v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Federal funding
The Great Lakes Legacy Act
authorizes $270 million in funding
over five years, beginning in fiscal
year 2004.
Appropriations received to date have
been:
FY2008 - $34.5 million
FY2007-$30 million
FY2006 - $29.3 million
FY2005 - $22.3 million
FY2 004-$9.9 million
For more information
EPA's Great Lakes National
Program Office administers the
Legacy Act forthe federal
government. For more information
contact:
Marc Tuchman
312-353-1369
tuchmanmarc@epa.gov
Websites
Check out these Web pages for even
more information:
About The Great Lakes Legacy
Act
www.epa.gov/glla
About Areas of Concern
www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/
GLLA rules for identifying and
evaluating proposed projects
www.epa.gov/glla/rule
Great Lakes Legacy Act Success Stories
Legacy Act Projects Tackle
Great Lakes Pollution
U.S. Areas of Concern
Great Lakes
May2008
EPA 's research vessel Mudpuppy can enter shallow inlets on the Great Lakes to
test for contaminated sediment.
The Great Lakes are amongthe largest andmost complex freshwater
ecosystems in the world, providing water, food and a hometo millions of
people, aquatic plants and animals. The Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002 is
part of a larger strategy to provide a healthy, natural Great Lakes
environment for swimming and fishing as well as a source of clean water
for drinking and industrial uses.
Although discharges of toxic chemicals to the Great Lakes have been
reduced in the last 30 years, high concentrations of contaminants persist in
the sediment of some rivers, harbors and bays as a "legacy" of North
America's industrialization.
Harmful pollutants include poly chlorinated biphenyls, better known as
PCBs, as well as heavy metals like mercury, oil and grease, and poly cyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. These substances accumulate in the
sediment. They first affect the tiny organismsthat fish eat. That
contaminates the fish, and can be a health riskto people who eat the fish.
The contaminants also affect the environment in other ways.
To help address the contaminated sediment problem, The Great Lakes
Legacy Act of 2002 authorizes $270 million in funding over five years,
beginning in fiscal 2004, to specifically assist with the cleanup of
-------
contaminated sediment in America's 30 Areas of
Concern or AOCs.
AOCs are designated by the United States and Canada
as locations where beneficial uses have been impaired
or restricted. This can include the use of a body of
water as a drinking water source, or it can be
recreational uses such as fishing, boating and
swimming. For most of these AOCs, the main pollutant
is contaminated sediment. U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program
Office administers the Legacy Act.
The U.S. and Canadian governments originally
identified43 Areas of Concern; 26 in U.S. waters, 12 in
Canada and five shared on connecting river systems.
Three AOCs - Severn Sound, Collingwood Harbour,
Great Lakes Areas of Concern
A
tV
• LLS ADCs
• Canadian AOCs
Binational AOCs
tellsted AOCs
and Oswego River - have since been removed from the
list. That leaves 40 AOCs; 25 U.S., 10 Canadian and
five shared. Remedial Action Plans are being developed
for each ofthese AOCsto address impairmentsto any
one of 14 beneficial uses.
To be eligible for Legacy Act funding, proposed
projects must lie within a U.S. AOC, and 35 percent of
the cost must come from state and local sources. The
project must implement apian to clean up the AOC,
evaluate it or prevent new contaminated sediment.
As of spring 2008, five cleanup projects have been
largely completed and several more are scheduled to
get under way this year. More than 800,000 cubic yards
of sediment have been cleaned up, removing 1.5
million pounds of contaminants. In these projects,
$53 million in Legacy Act funds have leveraged nearly
$44 million in non-federal dollars. The key to the
success ofthese projects has been the strong
partnerships that have developed between EPA and
other federal, state, local andprivate entities.
The five completed GLLA projects have been the
springboard for Great Lakes communities to turn areas
that were once a detrimentto economic growth and a
healthy environment into a new asset for their cities and
watersheds. These cleanups are turning contaminated
waterways into rejuvenated fish and native plant
habitats, and neighboring properties are becoming sites
of economic growth, including marina construction.
Biking and hiking trails along with fishing piers are
planned for areas that used to be marked with
contamination warning signs.
Remediation projects completed or substantially completed
Project
Black Lagoon
Hog Island
Ruddiman Creek
Tannery Bay*
Ashtabula*
Action
Removal/Residual Cover
Removal
Removal/Residual Cover
Removal
Removal/Residual Cover
Total Cost
($Million)
$8.7
$5.7
$14.2
$8
$60
Cubic
Yards
Removed
115,000
46,000
90,000
41,000
496,000
Major
Contaminants
PCBs, mercury, oil
& grease
PAHs, lead
PCBs, lead,
chromium
Mercury,
chromium
PCBs
Pounds of
Contaminants
Removed
338,000
7,500
333,000
882,000
25,000
* Costs for Ashtabula and Tannery Bay are not final. Cubic yards and pounds removed for Ashtabula are estimates.
------- |