Areas of Concern

About AOCs

Great Lakes Areas of Concern Map (PDF) (1 pg, 172) February 2013

How are they being addressed?
How many are there?
How many have been delisted?

Frequent Acronyms

AOC Area of Concern
BUI Beneficial Use Impairment
CMP/EIS Chemical Management Plan or Environmental Impact Statement
GLNPO Great Lakes National Program Office
PAC Public Advisory Council
RAP Remedial Action Plan

Links

Environment Canada: Great Lakes Areas of Concern information about binational and Canadian AOCs
Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) AOC info
Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) RAP info
Great Lakes Commission AOC/RAP Resouces

The U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (Annex 2 of the 1987 Protocol) defines AOCs as "geographic areas that fail to meet the general or specific objectives of the agreement where such failure has caused or is likely to cause impairment of beneficial use of the area's ability to support aquatic life." More simply put, an AOC is a location that has experienced environmental degradation.

EPA Announces “Cleanup Complete” at Sheboygan River Area of Concern 06/14/2013

Great Lakes AOC Contaminated Sediment Management Plan (PDF) (4pp, 66K) - May 2013

AOC Name	State	Contact
Ashtabula River	OH	Rick Nagle 312-353-8222
Black River	OH	Frank Anscombe (anscombe.frank@epa.gov) 312-353-0201
Buffalo River	NY	Fred Luckey (luckey.frederick@epa.gov) 212-637-3853
Clinton River	MI	Laura Evans (evans.laura@epa.gov) 312-886-0851
Cuyahoga River	OH	Danielle Green (green.danielle@epa.gov) 312-886-7594
Deer Lake	MI	Mark Loomis (loomis.mark@epa.gov) 312-886-0406
Detroit River	MI	Rosanne Ellison (ellison.rosanne@epa.gov) 734-692-7689
Eighteen Mile Creek	NY	Barbara B. Belasco (belasco.barbara@epa.gov) 212-637-3848
Grand Calumet River	IN	John Perrecone (perrecone.john@epa.gov) 312-353-1149
Kalamazoo River	MI	John Haugland (haugland.john@epa.gov) 312-886-9853
Lower Green Bay / Fox River	WI	John Perrecone (perrecone.john@epa.gov) 312-353-1149
Manistique River	MI	Amy P. Mucha (mucha.amy@epa.gov) 312-886-6785
Maumee River	OH	Frank Anscombe (anscombe.frank@epa.gov) 312-353-0201
Menominee River	WI	John Perrecone (perrecone.john@epa.gov) 312-353-1149
Milwaukee Estuary	WI	Ajit Vaidya (vaidya.ajit@epa.gov) 312-353-5713
Muskegon Lake	MI	Marc Tuchman (tuchman.marc@epa.gov) 312-353-1369
Niagara River	NY	Michael Shaw (shaw.michael@epa.gov) 212-637-3785
Oswego River/Harbor	NY	Barbara B. Belasco (belasco.barbara@epa.gov) 212-637-3848
Presque Isle Bay	PA	Denise P. Hakowski (hakowski.denise@epa.gov) 215-814-5726
River Raisin	MI	Scott Cieniawski (cieniawski.scott@epamail.epa.gov) 312-353-9184
Rochester Embayment	NY	Barbara B. Belasco (belasco.barbara@epa.gov) 212-637-3848
Rouge River	MI	John Haugland (haugland.john@epa.gov) 312-886-9853
Saginaw River & Bay	MI	Jamie Schardt (schardt.james@epa.gov) 312-353-5085
Sheboygan River	WI	John Perrecone (perrecone.john@epa.gov) 312-353-1149
St. Clair River	MI	Rosanne Ellison (ellison.rosanne@epa.gov) 734-692-7689
St. Lawrence River at Massena	NY	Barbara B. Belasco (belasco.barbara@epa.gov) 212-637-3848
St. Louis River & Bay	MN & WI	John Haugland (haugland.john@epa.gov) 312-886-9853
St. Marys River	MI	Jamie Schardt (schardt.james@epa.gov) 312-353-5085
Torch Lake	MI	Brenda R. Jones (jones.brenda@epa.gov) 312-886-7188
Waukegan Harbor	IL	Bill Bolen (bolen.bill@epa.gov) 312-353-6316
White Lake	MI	John Perrecone (perrecone.john@epa.gov) 312-353-1149

How are they being addressed?

Remedial Action Plans (RAPs)

The two federal governments cooperate with state and provincial governments to develop and implement Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) for each Area of Concern.

Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs)

RAPs address impairments to any one of 14 beneficial uses (e.g., restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption, dredging activities, or drinking water consumption) associated with these areas. See the complete list of Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs)

Sediments are a serious problem in many AOCs.

RAP Liaisons

EPA has assigned RAP Liaisons for each AOC (see table above).

Delisting Criteria

Restoring United States Areas of Concern: Delisting Principles and Guidelines (PDF) (29 pp, 65 K About PDF) December 2001
RAP teams develop delisting criteria for each AOC.
Delisting criteria help focus remediation and restoration activities.
AOCs are delisted as beneficial uses are restored.

How many AOCs are there?

43 AOCs have been identified:

26 located entirely within the United States
12 located wholly within Canada
5 that are shared by both nations

How many AOCs have been delisted?

Two US AOCs have been delisted:

Presque Isle Bay (February 2013)
Oswego River (July 2006)

29 AOCs remain which are wholly in the U.S. or shared with Canada.

Three Canadian AOCs have been delisted:

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