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
January 2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Great Lakes Regional Collabora-
tion Rolls Ahead
• Caribbean Mercury Workshop
• Burn-it-Smart
• Conserving Bald Eagle Habitat
• Sediment Cleanup Planning
. Waukegan Harbor AOC
. Ash tabula River AOC
. Maumee River AOC
. Muskegon Lake AOC
Great Lakes Regional Collabora-
tion Rolls Ahead
As mentioned in the previous issue of the
Significant Activities Report, the
"Northbound Train" is rolling! The Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration Conveners
met in Chicago on December 3rd, 2004 in
Chicago, Illinois. At that meeting, the Con-
veners signed the "Great Lakes Declara-
tion" and "Framework" documents affirm-
ing the commitment to the Great Lakes Re-
gional Collaboration process and the devel-
opment of a comprehensive strategy to fur-
ther protect and restore the Great Lakes.
The "Framework" document established
eight Issue Area Strategy Teams comprised
of government, quasi-government, regional
stakeholders, and other interested parties, as
the working bodies responsible for drafting
action plans that will be used for the devel-
opment of the Great Lakes Strategy. The
eight Strategy Teams include:
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich speaks at Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration Conveners Meeting in
Chicago on December 3, 2004.
• Habitat/Species
• Indicators and Information
• Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics Re-
duction
• Invasive Species
• Sustainable Development
• Coastal Health
• Non-point Source
• Areas of Concern Restoration/
Remediation
The Teams quickly swung into action imme-
diately following the Conveners Meeting and
have been working hard on drafting Strategy
pieces for their particular issue area through
extensive use of conference calls, email, and
specially-established collaboration Web
Sites. A face-to-face working meeting of the
Executive Committee's subcommittee and
the Strategy Teams was held February 22nd
and 23rd in Toledo, Ohio. The completed
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January 2005
Significant Activities Report
draft strategy document is scheduled for
presentation to the members of the Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration, and ready
for public review and comment, at Summit
I, scheduled for July 7th and 8th in Duluth,
Minnesota.
For more information about the Great Lakes
Regional Collaboration, visit: http://www.
epa.gov/greatlakes/collaboration/index.html
(Contact: Vicki Thomas, 312-886-6942,
thomas.vicki@epa.gov)
Caribbean Mercury Workshop
On January 18th to 21st, Alexis Cain at-
tended a United Nations Environment Pro-
gram (UNEP) Mercury Awareness-Raising
Workshop in Port of Spain, Trinidad and
Tobago. This meeting was for the non-
Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries, at-
tended by approximately 50 staff of local
governments. Other participants included
representatives of USEPA's Office of Wa-
ter, the Commission for Environmental Co-
operation (U.S./Canada/Mexico) and the
Mercury Policy Project/Ban Mercury Work-
ing Group, as well as UNEP staff and stu-
dents from the University of the West Indes.
Alexis gave four presentations at the work-
shop:
• Mercury sources and emissions
• Mercury in products
• Measures to limit mercury releases from
wastes
• Measures to reduce releases from chlor-
alkali plants
With respect to mercury, the countries of
the region can be divided into 3 groups:
1. Guyana and Suriname: These countries
have more in common with South
America than they do with the Carib-
bean island countries, because their pri-
mary mercury problems result from ar-
Bauxite ore (pictured) contains small amounts of mer-
cury which can be released into the environment dur-
ing mining and refining
Photo courtesy of USGS
tisanal gold mining. In both cases, min-
ing takes place in the interior of the
country, and is conducted primarily by
people who live in the coastal areas of
the country, but who set up camp tem-
porarily in the interior to mine, causing
mercury accumulation that affects the
indigenous populations of the interior.
In addition, both countries have bauxite
mining.
2. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barba-
dos: These countries do not have ar-
tisanal mining, but do have some heavy
industry. All three have cement produc-
tion. Jamaica mines bauxite and pro-
duces alumina, and Trinidad and To-
bago produces oil and gas.
3. Members of the Organization of Eastern
Caribbean States, the Bahamas, Belize:
These countries have little industry and
mining. Mercury problems are associ-
ated primarily with imported products,
and with disposal of municipal and hos-
pital waste.
There was general uncertainty about how
important an issue mercury is for the region.
None of the countries have done emissions
inventories, and data on mercury exposures
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Significant Activities Report
January 2005
or levels in biota and environmental media
are very limited. The exception is that Guy-
ana and Suriname both have collected sub-
stantial amounts of information about the
artisanal gold mining issue, and have found
high levels of mercury in fish near mining
sites, and high exposures to miners, their
families, and nearby fish-eating popula-
tions.
(Contact: Alexis Cain, 312-886-7018, cain.
alexis@epa.gov)
Burn-it-Smart
USEPA invited Environment Canada to de-
liver a "Burn it Smart" wood heat workshop
in Watertown, New York on January 24th.
"Burn-it Smart" workshops provide impor-
tant information on the proper use of wood
stoves and fireplaces, including selection of
high-efficiency wood stoves as well as
proper burning practices to reduce emis-
sions and to conserve energy. The workshop
was held as part of a public education cam-
paign on residential wood combustion and
includes the use of an outdoor burn trailer.
The trailer contains two woodstoves
mounted to the floor of the trailer. One
stove is an old technology stove and the
second is a USEPA-certified, advanced
technology appliance and the display is
used to demonstrate the difference in wood
smoke emissions from the two units. These
workshops are an effective educational tool
to help reduce fine paniculate and hazard-
ous emissions from wood smoke.
(Contact: Steve Rosenthal, 312-886-6052,
rosenthal.steve@epa.gov)
Conserving Bald Eagle Habitat
The U.S.-Canada Bald Eagle Working
Group, a Lake Ontario Lake Wide Manage-
ment Plan (LaMP) working group, has
drafted "Conserving Lake Ontario and Up-
Illustration of a high-efficiency wood stove
Image courtesy of Natural Resources Canada
per St. Lawrence River Bald Eagle Habi-
tats." The group came together to prioritize
bald eagle habitat, develop improved LaMP
bald eagle restoration goals and objectives,
identify opportunities for increased bina-
tional cooperation, and prioritize activities
and conservation tools for future funding
and implementation. Three parameters that
can serve as predictors of high quality bald
eagle nesting and foraging habitat were in-
corporated into an ArcGIS model. Forty-
one sites were identified that met the re-
quirements. Based on the results, the group
has proposed three recommendations for
LaMP ecosystem protection and restoration
goals:
1. At least five priority sites in each of the
U.S. and Canada should be protected
and ten active nests established in these
areas within ten years.
2. At least 12,000 acres of bald eagle habi-
tat should be protected within ten years.
3. An average of 80 percent of nesting
pairs should be successful at a produc-
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
Bald eagle
Photo courtesy of U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
tivity of at least 1.0 young each year for
existing and new nests. The group will
develop a list of recommendations for
resource and coordination needs at a
summer 2005 meeting.
(Contact: FredLuckey, 212-637-3853,
luckey.frederick@epa.gov)
Sediment Cleanup Planning
Waukegan Harbor AOC
From January 4th through January 12th
GLNPO, USEPA Region 5 Superfund, and
their contractor CH2M Hill collected 63
sediment cores in Waukegan Harbor, Illi-
nois. The purpose of the GLNPO-funded
sampling was to more fully delineate the
horizontal and vertical extent of PCB con-
tamination in harbor sediments, and to col-
lect geotechnical and physical data to in-
form remedial design work. USEPA's
FIELDS group will utilize the PCB data to
develop concentration contours for volume
and cost estimation. GLNPO continues to
coordinate with Illinois EPA, USEPA Re-
gion 5 Superfund, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, and other state and local stake-
holders to develop a plan and funding strat-
egy for addressing the contaminated sedi-
ments in Waukegan Harbor.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski; 312-353-9184,
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov).
Ashtabula River AOC
GLNPO's Scott Cieniawski hosted an Ash-
tabula River planning meeting on January
25th to discuss remaining technical issues
regarding the Ashtabula River Cleanup pro-
ject that was submitted for potential Great
Lakes Legacy Act funding under the
FY2004 Request for Projects. Members of
the Legacy Act technical review committee
(the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration, USEPA Region 5 Superfund
and Office of Regional Council, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, and GLNPO)
were joined by representatives from the U.
S. Army Corps of Engineers - Buffalo Dis-
trict, the Ashtabula River Cooperation
Group II, the Ashtabula River Partnership,
and the Ohio EPA. The general consensus
of the group was that there are no insur-
mountable technical hurdles, although addi-
tional work needs to be performed regard-
ing a potential residual cover layer, site res-
toration activities, and the vertical and hori-
zontal extent of dredging. The group also
discussed possible funding options and
technical responsibilities for completing the
additional work in order to prepare the site
for potential GLLA funding in FY2006.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski, 312-353-9184,
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January 2005
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov)
Maumee River AOC
On January 19th, the Ottawa River Great
Lakes Legacy Act sediment remediation
project team convened via conference call
to discuss the sampling plan GLNPO
drafted for the delineation of the remedial
target area boundaries and the investigation
of possible continuing sources of contami-
nation. The Ottawa River is part of the
Maumee River Area of Concern. The City
of Toledo submitted a Legacy Act project
proposal to USEPA, and this sampling plan
addresses the next steps that need to be
taken before a remediation project can begin
in the Ottawa River. Participants included
representatives from GLNPO, the City of
Toledo, Ohio EPA, the Toledo Metropolitan
Council of Governments, Hull & Associ-
ates, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The outcome of the call is that GLNPO will
further revise the sampling plan based on
the group's comments. The USEPA Super-
fund FIELDS Team will conduct the bathy-
metric and sediment thickness surveys in
early April 2005 with the sediment sam-
pling survey scheduled for late Spring.
(Contact: Mary Beth G. Ross, 312-886-
2253, ross.marybeth@epa.gov)
Muskegon Lake AOC
On January 20th and 21st, Marc Tuchman
and Mary Beth G. Ross attended a meeting
in Muskegon, Michigan for the Ruddiman
Creek Legacy Act proj ect. Ruddiman
Creek, part of the Muskegon Lake Area of
Concern is an urban waterway heavily con-
taminated with PCB, PAHs, and heavy met-
als. The Michigan Department of Environ-
mental Quality (DEQ) has submitted a Leg-
acy Act project proposal to USEPA for the
remediation of contaminated sediments in
Ruddiman Creek. The meeting was con-
A tank farm on the shores of Muskegon Lake, Ml
vened to review the proposed design and
plans and specs as developed by the Michi-
gan DEQ's contractor. The group also
walked the site. Participants included repre-
sentatives from GLNPO, USEPA Super-
fund, MDEQ, Army Corp of Engineers,
City of Muskegon, Muskegon Lake Public
Advisory Council, Grand Valley State Uni-
versity, the County Drain Commissioner,
Earth Tech, and Environmental Quality
Management, Inc.
(Contact: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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January 2005
Significant Activities Report
Upcoming Events
April 22
May 1711
May 23rd-27th
July 7th and 8t!
2005
Earth Day
Great Lakes Binational
Toxics Strategy Stakeholder
Forum, Toronto, ON Canada
Conference on Great Lakes
Research, Ann Arbor, MI
Great Lakes Regional Col-
laboration Summit I, Duluth,
Minnesota
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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