&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
About the Great Lakes
Legacy Act
Although discharges oftoxic
substances into the Great Lakes
have been reduced over the last 20
years, high concentrations of
pollution remain in the bottom of
some rivers and harbors. That poses
potential health risks to people and
wildlife, and states have issued fish
advisories in many Great Lakes
locations.
The tributaries andharbors
identified as having pollution
problems are known as "Areas of
Concern," or AOCs. There are 40
AOCs on the Great Lakes - 25 on
the U.S. side, 10 in Canada and five
shared between the U.S. and
Canada. The Ottawa River is part of
the Maumee River Area of Concern.
The Maumee has the largest
drainage area of any Great Lakes
river covering 8,316 square miles,
including the Ottawa River and
several other rivers, creeks and
streams.
EPA's Great Lakes National
Program Office administers the
GLLA, which was reauthorized in
2008. From 2004 to 2008 congress
has appropriated a total of $ 126
million forthe Great Lakes Legacy
Act.
For more information
Ottawa River Project:
Scott Cieniawski
312-353-9184
Cieniawski.scott@epa.gov
Great Lakes Legacy Act:
Marc Tuchman
312-353-1369
tuchman .marc@epa.gov
Great Lakes Legacy Act Project to
Remove Polluted Sediment
Ottawa River Legacy Act Site/Maumee River AOC
Toledo, Ohio January2009
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great LakesNational Program
Office and several local partners will begin work this spring on a project to
remove contaminated sediment from 5.6 miles ofthe Ottawa River in
Toledo, Ohio. The federal Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) is funding the
$43 million project. The Act provides federal money that along with local
matching dollars are used to clean up polluted sediment (mud) along the
U.S. shores ofthe Great Lakes. The Ottawa River project calls forthe
removal of 250,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with PCBs and
PAHs (polychlorinated biphenyls and polyaromatichydrocarbons).The
sediment will be hydraulically dredged and transportedthrough a pipeline
to a nearby commercial landfill. Some "hot spots" in the river containing
hazardous levels of PCBs exist so about 25,000 cubic yards of sediment
will be dredged andtakento a specially licensed fecility for disposal.
Feds and local partners share costs
GLLA and the Ottawa River Group will split the cost ofthe sediment
cleanup 50-50. The local consortium consists of Allied Waste Industries
Inc., Chrysler LLC, the city of Toledo, DuPont Co., GenCorp Inc.,
Honeywell International Inc., Illinois Tool Works Inc., United
Technologies.
Site preparation work should begin this April with dredging scheduled for
August to December.
Contaminated sediment in a 5 ¥2 mile stretch ofthe Ottawa River in Toledo,
Ohio, would be cleaned up under anew Great Lakes Legacy Act project.
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Beneficial uses
The Great Lakes Legacy Act was passed by Congress
and signed by President Bush in 2002 as atoolto
accelerate the pace of sediment cleanup within the
Great Lakes Areas of Concern. One of the goals of the
GLLA includes restoring "beneficial uses" to polluted
sections in the Great Lakes AOCs. Beneficial use
impairments include restrictions on dredging, loss of
fish and wildlife habitat and activities such as fishing
and boating.
The U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement identified contaminated sediment as a major
obstacle to restoring beneficial uses in the AOCs.
In the Maumee River AOC, which includes the Ottawa
River, beneficial use impairments include restrictions
on fish and wildlife consumption, excessive algae
growth and degraded fish and wildlife habitats.
Ottawa River cleanup history
Pollution sources liningthe Ottawa River include
several landfills, industrial facilities and eight sewer
outlets that overflow after heavy rains. But officials
have been busy the last 10 years stopping and
containing several of the sources. Three landfills have
been capped, five industrial sites were cleaned up and
Toledo is planning work to prevent some of the sewer
overflows.
Sediment removal successes
Since 2004, five sediment cleanup projects have been
completed under the Great Lakes Legacy Act and
several more are scheduled to get under way this year.
These projects have cleaned up more than 900,000
cubic yards of contaminated sediment at a cost of
almost $97 million. Some $53 million in Legacy Act
funds have leveraged $44 million in non-federal dollars
from state, local and private partners.
This fun ding translated into the removal of more than
1.5 million pounds of contaminants from Great Lakes
waterways, reducing risks to human health and wildlife.
The Ottawa River is the second Legacy Act project in
Ohio. In 2007, sediment removal was completed onthe
Ashtabula River in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Lower Ottawa River Base Map
Showing Reach Designations
Map shows the location of the planned Great Lakes Legacy Act project on the Ottawa River in Toledo, Ohio.
Dredging scheduled to begin this summer will remove 250,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from about
5 '/2 miles of the river.
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