Great
Lakes
National
Program
On the Web at:
www.epa.gov/greatlakes
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)
Significant Activities Report
August 2004
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Board the Northbound Train
• Summer Lakes Survey
• Pesticide Control Annual Meeting
• Air Deposition Loadings Report
• Encyclopedia of Chicago
Board the Northbound Train
On July 15th, USEPA Administrator Mike
Leavitt spoke before the International Asso-
ciation of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence
Mayors Conference in Chicago to report
progress on the Great Lakes Executive Or-
der. Leavitt told the crowd that he grew up
near a Great Lake - the Great Salt Lake. It
seemed so large to him until he learned that
it would take 25 Great Salt Lakes just to fill
USEPA Administrator Mike Leavitt (center) went fish-
ing on Lake Erie with Dick and Gus to get their
thoughts on the problems facing the Great Lakes.
On one of his Great Lakes area visits USEPA Admin-
istrator Mike Leavitt (right) discusses environmental
problems with Erie, PA Congressman Phil English.
Lake Erie - "and that's the smallest of the
real Great Lakes," he said.
In an effort to see the Great Lakes up close
and personal, the Administrator spent the last
four months visiting all of the Great Lakes.
He met with State and local officials, stake-
holders, Tribes, and citizens. The goal was
not only to inform them about the Executive
Order, but also to listen to their views, to
hear about their priorities, and ask for their
help in this restoration and preservation ef-
fort.
The Administrator's visits emphasized the
fact that no one knows just how many fed-
eral, state, and private dollars are actually be-
ing spent protecting and improving the health
of the Great Lakes Basin. Everyone agrees
there is a need to do a crosscut inventory of
Great Lakes programs and funding. Because
of the Executive Order, that will now happen.
The results will help to improve the effi-
ciency and coordination of the work being
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August 2004
Significant Activities Report
Representatives of the Bad River Band of Lake Su-
perior Chippewa Indians explain the significance of
wild rice in their culture to USEPA Administrator Mike
Leavitt (standing) as they tour the Tribe's wild rice
fields on Kakagon Slough near Ashland, Wisconsin.
done to insure that the federal effort sup-
ports what the people who live and work in
the Great Lakes Basin are doing. Then, a
region-wide action plan will be created to
fill in any missing pieces, set a schedule, al-
locate resources to priorities, and provide
for a cohesive management process.
One of the anticipated highlights will be a
meeting of conveners that is euphemisti-
cally being referred to as a "Flags and Bag-
pipes" meeting later this year. It will be a
gathering of principals - governors, mayors,
cabinet members, Members of Congress,
ministers and Tribal representatives - all
gathered to declare their support of the
Great Lakes and this regional collaboration.
This celebration of the commitment to co-
operate and collaborate will not only bring
attention to this effort, but serve as the offi-
cial kick-off of the partnership described in
the Executive Order.
Administrator Leavitt in many of his re-
marks and conversations with people during
his Great Lakes tour referred to this process
as the "Northbound Train." "If you want to
be part of protecting and improving the
Lakes," he said, "get on board."
More information on the Executive Order is
available on the Internet at: http://www.epa.
gov/greatlakes/collaboration/taskforce.
(Contacts: Vicki Thomas, 312-886-6942,
thomas.vicki@epa.gov; or Nancy Gulden,
312-353-5006, guiden.nancy@epa.gov)
Summer Lakes Survey
The twenty-second annual Summer water
quality survey of the Great Lakes ended on
August 23rd. During the survey, the R/V
Lake Guardian, with a crew of chemists and
biologists aboard visited each of the Great
Lakes, taking samples to assess their envi-
ronmental health. The Summer survey fo-
cused on sampling the biological communi-
ties in the water (plankton) and the bottom
sediments (benthos) in an ongoing effort to
assess the ecological health of the Great
Lakes and to search for new invasive spe-
cies.
In addition to the regular Summer survey
efforts, two additional projects were in-
cluded:
• The first project, in Lake Erie, provided
"ground truth" information to enhance
the accuracy of satellite, remotely
sensed, estimates of chlorophyll in the
Great Lakes. This project was in con-
junction with Dr. George Leshkevich of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Scientists prepare net to take plankton sample
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
August 2004
Administration's Great Lakes Environ-
mental Research Laboratory in Ann Ar-
bor, Michigan.
• The second project, on Lake Superior,
continued GLNPO's assistance to Dr.
Judith Perlinger of Michigan Techno-
logical University in developing and
testing methods for sampling persistent
organic contaminants in the air.
GLNPO is responsible for monitoring the
offshore water quality of the Great Lakes to
evaluate water quality of the Great Lakes to
evaluate water quality over time and iden-
tify any emerging water quality problems.
Comprehensive water quality surveys are
conducted in all five Great Lakes in both
the Spring (when the water is cold and well
mixed) and in the Summer (when the lakes
are biologically active).
(Contact: Glenn Warren, 312-886-2405,
warren.glenn@epa.gov)
Pesticide Control Annual Meeting
GLNPO's Ted Smith spoke at the American
Association of Pesticide Control Officials
Annual Meeting on August 5th in Madison,
Wisconsin. Ted gave an overview of
USEP A's Great Lakes Program, with an
emphasis on pollution prevention and moni-
toring of banned and current use pesticides.
The American Association of Pesticide
Control Officials (AAPCO) is comprised
mainly of staff from State Departments of
Agriculture.
(Contact: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571, smith.
edwin@epa.gov)
Air Deposition Loadings Report
The latest Integrated Atmospheric Deposi-
tion Network (IADN) Loadings Report, for
data for 1999-2000, has been completed and
is available online at: http://www.epa.gov/
Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network
Monitoring Stations
Map of IADN air deposition monitoring stations
glnpo/monitoring/air/iadn/reports/
IADN_1999_2000.pdf.
This report incorporates several new load-
ings calculation improvements. This impor-
tant output of the IADN program continues
efforts to estimate the amount of toxic con-
taminants entering the Great Lakes from the
air. Loading estimates were developed for
PCBs and chlorinated pesticides, as well as
many other contaminants.
(Contact: Melissa Hulting, 312-886-2265,
hulting.melissa@epa.gov)
Encyclopedia of Chicago
GLNPO's Karen Rodriguez is one of many
authors featured in the new book, "The En-
cyclopedia of Chicago," a project of the
Newberry Library and published by the
University of Chicago Press. The book will
contain more than 1,400 entries on all as-
pects of metropolitan Chicago, including
essays, thematic maps, photographs, and
photo essays. Karen's piece is entitled,
"Shoreline Erosion." The 1,152 page book
is scheduled for publication by the end of
September.
(Contact: Karen Rodriguez, 312-353-2690,
rodriguez.karen@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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August 2004
Significant Activities Report
Upcoming Events
October 6-8
November 30
December 1
December 3
2004
State of the Lakes Ecosys-
tem Conference: Toronto,
Canada
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Stake-
holder Forum: Chicago,
IL
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Integra-
tion Work Group Meet-
ing: Chicago, IL
Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration Meeting:
Chicago, IL
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.
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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