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


      March 2007
 IN THIS ISSUE:
 HABITAT RESTORATION
 •   Conserving Bald Eagle Habitats
 •   LaMP-based Biodiversity
    Conservation Strategy Workshop
 •   Great Lake Regional Collaboration
    Wetlands Initiative

 POLLUTION PREVENTION
 •   Roll-out of Wood Boiler Program
 •   Erie County Dental Waste
    Management Project
 •   Great Lakes Green Chemistry
    Network Kickoff Meeting

 SEDIMENT REMEDIATION
 •   Ruddiman Creek Great Lakes
    Legacy Project Receives Award
 •   Legacy Act Article in LakeLine
 •   Fourth International Conference on
    Remediation of Contaminated
    Sediments

 INVASIVE SPECIES
 •   Hemimysis: New Great Lakes
    Invader
HABITAT RESTORATION

Conserving Bald Eagle Habitats
In January 2007, the St. Lawrence Bald Ea-
gle Working Group, at the request of the
United States-Canada Lake Ontario
Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP), re-
leased the report, "Conserving Lake Ontario
and Upper St. Lawrence River Bald Eagle
Habitats." The Working Group is comprised
of government and non-government agen-
cies, groups and individuals working to-
                        MONITORING
                        •  Developing PBT Monitoring in
                           Mexico
                        •  Trinational Quality Assurance
                           Workshop
                        •  Lake Huron Cooperative Monitoring
                           Great Lakes Cooperative Science
                           Initiative
                        •  2007 Surface Water Monitoring and
                           Standards (SWiMS) Meeting
                        •  Drinking Water Monitoring Grant
                           Kick-off meeting, Mt. Clemens, MI
                        •  Waterborne Pathogen Seminars

                        OUTREACH/EDUCATION
                        •  Outreach Events
                        •  Newly elected GLEAMS Officers

                        LAKEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLANS
                        •  Making a Great Lake SUPERIOR
                           2007
                        •  Lake Superior Binational Forum
                           Meeting
                        gether in a variety of ways to promote con-
                        servation of bald eagles through monitoring,
                        research, management, information ex-
                        change, assistance on bald eagle-related pro-
                                Bald Eagle returns to its nest
                         (Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

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March 2007
                   Significant Activities Report
        jects, and scientific review/consultation re-
        garding bald eagles. The report describes 40
        shoreline locations with potential high qual-
        ity bald eagle nesting habitats and recom-
        mends specific bald eagle population restora-
        tion goals. The geographic scope of the pro-
        ject was limited to the eastern Lake Ontario
        basin and the Upper St. Lawrence River
        where the highest quality habitat and the
        greatest amount of bald eagle activity are
        currently found.

        The Working Group reviewed available bald
        eagle research and identified three major pre-
        dictors of quality bald eagle nesting and for-
        aging sites:
        •   More than 260 hectares of contiguous
            forest,
        •   Sites located less than 1.5 kilometers
            from wetlands, rivers or lakes, and
        •   Sites close to wetlands, lakes, or rivers
            covering more than 30 hectares.

        A GIS habitat computer model was used to
        identify where these habitat features or pa-
        rameters occur together. The model identi-
        fied 40 shoreline sites that meet these crite-
        ria. The sites will  be field checked in 2007 to
        confirm the  modeling  results.

        Initial conservation goals developed by the
        Working Group will measure progress in re-
        storing bald eagle habitat. The goals are:
        •   By 2016, at least 10 shoreline nesting ter-
            ritories are established.
        •   By 2016, at least five Canadian  and five
            United States priority sites totaling more
            than 5,000 hectares are protected.
        •   80 percent of bald eagle nesting pairs
            should fledge  one  or more eaglets per
            year.

        The Working Group will continue the project
        throughout 2007. Financial support has been
        provided by GLNPO and the Ontario Minis-
   Wetland in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

try of Natural Resources.

(Contacts: Karen Rodriguez, 312-353-2690,
rodriguez.karen@epa.gov or Fred Luckey,
212-637-3853, luckey.frederick@epa.gov)

LaMP-based Biodiversity
Conservation Strategy Workshop
GLNPO and EPA Region 2 staff attended the
third workshop of the "LaMP-based Biodi-
versity Conservation Strategy for Lake On-
tario" February 28th to March 1st, 2007 in
Buffalo, New York. Attended by more than
50 people from Canadian and U.S. federal,
state/provincial agencies and non-
governmental organizations, the workshop
focused on prioritizing strategies to deal with
threats to biodiversity targets identified in the
first two workshops. Six threats were ana-
lyzed in breakout sessions:
•   Climate change,
•   Current and new invasive species,
•   Dams and barriers,
•   Unsustainable development,
•   Non-point source inputs, and
•   Point source pollution.

For each threat, endpoints, broad strategies to
get to endpoints,  key outputs, and action
steps were identified. The results of all three
workshops will be incorporated into the
Lakewide Management Plan for Lake On-
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                                    March 2007
        tano.

        (Contacts: Mario DelVicario, 212-6373779,
        delvicario.mario@epa.gov; Fred Luckey,
        212-637-3853, luckey.frederick@epa.gov or
        Karen Rodriguez, 312-353-2690, rodri-
        guez.karen@epa.gov)

        Great Lake Regional Collaboration
        Wetlands Initiative
        As a first step toward achieving Great Lakes
        Regional Collaboration (GLRC) goals, the
        Great Lakes Wetlands Initiative will promote
        on-the-ground activities to protect and restore
        200,000 acres of wetlands in the Great Lakes
        basin.  This initiative is designed to accelerate
        efforts to protect and restore Great lakes wet-
        lands by connecting partners, programs,
        funding and projects. The key elements of
        the initiative are:
        •   Bring partners together to work on wet-
           lands restoration;
        •   Connect partners with necessary informa-
           tion on programs, funding and potential
           projects to make wetland restoration hap-
           pen; and
        •   Monitor progress towards Great lakes
           Wetlands Initiative goals.

        The Subcommittee of the GLRC Executive
        Committee will oversee implementation of
        this initiative.

        (Contact: Rita Cestaric, 312-886-6815,
        cestaric.rita@epa.gov)

        POLLUTION PREVENTION

        Roll-out of Wood Boiler Program
        Outdoor wood boilers are increasing at a
        rapid rate because they provide a cheap
        source of heat and hot water. It is expected
        that there will be about 500,000 of these
        units by 2010. Unfortunately, they emit over
        10 times the PM2.5 particulates and polyaro-
 i
             Outdoor wood boiler
 (Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of
                 Ecology)

matic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as wood stoves.
(Residential wood combustion is the largest
source of benzo(a)pyrene emissions.). EPA
rolled out a two-part strategy on January 29,
2007 for addressing the emissions from these
wood boilers:

Part 1 is a voluntary program with 10 boiler
manufacturers, who make 80% of the units
sold in the United States and have agreed to
bring out at least one unit meeting new per-
formance specifications beginning in April
2007. These performance specifications re-
quire that emissions be 70% lower than from
models currently on the market. EPA devel-
oped the voluntary program with input from
boiler manufacturers, states and an industry
trade group. The cleaner models will be
marked by an orange hang tag showing that
the unit meets the program requirements.
Part 2 is a model rule that state and local
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                  Significant Activities Report
        governments can use to address wood boilers
        in their areas. EPA provided technical and
        financial support to a coalition of Northeast
        states for the development of this model rule.
        That coalition, Northeast States for Coordi-
        nated Air Use management, made this rule
        available on January 29th, 2007.

        Information about outdoor wood boilers and
        the voluntary partnership is  available on the
        Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/woodheaters.
        This site offers information  about choosing
        cleaner, more efficient outdoor wood-fired
        boilers and using these outdoor wood-fired
        boilers more efficiently and safely.

        (Contact: Steven Rosenthal, 312-886-6052,
        rosenthal.steven@epa.gov)

        Erie County Dental Waste
        Management Project
        Funded by a grant from GLNPO, Erie
        County, New York conducted an Erie
        County Dental Waste Management Project.
        Three workshops were held in Erie County
        (north,  south & east of Buffalo) and one was
        held in Niagara County to provide informa-
        tion on dental waste management, focusing
        on proper disposal of mercury-bearing
        wastes. Lead and silver wastes were included
        as well. Outreach materials included Best
        Management Practices for Dental Amalgam,
        the Naval Institute of Dental and Biomedical
        Research video,  information on amalgam/
        mercury recycling contractors, amalgam
        separator equipment vendors, New York
        State's regulatory text detailing its Standards
        for the Management of Elemental Mercury
        and Dental Amalgam Wastes at Dental Fa-
        cilities, the American Dental Association's
        Dental Mercury  Hygiene recommendations
        and information on the County's Condition-
        ally Exempt  Small Quantity Generator pro-
        gram. Grant resources allowed for five col-
        lections. Total quantities of waste collected
 Dental waste can be a source of mercury, lead, and
                  silver

were as follows:
      Amalgam:                 229 Ibs.
      Amalgam capsules:          45 Ibs.
      Mercury:                   82 Ibs.
      Lead foil:                  554 Ibs.
      Silver fixer:                173 gal.
      Line Traps:                 184
      Lead Aprons:               16
      X-ray heads:                4
      Silver:                     1 Ibs.
      Lead boxes:                1
      Sphygmomanometers:       4

(Contact: E. Marie Wines, 312-886-6034,
wines.emarie@epa.gov)

Great Lakes Green Chemistry
Network Kickoff Meeting
A kickoff meeting of the Great Lakes Green
Chemistry Network was held February 28th,
2007. The Mission of the Green Chemistry
network is to create a partnership between
academia, industry, government and non-
governmental organizations to establish
green chemistry practices in the binational
Great Lakes region. The goals of the Green
Chemistry Network are to:
•  Create a Great Lakes Green Chemistry
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                                   March 2007
           Research Network
        •   Identify academic institutions in the
           Great Lakes dedicated to Green Chemis-
           try research.
        •   Identify industries involved in Green
           Chemistry R&D
        •   Hold regular "industry showcases" where
           academics describe their research and
           industry presents their needs.
        •   Create "niche Green Chemistry Scholar-
           ships" in Great Lakes academic institu-
           tions, and
        •   Enable the creation of a  Great Lakes
           Green Chemistry Industrial Sabbatical
           Program

        Workgroup members include representatives
        from industry, non-governmental organiza-
        tions and the academic community as well as
        all levels of government.

        (Contact: Ted Smith, 312-353-6571,
        smith.edwin@epa.gov)

        SEDIMENT REMEDIATION

        Ruddiman Creek Great Lakes
        Legacy Project Receives Award
        The Michigan Chapter of the American Pub-
        lic Works Association (APWA) awarded its
        Project of the Year Award (Environment $10
        - $100 Million category) to the Ruddiman
        Creek Great Lakes Legacy Act Sediment
        Clean-up Project. The plaque will be
        awarded at the annual meeting in Boyne
        City, Michigan in May. The recipients of the
        award are: U.S. EPA GLNPO, the Michigan
        Department of Environmental Quality, Envi-
        ronmental Quality Management and Earth
        Tech. The project is now eligible for the na-
        tional APWA Project of the Year award.

        (Contacts: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
        tuchman.marc@epa.gov or Susan Boehme,
        312-353-4383, boehme.susan@epa.gov)
  Part of Ruddiman Creek shortly after remediation

Legacy Act Article in LakeLine
The Fall 2006 volume of LakeLine (a publi-
cation of the North American Lake Manage-
ment Society) included an EPA Commentary
by David Cowgill and Marc Tuchman. The
article describes GLNPO's Great Lakes Leg-
acy Act and the projects that have been com-
pleted to date.

(Contacts: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov or David Cowgill,
312-353-3576, cowgill.david@epa.gov)

Fourth International Conference on
Remediation of Contaminated
Sediments
During the week of January 22, 2007, mem-
bers of the GLNPO Sediment Team traveled
to Savannah, Georgia to attend the Fourth
International Conference on Remediation of
Contaminated Sediments,  hosted by Battelle.
Team members participated in  a variety of
short courses, panel discussions, and at-
tended numerous platform presentations. The
conference topics encompassed virtually all
facets of the sediment remediation field,
ranging from the modeling of fate and trans-
port of contaminants to innovative technolo-
gies and remediation lessons learned. A
Great Lakes platform session was co-chaired
by Marc Tuchman of GLNPO and Mike
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                  Significant Activities Report
        Alexander from the Michigan Department of
        Environmental Quality. Marc Tuchman pre-
        sented an overview of the Great Lakes Leg-
        acy Act, highlighting the continued accom-
        plishments of the program. In this session,
        Mike Alexander of MDEQ presented an
        overview of the successful remediation of
        Ruddiman Creek and Pond, Dave Wething-
        ton described the baseline assessment of the
        Ashtabula River, and Lou Blume spoke on
        the Quality Management Program for the
        Great Lakes Legacy Act.

        (Contact Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
        tuchman.marc@epa.gov; Dave Wethington,
        312-886-1437, wethington.david@epa.gov or
        Lou Blume, 312-353-2317,
        blume.louis@epa.gov)

        INVASIVE SPECIES

        Hemimysis: New Great Lakes
        Invader
        Steve Pothoven of NOAA's Great Lakes En-
        vironmental Research Laboratory gave a
        presentation titled: "Hemimysis cmomala. -
        the newest Great Lakes invader" on January
        11th, 2007. GLNPO was able to make the
        presentation available as a Webcast, during
        which information was  shared about the dis-
        covery of Hemimysis in the Muskegon boat
        basin in November of 2006. It was also
        found in Lake Ontario in the spring of 2006
        in the nearshore zone over a rocky bottom.
        This "Bloody Red Mysid," native to the
        Ponto-Caspian region, is so named because
        of its reddish coloration. It prefers shallow
        dark nearshore habitats  associated with struc-
        tures and has a potentially high expansion
        potential due to its reproductive abilities.
        Hemimysis is omnivorous, giving it the po-
        tential to affect both zooplankton and phyto-
        plankton populations, and it may serve as a
        new prey item for some species offish. Its
        full impact will depend  on its distribution
            Hemimysis anomala
       (Photo courtesy of NOAA-GLERL)
and abundance, but confirmation of current
distribution is difficult due to its evasive life-
style. GLNPO has offered to sample shallow
reefs encountered during the Lake Guardian's
spring survey for signs of Hemimysis, and
other scientists across the basin will look for
the invader during the course of their normal
research as well.

(Contacts: Chiara Zuccarino-Crowe, 312-
886-6793, zuccarino-crowe.chiara@epa.gov
or Marc Tuchman, tuchman.marc@epa.gov,
312-353-1369)

MONITORING

Developing PBT Monitoring in
Mexico
GLNPO's Melissa Hulting attended the
Workshop to Develop Mexico's Environ-
mental Monitoring and Assessment Program
in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on February 13th to
15th, 2007. The integration of persistent bio-
accumulative toxics (PBT) monitoring in
North America is being coordinated by the
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
(CEC), and a major project under this
broader effort is implementing a system for
monitoring PBTs in Mexico. Over the past
several months there have been a series of
conference calls and meetings to discuss dif-
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        ferent tasks that would need to be done to
        establish such monitoring (i.e., infrastructure
        needed, laboratory capacity, possible loca-
        tions of satellite sites). The meeting in Cuer-
        navaca, attended by over 50 people, brought
        a broader group of participants together to
        provide input to the direction of the program,
        especially from Mexican representatives. The
        short-term output of this project will be a
        proposal to the Global Environment Fund to
        jump-start the Mexican monitoring program.
        Discussions are being conducted within the
        Mexican government to gain long-term buy-
        in.

        (Contact: Melissa Hulting,
        hulting.melissa@epa.gov,  312-886-2265)

        Trinational Quality Assurance
        Workshop
        Approximately 25 government and private
        laboratory representatives  from Canada,
        Mexico and the U.S. attended a 3-day quality
        assurance workshop February 23rd to 25th at
        Environment Canada's Center for Atmos-
        pheric Research Experiments in Egbert, On-
        tario. The workshop was initiated by the
        Commission for Environmental Cooperation
        (CEC) as part of its Environmental Monitor-
        ing and Assessment effort. The agenda in-
        cluded presentations on existing monitoring
        programs and laboratory expertise in the 3
        countries (including one covering GLNPO's
        PBT monitoring programs); tours of labora-
        tory and sampling facilities; and discussion
        of a recent tri-national laboratory study that
        involved analysis of the U.S.-Canada Inte-
        grated Atmospheric Depossition Network's
        common reference standards for PCBs, or-
        ganochlorine pesticides, and PAHs and a
        split air sample from Veracruz, Mexico. Ini-
        tial results from the inter-laboratory study,
        which were promising in terms of the compa-
        rability of the results, were discussed, and a
        final report will be distributed following fi-
   Hammond Bay harbor of refuge on Lake Huron

nalization of the study data. Standard operat-
ing procedures and quality assurance plans
were exchanged during and in following up
to the workshop. Workshop participants rec-
ommended that further inter-laboratory com-
parison activities be conducted and that a Tri-
national Quality Assurance Program Plan be
drafted; funds for such work will be re-
quested in the CEC's  2008 Operational Plan.

(Contact: Melissa Hulting,
hulting.melissa@epa.gov, 312-886-2265)

Lake Huron Cooperative
Monitoring
Planning continues for this year's Lake
Huron Cooperative Monitoring/Intensive
Monitoring field year. On February 5th and
6th principal investigators from Environment
Canada, Canada Department of Fisheries and
Oceans, U.S. Geological  Survey, NOAA,
U.S. EPA - ORD:MED Duluth and U.S.
EPA -GLNPO met to discuss station selec-
tion,  scheduling and coordination of opera-
tions among the groups. Because of recent
changes in the Lake Huron ecosystem, in-
cluding greatly reduced fish and plankton
populations and near-complete loss of the
amphipod, Diporeia sp., much of the work
will focus on assessing the food web and try-
ing to determine the causes of the changes.
The lake will be visited several times
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        throughout the year by ships from the U.S.
        and Canada to support sampling activities.

        (Contacts: Glenn Warren, 312-886-2405,
        warren.glenn@epa.gov or James Schardt,
        312-353-5085, schardt.james@epa.gov)

        Great Lakes Cooperative Science
        Initiative
        The initial meeting to develop a Great Lakes
        Cooperative Science Initiative (Great Lakes
        CSI) took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan on
        February 6th and 7th, 2007. This effort, under-
        taken pursuant to a Binational Executive
        Committee directive, will try to develop a
        framework that will identify areas of poten-
        tial research cooperation based on shared is-
        sues and interests among agencies. The meet-
        ing was attended by representatives of Envi-
        ronment Canada, Canada Department of
        Fisheries and Oceans, U.S. Geological Sur-
        vey, NOAA and U.S. EPA, and will be fol-
        lowed by a number of meetings and work-
        shops throughout the Great Lakes basin.

        (Contacts: Paul Horvatin, 312-353-3612,
        horvatin.paul@epa.gov or Glenn Warren,
        312-886-2405, warren.glenn@epa.gov)

        2007 Surface Water Monitoring and
        Standards (SWiMS)  Meeting
        On January 31st, 2007, GLNPO staff pre-
        sented information at the 2007 SWiMS meet-
        ing on studies of pharmaceuticals and per-
        sonal care products (PPCPs) and other
        emerging contaminants in the Chicago water-
        ways. The presentation focused on the ongo-
        ing collaborations between U.S. EPA
        GLNPO, Region 5, the Chicago Regional
        Laboratory, and Office of Water; U.S. Geo-
        logical Survey; U.S. Department of Agricul-
        ture; Baylor University; and the Metropolitan
        Water Reclamation District of Greater Chi-
        cago to assess the occurrence and fate of
        emerging contaminants in the Chicago water-
  Sampling for PPCPs in fish from the Chicago River

ways. The SWiMS meeting is an annual
State/Tribal/EPA technical coordinators
meeting aimed at sharing monitoring suc-
cesses and challenges, learning about the
most up-to-date scientific information, and
discussing programmatic issues. SWiMS
2007 attracted approximately 200 partici-
pants. All of the presentation materials from
SWiMS are available on-line at http://
www.epa.gov/region5/water/wqb/swims.htm

(Contacts: Todd Nettesheim, 312-353-9153,
nettesheim.todd@epa.gov or Beth Murphy,
312-353-4227, murphy.elizabeth@epa.gov)

Drinking Water Monitoring Grant
Kick-off meeting, Mt. Clemens, MI
On Jan. 31, 2007, Rose Ellison, GLNPO Pro-
ject Officer for the Macomb/St. Clair Drink-
ing Water Quality grant attended the project
kick-off meeting. The Drinking Water Qual-
ity project is designed to provide real-time
monitoring data at eight water-intake plants
along the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair
to help warn against spill events and other
threats to drinking water supplies. A comple-
mentary effort lead by the Michigan Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality is providing
an additional four stations in Lake St. Clair
and the Detroit River. Calibration and "shake
down" of monitoring equipment for the
Macomb/St. Clair portion of the project be-
gan in January 2007 and will continue
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        throughout Spring 2007. The entire system is
        expected to be on-line by Summer 2007.

        (Contact: Rose Ellison, 734-692-7689, elli-
        son.rosanne@epa.gov)

        Waterborne Pathogen Seminars
        David Rockwell has been invited to join a
        group of Water Fellows in addressing the
        issue of waterborne pathogens in Michigan
        and their effects on beaches, and will partici-
        pate in a seminar series sponsored by Michi-
        gan State University (MSU). The purpose of
        the six workshops is to learn about sources,
        pathways, and impacts of pathogens in water
        and to discuss potential solutions. MSU goals
        are to characterize the issues regarding
        pathogens in Michigan, examine methods
        and solutions to address those issues, and to
        develop a framework for monitoring patho-
        gens. The application of this information to
        the $500,000 Pilot Sanitary Survey grants in
        six states will be of value to the agency as
        USEPA seeks to assist beach mangers to
        identify sources of pathogens affecting the
        swim ability  at sixty U.S. beaches.

        (Contact: David Rockwell, 312-353-1373,
        rockwell.david@epa.gov)

        OUTREACH/EDUCATION


        Outreach Events
        On February 14th, 2007 Lake Superior
        Lakewide Management Plan Manager Liz
        LaPlante presented The Great Lakes Na-
        tional Program Office and Careers in the
        Environmental Field as part of Career Day at
        Holmes Junior High School in Mount Pros-
        pect, Illinois. In the presentation LaPlante
        shared with students the broad scope of
        pressing environmental problems of the day
        and the EPA's approach to solving them.
        LaPlante encouraged students to consider
        careers in the environmental field, which
        they can prepare for through internships, vol-
        unteer projects, and learning about emerging
      Family enjoying a Lake Superior beach
environmental issues. The students were par-
ticularly interested in the R/V Lake Guard-
ian, aquatic invasive species (especially sea
lamprey and Asian Carp), global warming,
and salary potential in the environmental
field. Upon learning about GLNPO's col-
laborative work with Environment Canada,
the French teacher was enthused to hear of
the usefulness of school-taught language in
real-world professions.

(Contact: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-2694,
laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov)

On Sunday, February 23rd, 2007, Liz LaP-
lante and Melissa Simon, an associate of the
Oak Ridge Institute of Science Education
(ORISE) traveled to Buffalo Grove,  Illinois.
There they spoke to 30 members of the
Peacemakers Committee at Kingswood
United Methodist Church. In the presentation
titled Protecting,  Restoring, Enjoying Our
Great Lakes, they provided an overview of
Great Lakes history, past and present envi-
ronmental challenges, and successful initia-
tives to restore the basin ecosystem.  Simon
provided examples of successful environ-
mental projects carried out by local faith
groups and also offered recommendations for
future activities for the Kingswood Church.
Discussion focused on energy conservation,
pollution prevention, and resource use. Par-
ticipants were particularly interested in the
presence of chemical contaminants and the
effects of agriculture on Lake Michigan.
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        (Contacts: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-
        2694, laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov or Melissa
        Simon 312-886-0995,
        simon.melissa@epa.gov)

        Judy Beck (GLNPO) and Melissa Simon
        (ORISE) spoke to sixth-grade students at the
        Elmwood Elementary School in New Berlin,
        Wisconsin about Lake Michigan's environ-
        mental challenges and what they can do to
        help. Communication between the school and
        GLNPO was initiated by three students seek-
        ing assistance on their interactive project ti-
        tled What environmental impacts do indi-
        viduals, families, communities, business, and
        governments have on Lake Michigan?
        GLNPO has supplied  educational materials
        and hosted a videoconference to help the stu-
        dents. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage
        District was also contacted by GLNPO to
        donate additional learning materials to the
        school, including rain gauges and a  rain bar-
        rel. While at the school, Beck and Simon
        viewed a presentation of the project. Simon
        engaged students in an interactive lesson on
        watershed stewardship and non-point source
        pollution using a model provided by U.S.
        EPA Region 5's Office of Public Affairs.

        (Contacts: Judy Beck  312-353-3849
        beck,judy@epa.gov or Melissa Simon 312-
        866-0995 simon.melissa@epa.gov)

        On February 12th, Erin Newman (U.S. EPA
        Region 5 Air Division) spoke and Jessica
        Winter (GLNPO-ECO Intern) presented a
        poster on methods for reducing the practice
        of household trash burning at the National
        Air Quality Conference in Orlando, Florida.
        About 70 people attended Erin's talk on the
        first day of the conference, and dozens more
        visited the poster and requested copies of the
        "Learn Not To Burn" CD resource kit. At
        least 30 CDs were distributed, along with
        copies of the poster and brochures. Most of
        the interested parties were state and local air
        department outreach coordinators who will
        help distribute the information to county and
        township officials who can implement local
        programs to cut back on trash burning in
 Judy Beck speaks to students at Elmwood Elemen-
       tary School, New Berlin, Wisconsin

their communities. Additionally, EPA's Of-
fice of Air Quality Planning & Standards is
planning to develop a CD like GLNPO's  on
wood stoves in the coming months.

(Contacts: Erin Newman, 312-886-4587,
newman.erin@epa.gov or Jessica Winter,
312-353-3212, winter.jessica@epa.gov)

On February 24th, GLNPO's Susan Boehme
had planned to give a presentation and join a
panel on pharmaceutical disposal issues at
the American College of Preventive Medi-
cine Annual Meeting in Miami, Florida. Due
to the inclement weather, Susan did not at-
tend the meeting, but Lara Polansky
(University of Miami student and intern who
began this project last summer here in
GLNPO), was able to step in and give the
presentation. Lara reported back that the au-
dience seemed very interested in the  issue
and asked numerous questions afterwards.
Susan received 2  emails from audience mem-
bers within hours of the Saturday afternoon
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office

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 Significant Activities Report
                                    March 2007
        session requesting more information and re-
        source kits.

        (Contacts: Susan Boehme, 312-353-4383,
        boehme.susan@epa.gov or Jessica Winter,
        312-353-3212, winter.jessica@epa.gov)

        Newly elected GLEAMS Officers
        GLNPO's Elizabeth Hinchey Malloy and
        Jacqueline Adams were elected to serve as
        2006-2007 officers of the Great Lakes
        Aquatic and Marine Science Educators
        (GLEAMS). Hinchey Malloy is the current
        GLEAMS President and GLEAMS Chapter
        Representative to the National Marine Edu-
        cators Association board. Adams is the cur-
        rent GLEAMS Membership Secretary.
        GLEAMS is a supportive network of aquatic
        science professionals from many fields,
        working together for the advancement of
        aquatic education. GLEAMS provides educa-
        tors with information, methods and materials
        for including water-related content and ac-
        tivities into their curricula. GLEAMS mem-
        bers also learn of opportunities to network
        and connect with marine and aquatic science
        educators throughout the Great Lakes region
        and beyond. Visit the GLEAMS web site
        (http://www.sheddaquarium.org/gleams) to
        learn more.

        (Contacts: Elizabeth Hinchey Malloy, 312-
        886-3451, hinchey.elizabeth@epa.gov or
        Jacqueline Adams, 312-353-7203, ad-
        ams.jacqueline@epa.gov)

        LAKEWIDE
        MANAGEMENT PLANS

        Making a Great Lake
        SUPERIOR 2007
        Planning is under way for Making a Great
        Lake SUPERIOR 2007: a Conference Link-
        ing Research, Education, and Management,
        which will take place in Duluth, Minnesota,
       Duluth Lift Bridge, a local landmark

October 29 - 31, 2007. The first of its kind,
the conference will bring together research-
ers, resource managers, elected officials, edu-
cators, policy makers, government staff,
Tribe members, and citizen activists from
throughout the Lake Superior basin from
both  the US and Canada. For 3  days partici-
pants will report out on, collaborate, net-
work, plan for and learn about the state of the
lake  and the actions necessary for its contin-
ued protection and restoration. Topics will
include climate change, AOCs,  monitoring,
sustainable development, human health,
habitat management, watershed stewardship,
and toxic management. The call for participa-
tion is currently posted on the conference
website and the conference planning commit-
tee has received its first batch of proposals
for presentations.  The committee is currently
selecting a key note speaker.  The committee
is also working on involving  the Lake Supe-
rior Binational Forum and the Great Lakes
and St. Lawrence Cities Mayors Initiative in
organizing the event. The conference website
is: http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/
superior2007/

(Contact: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-2694,
laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov)

Lake Superior Binational Forum
Meeting
The Lake Superior Binational Forum is
funded by a GLNPO grant and works closely
with  the Superior Workgroup, a team of rep-
resentatives from  state and federal agencies
from the US and Canada. The Forum held a
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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March 2007
                   Significant Activities Report
        public input session and meeting in January,
        2007, in Ashland, Wisconsin, titled Taking
        Natural Steps into Economic and Environ-
        mental Sustainability. The meeting was to
        discuss  a sustainability model called The
        Natural Step which is currently in use in
        Sweden. Over 80 people attended, including
        students, politicians, business leaders, Tribes
        members, mayors, and city officials.

        Northland College President Karen Halber-
        sleben described what the college is doing to
        implement sustainable design features and
        practices on the college's campus in Ashland,
        Wisconsin. Washburn Mayor Irene Blakely
        described actions city staff and council are
        taking to promote and implement sustainable
        practices. Blakely and the Washburn city
        council  led the way to be the first municipal-
        ity in the United States to pass an eco-
        municipality resolution that pledges to incor-
        porate sustainable practices in all city opera-
        tions.

        Erv Soulier of the Bad River Band of Lake
        Superior Tribe of Chippewa gave a presenta-
        tion on what the Tribe is doing to implement
        sustainability practices on the reservation.
        There were also presentations by local busi-
        ness and community leaders, including that
        of a local hotel owner who remodeled using
        green metrics. The forum meeting included a
        tour of Sustainable Northland College, in-
        cluding a "green" residence hall, solar heated
        swimming pool, cafeteria composting ma-
        chine, wind generator, and geo-thermal heat-
        ing/cooling system.

        (Contact: Liz LaPlante 312.353.2694, la-
        plante.elizabeth@epa.gov)
  Northland College President Karen Halbersleben
 describes the College's sustainable design features
                                                     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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