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
September 2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Protecting Riparian Areas and
Wetlands
• Women in Science and
Engineering
• Detroit River Plume Investigated
• Setting Future Focus of
Binational Toxics Strategy
• 2005 Lake St. Clair Conference
Protecting Riparian Areas and
Wetlands
"Community Riparian and Wetland Guid-
ance" is a newly released publication
funded by GLNPO and developed by
USEPA's Cleveland Office along with the
Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation
District, the Natural Resources Conserva-
tion Service, the Northeast Ohio Areawide
Coordinating Agency, and the Ohio EPA. In
a 16-page brochure:
• Riparian zones and wetlands and their
functions are defined,
• Five principles of riparian and wetland
protection are defined,
• The critical components of an effective
setback ordinance are illustrated,
• Commonly raised issues regarding set-
back ordinances are answered, and
• Preliminary plan submission guidelines
and guidelines for considering riparian
setback variances are described.
The publication has been distributed
throughout Northeast Ohio and is available
Cover of Community Riparian and Wetland Guidance
online at:http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/
ReparianWetlandsGuide_8%205xllin.pdf
(Contacts: Paul Novak, 440-250-1750, no-
vak.paul@epa.gov; or Karen Rodriguez, 312-
353-2690, rodriguez.karen@epa.gov)
Women in Science and Engineering
On September 8th, GLNPO's Elizabeth Hin-
chey Malloy, Jacqueline Adams, and Chrissy
McConaghy spoke to graduate students and
departmental faculty at the University of Illi-
nois Chicago as part of the UIC Women in
Science and Engineering fall semester
speaker series. Their seminar included an
overview of Great Lakes monitoring pro-
grams that GLNPO conducts with the R/V
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September 2005
Significant Activities Report
Lake Guardian and R/VMudpuppy, a sum-
mary of their environmental science back-
grounds, and tips for how high school, col-
lege and graduate students can find environ-
mental internships and other research op-
portunities. The seminar also served as an
announcement to participants of UIC's Girls
E-Mentoring in Science, Engineering and
Technology (GEM-SET) program that
Jackie Adams, who will be sampling Lake
Superior aboard the Lake Guardian Sept 22-
29, will be e-mailing cruise updates to
GEM-SET participants. High school stu-
dents around the country will be able to fol-
low the ship's progress and see pictures of
Jackie in action.
(Contacts: Beth Hinchey Malloy, 312-886-
3451, hinchey.elizabeth@epa.gov; or Jackie
Adams, 312-353-7203, adams.
jacqueline@epa.gov; or Christine McCona-
ghy, 312-886-6056, mcconaghy.
christine@epa.gov)
Detroit River Plume Investigated
A chronic "red plume" in the Detroit River
along the shoreline of US Steel's 80-Inch
Mill has long concerned local residents and
the Detroit River Riverkeeper. On Septem-
ber 20th, USEPA Region 5 Water Division
Enforcement Inspector Allan Batka and
GLNPO's Rose Ellison met with US Steel
representatives to investigate complaints of
the plume. The source of the intermittent
plume appears to be the resuspension of
"reddish" tainted shoreline sediment due to
periodic wave action. While on site, Mr.
Batka and Ms. Ellison observed the genera-
tion of a "red plume" in the river immedi-
ately after the shoreline was disrupted from
boat-wake created waves. Ms. Ellison will
be following up on the issue through the
Detroit River Remedial Action Plan proc-
ess.
Red plume of suspended sediments along Detroit
River shore near US Steel 80-inch mill
(Photo courtesy of Friends of the Detroit River)
(Contact: Rosanne Ellison, 734-692-7689,
ellison.rosanne@epa.gov)
Setting Future Focus of Binational
Toxics Strategy
The Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy
(GLBTS) Integration Workgroup met in
Chicago on September 15th. The theme of
the meeting was the future focus of the
GLBTS. Topics included:
• The GLBTS review of Level 1 (priority
for virtual elimination) substances and
recommendations to the Binational Ex-
ecutive Committee regarding next steps,
• A History of the GLBTS,
• Chemical screening programs in the
United States and Canada,
• A new Canadian Sectors program, and
• An overview of the Great Lakes Water
Quality Agreement review process.
The meeting agenda and PowerPoint pres-
entations are posted to the GLBTS Web Site
at http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/bns/
reports/stakesept2005/index.html.
(Contacts: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571, smith.
edwin@epa.gov; or E.Marie Graziano, 312-
886-6034, graziano.emarie@epa.gov)
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
September 2005
2005 Lake St. Clair Conference
Four-Party Agreement agencies [USEPA, the
Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality (MDEQ), Environment Canada, and
the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE)]
conducted the third biennial Lake St. Clair
Conference from September 21st to 22nd, in
Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada. Environment
Canada hosted the conference, the first time
the event took place in Canada. GLNPO is in
the process of producing the Conference Pro-
ceedings. Along with EC and USEPA,
MDEQ and MOE helped to organize and
moderate the two-day session. The confer-
ence highlighted Lake St. Clair environ-
mental monitoring, research, and the imple-
mentation of management actions to pre-
serve, restore, and maintain the physical, bio-
logical, and chemical integrity of Lake St.
Clair. The goal of the Conference was to fa-
cilitate information exchange across several
themes:
• Land and water-resource uses;
• Environmental monitoring of contami-
nant sources/trends;
• Human health;
• Fish and wildlife health in the watershed;
• Habitat and biodiversity; and
• Physical conditions and processes.
Approximately 175 people attended the con-
ference, which featured 43 speakers from the
United States, Canada, and Walpole Island
(First Nation).
(Contact: Rosanne Ellison, 734-692-7689,
ellison.rosanne@epa.gov)
Lake St. Clair from Space
(Photo courtesy of NASA)
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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September 2005
Significant Activities Report
Upcoming Events
2005
September 15
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Integration
Workgroup, Chicago, Illi-
nois
November 2n - State of Lake Michigan
Conference, Green Bay,
Wisconsin
,rd
th
December 6 -
7th
December 12
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Stakeholder
Forum and Integration
Workgroup, Chicago, Illi-
nois
Great Lakes Regional Col-
laboration Summit II, Chi-
cago, Illinois
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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