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
November 2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Legacy Act Making A Difference:
Two Cleanups Completed,
Another Underway
• 2004 Sediment Cleanup Figures
• State of Lake Michigan
• Lake Guardian Gets Checkup
Legacy Act Making A Difference:
Two Cleanups Completed,
Another Underway
Two sediment cleanup projects in Great
Lakes Areas of Concern were completed in
November using GLNPO's new Legacy Act
authority and funding, and another project is
well underway. The Great Lakes Legacy
Act of 2002 authorized a special initiative to
help clean up the 31 pollution hotspots
(Areas of Concern) on the U.S. side of the
Great Lakes. Contaminated sediment is one
of the major reasons why many Great Lakes
fish are not safe to eat in unlimited
quantities. It also harms aquatic habitat and
pollutes sources of drinking water. This has
been a long-term and persistent problem
throughout the entire Great Lakes basin.
There are still millions of cubic yards of
contaminated sediment to be removed from
the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Legacy
Act authorizes $270 million in funding over
five years for cleanups of contaminated
sediment hotspots. In 2004, the first year
funds were available, Congress appropriated
$9.9 million. In 2005, Congress appropriated
$22.3 million and $30 million will be
available in 2006. More information on the
Legacy Act is available on GLNPO's Web
Site at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/sediment/
1 egacy/index. html
Black Lagoon
The Black Lagoon cleanup in the Detroit
River Area of Concern was the first project
undertaken under the Legacy Act. A total of
115,000 cubic yards of sediment
contaminated with PCBs, heavy metals, and
oil and grease was removed from the Lagoon
located in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit
A silt curtain surrounds the Black Lagoon cleanup are to keep re-suspended sediment from entering the river.
-------
November 2005
Significant Activities Report
'JMJ
r - .TBrai-SjeBl
Location of Newton Creek/Hog Island Inlet Cleanup
River. All sediments were placed in a
specially engineered cell at the Pointe
Mouillee confined disposal facility. The
project began in October 2004 and cost
approximately $9.3 million which was cost-
shared between USEPA (65 percent) and
Michigan DEQ (35 percent). A media event
was held on site on November 16th to
announce the completion of the project.
Speakers at the event included: Tom Skinner,
USEPA Great Lakes National Program
Manager and Region 5 Regional
Administrator; Steve Chester, Director of the
Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality; Lt. Colonel Lauzon of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers; Dennis
Schornack, U.S. Co-Chair of the
International Joint Commission; and Trenton,
Michigan Mayor Brown. The City of Trenton
has received a USDA grant to conduct
habitat restoration work at the Black Lagoon
site beginning next spring. Additional
information on the project is available on the
Web at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/sediment/
legacy/blklagoon/index.html
Earlier in the month, on November 2nd,
GLNPO's R/VMudpuppy collected
confirmatory samples in the Black Lagoon to
ensure that adequate amounts of cover
material had been placed over the dredged
area to achieve the project goals. The
scientists collected approximately ten Ponar
dredge samples for visual inspection as well
as analysis of PCBs, oil & grease, and
mercury. The analytical data confirmed that
the residual cover was placed with adequate
thickness, and that the surface sediments
were now clean. The Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality provided both field
and analytical support.
(Contacts: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov or Dave
Wethington, 312-886-1437, wethington.
david@epa.gov)
Newton Creek And Hog Island Inlet
At the other end of the Great Lakes, the
second completed Legacy Act sediment
cleanup was celebrated by USEPA and the
State of Wisconsin at a ceremony at the
Richard Bong World War II Heritage Center
in Superior, Wisconsin on November 28th.
The event marked the successful completion
of remediation of contaminated sediments in
Newton Creek and the Hog Island Inlet in
Superior, Wisconsin in the St. Louis River
Area of Concern. The creek and the inlet are
part of the St. Louis River watershed, the
largest tributary to Lake Superior. This was
the first project completed under the Legacy
Act in the State of Wisconsin and Lake
Superior. The $6.3 million project was
completed in just four months and removed
just over 60,000 tons of sediments
contaminated predominantly with PAHs and
lead. About 100 people attended the event,
including many media representatives
(television, radio and newspaper) attended as
well. The Governor of Wisconsin (Jim
Page 2
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
-------
Significant Activities Report
November 2005
Doyle) as well as the Great Lakes National
Program Director, Gary Gulezian, spoke at
the event celebrating the success of the
project. The highlight of the event was when
Gary Gulezian and Governor Doyle handed
the "no swimming" sign, that was previously
posted at the Inlet, back to the county health
department. The Legacy Act project was the
final step in the cleanup of 3-mile-long
Newton Creek and Hog Island Inlet. Murphy
Oil Co., which owns a refinery in Superior,
cleaned up the upper reaches of Newton
Creek in the mid-1990s and WDNR cleaned
up the middle stretches in 2003. According to
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, "This is an
important and historic day for the City of
Superior and to all those who use and enjoy
Lake Superior. It shows that great things can
be accomplished when government agencies
and citizens groups pool their resources to
achieve a common goal." The cost of the
Newton Creek and Hog Island Inlet cleanup
was shared between EPA (65 percent) and
WDNR (35 percent). For more information,
go to http://www.epa.gov/glla/hogisland.
(Contact: Scott Ireland, 312-886-8121,
ireland.scott@epa.gov)
Ruddiman Creek
Another Legacy Act cleanup is nearing
completion on Ruddiman Creek in the
Muskegon, Michigan Area of Concern. As of
November 7th, the dry excavation of the
uppermost portion of the creek leading to
Ruddiman Pond has been completed. This
stage of the project included rerouting the
river, removal of several thousand cubic
yards of contaminated sediments, re-sloping
the creek bed and lining it with geofabric,
sand and gravel to prevent re-exposure. The
Creek also includes new flood control with
the inclusion of an overflow area, wingdams
and rock cover. Dredging of the pond is also
proceeding with approximately 23,000 cubic
Following removal of the most contaminated sedi-
ments from Ruddiman Creek, a layer of clean sand is
placed on top of the sediments to restore the depth of
the creek and ensure clean surface sediments.
yards removed from the pond to date.
Ruddiman Creek and pond is heavily
contaminated with PCBs, PAHs, and heavy
metals. Ruddiman Creek is the third
sediment cleanup project being conducted
under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. More in-
formation on the Ruddiman Creek cleanup
can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/
sediment/1 egacy/ruddiman/index.html
(Contacts: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov or Susan Boehme,
312-353-4383, boehme.susan@epa.gov)
2004 Sediment Cleanup Figures
GLNPO has released the sediment cleanup
statistics for 2004. Over 345,000 cubic yards
of sediment were remediated in 2004 from
eight U.S. sites and one Canadian site in the
Great Lakes Basin. Six sites initiated work
for the first time in 2004; two of those sites
were the beginnings of large-scale cleanups
that will have significant positive impacts to
the Basin. Three sites completed their
remedial actions in 2004; Dow Chemical
Canada's three-year cleanup was completed
at the end of the year. The Moss-American
and Pine River projects continued with their
remedial actions. The Black Lagoon site was
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
Page3
-------
November 2005
Significant Activities Report
the first sediment remediation project funded
under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. More
information is available on the Web at: http://
www.epa.gov/glnpo/glindicators/sediments/
remediatea.html, and http://www.epa.gov/
glnpo/glindicators/sediments/remediateb.
html.
(Contact: Mary Beth G. Ross, 312-886-2253,
ross.marybeth@epa.gov)
State Of Lake Michigan
A Lake Michigan State of the Lake
Conference and the Great Lakes Beach
Association meeting were held November 1st
to 4th in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The meetings
were held in conjunction with Lake Michigan
Forum, (Lake Michigan) Technical
Coordinating Committee, and Lake Michigan
Monitoring Coordinating Council sessions.
Several GLNPO scientists participated and
gave presentations. GLNPO's Beth Hinchey
Malloy helped organize and chair a special
session on "Monitoring, TMDLs and the
Lake Michigan Mass Balance Study." This
session featured presentations on Lake
Michigan Mass Balance study results by
GLNPO's Paul Horvatin and Glenn Warren;
as well as USEPA Office of Research and
Development scientists Russell Kreis,
Kenneth Rygwelski, J. Val Klump, and
David Miller. GLNPO's David Rockwell
presented a poster to answer the question
"Are Beach Closings on the Rise due to
Hazardous Bacterial Contamination?"
Marc Tuchman presented a paper on the
Legacy Act, focusing on the status of the
program, with an emphasis on the Ruddiman
Creek cleanup currently underway in
Muskegon, Michigan. Susan Boehme
presented a Legacy Act poster as part of the
poster session.
The estimated 250 attendees at this joint
conference included scientists, resource
managers, planners, officials, students, and
interested citizens working together to
improve and protect Lake Michigan, Green
Bay and Great Lakes beaches. CDs of
abstracts and presentations will be created
and distributed.
(Contacts: Beth Hinchey Malloy,
312-886-3451, hinchey.elizabeth@epa.gov;
Judy Beck, 312-353-3849, beck.judy@epa.
gov; Glenn Warren, 312-886-2405, warren.
glenn@epa.gov)
R/VLake Guardian Gets Checkup
GLNPO's 180-foot research ship, the R/V
Lake Guardian pulled into the Basic Marine,
Inc. shipyard in Escanaba, Michigan on
The Lake Guardian's hull before (left) and after (right) hull cleaning and recoating.
Page 4
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
-------
Significant Activities Report
November 2005
November 1st for one of its regular checkups.
The ship was floated into the facility's
floating dry dock later in the week. Since the
ship only sails in freshwater now, it is
required by the American Bureau of
Shipping to be dry docked for underwater
hull inspection and hull recoating every five
years. The machinery spaces are also
inspected, major valves are rebuilt, and fuel
and ballast tanks and areas like the anchor
chain locker are repaired and preserved, as
necessary. Sea chests are also cleaned and
inspected. While in dry dock, the ship was
fitted with a special stainless steel piping line
in a sea chest for collection of special water
samples. The sea chest modifications are
designed to allow continuous sampling of
near-surface water while underway. The
ship's bottom was cleaned, sand blasted and
the recoated. Before and after photos of the
hull show the algae buildup and subsequent
base coat of paint after sandblasting.
Other work done on the Guardian included a
major engine overhaul, repair of the chain
locker, and maintenance on the ship's potable
water tanks and water system. The Lake
Guardian left the dry dock on November
25th and returned to it's home base at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The ship underwent
sea trials prior to departure to make sure
everything was shipshape.
(Contact: George Ison, 312-353-1669, ison.
george@epa.gov)
Chemical Integrity Workshop
Several GLNPO scientists participated in a
Chemical Integrity Workshop in Windsor,
Ontario on November 29th and 30th. More
than 70 people from U.S. and Canadian
federal agencies and industry participated in
discussions regarding Great Lakes naturally
occurring and anthropogenic chemicals and
their impacts to humans and the
environment. The workshop was a first step
in gathering information for the November
2006 State of the Lakes Ecosystem
Conference (SOLEC) to be held in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 1st to
3rd, 2006. The theme of SOLEC 2006 is
"Chemical Integrity." Toxic chemicals are a
major stressor to Great Lakes habitats. The
work of the participants will help to identify
appropriate indicators that will lead to better
assessments of impacts.
For additional information on SOLEC, see:
http://epa.gov/greatlakes/solec/index.html
(Contacts: Karen Rodriguez, 312-353-2690,
rodriguez.karen@epa.gov or Ted Smith,
312-353-6571, smith.edwin@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
PageS
-------
November 2005
Significant Activities Report
Upcoming Events
2005
December 6th- Great Lakes Binational
7th Toxics Strategy Stakeholder
Forum and Integration
Workgroup, Chicago, Illi-
nois
December 12th Great Lakes Regional Col-
laboration Summit II, Chi-
cago, Illinois
2006
November 1-3 State of the Lakes Ecosys-
tem Conference
(SOLEC) 2006
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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.
Page 6
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
------- |