Abstract:
In an effort to clean up the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes, the United States and Canada committed to working with State and Provincial governments to develop Remedial Action Plans for designated Areas of Concern (AOC) in the Great Lakes Basin. Currently there are 26 AOCs wholly within the United States and five that are shared by both the United States and Canada. This shapefile provides a polygon boundary for the Milwaukee Estuary AOC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In developing the polygon boundaries, the description of each AOC provided by EPA was used as a starting point for collecting basemap information to aid in the delineation of each boundary. Using Digital Orthophotography, Digital Raster Graphics, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) layers such as watersheds, and water bodies where available, each polygon was then digitized and reviewed by representatives of both EPA and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for agreement. Sources of digital information used in the development of the AOCs include the USGS, the Microsoft Corporation Terraserver (<http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/default.aspx>), and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (<http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/at/et/geo/index.htm>).
Purpose:
The main use of the delineated AOC boundaries is for EPA and State governments to locate those sites listed on the National Priorities List or other sites that are in close proximity or may have contributed to the pollution within each AOC. These analyses are completed on a relatively small scale of the areas in and around each AOC. Attributes only include the AOC name and the predominant state in which the AOC is located. The boundaries should not be used for large scale, high resolution mapping analyses.