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
June 2004
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Mudpuppy in High Gear
• Coordinating Lake Monitoring
• Lake Michigan Mercury Data
• U.S. Policy Committee Meets
Mudpuppy in High Gear
The Great Lakes National Program Office's
32-foot sediment sampling boat, the R/V
Mudpuppy, swung into high gear for the
2004 sampling season, working at three
sites in June.
The R/VMudpuppy began it's June work in
the Detroit River. From June 14th to 18th, the
Mudpuppy was in the Riverview, Michigan
vicinity to collect sediment samples at the
Firestone Steel site on the Trenton Channel
of the Detroit River. The sampling was
conducted as part of a collaborative effort
between GLNPO and the Michigan Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to
assess and evaluate the magnitude and ex-
tent of contaminated sediments at the Fire-
stone Steel site. The results of the sampling
effort will be used in a remedial alternatives
analysis. The Mudpuppy was used to col-
lect 14 sediment cores and 9 ponar grab
samples that will be analyzed for a compre-
hensive physical, chemical, and biological
evaluation.
(Contacts: Mary Beth Ross, 312-886-2253,
ross.marybeth@epa.gov; or Mari Nord,
312-353-4383, nord.mari@epa.gov)
Next, the Mudpuppy moved a bit north, to
R/V Mudpuppy collects sediment core sample
Mt. Clemens, Michigan from June 21st to 23rd
to provide field support to Oakland Univer-
sity and Wayne State University researchers
for a sediment survey in the Clinton River
Area of Concern. The agencies collected 20
sediment cores, 5 ponar surface sediment
grab samples, and 5 water samples. The
samples will be radio-dated and analyzed for
a wide variety of contaminants to assess the
impact of contaminated sediments on water
quality and ecosystem health within the Area
of Concern. The radio-dating will provide
insight into the extent of mixing within the
sediment column. The ultimate goal of the
study is to identify priority sites for potential
sediment remediation. This study is partially
funded through a F Y2003 GLNPO grant to
Oakland University.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski, 312-353-9184,
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov)
Finally, the Mudpuppy returned to the De-
troit River on June 24th and 25th to support
the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) in a sediment survey on the
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June 2004
Significant Activities Report
Detroit River. The field team collect five
sediment cores in the Rouge River turning
basin to obtain data for evaluating reason-
ableness of a potential remedial alternative
proposed for the turning basin. Addition-
ally, seven sediment cores were collected
from the Ford boat slip, downstream to Dix
Avenue in order to evaluate the extent of
sediment contamination throughout the
river. Samples will be analyzed by Michi-
gan DEQ for a wide variety of organic and
inorganic chemical constituents.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski, 312-353-9184,
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov)
Coordinating Lake Monitoring
The Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordinat-
ing Council sponsored 3 days of workshops
on June 8th to 10th, at Grand Valley State
University's Lake Michigan Center in Mus-
kegon, Michigan.
The first day focused on the results of the
Lake Michigan Aquatic Nuisance Species
(ANS) Survey and next steps. It was de-
cided that ANS monitoring needed to be co-
ordinated and, whenever possible, added to
existing monitoring programs rather than
establishing a new monitoring program. A
number of ANS local-monitoring programs
were presented at the conference and it was
decided that these programs were models
that should be shared.
The second day featured
1 current Lakewide Manage-
ment Plan initiatives and
the status of the Lake
Michigan Mass Balance
project. The final day was
used to collaboratively
plan the 2005 Lake Michi-
Lake Michigan gan intensive monitoring
Lakewide year which will be funded
Management Plan , T , A/r. ,.
I by Lake Michigan grant
dollars and will be further leveraged by ef-
forts by the States and by the U.S. Geologi-
cal Survey.
(Contact: Judy Beck, 312-353-3849, beck.
judy@epa.gov)
Lake Michigan Mercury Data
&EFA
Results of the Lake Michigan Mass
Balance Study: Mercury Data Report
February 2004
Lake Michigan Mass Balance Mercury Data Report
Cover
The Mercury data report from the Lake
Michigan Mass Balance Study is available
on line: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/
Immb/results/mercury/index.html
(Contact: LouBlume, 312-353-2317,
blume.louis@epa.gov)
U.S. Policy Committee Meets
On June 28th, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EPA-GLNPO and Illinois EPA co-chaired
the U.S. Policy Committee (USPC) meet-
ing. The USPC is a forum of senior-level
representatives from the Federal, State, and
Tribal agencies responsible for environ-
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
June 2004
mental and natural resources management
of the Great Lakes. Highlights from the
agenda include: the new Executive Order on
the Great Lakes, implementation of the
Great Lakes Strategy, updates on the Gover-
nor's Priorities and Annex 2001, update on
International Joint Commission activities,
progress at Areas of Concern including the
implementation of the Great Lakes Legacy
Act, and preparations for the Binational Ex-
ecutive Committee meeting in July.
(Contact: Mark Elster, 312-886-3857, elster.
mark@epa.gov)
Upcoming Events
October 6-8
November 30
2004
State of the Lakes Ecosys-
tem Conference: Toronto,
Canada
2005
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Stake-
holder Forum: 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.
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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