AOCs

In September, EPA approved the removal of the Beach Closings Beneficial Use Impairment from the Maumee Area of Concern. BUIs are measures of environmental degradation and this removal marks a major sign of progress in restoring this AOC in Ohio.

On September 17, representatives from EPA, Ohio EPA, and other local groups celebrated the completion of a $500,000 GLRI project in the Maumee Area of Concern. The project restored approximately 600 linear feet of riparian area and stream reach.

Wisconsin DNR announced that a pair of critically endangered piping plovers was seen nesting on Wisconsin Point in Superior for the first time in 49 years. The site was restored under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through a habitat restoration project in the St. Louis River Area of Concern.

On June 30, 2026, EPA removed the final BUI after determining, in coordination with the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, Ohio EPA, and the Black River Community Advisory Council, that the established restoration targets and removal conditions had been met.

On August 12, 2026, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency along with state and local partners announced three projects totaling more than $37.6 million in funding to support continued restoration and remediation efforts in the Maumee Area of Concern in Northwest Ohio.

On July 23, 2026, representatives from EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the City of Buffalo attended a celebration event for the Emerald Shiner Fish Passage Project in the Niagara River Area of Concern. Fish are already using the 778-foot-long structure at Freedom Park.

EPA has started a $12 million cleanup at the Lake Linden Recreation Area in Lake Linden, Michigan. Crews will remove about 13,300 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with lead, zinc, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Multiple cleanups around Detroit, including Monguagon Creek, Harbortown and Lower Rouge River’s Old Channel, will help restore the Detroit and Rouge Rivers. EPA and partners have already addressed about 400,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and restored more than 320 acres of habitat within the Detroit River AOC.

With the completion of the Thomson Reservoir project, all eight sediment cleanup projects are now complete for the Minnesota side of the St. Louis River Area of Concern. More than 1.9 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment have been addressed and over 1,000 acres of habitat have been restored across the AOC.

The Estabrook Falls Fish Passage Project modified the waterfall which prevented native fish from being able to swim upstream to critical spawning habitat during a majority of the year. After the project was completed, several Lake Sturgeon made their way upstream to Ozaukee County for the first time in over 100 years.