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Significant Activities Report:
January 2003
SOLEC Online!
Presentations from the 2002 State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) are now available online from:
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Streaming video versions of the presentations are already available for your viewing pleasure at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/solec/2002/plenaries.html
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Users can experience the presentations fully by opening the video
of the presentation and then opening the corresponding slideshows
(Adobe Acrobat files) at the same time. The video provides a cue
when to advance to the next high-resolution slide — it’s almost like
being there ... Try it!
The State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference, or SOLEC, is the forum for the United States and Canada to report on the quality of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Through the SOLEC process, a partnership of Great Lakes scientists and managers is developing a consistent set of ecosystem indicators to objectively assess the health of the Great Lakes. SOLEC 2002, held in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 2002 was the fifth of the conferences that have been held every other year since 1994. The theme for SOLEC 2002 was Biological Integrity of the Great Lakes.
More information on SOLEC can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/solec/index.html
Contacts:
Pranas Pranckevicius,
U.S. EPA - GLNPO, (312) 353-3437
Paul Bertram, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 353-0153
Paul Horvatin, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 353-3612
Priceless Dunes
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The December 2002 issue of Coastlines featured a article by GLNPO's Karen Rodriguez on Great Lakes sand dunes. The Great Lakes
sand dunes are the largest system of freshwater dunes in the world.
Coastal dunes are of enormous ecological value to the Great Lakes
area. They shelter inland ponds, wetlands, and woodlands from
storms, and provide habitat for wildlife and rare species. The
Federally endangered pitcher's thistle plant occurs on the dunes
bordering Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. The dunes offer
shelter for migrating neotropical birds that seek quiet areas behind
the foredunes to rest and feed. Foredunes, the portions of dunes
closest to the beach, harbor vegetation such as marram grass, which
in turn traps wind-blown sand and stabilizes dunes. Globally
imperiled communities, such as pannes or interdunal calcareous
wetlands, are protected from wind and waves behind foredunes.
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Coastal dunes are also economically important; coastal dunes
supplied sand to Detroit auto makers and iron and steel
manufacturing industries. Although many dunes were removed by
mining, those that remain have scenic and recreational value and
provide millions of dollars towards local economies that rely upon
tourism and recreation. Coastal dunes buffer inland areas from storm
winds and waves, thus reducing property damage.
In spite of their value, there are many threats to these dunes.
Non-native invasive plant species such as baby's breath and spotted
knapweed have spread rapidly. Habitat destruction from sand mining
and development poses the greatest threat. Recreational use by
off-road vehicles and pedestrians damages vegetation and causes
significant erosion. Along the New York shore of eastern Lake
Ontario, years of unregulated, uncontrolled public use, including
vehicle traffic, recreational activities, and sand mining caused a
large dune to blow out and create a so-called walking dune. Walking
dunes migrate more quickly than foredunes because there is no
vegetation to hold sand in place.
In addition to facts about Great Lakes sand dunes, the article relates efforts by the Lake Ontario Dune Coalition and the Lake Michigan Dunes Alliance to protect and restore these precious resources. The article is available on the Internet at:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/coastlines/dec02/sand_dunes.html
Coastlines is a newsletter intended to provide information to the public about estuaries and near coastal waters. It is published by the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts in cooperation with USEPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds.
Contact: Karen Rodriguez, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-2690
A Closer Look at Waukegan
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On January 14th, a media day was held at Waukegan Harbor,
Illinois which brought together the local community and stakeholders
interested in the Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern. A new sediment
sampling program for the harbor, set to begin the next day, was
announced. The sampling is part of a collaborative effort to
delineate the extent of sediment contamination within the harbor and
determine the levels of contamination in these sediments for
potential disposal in the Yeoman Creek Landfill. Opening remarks for
this event were presented by U.S. Representative Mark Kirk, Waukegan
Mayor Richard Hyde, Lt. Col. Norm Grady of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, and U.S. EPA Regional Administrator and Great Lakes
National Program Manager Tom Skinner.
Then, from January 15th to 17th, GLNPO, USEPA Region 5, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collected sediment samples at sixteen locations from within Waukegan Harbor. The samples were collected using a barge-mounted drill rig. The samples are being analyzed for PCBs, PAHs, mercury, heavy metals, total organic carbon, benzene, tricholorethene, and phenols by USEPA Region 5 Central Regional Laboratory. Results are expected in approximately 90 days. The USEPA's Superfund and FIELDS groups are currently working to gather all historical sampling data, and plans are to combine this with the current 2003 sampling data in order to determine any data gaps in Waukegan Harbor.
Contacts:
Demaree Collier, U.S.
EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-0214
Marc Tuchman, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 353-1369
Mussel-Bound Marsh
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Metzger Marsh
One of the ecological problems caused by zebra mussels has been
the virtual elimination of native clams from infested waters. Zebra
mussels readily colonize clam shells, disrupting feeding, movement,
and reproduction. Clams generally die within one or two years after
infestation, with near total mortality reported in western Lake
Erie. In 1996, a large population of native mussels was discovered
in Metzger Marsh, a Lake Erie coastal wetland in the Ottawa National
Wildlife Refuge near Toledo, Ohio.
This marsh was originally protected from storm activity on Lake
Erie by a barrier beach that gradually eroded away as sediment
supply decreased due to progressive armoring of the shoreline. By
1990, much of the original wetland was gone. In 1996, a dike was
installed to protect the area from Lake Erie wave-action. When the
water level in the marsh was drawn down to promote restoration of
the marsh, over 6,000 native mussels representing twenty different
species were discovered. The draw-down was necessary to allow
restoration to a functioning coastal wetland, but it would have
resulted in the destruction of the native mussels. On the other
hand, release of the mussels into Lake Erie would also result in
their destruction from zebra mussels.
To allow the restoration to continue, the mussels had to be
removed and boarded while a water-control structure was installed to
restore the hydrologic connection with Lake Erie. The mussels were
marked and measured before being returned to the marsh, and annual
monitoring has shown a high growth rate. Larval forms of the mussels
require a period of attachment to the gills of fish, and although
none of these glochidia was observed, the mussels are reproducing
based on the presence of young.
One long-term concern is that only a few or even single
individuals of several species were collected and returned to the
marsh. Their populations were low to begin with, and even though
they survived the boarding experience, their ability to successfully
reproduce is limited. Without the influx of individuals of these
species from outside Metzger Marsh, the diversity of mussels may
continue to decline. Since the discovery of native mussels at
Metzger Marsh, they have been found at five other locations. These
additional populations are widely separated, usually low in numbers
of individuals, and are vulnerable to water level fluctuations.
The presence of native mussels in these marshes offers hope that such marshes may serve as refuges for native mussel populations, and could serve as brood stock to re-populate Lake Erie if the zebra mussel population could be controlled. The project to protect and restore Metzger Marsh and the native mussels was undertaken through an Interagency Agreement between the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division and USEPA's Great Lakes National Program Office.
Contact:
Duane Heaton, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 886-6399
Visiting the Islands
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From December 10th to 12th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem Team, along with GLNPO, the new Great
Lakes Regional Coastal/Aquatic GAP Analysis Project Group, and other
partners, participated in a workshop to formulate products,
strategies, and actions to promote conservation of Great Lakes
islands and coastal nearshore habitats. The Workshop was entitled
“Great Lakes Islands Conservation and Coastal Habitat Restoration
and Great Lakes GAP Workshop.”
The more than 80 participants committed to put in place resources and working groups to:
- Develop a model strategy for conservation of Great Lakes islands at both the landscape and local levels;
- Develop an island and coastal habitat conservation ranking/prioritization system;
- Update the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) indicator report;
- Develop a Coastal GAP island pilot project and inventory of databases available for conservation;
- Produce a plan to improve the utility of the Islands GIS Decision Support System; and
- Come up with a communications outreach campaign on Great Lakes
islands.
Workshop materials are available on a CD from Rich Greenwood or at the following web site:
http://www.glc.org/gis/GLBET/index.html
Contact:
Richard Greenwood,
U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-3853
Saving Tug Hill
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Working in partnership with the Tug Hill Commission, forest
products companies, the New York Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC), and a local land trust, and funded in part by
a grant from GLNPO, The Nature Conservancy launched a
community-based conservation program to protect the wetlands, rivers
and streams, and working forests on Tug Hill. Tug Hill is a core
forest area of more than 200,000 acres on the eastern shore of Lake
Ontario. It is the source of 11 rivers and one of the largest intact
landscape blocks in New York.
In conjunction with the NYSDEC, the Tug Hill Commission and Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust purchased conservation easements that are targeted towards critical properties to ensure sustainable forestry. Forest blocks that can be set aside or placed on longer rotation in order to restore forest habitats were acquired. Local communities were informed about the ecological significance of Tug Hill and the contribution working forests make to both local quality of life and economic well-being.
Project managers worked closely with state land managers to create forested corridors on state lands that protect aquatic resources and ensure that management on public lands avoids sensitive lands. In conjunction with the Tug Hill Commissions, local stakeholders and experts explored economic development options that diversify the local economy. The project effectively developed strong partnerships with public agencies and private organizations, protected over 45,000 acres and the headwaters of two river systems, and reached out locally and state-wide.
Contact:
Karen Rodriguez, U.S.
EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-2690
Safety First
GLNPO's Deborah Lamberty, working with USEPA Region 5 Resource Management Division’s Maryann Lafaire, recently completed a new safety video for use by personnel who will be sailing aboard the R/V Lake Guardian. The video provides guidelines and instructions on safe use of the ship and its equipment, as well as a general overview of safety requirements while working on the deck and in laboratories. The video will be made available to anyone using the ship, as well as anyone interested in the R/V Lake Guardian and can be obtained in VHS or CD format.
Contact: Deborah Lamberty, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-6691
Floating Classroom
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Five proposals were received in response to a Request for Proposals issued by GLNPO for educational courses aboard the R/V Lake Guardian this Summer. Two proposals were received for a course in Lake Ontario, one from Lake Erie, one from Lake Michigan, and one from Lake Superior. The evaluation of the proposals resulted in the selection of Niagara University (Lewiston, New York) and Clarkson University (Potsdam, New York) for education courses on Lake Ontario. This year's shipboard courses will continue GLNPO's well-received program of environmental education courses for Great Lakes educators and students aboard the R/V Lake Guardian.
Contact: David Rockwell, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-1373
Cruise Schedule Online
A draft schedule for the R/V Lake Guardian's activities in 2003 has been posted on the GLNPO website at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/guard/schedule_2003.html
The upcoming year will include work on Lake Ontario in
cooperation with USEPA Region 2. In 2003, Region 2 is implementing
several binational cooperative monitoring projects with Canada and
other partners as part of the
Lake Ontario Lakewide Management Plan,
including continuing the binational LOADS (Lake Ontario Atmospheric
Deposition Survey) to measure critical bioaccumulative pollutants to
the lake, and an intensive study of the lower food web to determine
how the zebra/quagga mussels have changed the food web. (See April
2002 Significant Activities Report for details on the LOADS project)
The annual Spring and Summer surveys of all the Great Lakes, and the Lake Erie dissolved oxygen surveys will also be conducted. The schedule is preliminary and subject to change. The schedule will be updated as plans are finalized and links to further information about the Lake Guardian are also available from the Ship's Schedule Web Page.
Contacts:
George Ison, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 353-1669
Glenn Warren, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 886-2405
Focus on Lake Superior LaMP: WLSSD Gets the Mercury Out
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Effluent testing using a new sensitive method for mercury shows
the progress made by the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD)
in Duluth, Minnesota in reducing mercury discharges. Using a newly
approved low-level test method for mercury, EPA Method 1631, shows
that WLSSD is approaching the water quality-based limits set by the
State of Minnesota to implement the Water Quality Guidance for the
Great Lakes System, also known as the
Great Lakes Initiative. The
new method, which can measure mercury concentrations under one part
per trillion in water, has been a useful tool in showing how close
the WLSSD effluent is to meeting the limit. The old test method
couldn't accurately measure mercury concentrations as low as that in
the WLSSD effluent and skewed the old data high. WLSSD was
pleasantly surprised by the new data showing how clean their
effluent is.
The lower concentrations testify to the success of efforts to
reduce mercury use and emissions. Federal regulation of mercury in
paint, batteries, and mildewcides and reduced use of mercury in
consumer products are starting to show benefits. WLSSD has been
working with customers of all sizes to reduce or eliminate mercury
discharges at the source. Demonstration grants from USEPA Region 5
Water Division and GLNPO and the Great Lakes Protection Fund have
allowed WLSSD to demonstrate innovative source reduction efforts.
WLSSD's latest effort at reducing mercury inflow to the wastewater treatment plant is the voluntary installation of amalgam removal equipment at dental offices. Presently, 90 percent of the dental practices in the WLSSD service area are using simple on-site treatment that captures 95 to 99 percent of the mercury that previously went into the sewer. WLSSD also works with industrial customers to substitute cleaner raw materials containing less mercury. Finally, a large educational effort is directed at households and schools to promote the use of alternatives to mercury containing products.
Contact:
Steve Hopkins, MPCA -
Duluth Minnesota [USEPA] (218)
340-1257
Habitat Plan for St. Louis River
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The St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee (SLRCAC), a
non-profit group formed to protect and restore the St. Louis River,
has completed a multi-year study and management plan to enhance the
habitat on the Lower St. Louis River, St. Louis Bay and Superior
Bay.
The lower St.
Louis River was designated as an “Area of Concern” by the
International Joint commission in 1987 due to restrictions on public
use of the area caused by pollutants, loss of habitat for fish and
wildlife, and the threat that this damage poses to Lake Superior.
The SLRCAC facilitates the restoration of these beneficial uses. The
Lower St. Louis River provides essential spawning and nursery
habitat for fish populations throughout western Lake Superior as
well as tremendous recreational and ecological value to the
Duluth-Superior area. This value is the basis for the economic
survival of the area. The SLRCAC recognized that a lack of
information about land use and habitats made it impossible to
identify or prioritize projects to restore the river. With multiple
partners, the SLRCAC set out to gather information and develop a
strategy to restore habitat through a Habitat Plan for the Lower St.
Louis River.
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This project was undertaken in cooperation with a wide host of partners. USEPA Region 5 Water Division provided some of the funding for the effort. Participants included the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Sea Grant, the cities of Duluth and Superior, the Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota Duluth, large landowners, the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District and many individuals. Working together, they identified existing land use and habitat, identified areas important to maintaining wildlife and fish populations and provided recommendations for improving the capacity of the area to sustain native fish, plant, and wildlife populations.
The Habitat Plan developed by the SLRCAC provides information and recommendations to the Cities, Counties and States (Minnesota and Wisconsin) with jurisdiction over the lower St. Louis River. It includes graphical information and mapping data that allows multiple agencies to prepare maps, do planning and share information that will help achieve public, recreational and ecological goals for the basin.
A side benefit of developing the plan is building on the historically high level of cooperation and communication between all the stakeholders in the basin. Planning and restoration efforts reflect the community and allow multiple parties to work together to accomplish things that none could do alone. The SLRCAC facilitates a whole host of activities to clean up contamination and restore beneficial uses to the lower St. Louis River. They publish recreational guides to the St. Louis River, sponsor educational activities, and work directly with State and Local agencies to implement recommendations outlined in a Remedial Action Plan for the St. Louis River System Area of Concern. The RAP was written in response to the International Joint Commission designation of the St. Louis River as an Area of Concern.
Contact:
Steve Hopkins, MPCA -
Duluth Minnesota [USEPA] (218)
340-1257
Keeping the Basin Superior
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Normally, planning documents aren't particularly newsworthy, but Minnesota's Basin Management Plan is an exception because of it's unique and innovative approach to environmental planning and streamlining government at the same time.
Ten years ago, Minnesota embraced the concept of doing
environmental planning on a watershed by watershed basis, and
undertook writing basin management plans for each of the seven major
river basins in Minnesota. At the same time, a national effort was
underway to recognize the unique assets and ecological importance of
coastal areas and to manage them accordingly through a Federal
program called Coastal Zone Management.
When the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Duluth
Office, undertook basin planning for the Lake Superior Basin, they
found that over 150 management plans already existed at the State,
County, or Local level which influenced water management in the
basin. They recognized that the two plans they were working on with
the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and other state
and federal resource management agencies had tremendous overlap with
these existing plans.
There was even more overlap with the
Lake
Superior Lakewide Management Plan being written by the Lake
Superior Binational Program. and the
Remedial Action Plan
(RAP) for the St. Louis River, mandated when the area was designated
by the International Joint Commission as an “Area of Concern”
because of restrictions on beneficial uses and threats to Lake
Superior.
MPCA took the bold step of bringing all the stakeholders
together, including Wisconsin stakeholders on the St. Louis Bay, and
selling the idea of incorporating the Coastal Nonpoint Source
Management Plan, and Minnesota's implementation of the Lake Superior
Lakewide Management Plan and St. Louis River RAP, and numerous other
plans into a single document. This resulted in a four year
collaborative effort and a comprehensive review of existing
information on the watershed, developing a method to evaluate
resource condition and vulnerability and providing a tool for
managers to prioritize issues and remedial projects. The group
utilized techniques used by the U.S. Forest Service to objectively
examine how vulnerable to damage small watersheds are.
The document is now being circulated to the partners as a first
draft of a comprehensive document and supporting geographic
information system (GIS) data to provide a decision making framework
which will assist each partner to maintain and enhance the unique
and valuable resources that are so important to the economic
vitality and quality of life for people living in or visiting the
basin.
Not only is the document unique in it's comprehensive,
collaborative approach, but the approach used is one that
streamlines government and encourages future cooperation and
collaboration. It will allow managers at the local level to identify
areas of unique or special vulnerability and to easily see how their
decisions may affect other local governments as well as provide a
vehicle to share information and to leverage resources together to
accomplish more than any could do alone.
Funding for this effort came from multiple sources, including
grants from USEPA Region 5 and the USEPA Great Lakes National
Program Office, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), support from MPCA, MDNR and the Natural
Resource Research Institute of the University of Minnesota and
countless hours from a host of stakeholders. This document will now
go through a formal review and approval process and be the basis for
Federal and state funding for projects to protect or restore the
ecology of the area.
The effort built on information developed under other EPA grants for GIS data and a habitat plan for the Lower St. Louis River.
Contact: Steve Hopkins, MPCA - Duluth Minnesota [USEPA] (218) 340-1257