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Significant Activities Report:
August 2004
Board the Northbound Train
On July 15th, USEPA Administrator Mike Leavitt spoke before the International Association of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Mayors Conference in Chicago to report progress on the Great Lakes Executive Order. Leavitt told the crowd that he grew up near a Great Lake – the Great Salt Lake. It seemed so large to him until he learned that it would take 25 Great Salt Lakes just to fill Lake Erie – "and that's the smallest of the real Great Lakes," he said.
 USEPA Administrator Mike Leavitt (center) went fishing on Lake Erie with Dick and Gus to get their thoughts on the problems facing the Great Lakes. |
 On one of his Great Lakes area visits USEPA Administrator Mike Leavitt (right) discusses environmental problems with Erie, PA Congressman Phil English. |
 Representatives of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians explain the significance of wild rice in their culture to USEPA Administrator Mike Leavitt (standing) as they tour the Tribe’s wild rice fields on Kakagon Slough near Ashland, Wisconsin. |
In an effort to see the Great Lakes up close and personal, the Administrator spent the last four months visiting all of the Great Lakes. He met with State and local officials, stakeholders, Tribes, and citizens. The goal was not only to inform them about the Executive Order, but also to listen to their views, to hear about their priorities, and ask for their help in this restoration and preservation effort.
The Administrator’s visits emphasized the fact that no one knows just how many federal, state, and private dollars are actually being spent protecting and improving the health of the Great Lakes Basin. Everyone agrees there is a need to do a crosscut inventory of Great Lakes programs and funding. Because of the Executive Order, that will now happen. The results will help to improve the efficiency and coordination of the work being done to insure that the federal effort supports what the people who live and work in the Great Lakes Basin are doing. Then, a region-wide action plan will be created to fill in any missing pieces, set a schedule, allocate resources to priorities, and provide for a cohesive management process. One of the anticipated highlights will be a meeting of conveners that is euphemistically being referred to as a “Flags and Bagpipes ”meeting later this year. It will be a gathering of principals – governors, mayors, cabinet members, Members of Congress, ministers and Tribal representatives – all gathered to declare their support of the Great Lakes and this regional collaboration. This celebration of the commitment to cooperate and collaborate will not only bring attention to this effort, but serve as the official kick-off of the partnership described in the Executive Order. Administrator Leavitt in many of his remarks and conversations with people during his Great Lakes tour referred to this process as the “Northbound Train.” “If you want to be part of protecting and improving the Lakes,” he said, “get on board.”
More information on the Executive Order is available on the Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/collaboration/taskforce.
Contacts:
Vicki Thomas, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 886-6942
Nancy Guiden, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 353-5006
Summer Lakes Survey
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The twenty-second annual Summer water quality survey of the Great Lakes ended on August 23rd. During the survey, the R/V Lake Guardian, with a crew of chemists and biologists aboard visited each of the Great Lakes, taking samples to assess their environmental health. The Summer survey focused on sampling the biological communities in the water (plankton) and the bottom sediments (benthos) in an ongoing effort to assess the ecological health of the Great Lakes and to search for new invasive species.
In addition to the regular Summer survey efforts, two additional projects were included:
- The first project, in Lake Erie, provided “ground truth” information to enhance the accuracy of satellite, remotely sensed, estimates of chlorophyll in the Great Lakes. This project was in conjunction with Dr. George Leshkevich of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- The second project, on Lake Superior, continued GLNPO’s assistance to Dr. Judith Perlinger of Michigan Technological University in developing and testing methods for sampling persistent organic contaminants in the air.
GLNPO is responsible for monitoring the offshore water quality of the Great Lakes to evaluate water quality of the Great Lakes to evaluate water quality over time and identify any emerging water quality problems.
Comprehensive water quality surveys are conducted in all five Great Lakes in both the Spring ( when the water is cold and well mixed) and in the Summer (when the lakes are biologically active).
Contact:
Glenn Warren, U.S. EPA -
GLNPO (312) 886-2405
Pesticide Control Annual Meeting
GLNPO’s Ted Smith spoke at the American Association of Pesticide
Control Officials
Annual Meeting on August 5th in Madison, Wisconsin. Ted gave an
overview of USEPA’s Great Lakes Program, with an emphasis on
pollution prevention and monitoring of banned and current use
pesticides. The American Association of Pesticide Control Officials
(AAPCO) is comprised mainly of staff from State Departments of
Agriculture.
Contact:
Ted Smith, U.S. EPA - GLNPO
(312) 353-6571
Air Deposition Loadings Report The latest Integrated Atmospheric Deposition
 Map of IADN air deposition monitoring stations |
Network (IADN) Loadings Report, for data for 1999-2000, has been completed and is available online at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/monitoring/air/iadn/reports/IADN_1999_2000.pdf.
This report incorporates several new loadings calculation improvements. This important output of the IADN program continues efforts to estimate the amount of toxic contaminants entering the Great Lakes from the air. Loading estimates were developed for PCBs and chlorinated pesticides, as well as many other contaminants.
Contact:
Melissa Hulting, U.S.
EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-2265
Encyclopedia of Chicago
GLNPO’s Karen Rodriguez is one of many authors featured in the new book, “The Encyclopedia of Chicago,” a project of the Newberry Library and published by the University of Chicago Press. The book will contain more than 1,400 entries on all aspects of metropolitan Chicago, including essays, thematic maps, photographs, and photo essays. Karen’s piece is entitled, “Shoreline Erosion". The 1,152 page book is scheduled for publication by the end of September.
Contact:
Karen Rodriguez, U.S.
EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-2690
