Great
Lakes
National
Program
vvEPA
On the Web at:
www.epa.gov/greatlakes
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)
Significant Activities Report
April 2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Earth Keeper Clean Sweep
a Tremendous Success
• Lake Guardian Sets Sail
• Great Lakes Collaborative
Efforts Highlighted
• Ottawa River Studies Planning
• New Legacy Act Projects
Proposed
• Waukegan Harbor PCB Data
Available
• FY05 Funding Guidance
Earth Keeper Clean Sweep
a Tremendous Success
A Clean Sweep (hazardous waste collec-
tion) event in Michigan's Upper Peninsula
under the Earth Keeper initiative was an un-
precedented success. A total of 45.7 tons of
toxic materials were collected in the event
held on Earth Day, April 23rd in the parking
lots of 25 Upper Peninsula churches, tem-
ples, and other houses of worship. Wastes
collected included: pesticides, herbicides,
mercury (including over 40 pounds of raw
mercury), oil-based paints and thinners, car
batteries, anti-freeze and harsh cleaners.
The hazardous wastes were distributed to
the Delta County and Marquette County
hazardous waste processing facilities with
25.5 tons going to Delta County and 20.2
Upper Peninsula Clean Sweep collection site
at Iron Mountain, Michigan City Hall
(Photo courtesy of Wil Shampo)
tons to Marquette County. To put the success
of the event into perspective: the Delta
County facility received more hazardous
waste in the Earth Keeper event than in the
last seven years, and the Marquette facility
received more than it does in an entire year!
Earth Keeper is an Upper Michigan environ-
mental initiative begun in 2004 when repre-
sentatives of nine different faiths (Catholic,
Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Buddhist,
Jewish, Unitarian, B'hai and Episcopal)
signed the Earth Keeper Covenant pledging
their commitment to work in partnership with
Tribes, government, and citizen organiza-
tions for the stewardship and protection of
the natural environment of the Great Lakes
Basin. Annual clean sweep events are among
the commitments made in the Covenant.
The Clean Sweep project was funded in part
by USEPA, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Com-
munity and the Michigan Department of Ag-
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April 2005
Significant Activities Report
riculture. The Central Lake Superior Water-
shed Partnership and the Cedar Tree Insti-
tute coordinated the project.
The Clean Sweep project responded to a
huge unmet need in the Upper Peninsula
since only two of the 15 counties have haz-
ardous waste processing facilities. The pro-
ject's success was due in large part to the
publicity given the event by the Earth
Keeper faith network which included ap-
proximately two-thirds of the Upper Penin-
sula's total population represented in over
125 congregations/churches and over 50
communities.
(Contact: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-
2694, laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov; or Carl
Lindquist, Director, Central Lake Superior
Watershed Partnership, 906-226-9460, carl.
lindqui st@macd.org)
Lake Guardian Sets Sail
USEPA Great Lakes National Program Of-
fice's 180-foot research ship, the R/VLake
Guardian, set sail on April 1st from Milwau-
kee, Wisconsin to perform the 2005 Spring
Water Quality Survey. The 2005 Spring wa-
ter quality survey was completed on April
19th. The R/V Lake Guardian, its crew and
scientists sampled all the Great Lakes.
GLNPO is responsible for monitoring the
offshore 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.
Samples were collected for:
Chemical/Nutrient Parameters
• Phosphorus in open water (controls al-
gae growth, concentrations affected by
Scientists prepare to deploy plankton sampling net
sewage processes, phosphate detergents,
and agricultural land uses);
• Nitrogen in open water (important in
plant growth, concentrations affected by
the burning of fossil fuels);
• Silica in open water (important in
growth of diatoms, algae that form the
base of the food web); and
• Chloride (an indication of human inputs
into the lakes).
Physical and Water Quality Parameters
• Water temperature,
• Transmissivity,
• Incident light,
• Air temperature,
• Wind speed,
• Wave height,
• Barometric pressure;
• Conductivity,
• Dissolved oxygen, and
• pH.
Biological Parameters
• Phytoplankton and zooplankton
(important indicators of the health of the
food web and indicators of lower levels
of the food chain);
• Benthic Community Analyses
(important indications of the ecology of
the bottom lake and potential disrup-
tions as a result of chemicals or invad-
ing species such as the zebra mussel and
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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April 2005
quagga mussel).
The data from these surveys has been im-
portant in identifying the changing nutrient
(phosphorus) levels in Lake Erie, and in
tracking the changing biology and chemis-
try of the lakes. This is the 23rd year of the
survey with many of the same stations being
sampled using similar techniques to those of
1983. Prior to the survey, the crew under-
went training in analytical and sampling
methods, health and safety, and, for some,
emergency medical training.
(Contact: Glenn Warren, 312-886-2405,
warren.glenn@epa.gov)
Great Lakes Collaborative Efforts
Highlighted
Norm Niedergang, Acting Deputy USEPA
Region 5 Administrator spoke about col-
laborative environmental efforts in the
Great Lakes when he addressed a Plenary
Town Hall Meeting of the 2005 National
Environmental Partnership Summit, held
April 11th to 14th at the Fairmont Hotel in
Chicago, Illinois. The theme of the meeting
was collaboration. Mr. Niedergang de-
scribed how the Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy came about and how it has
succeeded in bringing about significant re-
ductions in uses and releases of persistent
bioaccumulative toxic substances. The
Strategy is a good example of collaboration
between two countries as well as between a
wide spectrum of stakeholders, including
governmental and non-governmental or-
ganizations. He also described the Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration effort being
undertaken in the U.S. as a result of Presi-
dent Bush's Executive Order on the Great
Lakes. The Collaboration is bringing to-
gether all interested parties to work together
to develop a plan to protect and restore the
Great Lakes.
(Contact: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571, smith.
edwin@epa.gov)
Ottawa River Studies Planning
On April 18th, Mary Beth G. Ross and Scott
Ireland visited the Ottawa River - Lagrange
Reach site near Toledo, Ohio. The purpose
of the site visit was to meet with the Ottawa
River Project Team and discuss logistics for
the sediment sampling event scheduled for
May 2nd. The Project Team discussed re-
maining issues with the sediment sampling
event and options for assessing source con-
trol, walked the site where the sediment
core processing will take place, and dis-
cussed the bathymetric and sediment thick-
ness survey with the USEPA Superfund
FIELDS group, who were also on-site.
GLNPO staff and other Project Team mem-
bers also met with University of Toledo -
Lake Erie Center staff to discuss the possi-
bility of using their custom-made sediment
traps in the Ottawa River. These traps are
specially designed for shallow water use,
and the University of Toledo researchers
have successfully deployed them for the
past two years in similar, nearby waterbod-
ies. The Project Team will draft a sampling
plan to use these traps to assess possible
contamination coming from upstream of the
The R/V Mudpuppy gets launched from a bridge over
the Ottawa River
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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April 2005
Significant Activities Report
proposed remediation site, and to determine
what the new surficial concentrations will
be after the proposed remediation.
(Contact: Mary Beth G. Ross; 312-886-
2253; ross.marybeth@epa.gov)
New Legacy Act Projects Proposed
During the month of April, GLNPO re-
ceived two new project proposals under the
Great Lakes Legacy Act. The first was re-
ceived from the Hammond Sanitary District
in Hammond, Indiana. This project pro-
poses to remove up to 40,000 cubic yards of
contaminated sediment from an area ap-
proximately 4,000 feet in length, nearly 24
feet wide and up to 15 feet deep along the
north water's edge of the West Branch of
the Grand Calumet River. The total amount
requested for this project is approximately
$7 million, of which 65% is being requested
from the Legacy Act. The second proposal
came in from the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality for a sediment in-
vestigation of Ryerson Creek and selected
areas of Muskegon Lake, in Muskegon,
Michigan. The primary goal of this project
is to gather additional sediment chemistry
and toxicity data to further delineate the
spatial sediment contamination impacting
aquatic life within Ryerson Creek and Mus-
kegon. The secondary goal is to develop en-
gineering designs estimating the amount
and areas of contaminated sediment that
may be removed to support the develop-
ment of a focused feasibility study.
(Contact: Scott Ireland; 312-886-8121, ire-
land.scott@epa.gov).
Waukegan Harbor PCB Data
Available
In January 2005, GLNPO, SFD, and CH2M
Hill coordinated on a sampling survey of
Waukegan Harbor sediments. The results
Aerial view of Waukegan Harbor on Lake Michigan
in Northern Illinois
from this survey, including data for PCB
and asbestos, are now available in PDF for-
mat. Results indicate moderate to heavy
PCB contamination in sediments of the in-
ner portions of Waukegan Harbor. The
highest PCB level found during the 2005
sampling was 35 ppm. USEPA and its con-
tractor will use the most recent data to de-
velop volume and cost estimates for a po-
tential remediation project at the site. Sum-
mary results are available in PDF.
Waukegan Harbor was dredged in early
1990's to meet a 50 ppm cleanup target —
one of the first sediment cleanups in the
Great Lakes. One million pounds of PCBs
removed in the cleanup. While PCB con-
centrations offish from the harbor have de-
creased, they remain above levels consid-
ered safe for unlimited consumption.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski; 312-353-9184,
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov).
FY05 Funding Guidance
On April 12th, GLNPO issued its annual re-
quest for Great Lakes project submissions
through the USEPA Great Lakes National
Program Office FY2005-2006 Funding
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April 2005
Guidance. (See March issue of Significant
Activities Report for details). A total esti-
mated amount of up to $4,692,000 may be
awarded under this announcement for fur-
thering protection and cleanup of the Great
Lakes ecosystem through projects address-
ing the following topics:
• Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduc-
tion,
• Habitat (Ecological) Protection and Res-
toration,
• Emerging or Strategic Issues (including
Invasive Species),
• Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Priorities,
and
• Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP)
Priorities.
The deadline for all project submittals is
8:00 AM Central time, Tuesday morning,
May 31, 2005. Projects will be developed
and submitted electronically. The Funding
Guidance and the submittal program are
available from http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/
fund/2005guid/
(Contact: MikeRuss, 312-886-4013, russ.
michael@epa.gov)
Upcoming Events
May 31s
June 9th-! 1th
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