Greal
Lakes
National
Program
&EPA
On the Web at:
www.epa.gov/glnpo
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Great Lakes National Program Office
Significant Activities Report
August 2003
IN THIS ISSUE:
The View from Space
Summer Lakes Survey
Special Lake Erie Cruise
What's Next: Emerging Pollutants
Mining Ideas 2
Tall Ships Chicago 2003
Acting Geographically
Making Lake Michigan Great 2003
Preserving History
Staying Ahead of Carp
Aquatic Nuisance Species Panel
Mudpuppy on the Move
New River Raisin Sediment Report
How We Monitor
Atrazine Report Online
data set was created. New methods and
techniques to improve satellite-based
land cover mapping quality were devel-
oped. A full set of landscape analyses
metrics of ecological conditions will be
run and then used as input to environ-
mental risk studies. Further work may
include time series data to study land-
scape change over time. Currently, a
1970s land cover map is being devel-
oped to compare with 1990s data. Maps
included in this interim report are: 1)
Early 1990s land cover (water, urban,
forest, agriculture and grasses); 2) Ex-
tent to which humans have changed the
natural vegetation to crops and urban
land cover; 3) Black bear habitat suit-
ability; and, 4) Estimated risk of in-
creased nitrogen export based on com-
position of land cover.
The ORD Landscape Ecology Branch in
The View from Space
Two projects for monitoring
Great Lakes ecology using re-
mote sensing data from satellites
orbiting high above the earth
recently produced preliminary
data.
USEPA and the Natural Re-
source Canadian Centre for
Remote Sensing have been
cooperating on a research
landscape ecology study of
the Great Lakes basin. Using
proprietary geospatial data
from the 1990s, a new syn-
optic land use/land cover
False-color image of Little Bay De Noc and Big Bay De Noc, Michigan
at the northern end of Green Bay from Landsat MultiSpectral Sensor
(vegetation appears as shades of red). The spread of invasive plants
can be measured by comparing images overtime.
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August 2003
Significant Activities Report
Las Vegas is working on landscape-
scale monitoring of Phragmites australis
in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Phrag-
mites australis is a native opportunistic
plant that often supplants other wetland
taxa. Some consider it a nuisance be-
cause it is persistent, produces large
amounts of biomass, propagates easily,
and is difficult to control with mechani-
cal or chemical means. This study is
testing the ecological application of us-
ing airborne hyperspectral remote sens-
ing data accurately to detect Phragmites
australis, map its extent in th Great
Lakes, and determine important ecologi-
cal parameters such as percent cover,
and stem density and height. Results so
far have demonstrated how a combina-
tion of remote sensing and detailed
baseline ecological field sampling may
improve the accuracy of mapping wet-
land vegetation. Techniques developed
may have potential applicability in other
plant community ecosystems and re-
gions.
(Contact: John Schneider, 312-886-0880,
schneider.iohn@epa.gov or Karen Rodri-
guez, 312-353-2690,rodri-
guez.karen@epa.gov)
Summer Lakes Survey
The 2003 Great Lakes Summer Water Qual-
ity/Ecology Survey began on August 1st.
The R/V Lake Guardian, with a crew of
chemists and biologists is visiting each of
the Great Lakes, taking samples to assess
their environmental health. To this point in
time the Lake Guardian has navigated
Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario, and
Superior. During Lake Erie and Lake On-
tario portions of the survey, five principal
investigators from four Universities, Envi-
ronment Canada, and Region II were pro-
vided with time, space and equipment to
perform additional work aboard the ship.
These included: 1) Dr. Keri C. Hornbuckle
(University of Iowa), who collected sedi-
ment samples to study the exposure chro-
USEPA GLNPO's 180-foot research ship, R/V Lake Guardian wrapping up Summer water quality monitoring
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August 2003
nology of Synthetic Musk Fragrances in the
Great Lakes. Air and water samples were
collected to be analyzed for these com-
pounds and others. 2) Dr. Ronald Kites
(University of Indiana), whose students col-
lected sediment samples in Lake Erie to
study the history of polybrominated di-
phenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the basin. 3) Mr.
Frederick Luckey (USEPA Region 2) Who
manages the Lake Ontario Lower Aquatic
Foodweb Assessment, studying the current
carrying capacity of Lake Ontario to sup-
port fisheries and the impacts of exotic spe-
cies on native communities. Included in the
support team were scientists from Cornell
University, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Col-
lege of Environmental Science and Forestry
(cyanobacteria), and Environment Canada.
(Contact: Glenn Warren, 312-886-2405,
warren.glenn@epa.gov, David Rockwell,
312-353-1373, rockwell.david@epa.gov: or
ToddNettesheim, 312-353-9153,
nettesheim.todd@epa.gov)
Special Lake Erie Cruise
Researchers from six universities and the
U.S. Geological Service, totaling 17 scien-
tists, are working aboard the R/VLake
Guardian from August 14th to 19th, sam-
pling Lake Erie, in a continuation of last
year's Lake Erie Supplemental Survey.
During this second summer of field work,
the researchers are investigating the causes
of the Lake Erie "dead zone," and of in-
creased phosphorus levels observed by the
GLNPO monitoring program, and through
Canadian monitoring. Scientists from Ohio
State University, DePauw University, Penn
State University, Clarkson University,
Michigan State University, and Case West-
ern Reserve University are participating in
the survey.
(Contact: Glenn Warren, 312-886-2405,
warren.glenn@epa.gov)
What's Next: Emerging Pollutants
GLNPO staff working on the U.S.-Canada
Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy
were active participants in the Emerging
Pollutant Workshop held in Chicago, Illi-
nois on August 11th to 14th. Frank
Anscombe discussed two potential emerg-
ing pollutants: the metals thallium and plati-
num, while GLNPO's Ted Smith chaired a
panel on brominated flame retardants.
Seldom studied, there are indications that
thallium poses risks of the order presented
by methylmercury, in that people who con-
sume a lot offish accumulate potentially
unhealthy levels of thallium. Environmental
levels of platinum group metals have
greatly increased since adoption in catalytic
converters for vehicles, although their levels
are still way below the levels thought to
pose human health impacts.
The brominated flame retardants panel in-
cluded an overview of the issue (e.g., his-
torical use, basis for concern, regulations,
status of research), presence in the environ-
ment and people, and the latest information
on toxicology and risk. Major panel conclu-
sions included the following: levels of
penta-brominated di-phenyl ether (PBDE)
are 10-20 times higher in people from North
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers
(PBDEs)
Br
Chemical structure diagram of the widely-used flame-
retardant chemical PBDE
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
America than in Europeans (95% of PBDE
is used in North America); world-wide, lev-
els are doubling in 4-5 years; and there is
concern that the levels are nearing those
thought to pose human health impacts.
Workshop notes will be published shortly,
including recommendations for future re-
search needs. Additionally, an article on the
Workshop is slated for Fall publication in
Science News. Presentations from the
Workshop are available on the Web at:
http ://www.epa.gov/osp/regions/
emerpoll.htm
(Contact: Frank Anscombe, 312-353-0201,
anscombe.frank@epa.gov or Ted Smith,
312-353-6571, smith.edwin@epa.gov)
Mining
Ideas 2
A report
analyzing
the final
grant reports
from 106
habitat pro-
tection and
restoration
projects
funded by
GLNPO is
now on the
GLNPO
gov/glnpo/
website
ecopage/funding/index.html. Between 1992
and 2001, more than $17 million was
awarded and leveraged for projects to pro-
tect, restore, inventory, assess, classify,
monitor and study more than 17 million
acres of the Great Lakes basin. Projects
were supported by 650 federal, state, local,
tribal and non-governmental and academic
partners. The objectives of the analysis of
the final project reports were to determine
whether GLNPO financial assistance bene-
fitted the environment, encouraged natural
resource stewardship, and contributed to
local economies, and to target future fund-
ing. Findings include: more than 6,400
acres were protected, more than 7,300 acres
were begun to be restored, 1,250 school
children and adults were educated about
project work, more than 900 people volun-
teered more than 3,800 hours to protect and
restore, and 62 full and part time jobs were
created. Conclusions of the analysis are that
a small amount of money can act as seed
money to jump start of catalyze a project;
protection and restoration activities are
good for local economies; our understand-
ing of Great Lakes ecosystems is increas-
ing; people are interested in protecting and
restoring their environment to the extent
that they will spend their free time to sup-
port project activities; and, GLNPO funding
of projects is money well spent. This analy-
sis will inform GLNPO funding criteria
over the next several years. (Contact: Karen
Rodriguez, 312-353-2690, rodri-
guez.karen@epa.gov)
Tall Ships Chicago 2003
Highlighting Chicago as "The Great Port
City" Tall Ships Chicago 2003 from July
30th to August 4th, 25 international sailing
vessels were on display docked along Chi-
cago's Navy Pier, DuSable Harbor, Monroe
Tall Ships Chicago visitors stop at EPA/EC exhibit
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Harbor and the Chicago River. The event
attracted 2 million visitors.
Environment Canada and USEPA manned
an information exhibit in a tent near the en-
trance to Navy Pier (Chicago's most popu-
lar tourist attraction). The exhibit featured
information about the Great Lakes Bina-
tional Toxics Strategy, the Lake Michigan
Lakewide Management Plan, a groundwa-
ter demonstration model, a Pollution Pre-
vention Puzzle. Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy visors were a popular give-
away, especially during the hot, sunny
weather of the festival. Along with Envi-
ronment Canada's staff, GLNPO's E. Marie
Phillips, Ted Smith, Judy Beck, and George
Ison were kept busy answering questions
about the Great Lakes and efforts to monitor
and protect them from throngs of interested
visitors. The effort was an opportunity to
demonstrate the close partnership between
the United States and Canada for protecting
the international treasures that are the Great
Lakes.
(Contact: E.Marie Phillips, 312-886-6034,
phillips.emarie@epa.gov)
Acting Geographically
On July 8th to 11th, GLNPO staff partici-
pated in the Geographic Programs-Moving
Into the Future workshop sponsored by the
Canaan Valley Institute at Davis, West Vir-
ginia. The Institute drafted a report on gov-
ernance of geographic programs, with par-
ticular attention to the Great Lakes and
Chesapeake Bay USEPA programs.
GLNPO staff spoke about GLNPO's history
and roles in Great Lakes environmental
governance and the added value of geo-
graphic programs to accomplishing USEPA
mission and goals. Staff from the Chesa-
peake Bay office also spoke. Discussions
ensued regarding a possible governance
framework for the Highlands region, which
encompasses parts of Virginia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
(Contact: Karen Rodriguez, 312-353-2690,
rodriguez.karen@epa.gov)
Making Lake Michigan Great 2003
The Grand Valley State University's
"Making Lake Michigan Great" 2003 Boat
Tour was sponsored in Milwaukee, Wiscon-
sin by a USEPA Lake Michigan Lakewide
Management Plan grant and the Milwaukee
Community Service Corps. There were two
boat tours of the river and harbor aboard the
W.G. Jackson with a press conference in
between on August 13th. The Jackson is a
65-foot vessel operated by the Annis Water
Resources Institute of Grand Valley State
University's Lake Michigan Center in Mus-
W.G. Jackson enters Milwaukee Harbor, Wisconsin
(Photo courtesy of Janet Vail)
kegon, Michigan.
The first tour took the Community Corps
members out to see the Lake that their res-
toration work is protecting. GLNPO's Judy
Beck, Lake Michigan Team Manager pro-
vided a good overview of the Lake's prob-
lems and the importance of their work. Al-
derman Angel Sanchez provided comments
at the press conference and a full commen-
tary as the boat went down the river into the
harbor. Remarks about beach closings were
made by representatives from the University
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
* ^--
UPPER GREAT LAKES
CONNECTINS CHANKb-S
<" .-
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, and the Wisconsin Depart-
ment of Natural Resources. Judy Beck also
spoke about the Great Lakes Legacy Act of
2002 and the Lakewide Management Plan.
Two television crews took the hour-long
cruise and covered the event in stories on
the evening news.
(Contact: Judy Beck, 312-353-3849,
beck.iudy@epa.gov)
Preserving History
In an effort to preserve historical scientific
documents and to make them available to
researchers and the public, GLNPO has be-
gun to electronically archive these docu-
ments online. One of
the first such docu-
ments to be put
online is the Upper
Great Lakes Connect-
ing Channels Study.
This cooperative
study of the Upper
Great Lakes bound-
ary waters (St.
Marys, St. Clair, and
Detroit Rivers and Lake St. Clair) was initi-
ated in late 1983 by the USEPA. The Study
became a full binational multi-agency in-
vestigation in July 1984, with a partnership
of Federal State, and Provincial scientists
from the United States and Canada. The re-
port is available online at: http://
www.epa.gov/glnpo/uglcc/voll .html
You may wish to check the Recent Addi-
tions link (http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/
whatis.htm) on GLNPO's Homepage often
for future installments of historical docu-
ments, as well as other new items of inter-
est.
(Contact: Pranas Pranckevicius, 312-353-
3437, pranckevicius.pranas@epa.gov)
Staying Ahead of Carp
Asian carp have been found in the Illinois
River, which eventually connects to Lake
Michigan. Due to their prodigious appetites,
rapid growth, and size, it's feared that if
Asian carp were to reach Lake Michigan,
they would wreak havoc on the Lake's ecol-
ogy. To prevent this, the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, USEPA, the State of Illinois,
the International Joint Commission, the
Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have worked
together to install and maintain an electric
dispersal barrier on the Sanitary and Ship
Canal (part of the linkage between the Illi-
nois River and Lake Michigan). For more
information on the dispersal barrier and
Asian carp, see the May 2002, September-
October 2002, December 2002, and Febru-
ary 2003 editions of the Significant Activi-
ties Report for more details on the Asian
carp and the electric dispersal barrier.
Ongoing monitoring efforts have not turned
up any Asian carp within 21 miles of the
electric dispersal barrier, but the agencies
have decided to do contingency planning on
how they could stop Asian carp from get-
ting closer to Lake Michigan if they should
somehow get through the dispersal barrier.
To this end, they held an Asian Carp Rapid
Response Plan Meeting in Chicago, Illinois
on July 1st. Discussion focused on the most
effective sampling protocols, monitoring
frequencies and locations under various sce-
narios, permit requirements to be satisfied
should a response action be necessary, treat-
ment options and costs, advanced purchase
and storage requirements, and public rela-
tions aspects of a response. The Illinois De-
partment of Natural Resources will have the
lead on a response action with input from
the other organizations involved in rapid
response planning.
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
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(Contact: Duane Heaton, 312-886-6399,
heaton. duane@epa. gov)
Aquatic Nuisance Species Panel
On July 22nd to 24th, the Great Lakes Panel
on Aquatic Nuisance Species held its Bian-
nual Meeting and a Rapid Response Work-
shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Great
Lakes Panel serves as the primary coordina-
tive organization to bring together federal,
state, tribal, industry, non-governmental or-
ganization and Canadian representatives to
discuss key invasive species issues facing
the Great Lakes. Specific Great Lakes ini-
tiatives discussed at the meeting included:
predicting nonindigenous fish invasions;
update on the dispersal barrier project at the
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal; and dis-
cussion of the ruffe expansion into Lake
Michigan. A special session was also con-
vened to examine the role of the media on
aquatic nuisance species issues. Dr. Roger
Eberhardt of the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality was elected as the
new Chair of the Panel and GLNPO's Dr.
Marc Tuchman was elected to serve as the
Vice Chair.
Meanwhile, the Rapid Response Workshop
focused on the seven key components of a
Rapid Response Plan for Great Lakes
Aquatic Invasions including: communica-
tion and organizational structure; outreach;
detection and monitoring; decision support
and rapid scientific assessment; managment
options for eradication/control; implementa-
tion; and adaptive management. Based on
the input received from the workshop, a
draft rapid response plan will be developed
and disseminated to the group by October
for review. It is anticipated that a final
model plan will be available by the summer
of 2004. The goal of the plan is to increase
capacity to anticipate, prevent and respond
to new aquatic invasions of non-indigenous
species. The development of this rapid re-
sponse plan is being supported by a grant
awarded in FY 2001 from GLNPO to the
Great Lakes Commission.
(Contact: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov)
Mudpuppy on the Move
GLNPO's 32-foot boat, the R/VMudpuppy,
is specially-outfitted for sampling bottom
sediments in Great Lakes harbors and rivers
and is often found sampling Great Lakes
Areas of Concern to help define the degree
of sediment cleanup needed or to document
the success of cleanups that have already
been done. In August, the Mudpuppy busy
at both the North and South ends of the
Great Lakes.
On August 4th and 5th, the R/VMudpuppy
sampled bottom sediments in the St. Marys
River Area of Concern outside of Sault Ste.
Marie, Michigan. Sediment cores were col-
lected in both the Little Rapids area and in
Lake Munuscong to better define the nature
and extent of sediment contamination in
these areas. The work was conducted in
St. Marys River viewed from "Aqua" satellite
(photo courtesy of NASA)
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
conjunction with Lake Superior State Uni-
versity as part of a grant awarded to the
University in 2002.
Later, from August 19th to 21st, the Mud-
puppy was in Monroe, Michigan to collect
sediment samples from the River Raisin
Area of Concern. This sampling was con-
ducted as part of a collaborative effort be-
tween GLNPO and the Michigan Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality to determine
the levels of PCB contamination in sedi-
ments underlying the federal navigation
channel. The results of this sampling will
assist in filling in one of the remaining data
gaps regarding PCB levels in the sediments
and inform the decision on how to best
remediate sediments within the AOC. The
Mudpuppy crew collected 18 sediment cores
that will be analyzed for PCBs and total or-
ganic carbon. Results of the sampling effort
are expected in November 2003.
To learn about the Mudpuppy, tune your
Web Browser to: http://www.epa.gov/
glnpo/sediment/mudwork/mudpup.html
(Contact: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov)
New River Raisin Sediment Report
In August 2003, GLNPO completed a sum-
mary report documenting the results of a
contaminated sediment survey on the River
Raisin near Monroe, Michigan. Sediment
sampling for the project took place in 2001
and 2002. The report summarizes the results
of sediment chemistry, whole sediment bio-
accumulation, and caged fish studies con-
ducted in collaboration between GLNPO,
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the
Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality. Some of the findings: significant
levels of PCBs remain in the AOC (up to
200 parts per million total PCBs in the sur-
face sediments), and that these PCBs are
potentially bio-available. The full report is
available online at: http://www.epa.gov/
glnpo/sediment/raisin/index.html
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski, 312-353-9184,
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov)
How We Monitor
The manual, Sampling and Analytical Pro-
cedures for GLNPO's Open Lake Water
Quality Survey of the Great Lakes , March
2003 - Revised June 2003, EPA 905-R-03-
002 has been finalized for GLNPO's web
site. GLNPO staff, with assistance from
DynCorp, made many significant improve-
ments to the manual this year and worked
hard to tie up loose ends in order to finalize
the document prior to the spring survey.
This document details all the collection and
analytical methods used during the surveys,
as well as sampling locations, and other lo-
gistical information. The manual can be
viewed online at: http://www.epa.gov/
glnpo/monitoring/procedures/index.html
(Contact: LouBlume, 312-353-2317,
blume.louis@epa.gov)
Atrazine Report Online
Atrazine is a herbicide that is widely used to
control broadleaf weeds in the production of
corn and sorghum. Approximately 64 to 75
million pounds of atrazine are applied per
year in the U.S., much of which is used in
the "Corn Belt" region that includes the up-
per midwest surrounding Lake Michigan.
Atrazine is generally applied to soil pre-
planting or pre-
emergence, but is
sometimes also ap-
plied to the foliage
post-emergence.
Atrazine can enter
surface waters, includ-
ing Lake Michigan,
through runoff, spray
drift, discharge of
SERA
RttuNt oFlht UH Mchiein MHI
Balarss 5:i**y. Atrjjw pju R»port
Ctecember 2001
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contaminated groundwa-
ter to surface water, wet
deposition (dissolution of
atrazine vapor in rainfall
and washout of particu-
late bound atrazine), dry
deposition (dry settling of
particulate bound
atrazine), and sorption
from the vapor phase.
The Lake Michigan Mass
Balance Study measured
atrazine and atrazine me-
tabolites in atmospheric,
tributary water column,
and open- lake water col-
umn samples. From
March 1994 through Oc-
tober 1995, over a thou-
sand samples were col-
lected and analyzed by
gas chromatography/
mass spectrometry. At-
mospheric vapor, particu-
late, and precipitation
samples were collected
from eight stations sur-
rounding Lake Michigan
and three background
stations outside the Lake
Michigan basin. Tribu-
tary water column samples wcic
from 11 tributary rivers that flow into Lake
Michigan. Open-lake water column samples
were collected from 35 sampling stations in
Lake Michigan, 2 stations in Green Bay,
and 1 station in Lake Huron.
The atrazine report is available online at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/lmmb/results/
atra datarpt.html.
(Contact: LouBlume, 312-353-2317,
blume.louis@epa.gov)
Open-water water sampling stations of Lake Michigan Mass Balance Study
We welcome your questions, comments or
suggestions about this month's Significant
Activities Report. To be added to or re-
moved from the Email distribution of the
Significant Activities Report, please contact
Tony Kizlauskas, 312-353-8773,
kizlauskas.anthony@epa.gov
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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