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Significant Activities Report:
January 2002
International Activities
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Group Proposes Ecosystem Objectives for Lake Erie
Ecosystem
objectives were proposed for inclusion in the Lake
Erie Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) at the meeting of the Lake
Erie LaMP Technical Work Group in Dunkirk, New York on December 6th
and 7th, 2001. The process for developing the objectives has been
protracted because it included the development and running of a
"fuzzy cognitive map" model to evaluate alternative, stable
ecosystem conditions that could exist for Lake Erie. The LaMP Work
Group selected a "preferred alternative," and objectives
were developed in support of that alternative. The proposed objectives
and sub-objectives are oriented toward management interventions
needed, particularly in the areas of creating or restoring natural
landscapes in the Lake Erie watersheds and nutrient loading
reductions.
Contact: Paul
Bertram, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-0153
Dan O'Riordan, USEPA -
Region 5 (312) 886-7981
 Lake Erie Coastal Wetland |
Lake Erie Scientists Discuss Disturbing Lake Erie Trend
Scientists currently
active in studying the Lake Erie basin met in Chicago, Illinois, on
December 13, 2001 to present information on the lake and its
processes. The meeting was hosted by USEPA's Great Lakes National
Program Office (GLNPO). Monitoring data from the GLNPO open lake
monitoring program and from the Canadian government (Murray Charlton)
indicate a trend in the 1990's and beyond of increasing total
phosphorus, and decreasing dissolved oxygen in Lake Erie's central
basin. These changes raise concern about the state of the Lake Erie
ecosystem within the Great Lakes community and USEPA. Approximately
twenty researchers and USEPA scientists attended the meeting, and
exchanged information on their research, as well as on the current
state of Lake Erie. GLNPO will follow this meeting with support of
research and monitoring relevant to phosphorus and dissolved oxygen
issues, including additional time available on the Great Lakes
National Program Office's 180-foot research vessel, the R/V
Lake Guardian, to support this research. GLNPO has issued a
request for proposals (RFP) to support additional research into the
mechanisms behind this disturbing trend. The RFP can be viewed at:
http://epa.gov/glnpo/fund/rfp/erietrophicstatus.html
Contact: Glenn
Warren, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 886-2405)
 Satellite image of global transport of dust storm |
Global Atmospheric Transport of Mercury Pollution Assessed
On December 13th and
14th, 2001, the North American Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC), the International Air Quality Advisory Board of the
International Joint Commission (IJC), and Environment Canada sponsored
a workshop on atmospheric mercury held in Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina. Approximately 60 representatives from Canada, Mexico
and the United States participated in the meeting. The purpose of the
workshop was to review current developments in source and ambient
monitoring and mercury transport and deposition and their implications
for policy development. Some of the key mercury issues identified and
discussed at the workshop includes dry deposition, the storage and
transfer of mercury in watersheds, global and natural sources of
mercury, the impact of climate change on mercury fate and cycling in
the environment, mercury depletion at polar sunrise, and the adequacy
of mercury transport and deposition models. A record of discussions
and findings along with the presentation materials is being prepared
by the IJC and CEC.
Contact: Todd
Nettesheim, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-9153
Melissa Hulting, USEPA -
GLNPO (312) 886-2265
 Sun above cloud layer |
Task Force Charts North American Regional Action Plan for Toxics
In conjunction with
the international workshop on atmospheric transport of mercury (see
previous article), a Task Force for development of the North American
Regional Action Plan (NARAP) on Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment met in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina on December
12, 2001. Representatives from Environment Canada, USEPA, Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Ecologia, NOAA, the North American Commission
for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), and the International Joint
Commission (IJC), discussed progress in drafting and implementing the
NARAP. Leads from the USEPA's Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBT)
Program participated to ensure that the two efforts complemented each
other.
The group stressed that expectations of the monitoring group by the CEC's substance-specific task forces are high and may not be reasonable given current resource levels. This led to a discussion on how to increase awareness of CEC's function and goals at higher levels in government, including Congress and heads of environmental agencies. Such outreach will be pursued by CEC staff. The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment's NARAP should be treated and promoted as a structure through which long-term accountability to such agreements as the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Treaty can be tracked. Also discussed was the importance of capacity building with regards to developing capabilities for the analysis of POPs and mercury in Mexico rather than shipping samples from monitoring sites in Mexico back to the U.S. or Canada. The Mexican representatives were enthusiastic about developing such a capacity. This would require an exchange of experts and reciprocal laboratory visits among the three countries.
Short-term actions for implementation of the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment NARAP include:
- Compiling baseline information on POPs and mercury already available in the U.S. and Canada, and possibly collecting a small amount of initial data points to supplement available information for Mexico;
- Extending the Mercury Deposition Network (wet deposition) into Mexico; and
- Extending the USEPA's National Dioxin Monitoring Network into Mexico. GLNPO's future role will be to suggest how monitoring like that used in the U.S.-Canada Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network could be implemented in Mexico at one or two sites, which could also involve capacity building with regards to POPs measurement.
It was noted that CEC has the lead for submitting information on POPs in North America to UNEP for a global assessment on the status of persistent toxic substances.
Contact: Melissa
Hulting, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 886-2265
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Indicators of Biological Integrity Sought
Approximately 40
invited experts gathered along with State of the Lakes Ecosystem
Conference (SOLEC) organizers in Windsor, Ontario, on December 4th and
5th, 2001, to evaluate Great Lakes indicators for biological
integrity. Separate working sessions were held for open and nearshore
waters, coastal wetlands, and nearshore terrestrial environments. Case
study papers were prepared prior to the workshop emphasizing the
impacts on non-native, invasive species, and they included some
suggestions for relevant indicators. The workshop participants debated
appropriate indicators to be proposed, and they reviewed and
integrated the new suggestions with existing SOLEC indicators. A
summary of the workshop and its products is being prepared by the
contract staff who facilitated the sessions. More information about
SOLEC and the U.S. - Canada effort to develop a system of
environmental indicators is available at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/solec/.
Contact: Paul
Bertram, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-0153
Areas of Concern On-Line Updated
In an effort to clean up the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes,
the United States and Canada, in Annex 2 of the Great Lakes Water
Quality Agreement, committed to cooperate with State and Provincial
Governments to ensure that Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) are developed
and implemented for all designated Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the
Great Lakes basin.
Forty-three AOCs have been identified: 26 located entirely within the United States; 12 located wholly within Canada; and five that are shared by both countries. RAPs are being developed for each of these AOCs to address impairments to any one of 14 beneficial uses (e.g., restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption, dredging activities, or drinking water consumption) associated with these areas. Updated information on the AOCs and RAPs is now available online for each of the 31 Great Lakes Areas of Concern that are located within the United States or shared with Canada at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc.
Contact: Pranas
Pranckevicius, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-3437
 Binational.net Web Site Logo |
Binational.Net Launched
USEPA's
Great Lakes National Program Office and Environment Canada have
launched a new binational Web Site, http://www.binational.net/,
to facilitate the rapid exchange of information on binational
environmental programs, such as the Great
Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy, the State
of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference, etc.
Contact: Pranas Pranckevicius, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-3437
Sediment Work
 Chequamegon Bay Shoreline |
Chequamegon Bay Pollution Probed
On December 6, 2001
Scott Cieniawski from the USEPA's Great Lakes National Program Office
attended a public meeting to discuss the progress of cleanup and
Superfund listing for the Ashland/Northern States Power Lakefront Site
in Ashland, Wisconsin. The meeting was facilitated by the
Ashland/Bayfield County League of Women Voters and the Sigurd Olson
Environmental Institute. Representatives from the City of Ashland, the
Wisconsin Department of Public Health, the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources, USEPA, Northern States Power, and concerned
citizens attended the meeting. The meeting provided a comprehensive
update on the site that was proposed for addition to the Superfund
National Priorities List (NPL) of hazardous waste sites due to a
number of hazardous chemicals and volatile organic compounds that have
contaminated soils and ground water and migrated to Chequamegon Bay.
Sediments in the bay are heavily contaminated with polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs). As part of a GLNPO grant, Chris Marwood of Miami
University provided a critical review of two conflicting ecological
risk assessments for the sediment portion of the site and concluded
that the site presented "likely impacts to the benthic
community." Results of additional sediment sampling, and a final
decision on NPL listing are anticipated in early 2002.
Contact: Scott
Cieniawski, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-9184
 Sediment core sampling about USEPA's R/V Mudpuppy |
Sediment Contamination in Manistee Lake, Michigan Assessed
A grant was awarded in
1998 to Grand Valley State University, and a report titled
"Preliminary Investigation of the Extent of Sediment
Contamination in Manistee Lake" was produced as a final
deliverable for this grant. The report outlines the preliminary extent
of contamination in Manistee Lake, taking into account the triad
approach with integrated assessments of chemistry, toxicity, and
benthic macroinvertebrates. Sediment oil contamination and the
detection of elevated levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)
compounds indicated extensive hydrocarbon pollution in the lake.
Additionally, an influx of contaminated groundwater and brines was
evident by the presence of chemical stratification in the lower
hypolimnion. The report was published by GLNPO in October 2001 and
assigned report number EPA-905-R-01-004. For a copy of the report,
please contact Lawrence Brail
at (312) 886-7474.
Contact: Demaree
Collier, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 886-0214
Ecosystems
Grand Calumet Area of Concern Biodiversity Education Project
Wraps Up
The Grand Calumet Area of Concern (AOC) is in the heavily
industrialized area of Northwest Indiana. It has endured decades of
environmental abuse, yet still contains some of the best remaining
examples of the dune-and-swale ecosystem in the Great Lakes basin.
GLNPO funded the Grand Calumet Task Force for an environmental
education project. This project helped educate local government
officials, school children, and the public about the meaning and value
of biodiversity in this AOC. A number of education and outreach
activities were undertaken: the Gary Region Environmental Action Team
(GREAT), an environmental club comprised of students of all ages
throughout the Gary public school system, was sponsored as a model for
testing various environmental education programs; native vegetation
was planted by a Gary middle school in a small degraded dune-and-swale
on the school's property; a group of high school seniors from the
Gifted and Talented Program were guided through the trails of the
Ivanhoe Nature Preserve in Gary; a mural of a local high school art
teacher's drawing of river wildlife was painted on the side of a park
building facing the river; semi-monthly work days were organized at
Clark and Pine East Nature Preserve in Gary; a winter bird
identification workshop was held at Gibson Woods Nature Preserve in
Gary; and 77 presentations were given on the biodiversity of the
region. A presentation was given at the first meeting of the East
Chicago open-space planning project, which was initiated in
partnership with Chicago's Open Lands Project. A similar project is
being started in Hammond. These open-space projects will be the focus
of additional education efforts over the next year, along with
discussions with the City of Gary regarding protecting critical
dune-and-swale habitat.
Contact: Duane
Heaton, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 886-6399
 Example of landscape using native plants |
Landscaping With Native Plants Featured
USEPA Great Lakes
National Program Office's Natural Landscaping expert, Danielle Green
participated in planning and attended the "Landscaping with
Native Plants Symposium: Professional Designs for Sustainable
Development" at the Chicago Botanical Garden in Chicago,
Illinois. The November 7, 2001 symposium challenged professional
designers to create beautiful landscapes while working with nature
(and native plants) to control stormwater and pollutant runoff.
Speakers included John Rogner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
who addressed how using native plants in landscapes helps Chicago
Wilderness fulfill its biodiversity goal, and representatives from
landscape design firms, corporations, and native plant nurseries. This
project is part of the Metropolitan Natural Landscaping Initiative (MNLI)
funded by Chicago Wilderness. Other parts of the MNLI initiative
include a lecture at the Nature Museum targeting home owners, and a
workshop by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, scheduled
for June 2002, which will target local governments.
Contact: Danielle
Green USEPA - GLNPO (312) 886-7594
 Dairy cows on farm |
Livestock Impacts on Streams Curtailed
Under a grant from
USEPA's Great Lakes National Program Office to the Penn Soil Resource
Conservation and Development Charitable Trust, approximately 70 acres
of riparian corridors were re-established and protected from livestock
along nine streams and tributaries in the Pennsylvania part of the
Lake Erie basin. Program activities included seeding and planting
indigenous grasses and trees, fencing, establishing stream crossings
and developing water supplies in pastures away from the streams. The
cost of the project was $687 per acre. In-kind services by landowners
included time and equipment for the preparation and installation of
best management practices. Newsletters and media capitalized on the
restorations and published articles regarding the riparian buffer
activities. Several of the landowners are part of the Environmental
Quality Incentive Program.
Contact: Karen
Rodriguez, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-2690
Invasive Species
 Cluster of zebra mussels |
Panel Addresses Great Lakes Aquatic Nuisance Species
On November 29-30, 2001, the Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS)
held its biannual meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Agenda items
addressed by the Panel included: an update on Non-Indigenous Species
Act (NISA) reauthorization; coordination of Regional ANS Panels; and a
report from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on the
status of their ballast water treatment technology project scheduled
for 2002. USEPA GLNPO's Marc Tuchman gave a presentation to the Panel
summarizing the findings of USEPA's draft ballast water report.
Significant discussion was generated on a new project being undertaken
by the Panel: the development of a rapid response plan for aquatic
invasions. It is believed that such a plan, once adopted and
implemented, could make it feasible to address and potentially
eradicate a newly discovered aquatic invader while it is still
relatively confined. This project is the result of a grant from GLNPO
to the Great Lakes Commission and will be undertaken with Panel
support. The tentative plan is to conduct a workshop this Spring to
discuss what such a rapid response plan should entail and who should
be involved in its development, with the development of the final plan
scheduled for the Summer of 2003.
Contact: Marc
Tuchman, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-1369
Midwest Resource Managers Tackle Invasive Species
A special session on "Aquatic Invasive Species versus Native
Species" was held as part of the Environmental Round Table
meeting on November 7-9, 2001 in Delevan, Wisconsin. The
Environmental Round Table is an annual forum for senior managers of
the Midwest Natural Resources Group and their staffs to discuss
natural resource and environmental issues of mutual interest. The
session focused on the issues associated with the transfer of invasive
species between the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River basins.
Over 100 federal agency staff and managers heard GLNPO's Karen
Rodriguez and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pam Thiel address
the invasive species issues in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River
basins, respectively. Based upon a request from the City of Chicago to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the group brainstormed on how the
Midwest Natural Resources Group could work with the City and other
local groups to stop the inter-basin transfer of this biological
pollution via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which connects to
the DesPlaines River, the Illinois River and eventually, the
Mississippi River. GLNPO has the lead to work with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, the City of Chicago and other entities.
Contact: John
Perrecone, USEPA - Region 5 (312) 353-1149
Environmental Indicators
Progress on Estuarine and Great Lakes Indicators
USEPA s Office of Research and Development (ORD) has funded projects
on all of the U.S. coasts, including the Great Lakes, to develop
indicators that will be used to assess coastal ecosystem and watershed
function, integrity, and water and habitat quality and change. This
research has been funded by ORD s Science To Achieve Results (STAR)
program. GLNPO's John Schneider attended the first annual meeting of
all Estuarine and Great Lakes Indicators (EaGLe) funding recipients on
December 3-5, 2001 in Morehead City, North Carolina. The
particular focus of the meeting was the sharing of common
methodologies and the integration of approaches for all coastal areas.
Some of the awardees presented preliminary results from data collected
during the Summer 2001 field season. The Great Lakes project is making
excellent progress and has been integrated, since its inception, with
the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) proposed
indicators, the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Consortium monitoring plan
development, and the monitoring program of the Great Lakes National
Program Office.
Contact: John
Schneider, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 886-0880
 Forest along the lake |
Exploring Indicators for Forest Ecosystems
USEPA's Great Lakes
National Program Office hosted the U.S. Forest Service on December
12, 2001 to discuss the utility of the Forest Inventory and Analysis
(FIA) as a potential source of terrestrial indicators for the
assessment of forest ecosystems in the Great Lakes basin. The FIA data
may be useful for the addition of forest indicators to the State of
the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) list. The U.S. Forest Service
and GLNPO's Paul Bertram will be collaborating on this potential
"new" source of data that could help describe the condition
of the Great Lakes basin.
Contact: Paul
Bertram, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 353-0153
John Schneider, USEPA -
GLNPO (312) 886-0880
Outreach
Golden Treasure: Lake Michigan Sand Dunes
The dunes on Lake Michigan's eastern coast are the largest assemblage
of freshwater dunes in the world. To increase public knowledge of the
value of the dunes, with funding from USEPA's Great Lakes National
Program Office, the Lake Michigan Federation created a comprehensive
sand dune education packet, including fact sheets, web resources, dune
ecology brochure, and a "tools booklet" including case
studies for use by local coastal governments interested in increasing
protection for dune ecosystems. The Federation worked with a Muskegon,
Michigan area school district and shoreline schools in West Michigan
to create a classroom unit to teach sand dune ecology and stewardship.
A spiral-bound daily journal was printed, which included some of the
180 pieces of student artwork and poetry about sand dunes. Seventeen
artworks were framed for a traveling exhibit, with 200 people
attending the exhibit s opening reception at the Muskegon Museum of
Art, before it moved on for display in nine shoreline communities. The
traveling exhibit also created front-page stories in many of these
shoreline communities. State legislators from West Michigan held a
reception for the students, and recognized the individual artists for
their contributions on the floor of the House and Senate. The
Federation also contracted with a college theater group to develop and
perform a skit related to sand dune protection.
Contact: Duane Heaton, USEPA - GLNPO (312) 886-6399
Here are three examples of poetry from the students' daily journal (about PDF files):
- Katie, Grade 10 (PDF file size 283kb)
- Quayshaun and Samantha, Grade 3 (PDF file size 274kb)
- Joshua, Grade 4 (PDF fike size 66kb)