational commission, established by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, with re-
sponsibility for decisions regarding obstruction or diversion of U.S./Canadian boundary waters. In 1972 the Commission
was tasked with monitoring implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
J, K, L
Lampridde: A chemical used to kill sea lamprey.
Landfills: 1. Land disposal sites for nonhazardous solid wastes at which the waste is spread in layers, compacted to the small-
est practical volume, and covered with material applied at the end of each operating day. 2. Land disposal sites for hazard-
ous waste designed to minimize the chance of release of hazardous substances into the environment
Loading: The addition of a substance to a water body.
Glossary 81
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M
Marsh: A type of wetland that does not accumulate appreciable peat deposits and is dominated by herbaceous vegetation.
Marshes may be either freshwater or saltwater and tidal or nontidal. (See wetland.)
Mass Balance Approach: An analytic method, based on conservation of mass, used to assess the quantity and cycling of 'con-
taminants throughout a water system.
Metabolite: A substance that is the product of biological changes to a chemical.
Monitoring: A scientifically designed system of continuing standardized measurements and observations and the evaluation
thereof.
N
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES): The national program for controlling discharges of pollutants
from point sources (e.g., municipal sewage treatment plants, industrial facilities) into the waters of the United States.
National Priorities List (NPL): EPA's list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites identified for
long-term remedial action under Superfund. A site must be on the NPL to receive money from the Trust Fund for remedial
action. This list is based primarily on the score a site receives from the Hazard Ranking System. EPA updates the NPL at
least once a year.
Navigable Waters: Waters sufficiently deep and wide for navigation by all or by specified sizes of vessels. Maintenance of
navigation is a Federal responsibility carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Nitrate: A compound containing nitrogen and oxygen that can exist in the atmosphere or in water and that can have harmful
effects on humans and animals at high concentrations.
Nonpoint Source: Pollution sources that are diffuse and do not have a single point of origin or are not introduced into a re-
ceiving stream from a specific outlet. The pollutants are generally carried off land by stormwater runoff. Commonly used
categories for nonpoint sources are agriculture, forestry, urban, mining, construction, dams and channels, and land disposal.
Nutrient: Any substance assimilated by living organisms that promotes growth. The term is generally applied to nitrogen and
phosphorous, but is also applied to other essential trace elements.
O, P, Q
Permit: An authorization, license, or equivaknt control document issued by EPA or a State agency to implement the require-
ments of an environmental regulation (e.g., a permit to operate a wastewater treatment plant or to operate a facility that
may generate harmful emissions).
Pesticide: A substance intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest Also, any substance or mixture
of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant
Phosphorus: An essential chemical food element that can contribute to the eutrophication of lakes and other water bodies.
Photosynthesis: A process occurring in the cells of green plants and some micro-organisms in which solar energy is trans-
formed into stored chemical energy.
Phytoplankton: That portion of the plankton community comprising tiny plants (e.gM algae, diatoms).
Plankton: Microscopic plants and animals that live in water.
Point Source: A stationary facility from which pollutants are discharged or emitted. Also, any single identifiable source of
pollution (e.g., a pipe, ditch, ship, ore pit, factory smokestack).
Pollutant: Any substance introduced into the environment that adversely affects the usefulness of a resource.
82 Glossary
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Pollution Prevention: Measures taken to reduce the generation of a substance that could be harmful to living organisms if re-
leased to the environment Pollution prevention can be achieved in many ways.
Potentially Responsible Party (PRP): Any individual or company, including owners, operators, transporters, or generators,
potentially responsible for, or contributing to, the contamination problems at a Superfiind site. Whenever possible, EPA re-
quires PRPs, through administrative and legal actions, to clean up hazardous waste sites that they may have created.
Predator: Any organism that lives by capturing and feeding on another animal.
Pretreatment: Processes used to reduce, eliminate, or alter pollutants from nonresidential sources before they are discharged
into publicly owned sewage treatment systems.
Primary Waste Treatment: This treatment consists of the first steps in wastewater treatment during which screens and sedi-
mentation tanks are used to remove most materials that float or will settle. Primary treatment results in the removal of
about 30 percent of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand from domestic sewage.
Publicly Owned Treatment Work (POTW): A waste treatment facility owned by a State, unit of local government, or Indian
tribe.
Record of Decision (ROD): A public document that explains which cleanup alternatives) will be used at Superfund National
Priorities List sites.
Remedial Action Plans (RAPs): Environmental plans aimed at restoring all beneficial uses to Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
Resuspension (of sediment): The remixing of sediment particles and pollutants back into the water by storms, currents, or-
ganisms, and human activities, such as dredging.
Retention Time: The time it takes for the volume of water in a lake to exit through its outlet (i.e., total volume/outlet flow =
retention time).
Risk Assessment: A qualitative and quantitative evaluation to define the hazards posed to human health and/or the environ-
ment.
Run-Off: That part of precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water that drains off land into surface water. It can carry sedi-
ments and pollutants into the receiving waters.
Secondary Waste Treatment: The second step in most waste treatment systems in which bacteria consume the organic parts
of the waste. It is accomplished by bringing together waste, bacteria, and oxygen in trickling filters or in the activated
sludge process. This removes floating and settleable solids and about 90 percent of the oxygen-demanding substances and
suspended solids. Disinfection is the final stage of secondary treatment (See primary, tertiary waste treatment.)
Sediments: Soil, sand, and minerals eroded from land by water or air. Sediments settle to the bottom of surface water.
Sewage: The waste and wastewater discharged into sewers from homes and industry.
Sewer: A channel or conduit that carries wastewater and stormwater runoff from its source to a treatment plant or receiving
stream. Sanitary sewers carry household, industrial, and commercial waste; storm sewers cany runoff from rain or snow;
and combined sewers carry both.
Stratification (or layering): The tendency in deep water bodies for distinct layers of water to form as a result of vertical
change in temperature and, therefore, in the density of water. During stratification, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and other
parameters of water chemistry do not mix well between layers, establishing chemical as well as thermal gradients.
Superfund: The program under the legislative authority of CERCLA and SARA that carries out EPA's solid waste emer-
gency and long-term remedial activities. These activities include establishing a National Priorities List of the nation's most
Glossary 83
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hazardous inactive waste sites and conducting remedial actions. Sites are cleaned up by potentially responsible parties
whenever this can be arranged.
Surface Water: All water open to the atmosphere (e.g., rivers, lakes, reservoirs, streams, impoundments, seas, estuaries) and
all springs, wells, or other collectors that are directly influenced by surface water.
Swamp: A type of wetland that is dominated by woody vegetation and that does not accumulate appreciable peat deposits.
Swamps may be freshwater or saltwater and tidal or nontidal. (See wetland.)
Toxic Substance (or toxicant): A substance that can cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic muta-
tions, physiological or reproductive malfunctions, or physical deformities in any organism or its offspring. Hie quantities
and length of exposure necessary to cause these effects can vary widely.
u
Urban Runoff: Stormwater from city streets and adjacent domestic or commercial properties that may pickup terrestrial con-
tamination and carry pollutants of various kinds into sewer systems and/or receiving waters.
Vaporization: The change of a substance from a liquid to a gas.
Volatile Substance: A substance that evaporates readily.
w
Waste Treatment Plant: A facility containing a series of tanks, screens, filters, and other processes by which pollutants are
removed from water.
Wastewater: The spent or used water from individual homes, a community, a farm, or an industry that often contains dis-
solved or suspended matter.
Watershed: The land area that drains into a river, stream, or lake.
Water Table: The kvel of groundwater.
Water Quality Standards: State-adopted and EPA-approved standards for water bodies. Standards are developed considering
the uses of the water body and the water quality criteria that must be met to protect the designated uses.
Wetland: An area that is regularly saturated by surface water or groundwater and is characterized by a prevalence of vegeta-
tion that is adapted for life in saturated soil conditions (e.g., swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, and estuaries).
Wildlife Refuge: An area designated for the protection of wild animals, within whkh hunting and fishing are either prohib-
ited or strictly controlled.
X, Y, Z
Zooplankton: Microscopic aquatic animals.
84 Gfo*M/y
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