AOCs

On March 30, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resumed dredging contaminated sediment from the Lower Rouge River Old Channel in Detroit, Michigan. More than 100,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with coal tar and petroleum products will be remediated.

In early March, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began the second year of its cleanup project on the Cuyahoga River in Gorge Metro Park. Throughout the duration of the project, EPA expects to remove more than 850,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the river.

The project will remove over 240,000 cubic yards of contaminated canal and river bottom sediment and remediate over 100 acres of sediment at two sites in the AOC.

The Degradation of Benthos Beneficial Use Impairment was removed from the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern after federal, state, and local partners concluded that communities of benthic macroinvertebrates are not negatively impacted by PCBs.

In September, Muskegon Lake became the 8th overall U.S. AOC delisted and the 7th delisted under the GLRI. The designation comes after years of restoration and remediation work which restored more than 134 acres of habitat and 6,000 linear feet of shoreline.

The West Creek Flume Spillway Project, completed with a $7M Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant, stabilized 6,500 linear feet of shoreline and restored fish passage.

The recent removal of the 128th Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) marks the completion of a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan III target.

Utilizing funding from GLRI, the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) has supported the City of Duluth, Minnesota, to improve and expand park and trail spaces near historically disadvantaged neighborhoods located along the St. Louis River Estuary. The initial revitalization efforts to improve Waabizheshikana: The Marten Trail will enhance residents’ opportunities to connect back to a cultural and ecologically significant area of the waterfront. Partners are working together to preserve and enhance this trail while promoting awareness of the interconnectedness between Indigenous heritage and environmental stewardship.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) celebrates the completion of the first of two construction seasons at the Thomson Reservoir Remedial Action project in the St. Louis River Area of Concern.

The last remaining BUI in the Michigan AOC, the Degradation of Benthos, was removed after federal, state, and local partners determined that measures of benthic community health met established criteria.