vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Kinnickinnic River Legacy Act
Dredging Project Begins
Kinnickinnic River Legacy Act Site/Milwaukee AOC
Milwaukee Wisconsin June 2009
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 43
AOCs on the Great Lakes - 26 on
the U.S. side, 12 in Canada and five
shared between the two countries.
Kinnickinnic River is part of the
Milwaukee Estuary Area of
Concern.
Since 2004 five sediment cleanup
projects have been completed under
the Great Lakes Legacy Act at a cost
of $97 million. EPA's Great Lakes
National Program Office
administers the Act.
For more information
Kinnickinnic RiverProject:
Ajit Vaidya
312-353-5713
vaidya.ajit@epagov
Great Lakes Legacy Act:
Marc Tuchman
312-353-1369
tuchmanmarc@epa.gov
Websites:
www.epa.gov/glla
www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/indexlitml
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program
Office and state partner Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have
begun dredging contaminated sediment from Milwaukee's Kinnickinnic
River. The $22 million project is being funded under the Great Lakes
Legacy Act (GLLA). 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 Kinnickinnic River project calls
for the removal of about 170,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated
with PCBs and PAHs (polychlorinated biphenyls and polyaromatic
hydrocarbons). The removal will be conducted between Becher Street and
Kinnickinnic Avenue on the south side of Milwaukee (see aerial map
backpage). The first two phases ofthe project were recently completed,
including construction of a cell at the Milwaukee Confined Disposal
Facility and shoreline stabilization within the dredging area.
Federal government and state share costs
GLLA will fund 65 percent or $ 14.3 million ofthe $22 million cost ofthe
project. The required non-federal share of 35 percent or $7.7 million will
come from a state bond fund for sediment cleanup. The special fund was
approved by the State Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jim Doyle
last year.
The Kinnickinnic River cleanup is the result of many years of
collaboration between EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, WDNR,the city
and Port of Milwaukee and local stakeholders including Business
Improvement District No .3 5.
The placid waters ofthe Kinnickinnic River in Milwaukee hide thousands of
cubic yards of contaminated sediment thatwill be removed under a new Great
Lakes Legacy Act project.
-------
Beneficial uses
The Great Lakes Legacy Act was passed by Congress
in 2002 as atoolto accelerate the pace of sediment
cleanup within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern. One
of the goals of the GLLA is to help restore "beneficial
uses" to polluted sections in the Great Lakes AOCs.
Beneficial use impairments include restrictions on
dredging, loss of fish and wildlife habitat and limiting
activities such as fishing and boating.
The Legacy Act was reauthorized in 2008 and includes
new provisions that allow for habitat restoration in
conjunction with a sediment remediation project and
site characterization at 100 percent federal cost share.
Project schedule
The Kinnickinnic River sediment removal involves
three phases:
• Construction of a special cell for Kinnickinnic
River sediment within the existing Milwaukee
Area Confined Disposal Facility - Completed
last December.
• Construction of shoreline stabilization features
within the project area - Completedthis April.
• Sediment removal and disposal - late spring to
late fall this year.
The work plan calls for dredging using an
environmental dredge bucket to remove about 170,000
cubic yards of contaminated sediment.The project will
result in the removal of about 1,200 pounds ofPCBs
and 13,000 pounds of PAHs.
Dredged sediment will be transported by barge and
disposed of in the special cell built at the Milwaukee
Area Confined Disposal Facility. The disposal facility
at Jones Island is owned by the Port of Milwaukee and
operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Sediment removal successes
Since 2004 five sediment cleanup project shave been
completed under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. These
projects have cleaned up more than 800,000 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 Kinnickinnic River is the second Legacy Act
project in Wisconsin. In 2005 sediment removal was
completed in Newton Creek and Hog Island Inlet in
Superior.
Aerial view of the section of the Kinnickinnic River in South Milwaukee that will undergo
removal of contaminated sediment.
------- |