Midwest Natural Resources Group

Environmental Round Table 2003:
Thinking like a Watershed

Detroit St. Clair River Corridor Accomplishments Report
November 2003

The St. Clair River–Lake St. Clair–Detroit River Corridor has uses ranging from fishing to recreational boating, and from drinking water to commercial navigation. It is a key connection between the upper and lower Great Lakes, both for commercial navigation as well as fish and wildlife that reside in or pass through the area. It includes a major urban metropolitan area with pockets of heavy industry on the U.S. side and mainly agricultural with some industrial areas on the Canadian side.

Table of contents

ide and mainly agricultural with some industrial areas on the Canadian side.

Focus Group Participants

International Wildlife Refuge

Pursuant to legislation sponsored by Congressman Dingell the lower Detroit River become the first “international” wildlife refuge in the refuge system. On May 19, 2003 the President signed a bill to expand the Lower Detroit River Refuge in Michigan and the Ottawa Refuge in Ohio, in effect, connecting the two and expanding the area of both. It brings in many more coastal wetland areas and numerous islands under management by USFWS. EPA has been involved in review of land acquisitions with respect to brownfields/contamination and also the remediation of Grassy Island, an old sediment disposal area in the Detroit River which is part August 25, 2006"02">Centennial Celebration of the National wildlife Refuge System

On Sept. 25-27, 2003, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service convened a national centennial celebration of the National Wildlife Refuge System at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. This location was chosen as it is the first “international” refuge in the system and one of the few entirely in an urban area. Congressman John Dingell championed the event. Interior Secretary Norton gave the keynote address. DTE Energy signed a cooperative management agreement to place 600 acres of land into the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. The Greater Detroit American Heritage River Initiative, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. EPA and many other federal, state and local agencies participated in presentations, environmental education sessions and public outreach activities and displays. (to top)

Biodiversity Atlas for the Lake Huron - Lake Erie corridor

The Biodiversity Atlas for the Lake Huron - Lake Eire corridor was completed by the Wildlife Habitat Council under a grant from USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office It is currently being printed for distribution in the near future. The atlas is the result of much work contributed by many diverse natural resource experts from Canada and the US, including the federal agaencies. (to top)

Lake St. Clair/St. Clair River Comprehensive Management Plan

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) are developing a comprehensive management plan for Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River as authorized in Section 426 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1999. The goals of this planning effort are to evaluate the causes of environmental stress to the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair; determine management goals and objectives; review ongoing management activities; and develop recommendations for management priorities. The plan was developed in cooperation with U.S. and Canadian federal and state/provincial agencies, local authorities and other stakeholders. Since the project’s inception in 2001, the USACOE and the GLC have worked with a broad array of project partners to gather data and information on Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River and identify management goals for the region. Emphasis has been placed on building upon existing efforts in the region. A final draft of the management plan was completed in September 2003 following extensive agency and public review. The Corps is expected to submit it to Congress in the next few months. For information visit the project website at: www.glc.org/stclair
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Lake St. Clair Binational Management Structure

A USEPA, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Environment Canada, and Ontario Ministry of Environment Working Group have been working to design a binational management structure for Lake St. Clair. The proposal of a management “team” comprised of federal, state/provincial, and local participants, is expected to be completed next month, and instituted shortly thereafter. Since June 2003, USEPA, MDEQ, and USACE have been working with local US groups, Michigan Council of Governments and Macomb/St. Clair Inter-county Water Quality Advisory Group, to develop local US interest in participating in the anticipated management team. Environment Canada is concurrently organizing local participation on the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair. (to top)

Lake St. Clair Binational Conference

On June 17-18 USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office along with the Great Lakes Commission, co-sponsored and organized the second biennial binational Lake St. Clair Conference entitled “Restoring the Heart of the Great Lakes.” The conference focused on the state of the lake and efforts to restore and protect it. Resource managers, policymakers and interested citizens from both the U.S. and Canada attended the event, which was held in Port Huron, Mich. The focus of the conference was to generate information and ideas for input to the comprehensive management plan for Lake St. Clair which is being developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Representatives from many of the federal agencies attended. (to top)

Lake St. Clair Coastal Habitat Restoration and Conservation Plan

The Great Lakes Commission is cooperating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to characterize Lake St. Clair's coastal habitat and develop a restoration and conservation plan for the lake. The project, which began in 2002 and is scheduled for completion by 2004, is being conducted under a two-year cooperative agreement with NOAA's Coastal Services Center. It consists of working closely with various other project partners, incuding many of the federal agencies, to gather data and information about Lake St. Clair coastal habitat and incorporate that information into a digital information resource that will provide the basis for a coastal habitat restoration and conservation plan for the lake. The project will produce the following tools:

The habitat restoration and conservation plan will synthesize scientific data and will identify priority areas for coastal habitat conservation and restoration. The plan will also identify specific actions that need to be taken, lead agencies responsible for implementing those actions and methods for ensuring ongoing assessments to measure progress toward the improvement of coastal habitat in the Lake St. Clair basin. Background on the project is available online at www.glc.org/habitat.
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Environmental Monitoring Inventory for the Lake St. Clair Basin

With funding from the USACOE and several counties in the watershed, the Great Lakes Commission has developed a comprehensive inventory of monitoring programs in the Lake St. Clair basin in the form of a web-based, fully searchable monitoring inventory. They also conducted a gap analysis based on information in the inventory and developed a strategic plan with recommendations for developing a coordinated monitoring network for the basin. The inventory uses a map-based Internet interface that allows users to search monitoring programs in the database using a number of attributes. Users can view the geographic distribution of monitoring programs they select and further mine the database for monitoring projects in their area of interest. The resulting information includes metadata about monitoring programs, including contact information, web links, parameters measured and methodologies used. The database provides decision makers and the public with easy access to information about monitoring efforts throughout the Lake St. Clair watershed and connects them to the parties responsible for collecting the information. Project information and links to the monitoring inventory and strategic plan are available at glc.org/monitoring/stclair/.
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Remediation of Detroit River Black Lagoon Contaminated Sediments

US EPA Great Lkaes National Program Office has been facilitating a group comprised of USACOE, American Heritage Rivers, Michigan Dept. of Environmental Qualtiy, and City of Trenton, to undertake the dredging of contaminated sediments from the “Black Lagoon” in the Detroit River. This project was identified in the 1996 Detroit River Remedial Action Plan as one of the priority contaminated sediment cleanup sites in the River. The USACOE will be conducting sampling at the site in November to gather some geochemical data needed for developing the design plan. The state recently submitted a permit aplication to the Crops of Engineers for conducting the remedial action at the site. They anticipate submitting a proposal under the Great Lakes Legacy Act to help fund the cleanup. Following remediation, the City of Trenton plans to build a marina and a park at the site to begin as early as 2004. In October, US EPA research vessel Mudpuppy, was used to support MDEQ sampling efforts. (to top)

Detroit River Critical Habitat Report

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed a report of critical habitat sites on the Detroit River. The work was funded by Region 5 and US EPA GLNPO is assisting USGS in uploading portions of the report to a USGS web site. (to top)

Detroit/Rouge River Flyway Initiative

This a multi-agency initiative, lead by USEPA, addresses facilities in the Detroit and Rouge watershed and flyway that have the potential to mismanage or discharge oil and other constituents to the rivers. Others involved are the USFWS, Michigan Dept. Of Environmental Quality, Wayne Co. Dept. of Environment and City of Detroit Dept. of Environment. Multi-media screening inspections have performed at approximately 120 sites in the area.. USEPA is currently in the process of evaluating prioritizing these screens for follow-up actions, including additional inspections/enforcement. It is hopeful that this can be accomplished soon, so that further inspections or other activities can take place over the next year. (to top)

Detroit River Walk

Substantial progress is being made in developing the Detroit RiverWalk in cooperation with the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. Construction has begun on the Tricentennial State Park portion. Multi-million dollar grants have been received from the Kresge and McGregor Foundations. U.S. Coast Guard is in negotiations with the City of Detroit to swap a piece of waterfront property at Atwater Street for additional land at its Mt. Elliott Station. (to top)

International Border Study for New Border Crossing

The Border Partnership consisting of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Michigan Department of Transportation, Transport Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, are wrapping up the joint Planning Needs and Feasibility study. Five feasible corridors between Detroit and Windsor were identified in the study. The next phase will study social, environmental and economic impacts of potential new practical alternatives. Highway, rail and marine modes are being studied. A binational partnership has been formed to address issues on this new crossing and a letter will soon be going out to invite other federal cooperating agencies into the environmental study. This will include USEPA, USACOE, USFWS, Department of Homeland Security and Department of State. (to top)

Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Work is progressing on the Draft EIS for enhancing intermodal freight movements in the Detroit area. Several locations are being studied for the DEIS for possible intermodal improvements. All these alternatives will be disclosed in the DEIS. The issue of air toxins from diesel engine exhaust emissions has not been totally resolved, but a pollution burden analysis will be presented in the DEIS. USEPA is reviewing the EIS pursuant to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). (to top)

I-94 Capacity Improvements EIS

The Final EIS for adding capacity and reconstructing the aged I-94 freeway from I-96 to Connor is beginning to wrap up. The selected alternative will be described in the Final EIS. USEPA is revieiwing the EIS pursuant to NEPA. (to top)

I-75 in Oakland County, Reconstruction and capacity enhancements

The Draft EIS for adding capacity to nearly 20 miles of I-75 in Oakland County is wrapping up with a public hearing to be scheduled. An alternative presented is to add High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to the facility. If this alternative is eventually chosen, it will be the first time ever for HOV lanes in Michigan. Currently, there is governmental support for this alternative to reduce air emissions. (to top)

Oil Spills Prevention Conference

In June 2003, U.S. Coast Guard, the Greater Detroit American Heritage River Initiative, and the Michigan Environmental Management Association convened an oil spills prevention conference in Detroit. The conference yielded seven recommendations:

  1. Identify priority outfalls in the Rouge and Detroit Rivers and target them for early detection systems.
  2. Lower allowable limits from industrial contributors to Detroit municipal wastewater treatment plant.
  3. Heighten regulatory agencies enforcement of industrial pretreatment programs.
  4. Educate the business community on it’s responsibility of preventing the problem and becoming part of the solution to oil pollution.
  5. Encourage companies pursuing the voluntary ISO 14000 certification to identify oil as a “significant environmental aspect” in order to prevent accidental release of oil.
  6. Pursue grant funding to expand implementation of early warning systems and monitoring devices for water systems.
  7. Increase public awareness of the need to prevent pollution, notice changes in water quality, and report problems immediately.

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