Significant Activities Report:
May 2004

Toxics Reduction Progress

Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy 2003 Annual Progress Report Cover

The 2003 Annual Report of the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy is now available online at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/bns/reports/2003progress/index.html. The Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy (GLBTS) is a binational partnership agreement between Canada and the U.S., which commits to the reduction and virtual elimination of persistent toxic substances from the Great Lakes Basin through pollution prevention and toxic reduction activities. Many dedicated stakeholders on both sides of the border have joined in this partnership to help preserve and protect the Great Lakes ecosystem: Environment Canada, USEPA, and stakeholders from industry, academia, state/provincial and local governments, Tribes, First Nations, and environmental and community groups continue to work together toward the achievement of the Strategy’s challenge goals.

This past year, 2003, saw continued use and emissions reductions of key level I persistent toxic substances. Of seventeen GLBTS reduction goals set forth for the twelve level I persistent toxic substances in April 1997, nine have been met, four will be met by the target timeline date of 2006, and the remaining four will be well advanced toward meeting their targets by 2006. See Appendix B of the 2003 Annual Report for a list of GLBTS reduction goal targets and their current status.

Contact: Ted Smith, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-6571
 

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Proposal Selections Announced

Selections of proposals submitted to the GLNPO FY2004-2005 Funding Guidance process for competitive grants have been made. Earlier this year in response to GLNPO’s solicitation, applicants submitted 265 proposals requesting a total of $25 million. 77 projects totaling approximately $4 million have been selected. Projects are distributed across each of the Great Lakes basins, with two or more projects located in each of the Great Lakes states. GLNPO has requested full grant applications for the projects listed at http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/fund/2004fund/yeslist.html. Final decisions on whether to fund these projects will be made following evaluations of the full federal application packages.

Contact: Mike Russ, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-4013

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New GLNPO Environmental Indicator: Lake Erie Phosphorus

Phosphorus in the Central Basin of Lake Erie

A new indicator has been added to the suite of Great Lakes National Program Office Environmental Indicators: levels of phosphorus in Central Lake Erie. These phosphorus levels had decreased to below the IJC Water Quality Objective of 10 ug/l in the 1980’s in response to improvements in sewage treatment and bans on phosphorus in detergents. However, phosphorus levels have been steadily increasing since the early 1990’s. Scientists working to determine the cause of the increases think there is a link between the phosphorus increases and the arrival and explosive growth of Zebra Mussel and Quagga Mussel populations (non-native invasive species).

Information on the new indicator can be accessed from the Water indicators index page at:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/glindicators/water.html. The Main Index to the GLNPO Environmental Indicators can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/glindicators.

Contact: Tony Kizlauskas, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) -353-8773

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2003 Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards

Independence Grove Forest Preserve (Lake County Forest Preserves) Libertyville, Illinois

On May 11^th, Bharat Mathur, USEPA Region 5 Acting Administrator, presented the 2003 Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards at a ceremony hosted by Chicago Park District at Jackson Park in Chicago, Illinois. The Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards, co-sponsored by USEPA and Chicago Wilderness, recognize outstanding efforts in using native plants in the landscape on corporate, park district and local government properties within the Chicago Wilderness region (The Chicago Wilderness region encompasses the crescent of land around southern Lake Michigan, including southeast Wisconsin, northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana). Using native plants in the landscape prevents air and water pollution, helps increase biodiversity, and provides habitat for birds and butterflies. This is the fourth year for the award program, and the second year the award program recognized corporate efforts. Additional information on the awards is available at http://www.epa.gov/greenacres.

And the 2003 winners are:

Local Government Winners

• Chicago Department of the Environment, Chicago Center for Green Technology, Chicago, Illinois
• Chicago Park District, Jackson Park Lagoon Rehabilitation, Chicago, Illinois
• Crystal Lake Park District, Sterne’s Fen Nature Preserve, Crystal Lake, Illinois
• Lake County Forest Preserves, Independence Grove Forest Preserve, Libertyville, Illinois
• Village of Frankfort, Frankfort Prairie Park, Frankfort, Illinois
• Village of Park Forest, Central Park Wetland Restoration Project, Park Forest, Illinois
• Village of Vernon Hills, Vernon Hills Village Hall Complex, Vernon Hills, Illinois

Corporate Winners

• Butterprint Farm Rural Wildlife Preservation, Monee, Illinois
• Coffee Creek Watershed Conservancy, Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve, Chesterton, Indiana
• ConopCo Realty & Development, Inc., Sears Prairie Stone, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
• Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Main Injector Mitigation Project, Batavia, Illinois
• Fuller Park Community Development, Eden Place Nature Center, Chicago, Illinois
• Prairie Sun Consultants, Prairie Sun, Naperville, Illinois

Contact: Danielle Green, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-7594

National EMAP Conference

GLNPO scientists gave two presentations at the national Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) which was convened from May 3rd to 7th in Newport, Rhode Island. The first presentation summarized results from the long-term GLNPO monitoring program, while the second was a presentation on the Great Lakes Observing System, which is being developed within the Great Lakes community. This observing system, which could include satellite observations, data from buoys, aircraft and ships, will be part of an international ocean observing system.

Contacts: Paul Horvatin, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-3612
or Glenn Warren,U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-2405

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Promoting Mercury Reductions Worldwide

Photo montage from UNEP Mercury Awareness-Raising Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand (photos courtesy of UNEP)

Alexis Cain, U.S. Chairman of the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy Mercury Work Group, traveled to Bangkok, Thailand in late April to participate in the “Mercury Awareness-Raising Workshop” sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The Bangkok workshop was the first of a series of workshops that the United Nations is conducting to help developing nations implement programs to reduce use and release of mercury, and to reduce exposures to mercury through education and outreach. This workshop specifically focuses on assisting countries in Asia. The UNEP mercury program is USEPA’s primary mechanism for promoting worldwide reductions in mercury releases, and sharing information about successful mercury reduction approaches with other countries. Alexis gave presentations on global mercury use and release, and on options for reducing mercury releases in the chlor-alkali sector and the waste management sector.

Virtually all Asian countries from Pakistan East and Mongolia South was represented at the workshop. Indonesia and the Philippines were also represented. Most countries sent two representatives. The countries presented information about the mercury situation in their country. Representatives from the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), NRDC, and two Basel Convention regional centers also participated.

The workshop was highly informative about important mercury issues affecting Asia. The importance of coal combustion as a source of mercury emissions in Asia is well known, and USEPA and other organizations are trying to help address this through providing technical assistance, especially to China, on multi-pollutant control technologies and strategies appropriate for coal-fired boilers. This is a big issue, and there is more to be done. The problem of mercury use in artisanal mining is also significant in Asia, and UNIDO outlined a program to address this issue through assistance to impoverished miners.

An important insight gained at the workshop was that mercury uses that have long since ended in Europe and North America are continuing in Asia. The particular uses that are important to address are use as a catalyst in plastics production, particularly in China; use of mercury in paints, especially in India; and mercury use as a pesticide/seed dressing and in mercuric oxide batteries. Helping these countries reduce their usage of mercury is significant to the world and the Great Lakes, since mercury can be carried great distances via the air and be deposited with dust or in rainwater, and because Asia is responsible for a significant portion of global mercury use.

Contact: Alexis Cain, U.S. EPA - Region 5 (312) 886-7018

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R/V Mudpuppy Sails

GLNPO Scientists on the R/V Mudpuppy bringing up deep sediment core samples

GLNPO’s R/V Mudpuppy kicked off the 2004 sediment sampling season during the week of May 18^th to 21^st, providing support to USEPA Region 5 Superfund and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources during a sediment survey on the Kinnickinnic River in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The agencies collected five sediment cores on the Kinnickinnic River to evaluate the extent of contamination upstream and downstream of the Solvay Superfund site. Additionally, GLNPO conducted a equipment shakedown and crew safety training for new R/V Mudpuppy chief scientists. The equipment shakedown included test sampling with the new 20-inch sediment box corer sampler for collecting undisturbed sediment samples.

Contact: Scott Cieniawski, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-9184
 

Great Lakes Strategy Hot-Linked

Great Lakes Strategy 2002 sets out basin-wide goals, and activities to achieve them, agreed upon by federal, state, local and tribal agencies working on Great Lakes issues. The Strategy was created by the U.S. Policy Committee, a forum of senior level representatives from Federal, State, and Tribal agencies responsible for environmental and natural resources management of the Great Lakes. The plan sets forth a long term vision, stating that the Great Lakes should be a healthy natural environment for wildlife and people, the beaches should be open for swimming, the fish should be safe to eat, and the Great Lakes should be protected as a safe source of drinking water. In support of this vision, the member Agencies of the U.S. Policy Committee commit to work together to “protect and restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem.” Among the priorities identified in the strategy are contaminated sediments, invasive species, loss of habitat and fish consumption advisories.

Great Lakes Strategy 2002 is now hot-linked and online at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/gls. In order to show how the Strategy incorporates the programs and strategies of our Great Lakes governmental partners, the document provides direct links to the referenced Federal, State, and tribal programs. This document can be a helpful resource for communicating how governmental partners work together to address environmental protection and natural resource management at the basin-wide level.

Contacts: James Schardt, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-5085
or Pranas Pranckevicius, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-3437