Great Lakes Legacy Act: Program Overview and Status of Lake Superior Projects

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1 Great Lakes Legacy Act: Program Overview and Status of Lake Superior Projects D. Scott Ireland Marc Tuchman U.S. EPA-GLNPO Making a Great Lake Superior October 30, 2007

2 Volume - cubic yards Cumulative Sediment Remediated In U.S. Great Lakes 5,000,000 4,000, Sites 4.5 million cy 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000, Recent Estimates provided by Great Lakes States: ~ 75 Sites to be remediated ~46,000,000 cubic yards

3 Great Lakes Legacy Act a new tool in the Great Lakes sediment remediation toolbox Goal: Accelerate the pace of sediment remediation at Areas of Concern (AOCs) Use partnerships as an innovative approach to conducting sediment remediation Program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)

4 GLLA authorization and Appropriation The Great Lakes Legacy Act yearly authorization (FY2004 through FY2008): $50M - contaminated sediment projects $3M - research/development of innovative technologies $1M - public information - contaminated sediment remediation $10 M appropriated in FY2004 $22 M in FY2005 $29 M in FY2006 $30 M in FY2007

5 GLLA Project Types Must be in U.S. Areas of Concern (AOCs) and: 1) Implement a plan to remediate contaminated sediment (highest priority) 2) Monitor or evaluate contaminated sediment 3) Prevent further or renewed sediment contamination

6 GLLA Remediation Projects Projects Completed Black Lagoon - Trenton MI Hog Island Inlet & Newton Creek - Superior WI Ruddiman Creek & Pond Muskegon MI St. Marys River Tannery Bay Sault Ste Marie MI Projects underway Ashtabula River - Ashtabula OH

7 GLLA Non-Remediation Projects Projects Completed Ryerson Creek - Muskegon MI (assessment) Projects underway Grand Calumet River Hammond IN (FRD) Kinnickinnic River Milwaukee WI (FS/RD) Trenton Channel- Riverview Detroit River MI (RI/FS) St. Louis River - Superior WI (assessment) Buffalo River Buffalo NY (RI/FS)

8 Black Lagoon Trenton, MI First Great Lakes Legacy Act Sediment Clean-up Project October 2004 November 2005

9 Black Lagoon Trenton, Michigan Volume: 116,000 cubic yards Cost : $8,700,000 Partner: MI Dept. of Environmental Quality (35% cost) Disposal: Pointe Mouillee CDF

10 Hog Island Inlet Newton Creek Inlet Hog Island, Superior WI 2nd GLLA Sediment Remediation Project Staging Area June November 2005

11 Hog Island Inlet - Superior, WI 46,000 cubic yards of petroleum-contaminated sediment removed from Newton Creek and Hog Island Inlet (dry removal) to Moccasin Mike Landfill (500 lb PAHs, 7,000 lb lead) Site is important rare coastal habitat $4.1 million of the funds from the Great Lakes Legacy Act. $2.2 million from WDNR (35%) Recovery of 1,700 high quality fish during dewatering

12 Ruddiman Creek & Pond Muskegon, MI 3rd GLLA Remediation Project July 2005 May 2006

13 Ruddiman Creek and Pond Muskegon Lake Area of Concern (AOC) Total cost: $14,100,000 Non federal partner: MI Department of Environmental Quality (35%) ~90,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment was removed Restoration Plan being developed

14 Ashtabula River, Ashtabula OH April 2006 Winter 2007

15 Dredging Operations Remediation of 500,000 cubic yards

16 Water Treatment Plant Pump to Water Treatment Plant Pipeline from Ashtabula River runs through Fields Brook to Landfill and directly into Geotubes

17 Geotubes in Operation

18 St. Marys River - Tannery Bay Sault Ste. Marie, MI September 2006 to Spring 2007

19 Tannery Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, MI Estimated total cost: $8M Project Partners and Cost Sharing GLLA (60%) Non Federal Phelps Dodge Corp. Michigan DEQ ($600,000 - CMI funds)

20 Tannery Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, MI Total cubic yards remediated = 40, ,979 pounds of chromium removed 72 pounds of mercury removed Percent reduction of average mercury concentration was 81% ( ) Percent reduction of average chromium concentration was 87% ( )

21 Potential 2008 GLLA projects West Branch Grand Calumet River, Hammond IN Division Street Outfall, Muskegon MI Kinnickinnic River, Milwaukee WI

22 GLLA Implementation Rule Published in Federal Register on May 1, 2006 Purpose is to outline the process for identification, evaluation, and selection of projects for funding under the GLLA Project Identification RFP, actively develop projects

23 GLLA Implementation Rule Project Evaluation: Stage 1 review Stage 2 review (TRC) Projects fall into 1 of 4 categories (or some combination of categories) Complete scoring sheet Project Selection

24 GLLA Challenges Non-federal cost share States have typically play a key role and provide strong leadership) Industry New sources like municipal bonds? Project Scoping How much is known about the site now? How big is the problem? Community Support Is everyone (state, local, community, special interest groups) ready to support a sediment cleanup?

25 Potential Impediments to GLLA Projects Lack of availability of cost share Lack of support from public/other impacted parties

26 GLLA Successes New mechanism to remediate contaminated sites GLLA cost sharing has created new partnerships and strong collaborations that result in better projects GLLA has funded $52 M in cleanup projects and leveraged $42 M in non-federal funding R2R Remediation to Restoration is underway

27 Remediation to date: Cubic Yards of Sediment remediated to date: Ruddiman Creek Tannery Bay Hog Island Black Lagoon Ashtabula

28 For More Information D. Scott Ireland USEPA-Great Lakes National Program Office 77 W. Jackson Blvd. (G-17J) Chicago, IL P: F: