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
May 2004
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Great Lakes Executive Order
• Toxics Reduction Progress
• Proposal Selections Announced
• New GLNPO Environmental Indi-
cator: Lake Erie Phosphorus
• 2003 Conservation and Native
Landscaping Awards
• National EMAP Conference
• Promoting Mercury Reductions
Worldwide
• Mudpuppy Sails
• Great Lakes Strategy Hot-Linked
Great Lakes Executive Order
On May 18th, President Bush signed Execu-
tive Order 13340 creating the Great Lakes
Interagency Task Force. Under USEPA's
leadership, the Task Force brings together
ten Agency and Cabinet officers to provide
strategic direction on federal policy, priori-
ties and programs for restoring the Great
Lakes.
The Task Force will focus on outcomes like
cleaner water and sustainable fisheries, and
target measurable results. The ten agencies
together administer more than 140 different
federal programs that help fund and imple-
ment environmental restoration and man-
agement activities in the Great Lakes basin.
In addition, the President directed that
President Bush signs Executive Order 13340 on the
Great Lakes flanked by USEPA Administrator Mke
Leavitt (right) and James Connaughton, Head of the
Council on Environmental Quality
USEPA work with relevant states and cities
to convene a regional collaborative effort.
USEPA Administrator Mike Leavitt met with
the Chairs of the Council of Great Lakes
Governors and the Great Lakes Cities Initia-
tive on May 18th, and began meeting with all
eight Great Lakes Governors, local officials,
and Great Lakes stakeholders.
Additional information is available online at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/taskforce/index.
html.
(Contact: Gary Gulezian, 312-886-4040,
gulezian.gary@epa.gov)
Toxics Reduction Progress
The 2003 Annual Report of the Great Lakes
Binational Toxics Strategy is now available
online at:
http ://www. epa. gov/glnpo/bns/
reports/2003progress/index.html
The Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy
(GLBTS) is a binational partnership agree-
ment between Canada and the U.S., which
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May 2004
Significant Activities Report
2003 L
Great Lakes
Binational Toxics
Strate-
Annual
Progress
Report
Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy 2003 Annual
Progress Report Cover
commits to the reduction and virtual elimi-
nation of persistent toxic substances from
the Great Lakes Basin through pollution
prevention and toxic reduction activities.
Many dedicated stakeholders on both sides
of the border have joined in this partnership
to help preserve and protect the Great Lakes
ecosystem: Environment Canada, USEPA,
and stakeholders from industry, academia,
state/provincial and local governments,
Tribes, First Nations, and environmental
and community groups continue to work to-
gether toward the achievement of the Strat-
egy's challenge goals.
This past year, 2003, saw continued use and
emissions reductions of key level I persis-
tent toxic substances. Of seventeen GLBTS
reduction goals set forth for the twelve level
I persistent toxic substances in April 1997,
nine have been met, four will be met by the
target timeline date of 2006, and the re-
maining four will be well advanced toward
meeting their targets by 2006. See Appen-
dix B of the 2003 Annual Report for a list
of GLBTS reduction goal targets and their
current status.
(Contact: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571, smith.
edwin@epa.gov)
Proposal Selections Announced
Selections of proposals submitted to the
GLNPO FY2004-2005 Funding Guidance
process for competitive grants have been
made. Earlier this year in response to
GLNPO's solicitation, applicants submitted
265 proposals requesting a total of $25 mil-
lion. 77 projects totaling approximately $4
million have been selected. Projects are dis-
tributed across each of the Great Lakes ba-
sins, with two or more projects located in
each of the Great Lakes states. GLNPO has
requested full grant applications for the pro-
jects listed at http://www.epa.gov/
greatlakes/fund/2004fund/yeslist.html. Final
decisions on whether to fund these projects
will be made following evaluations of the
full federal application packages.
(Contact: MikeRuss, 312-886-4013, russ.
michael@epa.gov)
New GLNPO Environmental Indi-
cator: Lake Erie Phosphorus
A new indicator has been added to the suite
of Great Lakes National Program Office
Environmental Indicators: levels of phos-
phorus in Central Lake Erie. These phos-
phorus levels had decreased to below the
IJC Water Quality Objective of 10 ug/1 in
WQObjectivi
1982 1984 191
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004
Phosphorus in the Central Basin of Lake Erie
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May 2004
the 1980's in response to improvements in
sewage treatment and bans on phosphorus
in detergents. However, phosphorus levels
have been steadily increasing since the early
1990's. Scientists working to determine the
cause of the increases think there is a link
between the phosphorus increases and the
arrival and explosive growth of Zebra Mus-
sel and Quagga Mussel populations (non-
native invasive species).
Information on the new indicator can be ac-
cessed from the Water indicators index page
at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/glindicators/
water.html. The Main Index to the GLNPO
Environmental Indicators can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/glindicators.
(Contact: Tony Kizlauskas, 312-353-8773,
kizlauskas.anthony@epa.gov)
2003 Conservation and Native
Landscaping Awards
On May 11th, Bharat Mathur, USEPA Re-
gion 5 Acting Administrator, presented the
2003 Conservation and Native Landscaping
Awards at a ceremony hosted by Chicago
Park District at Jackson Park in Chicago,
Illinois. The Conservation and Native Land-
scaping Awards, co-sponsored by USEPA
and Chicago Wilderness, recognize out-
standing efforts in using native plants in the
landscape on corporate, park district and lo-
cal government properties within the Chi-
cago Wilderness region (The Chicago Wil-
derness region encompasses the crescent of
land around southern Lake Michigan, in-
cluding southeast Wisconsin, northeast Illi-
nois and northwest Indiana). Using native
plants in the landscape prevents air and wa-
ter pollution, helps increase biodiversity,
and provides habitat for birds and butter-
flies. This is the fourth year for the award
program, and the second year the award
program recognized corporate efforts. Addi-
tional information on the awards is avail-
Independence Grove Forest Preserve
(Lake County Forest Preserves)
Libertyville, Illinois
able at http://www.epa.gov/greenacres.
And the 2003 winners are:
Local Government Winners
• Chicago Department of the Environ-
ment, Chicago Center for Green Tech-
nology, Chicago, Illinois
• Chicago Park District, Jackson Park
Lagoon Rehabilitation, Chicago, Illi-
nois
• Crystal Lake Park District, Sterne's Fen
Nature Preserve, Crystal Lake, Illinois
• Lake County Forest Preserves, Inde-
pendence Grove Forest Preserve, Liber-
tyville, Illinois
• Village of Frankfort, Frankfort Prairie
Park, Frankfort, Illinois
• Village of Park Forest, Central Park
Wetland Restoration Project, Park For-
est, Illinois
• Village of Vernon Hills, Vernon Hills
Village Hall Complex, Vernon Hills, Il-
linois
Corporate Winners
• Butterprint Farm Rural Wildlife Preser-
vation, Monee, Illinois
• Coffee Creek Watershed Conservancy,
Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve,
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
Chesterton, Indiana
• ConopCo Realty & Development, Inc.,
Sears Prairie Stone, Hoffman Estates,
Illinois
• Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory,
Main Injector Mitigation Project, Bata-
via, Illinois
• Fuller Park Community Development,
Eden Place Nature Center, Chicago, Illi-
nois
• Prairie Sun Consultants, Prairie Sun,
Naperville, Illinois
(Contact: Danielle Green, 312-886-7594,
green.danielle@epa.gov)
National EMAP Conference
GLNPO scientists gave two presentations at
the national Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment Program (EMAP) which was
convened from May 3rd to 7th in Newport,
Rhode Island. The first presentation sum-
marized results from the long-term GLNPO
monitoring program, while the second was a
presentation on the Great Lakes Observing
System, which is being developed within
the Great Lakes community. This observing
system, which could include satellite obser-
vations, data from buoys, aircraft and ships,
will be part of an international ocean ob-
serving system.
(Contact: Paul Horvatin, 312-353-3612,
horvatin.paul@epa.gov or Glenn Warren,
312-886-2405, warren.glenn@epa.gov)
Promoting Mercury Reductions
Worldwide
Alexis Cain, U.S. Chairman of the Great
Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy Mercury
Work Group, traveled to Bangkok, Thailand
in late April to participate in the "Mercury
Awareness-Raising Workshop" sponsored
by the United Nations Environment Pro-
gram (UNEP). The Bangkok workshop was
the first of a series of workshops that the
United Nations is conducting to help devel-
Photo montage from UNEP Mercury Awareness-
Raising Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand
(photos courtesy of UNEP)
oping nations implement programs to re-
duce use and release of mercury, and to re-
duce exposures to mercury through educa-
tion and outreach. This workshop specifi-
cally focuses on assisting countries in Asia.
The UNEP mercury program is USEPA's
primary mechanism for promoting world-
wide reductions in mercury releases, and
sharing information about successful mer-
cury reduction approaches with other coun-
tries. Alexis gave presentations on global
mercury use and release, and on options for
reducing mercury releases in the chlor-
alkali sector and the waste management sec-
tor.
Virtually all Asian countries from Pakistan
East and Mongolia South was represented at
the workshop. Indonesia and the Philippines
were also represented. Most countries sent
two representatives. The countries presented
information about the mercury situation in
their country. Representatives from the
World Bank, the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO),
NRDC, and two Basel Convention regional
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May 2004
centers also participated.
The workshop was highly informative about
important mercury issues affecting Asia.
The importance of coal combustion as a
source of mercury emissions in Asia is well
known, and USEPA and other organizations
are trying to help address this through pro-
viding technical assistance, especially to
China, on multi-pollutant control technolo-
gies and strategies appropriate for coal-fired
boilers. This is a big issue, and there is more
to be done. The problem of mercury use in
artisanal mining is also significant in Asia,
and IMIDO outlined a program to address
this issue through assistance to impover-
ished miners.
An important insight gained at the work-
shop was that mercury uses that have long
since ended in Europe and North America
are continuing in Asia. The particular uses
that are important to address are use as a
catalyst in plastics production, particularly
in China; use of mercury in paints, espe-
cially in India; and mercury use as a pesti-
cide/seed dressing and in mercuric oxide
batteries. Helping these countries reduce
their usage of mercury is significant to the
world and the Great Lakes, since mercury
can be carried great distances via the air and
be deposited with dust or in rainwater, and
because Asia is responsible for a significant
portion of global mercury use.
(Contact: Alexis Cain, 312-886-7018, cain.
alexis@epa.gov)
Mudpuppy Sails
GLNPQ'&R/VMtidpuppy kicked off the
2004 sediment sampling season during the
week of May 18th to 21st, providing support
to USEPA Region 5 Superfund and the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Re-
sources during a sediment survey on the
Kinnickinnic River in Milwaukee, Wiscon-
GLNPO Scientists on the R/V Mudpuppy bring up
deep sediment core sample
sin. The agencies collected five sediment
cores on the Kinnickinnic River to evaluate
the extent of contamination upstream and
downstream of the Solvay Superfund site.
Additionally, GLNPO conducted a equip-
ment shakedown and crew safety training
for new R/VMudpuppy chief scientists. The
equipment shakedown included test sam-
pling with the new 20-inch sediment box
corer sampler for collecting undisturbed
sediment samples.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski, 312-353-9184,
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov)
Great Lakes Strategy Hot-Linked
Great Lakes Strategy 2002 sets out basin-
wide goals, and activities to achieve them,
agreed upon by federal, state, local and
tribal agencies working on Great Lakes is-
sues. The Strategy was created by the U.S.
Policy Committee, a forum of senior level
representatives from Federal, State, and
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
Tribal agencies responsible for environ-
mental and natural resources management
of the Great Lakes. The plan sets forth a
long term vision, stating that the Great
Lakes should be a healthy natural environ-
ment for wildlife and people, the beaches
should be open for swimming, the fish
should be safe to eat, and the Great Lakes
should be protected as a safe source of
drinking water. In support of this vision, the
member Agencies of the U.S. Policy Com-
mittee commit to work together to "protect
and restore the chemical, physical, and bio-
logical integrity of the Great Lakes Basin
Ecosystem." Among the priorities identified
in the strategy are contaminated sediments,
invasive species, loss of habitat and fish
consumption advisories.
Great Lakes Strategy 2002 is now hot-
linked and online at: http://www.epa.gov/
glnpo/gls. In order to show how the Strat-
egy incorporates the programs and strate-
gies of our Great Lakes governmental part-
ners, the document provides direct links to
the referenced Federal, State, and tribal pro-
grams. This document can be a helpful re-
source for communicating how governmen-
tal partners work together to address envi-
ronmental protection and natural resource
management at the basin-wide level.
(Contacts: James Schardt, 312-353-5085,
schardt.james@epa.gov or Pranas Prancke-
vicius, 312-353-3437, pranckevicius.
pranas@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
Great Lakes
Strategy
Great Lakes Strategy 2002 logo
We welcome your questions, comments or
suggestions about this month's Significant
Activities Report. To be added to or removed
from the Email distribution of the Significant
Activities Report, please contact Tony
Kizlauskas, 312-353-8773, kizlauskas.
anthony@epa.gov.
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