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
February 2009
In This Issue:
GREAT LAKES REGIONAL COLLABORATION
• Habitat/Species Workshops
• Botulism Coordination and Response
Initiative Charter
LAKEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLANS
• Mining Webinar
CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS
• Maumee River AOC: Ottawa River
Project
• Tannery Bay Project Wins Award
POLLUTION PREVENTION
• Medical Take-Backs Article
INVASIVE SPECIES
• Electric Barrier Panel Meeting
HABITA T RESTORA TION
• Black River, Ohio Ecological Restora-
tion Master Plan
• Urban Habitat Restoration Symposium
• Stewardship Network Conference
GREAT LAKES REGIONAL COLLABORATION
Habitat/Species Workshops
The third and fourth in a series of workshops,
one in each Great Lakes State and one to en-
gage Tribal interests, as part of the Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration's (GLRC)
Habitat/Species Subcommittee were held in
January in Illinois and Indiana. The GLRC
Habitat/Species Subcommittee is sponsoring
these workshops. The subcommittee is
charged with overseeing implementation of
the habitat and species-related recommenda-
tions contained in the 2005 Great Lakes Re-
gional Collaboration Strategy.
A wetland in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Photo courtesy of National Park Service
The January 21st workshop in Illinois, held in
EPA's Regional Office in downtown Chi-
cago, brought together 25 key decision mak-
ers of the State of Illinois, its cities, its non-
governmental organizations, and relevant fed-
eral agencies in a facilitated dialogue about
advancing habitat protection and conservation
through demonstrations of collaborative tools,
discussion of State priorities and needs, and
interactive dialogue about innovative ap-
proaches for moving selected projects from
planning to implementation.
Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan
Manager Judy Beck helped lead the work-
shop. Presentations were delivered by the Illi-
nois Natural History Survey, Illinois Depart-
ment of Natural Resources, Lake Michigan
Ecosystem Partnership, Illinois EPA, Chicago
Wilderness, National Wildlife Federation,
Healing Our Waters Coalition, and Ducks
Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. EPA.
The Indiana workshop was held at the State
of Indiana offices in Indianapolis on January
29th. Over 40 persons attended from local,
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February 2009
Significant Activities Report
state and federal governments, local water-
shed stewards, conservation organizations and
the private sector. GLNPO's John Perrecone
offered EPA's perspective on Great Lakes
habitat restoration issues and also discussed
the Great Lakes Watershed Restoration Grant
Program as a funding option for projects. The
information was received quite well by the
group and they seemed to think this approach
and data base could be of some help while
doing habitat restoration work. While the ap-
proach did make sense, there was still some
concern on how the data base would help lo-
cal practitioners on a daily basis. The group
appreciated the opportunity to interact with
agency staff and other professionals to dis-
cuss this topic because those meetings did not
happen very often. Representatives from the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers encouraged
the attendees to place projects into the data-
base to make it more complete and robust.
Further information about the Habitat Work-
shops and GLRC Habitat Initiative is avail-
able online at: http://www.glrc.us/initiatives/
wetlands
(Contacts: Judy Beck, 312-353-3849,
beck.judy@epa.gov: or John Perrecone,
312/353-1149, perrecone.john@epa.gov)
Botulism Coordination and
Response Initiative Charter
A Charter for the Great Lakes Regional Col-
laboration Botulism Type E Coordination and
Response Initiative was recently approved by
the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration. The
Great Lakes Botulism Coordination Network
is a voluntary partnership of representatives
of government agencies, academic institu-
tions, and involved stakeholders whose mis-
sion is to:
• Exchange information pertaining to botu-
lism matters in the Great Lakes basin by
working through the existing partnerships,
A nesting gull, one of the bird species affected by
Type E Botulism.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
establishment of new networking relation-
ships, and building upon existing pro-
grams;
• Communicate botulism information and
advice (technical, policy or other) related
to the ecosystem of the Great Lakes basin
to stakeholders (including the public)
through member organizations, as re-
quired;
• Influence and support the coordination of
botulism activities, including: laboratory
research and field investigations, environ-
mental management decisions, and re-
sponse actions in the Great Lakes basin.
It is envisioned that it will support the Net-
work Members that are involved with related
efforts to identify, document, and address
botulism issues and concerns in the Great
Lakes basin; provide a forum within which to
discuss issues related to botulism in order to
establish priorities of concern and provide
guidance on management actions; to help in
the development of a best practices manual
for responding to botulism mortality events;
to provide input for the development of a ro-
bust botulism mortality event reporting
mechanism which includes data management;
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U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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February 2009
Aturn-of-the-century copper smelter on the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Photo courtesy of National Park Service
and to provide high quality information, ex-
pertise, and research of ongoing and emerging
botulism issues in the Great Lakes basin,
through the Network Members to the general
public and interested stakeholders.
(Contacts: James Schardt, 312-353-5085,
schardt.james@epa.gov: or Bill Bolen, 312-
353-6316, bolen.bill@epa.gov)
LAKEWIDE MANAGEMENT PLANS
Mining Webinar
On January 13, 2009, the Lake Superior
Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) Work
Group (SWG) hosted the webinar Mining in
Lake Superior Basin. More than 70 people
participated in the interactive online meeting,
many submitting questions to the speakers via
a live chat feature. The live webcast of the
event also received more than 300 hits, repre-
senting between 50 and 100 additional par-
ticipants. Using GLNPO's new communica-
tion media, the SWG was able to reach a
body of stakeholders greater in both scope
and number than would have been possible
than through actual meetings. Several experts
presented an overview of current mining ac-
tivities in the Lake Superior basin, including
representatives from industry and academic
research. A background paper on the topic
created collaboratively by SWG members and
invited speakers was circulated prior to the
meeting. The SWG plans to hold future webi-
nars to serve as educational venues that are
both cost- and carbon-free for participants.
The next two webinars of the mining series
are scheduled to focus on the environmental
impacts of mining and the effect on the Lake
Superior Binational Program chemical and
ecosystem goals.
(Contact: Elizabeth LaPlante, 312-353-2694,
laplante.elizabeth@epa.gov)
CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS
Maumee River AOC: Ottawa River
Project
EPA and the Ottawa River Group signed a
Great Lakes Legacy Act Sediment Remedia-
tion Project Agreement on January 26, 2009
to implement a $43 million sediment reme-
diation project for the Ottawa River. Sedi-
ments in the Ottawa River are highly con-
taminated with PCBs, PAHs, and heavy met-
als. The project will dredge approximately
275,000 cubic yards of contaminated sedi-
ments from the Ottawa River and Sibley
Creek. Approximately 25,000 cubic yards of
sediment contain PCB concentrations above
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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February 2009
Significant Activities Report
Dredge fills barge with contaminated sediment during Tannery Bay Great Lakes Legacy Act Remediation Project.
50 ppm and will require special handling and
disposal at a TSCA licensed disposal facility.
The remaining 250,000 cubic yards of sedi-
ment are moderately contaminated and will
be disposed of at the City of Toledo's Hoff-
man Road Landfill facility. Construction will
begin in spring 2009, with dredging sched-
uled to commence in summer 2009.
(Contact: Scott Cieniawski, 312-353-9184,
cieniawski.scott@epa.gov)
Tannery Bay Project Wins Award
The Great Lakes Legacy Act sediment
cleanup project in Tannery Bay in Sault Ste.
Marie, Michigan was awarded the 2009 Na-
tional Environmental Excellence Award by
the National Association of Environmental
Professionals. The community saw the re-
moval of 44,000 cubic yards of impacted
sediment, containing approximately one mil-
lion pounds of chromium and 70 pounds of
mercury from St. Marys River, a local water-
way. EPA GLNPO shared the award with Illi-
nois-Indiana Sea Grant, Phelps-Dodge Min-
ing Company, environmental consultants
Conestoga-Rovers and Associates, and the
Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality, which helped fund the project. For
more information about the Tannery Bay pro-
ject, see: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/sediment/
1 egacy/tannery/index. html.
(Contact: Marc Tuchman, 312-353-1369,
tuchman.marc@epa.gov)
POLL UTION PRE VENTION
Medical Take-Backs Article
GLNPO Environmental Engineer Todd
Nettesheim and GLNPO-Sea Grant liaisons
Elizabeth Hinchey Malloy and Susan Boehme
co-authored a manuscript in an international
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February 2009
journal that documents the current unwanted
medicine take-back practices in the United
States. Additional co-authors include EPA
scientists from the Office of Research and
Development, Office of Water, Office of
Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Office
of the Administrator, and Region 3.
Article citation: Glassmeyer ST, Hinchey EK,
Boehme SE, Daughton CG, Ruhoy IS, Con-
erly O, Daniels RL, Lauer L, McCarthy M,
Nettesheim TG, Sykes K, and Thompson VG.
"Disposal Practices for Unwanted Residential
Medications in the United States," Environ-
ment International, 2008 ; doi:10.1016/
j.envint.2008.10.007.
(Contact: Todd Nettesheim, 312-353-9153,
nettesheim.todd@epa.gov)
INVASIVE SPECIES
Electric Barrier Panel Meeting
The Aquatic Nuisance Barrier Panel Meeting
was held in EPA's Chicago Conference Cen-
ter on January 8, 2009. Highlights included an
introduction from Col. Vincent Quarles (new
Commander for the Chicago District of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), a status re-
port on the electric barrier, and information
on monitoring programs and acoustic teleme-
try.
The barrier is in place in Illinois Sanitary and
Ship Canal southwest of Chicago to block the
passage of Asian carp upstream into Lake
Michigan. The original Demonstration Barrier
was shut down temporarily for rehabilitation
on September 25, 2008 following an intensive
electro-fishing survey between the demon-
stration barrier and an active Barrier IIA. The
Demonstration Barrier was brought back
online on October 24, 2008. Permanent Bar-
rier IIA was originally scheduled to go live
permanently at an output of 1 volt per square
inch by the end of January 2009, but had to be
Chicago Area Waterways
Today
Map showing location of the electric barrier.
Illustration courtesy of Phil Moy, University of
Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
delayed because of repairs needed due to cor-
rosion in the system's cooling pipes. Once
Barrier IIA is activated, red flag barges
(carrying hazardous or flammable material)
will be required to be escorted by bow boats
through the barrier. Safety testing at Barrier
IIA is being completed by additional voltage
testing. Barrier IIB is in the final design stage,
pending the results of the Barrier IIA voltage
testing. The Corps of Engineers anticipates
beginning site preparation in the summer of
2009, beginning construction of the buildings
in fall of 2009, and activation in late 2010 or
2011, pending safety testing.
Asian carp monitoring efforts continue in the
Dresden Island, Marseilles, Lockport, and
Brandon Road pools in the waterway. As of
June 2008, Asian carp were identified in the
Dresden Island and Marseilles pools, but none
were found in either the Lockport or Brandon
Rd. pools. Populations remain 15 miles from
the dispersal barrier and 38 miles from Lake
Michigan. Monitoring also continues in the
LaGrange pool, where silver carp exhibit an
intrinsic growth rate of 83%. This indicates
the population of silver carp in the LaGrange
pool is extremely successful and almost dou-
bling in size each year.
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Significant Activities Report
(Contact: Elizabeth Murphy, 312-353-4227,
murphy.elizabeth@epa.gov)
HABITA T RESTORA TION
Black River, Ohio Ecological
Restoration Master Plan
On January 12, 2009, EPA Cleveland Office
staff attended a Black River RAP Coordinat-
ing Committee meeting. Contractor for
GLNPO, URS, provided a brief overview of
the progress to date on the development of the
Ecological Restoration Master Plan for the
Lower Black River. The goal of the plan will
be to address ecological protection and resto-
ration along the lower Black River while be-
ing mindful of, and where possible, incorpo-
rating the City of Lorain, Ohio's need for eco-
nomic redevelopment of parcels adjacent to
the river in the same area. Baseline data was
gathered in the fall of 2008 and some prelimi-
nary conclusions were drawn about the state
of the river and the proposed development
along its shores. Several early action opportu-
nities were identified, including: the installa-
tion of more constructed fish shelves, restora-
tion work within the slag remediation areas,
installation of CHUBS (Cuyahoga Habitat
Underwater Baskets), and invasive plant con-
trol for purple loosestrife and phragmites.
Small group meetings with officials from the
City of Lorain
(Mayor, Planning
Department, Coun-
cil-persons) will be
conducted to garner
official partnership
support from the
City. These small
meetings will be fol-
lowed by larger com-
munity stakeholder
meetings to help de-
velop the complete
menu of projects
within the plan.
(Contact: Anne Marie Vincent, 440-250-
1720, vincent.annemarie@epa.gov)
Great Lakes Urban Habitat
Restoration Symposium
GLNPO staff attended the Great Lakes Urban
Habitat Restoration Symposium January 22-
23, 2009 at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in
Chicago. GLNPO was a co-sponsor of the
symposium. More than 170 representatives
from U.S. and Canadian agencies and organi-
zations listened to a range of plenary speakers
and participated in breakout sessions on urban
restoration issues and techniques. Conference
organizers included the Great Lakes Fishery
Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Chicago Park District, and Alliance for the
Great Lakes. Results of the breakout session
discussions will be available in the near fu-
ture.
(Contact: Karen Rodriguez, 312-353-2690,
rodriguez.karen@epa.gov)
Stewardship Network Conference
GLNPO co-sponsored and staff attended the
Stewardship Network Conference 2009: The
Science, Practice and Art of Restoring Native
Ecosystems, January 23-24, 2009, at the Kel-
logg Conference Center in East Lansing,
4
Urban habitat: A Chicago Park District lagoon.
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Michigan. Attended by more than 400 eco-
logical restoration practitioners, the confer-
ence program included presentations by ex-
perts in fire, wildlife, and water ecology, eco-
system planning, stewardship opportunities,
and invasive species management.
Initially begun as a southeast Michigan or-
ganization, the Stewardship Network now
reaches hundreds of restoration practitioners
from Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Those in-
terested can participate in one of seven local
restoration "clusters" that each offers a series
of workshops throughout the year. Partici-
pants attending the workshops are eligible to
receive an "Ecosystem Explorer Certificate of
Achievement from the Stewardship Network.
In addition, the Stewardship Network hosts
lunch hour (11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST) free
interactive online discussion and presenta-
tions on various topics relating to the care of
natural lands and waters on the second
Wednesday of each month. More information
is available online at:
www. stewarshipnetwork. org.
(Contact: Karen Rodriguez, 312-353-2690,
rodriguez.karen@epa.gov)
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.
U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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