Great
Lakes
National
Program
&EPA
On the Web at:
www.epa.gov/greatlakes
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)
Significant Activities Report
May 2006
IN THIS ISSUE:
Legacy Act Update:
Ruddiman Creek Cleanup Done
Follow-up on Hog Island Cleanup
.2006 Updates to Lake Plans
Binational Toxics Meetings
Lake Superior Toxics Study
Safely Disposing of Unwanted
Medications
National Monitoring Meeting
Chicago Wilderness Marks 10th
Legacy Act Update:
Ruddiman Creek Cleanup Done
On Monday, May 15th, the Muskegon com-
munity celebrated the completion of the
Great Lakes Legacy sediment cleanup project
at Ruddiman Creek and Pond in Muskegon
Michigan. The event was attended by many
local residents, representatives from the
Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality; USEPA staff including Bharat
Mathur, Acting Regional Administrator; the
mayor of Muskegon and state and national
legislators including U.S. Congressman Pete
Hoekstra, who thanked the partners for their
hard work and singled out the USEPA for
their "awesome" job. The event was covered
by local newspapers including the Muskegon
Chronicle, which ran a cover story with the
headline: "A Cleaned-Up Dream Come
True." Theresa Bernhardt, a local community
member and a driving force behind the pro-
ject initiation also spoke at the event and
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) speaks at Ruddiman
Creek Cleanup Celebration Event
gave a special thanks to all the project part-
ners for their willingness to work through the
tough issues.
The sediment remediation project was com-
pleted in about 10 months and removed
89,870 cubic yards of sediment from Ruddi-
man Creek and Ruddiman Pond. The sedi-
ments contained approximately 328,000
pounds of lead, chromium and other con-
taminants. The project has resulted in im-
provements to the creek with the installation
of wing dams and flow structures to better
protect the shoreline during storm events.
The disturbed areas are being graded and
new native plantings have been installed to
protect the creek banks and to begin the res-
toration efforts for the site. The project cost
about $13 million, with 65% funded through
the Great Lakes Legacy Act and 35%
through the state of Michigan Clean Michi-
gan Initiative funds. This is the third reme-
diation project completed to date under the
Great Lakes Legacy Program. More informa-
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May 2006
Significant Activities Report
tion on the Legacy Act is available online at:
http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/sediment/
legacy/index.html.
(Contacts: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov; or Susan Boehme,
312-353-4383, boehme.susan@epa.gov)
Follow-up on Hog Island Cleanup
Post-remediation monitoring has been sched-
uled for the Hog Island Inlet and St. Louis
River Area of Concern (AOC). Hog Island
was the second site to be cleaned up using
the Great Lakes Legacy Act (see the Novem-
ber 2005 Significant Activities Report). Un-
der the terms of the Great Lakes Legacy Act
Hog Island Project Agreement, post-
remediation monitoring was planned at Hog
Island and Newton Creek. The post-
remediation activities at Hog Island and
Newton Creek will commence June 2006.
The post-remediation activities on the Wis-
consin side of the St. Louis River AOC will
take place at Howard's Bay, Northwest Supe-
rior Waterfront, Northeast Superior Water-
front, City of Superior Wastewater Treatment
Plant, Southeast Superior Waterfront, and the
Allouez Waterfront/Nemadji River Area. A
reconnaissance study at Superior, Wisconsin
is planned for the end of June to determine
the location of deposit!onal sediment areas
and the general bathymetry of the bottom
areas. Sampling areas will be adjusted based
upon the results of the reconnaissance study.
Post-remediation sampling on the Wisconsin
side of the AOC will take place after the re-
connaissance study and is expected to occur
later this Summer.
(Contacts: St. Louis River AOC - Alie Mu-
neer, 312-886- 8031,mu-
neer.alie@epa.gov; or Hog Island Inlet and
Newton Creek - Scott Ireland, 312 - 886 -
8121, ireland.scott@epa.gov)
Cover of Lake Michigan 2006 Lakewide Management
Plan Update
2006 Updates to Lake Plans
The Lakes Superior, Michigan, Erie and On-
tario Lakewide Management Plans, and the
Lake Huron Binational Partnership, were re-
cently completed and released. These com-
prehensive, environmental plans outline the
environmental status of each lake, highlight
successes, identify problems, and propose
solutions. The lake-wide plans are a require-
ment of the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement between the United States and
Canada to restore and maintain the chemical,
physical and biological integrity of the Great
Lakes. All of the plans, except for the plan
for Lake Michigan, were developed in part-
nership with Environment Canada. They are
collaborative efforts of the state, federal,
tribal and provincial governments, as well as
stakeholder organizations.
They address such issues as toxic pollutants,
pathogens, shoreline development, wildlife
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May 2006
and aquatic habitats, uncontrolled runoff and
erosion, aquatic and land-based invasive spe-
cies, and economic and environmental sus-
tainability. They recommend priority actions
and projects and address such emerging is-
sues as new chemical threats and the fast
pace of changes in land use. They also set
priorities for projects and programs that will
advance some recommendations of the Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. The
LaMPs can be accessed on the GLNPO web
site: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/gl2000/
1 amp s/index. html.
(Contacts: Lake Superior - Elizabeth LaP-
lante, 312-353-2694, lap-
lante.elizabeth@epa.gov; Lake Michigan -
Judy Beck, 312-353-3849,
beck.judy@epa.gov); Lake Huron - James
Schardt, 312-353-5085,
schardt.james@epa.gov; Lake Erie - Dan
O'Riordan, 312-312-886-7981,
oriordan.daniel@epa.gov; Lake Ontario -
Barbara Belasco, 212-637-3848, be-
lasco.barbara@epa.gov)
Binational Toxics Meetings
A Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy
(GLBTS) Stakeholder Forum was held May
17th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Approxi-
mately ninety stakeholders from industry
non-governmental organizations, States, the
Province of Ontario, and First Nations at-
tended. The keynote speaker at the morning
plenary session was Cam Devreaux from
Crop Life Canada, who spoke on the Ontario
Waste Agriculture Pesticide Program and
future stewardship initiatives regarding pesti-
cide life-cycle management. Art Dungan of
the Chlorine Institute also addressed the
Stakeholder Forum, reporting on the chlor-
alkali sector's mercury reduction accom-
plishments under the GLBTS has been met
and exceeded, and on further work with the
United Nations. Copies of the Power Point
Every return
makes a difference
Poster for Crop Life Canada's Clean Farms
pesticide container recycling program
presentations can be viewed online at: http://
www. epa. gov/glnpo/bns/reports/
stakemay2006/index.html.
Following the plenary session, the substance-
specific workgroups held breakout sessions:
Mercury Workgroup
Approximately 40 workgroup members at-
tended the breakout session. Numerous top-
ics were discussed, including mercury reduc-
tion achievements and strategies of the cop-
per and lead smelting industry and the chlor-
alkali industry. Speakers also described pro-
grams to improve management of lamps,
auto switches, and mercury-containing de-
vices used by industry, to develop standards
for storing and shipping dental amalgam
waste, and to reduce mercury use in Cana-
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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May 2006
Significant Activities Report
Mercury Use Since 1990
Mercury Use by Year
1990 1992 1991 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
May t7.2006 The Chlorina Institute. Inc.
Graph from presentation by Art Dungan on
reductions in mercury use in U.S. chlor-alkali facilities
dian schools. International mercury reduction
efforts of Environment Canada and the Com-
mission for Environmental Cooperation were
also discussed. In addition, scientists pre-
sented information showing recent decreases
in atmospheric mercury concentrations in
Canada, and described research that illumi-
nates some of the factors influencing mer-
cury methylation and mercury exposure in
Canada.
PCS Workgroup
Approximately 15 stakeholders participated
in the breakout session. USEPA made a pres-
entation and led a discussion on the Lake
Michigan Mass Balance Study on PCB depo-
sition on and around Lake Michigan, a multi-
million dollar, multiyear project involving an
analysis of the deposition of PCBs, mercury,
atrazine and phosphorous on the lake's basin.
The project specifically studied the relative
loading of PCBs and other chemicals enter-
ing Lake Michigan; determined baseline
loading estimates in 1994-1995; predicted
environmental benefits of specific load re-
ductions and the time to realize these bene-
fits; and predicted the PCB concentration in
the Lake trout through 2052. Information
was provided on PCB concentrations in Lake
Michigan trout and various Lake Michigan
media from 1930 until 2000+. According to
the study and modeling, even if there was a
100% elimination of all air deposition and or
atmospheric loadings of PCBs, it would still
take until 2039 to reach PCB levels that
would allow unlimited fish consumption.
About 38,000 samples were taken with over
5000 samples on PCBs alone were used for
this study. Some of the main findings were:
PCB concentrations were declining in all
media
PCBs volatilize
atmospheric deposition is the major
source of PCBs to the Lake(s)
PCB levels in Lake trout may not reach
the threshold level of 0.5ug/gm for
unlimited consumption in Sturgeon until
2039 and Saugatuck until 2044
the Chicago urban area is a major general
source of PCBs to the Lake.
Environment Canada gave a brief overview
of Canadian proposed new PCB regulations
which are expected to be in Gazette I in the
fall of 2006. These regulations combine and
modify two existing PCB regulations, the
Polychlorinated Regulations and the PCB
Storage Regulations.
Dioxin/Furan and HCB/B(a)P
Approximately 30 people attended a joint
breakout session of the Dioxin/Furan and
HCB/BaP Workgroups on issues relating to
both groups. Presentation were made on ac-
tivities of the GLBTS burn barrel subgroup,
which has active projects on both sides of the
border, with a focus on agricultural burning
of plastics on farms; an Ontario Ministry of
the Environment project to test sewage bio-
solids for dioxins, furans, coplanar PCBs,
and PBDEs, which found that levels of the
dioxin compounds were very low in all of the
samples collected, and not of concern for
biosolid reuse, however, the PBDE levels
were higher and appeared to be increasing
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over time; a USEPA presentation on wood
boilers which are used to heat homes and
small businesses. These boilers may have
high emissions, but are considered small
sources under the Clean Air Act and there-
fore are not subject to regulation. USEPA has
formed a workgroup to further investigate
this issue, particularly because USEPA has
received many public complaints. USEPA
also presented information on the Midwest
Clean Diesel Initiative, a public/private part-
nership to increase retrofitting, replacing, and
reducing emissions from heavy duty engines
in Region 5.
In the separate afternoon breakout session,
the Dioxin/Furans Workgroup looked at the
latest monitoring data in the Great Lakes.
Although larger values were seen at the ur-
ban monitoring sites versus the rural ones,
overall the dioxin air levels were all consid-
erably low.
In a separate afternoon breakout session of
the HCB/B(A)P Workgroup, USEPA pre-
sented information on B(a)P reduction activi-
ties for the largest B(a)P source categories
including residential wood combustion, scrap
tires, and coke ovens. USEPA described the
wood stove change-out program in Pitts-
burgh during the fall of 2005 and the pending
wood stove change-out program in Dayton,
Ohio scheduled for the Summer of 2006 as
well as three planned tribal Burn-It-Smart
workshops scheduled for September, 2006.
USEPA described the January, 2006 comple-
tion of the Scrap Tire Cleanup Manual,
which covers scrap tire cleanup programs,
stockpile identification and mapping and
identification of potential markets. A number
of scrap tire training sessions and forums
were in April and May, 2006. Also, more
stringent coke oven pushing, quenching and
combustion stack MACT requirements went
into effect in April, 2006. USEPA reported
HE GREAT LAKES BlNATIQNAL TOXICS STRATEGY
Gnddcd Anthropogenic BaP Releases in the Great Lakes Basin
Grid.Syn.ni Mupwiiti SpAtinl Re*oluli«n of V Insmitfe by f k
D*l.i Souircn 3003 OMano hnvwiltwy *tMl 1M» USEPA'* NCl)
Graphic showing Great Lakes basin B(a)P emissions
on a 28% reduction in HCB emissions from
1999 to 2002 and reported on success stories
by Syngenta Crop Protection (St. Gabriel,
Louisiana), Dow Chemical Louisiana Divi-
sion, the DuPont Johnsonville Plant in Ten-
nessee and the Solutia Inc. Delaware River
plant in New Jersey. DuPont made signifi-
cant reductions in its water releases of HCB
and the other companies made significant
reductions in their air emissions.
Environment Canada reported its Burn-it-
Smart activities since the last meeting.
Twenty-eight Burn-It-Smart workshops were
held in early 2006, including 10 for Ontario
First Nations and another 18 public and pro-
fessional workshops in Ontario and Michi-
gan. Environment Canada reported on the
results from a joint study with USEPA Re-
gion 5 on an artificial wax firelog testing pro-
gram that compared the emissions of various
pollutants, including B(a)P, for several types
of artificial logs.
A GLBTS Integration Workgroup Meeting
was held the next day. A presentation was
given on the Environment Canada's Ecologi-
cal Categorization of the Canadian Domestic
Substances List, which found approximately
400 potential persistent, bioaccumulative and
toxic substances out of 11,500 organic
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
chemical substances screened. A Great Lakes
Health panel discussed current research and
needs for future health research in the Great
Lakes, and a green chemistry panel discussed
current innovations in green chemistry and
potential relevancy to the work of the
GLBTS.
Copies of the Power Point presentations can
be viewed online at: http://www.epa.gov/
glnpo/bns/reports/stakemav2006/index.html.
(Contacts: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571,
smith.edwin@epa.gov; Mercury - Alexis
Cain, 312-886-7018, cain.alexis@epa.gov;
PCBs - Tony Martig, 312-353-2291, mar-
tig.anton@epa.gov; Dioxin/Furcms - Erin
Newman, (312) 886-4587, new-
man.erin@epa.gov; HCB/B(a)P - Steven
Rosenthal, (312) 886-6052, rosen-
thal.steve@epa.gov)
Lake Superior Toxics Study
Persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) sub-
stances may increase the risk of cancer, birth
defects and neurological and developmental
problems through long-term, low-level expo-
sure. USEPA's Great Lakes National Pro-
gram Office has been collecting data on PBT
substances in air and fish since 1990 and
1970, respectively. Data documenting PBT
concentrations in the open water is needed as
well to accurately estimate the net amount of
PBTs entering the lakes from the air and to
determine how elevated fish tissue levels re-
late to the PBT levels in the water.
GLNPO Chief Scientist Melissa Hulting
joined Dr. Matt Simcik from the University
of Minnesota aboard the R/V Lake Guardian
to conduct the sampling of organic contami-
nants and mercury in Lake Superior. The
sampling and analysis are a response to the
data needs identified by the Lake Superior
Lakewide Management Plan, and are in sup-
port of the Coordinated Monitoring effort
that includes state and federal agencies and is
led by GLNPO and Environment Canada. In
the survey which took place from May 12th to
R/V Lake Guardian underway on monitoring cruise
19th, stations throughout Lake Superior were
sampled for contaminants in water and air to
help develop contaminant movement flux
estimates. Besides the usual list of suspects,
emerging contaminants and dioxins were
measured. The list of chemicals to be meas-
ured includes:
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs);
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
(PAHs);
Organochlorine pesticides including
DDT and toxaphene;
Dioxins and Furans;
Mercury and Methylmercury;
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs), which are used as flame retar-
dants in furniture and electronic equip-
ment;
Perfluoroocatane sulfonate (PFOS) and
Perfluoroocatonic acid (PFOA), a main
ingredient and a breakdown product from
stain repellants commonly applied to
clothing.
(Contact: Melissa Hulting, 312-886-2265,
hulting.melissa@epa.gov)
Safely Disposing of Unwanted
Medications
USEPA Region 5's Waste Pesticides and
Toxics Division, GLNPO and Sea Grant
hosted a drop-off location in the Metcalf Fed-
eral Building in Chicago, Illinois as part of
the Chicago Metro Unwanted Medication
Disposal event on May 31st. This was the 4th
annual event of the Unwanted Medication
Disposal collection program sponsored by
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the Chicago Police Department, Cook
County Sheriffs Office, Illinois Attorney
General's Office, Chicago Department of
Public Health, Chicago Department on Aging
and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
of Greater Chicago.
The Chicago Police Department spearheaded
this effort, originally targeting older citizens,
because of the potential for identity theft and
other privacy issues when seniors dispose of
pills and pill bottles in the trash. In addition,
old medicines that are removed from the
home are no longer in the reach of children,
thereby preventing accidental ingestion. The
Chicago Police Department and its partners
also recognized, however, the growing con-
cern about water contamination from dis-
posal of outdated or no longer needed medi-
cines and pharmaceutical agents into the
sewage system, as well as a potential prob-
lem for disposal of large quantities of these
products in landfills through the actions of
millions of individuals.
Approximately 50 pounds of waste pharma-
ceuticals were collected at the Metcalfe
Building location. Most participants worked
in the Metcalfe Building, but several other
Federal agencies participated in the collec-
tion, including Department of Health and
Human Services, Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services. Participants received a
tote bag provided by the Chicago Department
on Aging full of informational resources on
many topics such as medication use, illegal
hazardous waste dumping, pesticide usage
and USEPA's "Read the Label Campaign."
Other informational materials were also
available for participants as well as passers-
by including USEPA's Aging Initiative fact
sheets and a graphic representing the origins
and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care
products in the environment (http://epa.gov/
nerlesdl/chemistry/pharm a/images/
drawing.pdf
Collections occurred simultaneously at 25
locations throughout Chicago, Cook County
and Naperville, Illinois. A total of 1,600
pounds of medications were collected in the
overall Chicago Metro area event. The un-
GLNPO's Elizabeth Murphy (standing in background)
helps Chicago Police officers collect unwanted medi-
cines at Metcalf Federal Building in Chicago
wanted medical waste that was collected is
incinerated in the same incinerator used by
the Chicago police to dispose of confiscated
weapons and other materials.
For more information, see http://
www. epa. gov/esd/chemistry/pharma/
overview.htm .
The event was also in support of USEPA's
Aging Initiative, www.epa.gov/aging
(Contacts: Beth Hinchey Malloy, 312-886-
3451, hinchey.elizabeth@epa.gov; Susan
Boehme, 312-353-4383,
boehme.susan@epa.gov; Maryann Suero
312-886-9077, suero.maryann@epa.gov)
National Monitoring Meeting
The National Water Quality Monitoring
Council Meeting was held in San Jose, Cali-
fornia from May 8th to 11th. The conference
was attended by over 800 monitoring profes-
sionals from the U.S. and Europe. The theme
of the meeting was, "Monitoring Networks,
Connecting for Clean Water." A major focus
of the conference was the integration of vol-
unteer monitoring with existing monitoring
programs. Another theme that ran through
the conference was coordination and coop-
eration in monitoring programs, and a third
was the National Water Quality Monitoring
Network being developed by USEPA. As
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Significant Activities Report
part of the national monitoring theme of the
meeting, GLNPO's Paul Horvatin gave a
presentation showcasing the range of moni-
toring that is undertaken by GLNPO while
Glenn Warren spoke about monitoring and
prediction, describing the mass balance
monitoring approach and the results of the
Lake Michigan Mass Balance Study.
(Contacts: Glenn Warren, 312-886-2405,
warren.glenn@epa.gov; or Paul Horvatin,
312-353-3612, horvatin.paul@epa.gov)
Chicago Wilderness Marks 10th
The Lake Michigan Team Manager and Dan-
ielle Green represented GLNPO at the May
17th Chicago Wilderness 10th Anniversary
reception at the Field Museum of Natural
History in Chicago, Illinois. A Lake Michi-
gan display and GLNPO book marks were
made available. 100 book marks and the
2006 Lake Michigan Lakewide Management
Plan were distributed. Remarks were made
by Chicago Wilderness Chair John Rogner
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and Ruther-
ford H. Platt, Director of the Ecological Cit-
ies Project of the University of Massachu-
setts.
(Contact: Judy Beck, 312-353-3849,
beck.judy@epa.gov)
Upcoming Events
June 27-29
October 11-13
November 1-3
2006
Toward Wildlife-Friendly
Wind Power: A Focus on
the Great Lakes Basin
Toledo, Ohio
Second International Sym-
posium on the Lake Huron
Ecosystem, Honey Harbor,
Ontario Canada
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.
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