The recovery of Presque Isle Bay in Lake Erie reached a milestone this week when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has lifted one of two water quality impairments for the bay due to improvements in sediment contamination.

The impairment lifted by EPA concerned sediment contamination and dredging restrictions. This was one of two water quality impairments listed for the bay under its current environmental designation as an “area of concern” meaning that it is one of the 40 most degraded areas of the Great Lakes. The remaining impairment focuses on fish tumors and other deformities.

The sediment improvements were discovered during an EPA-funded sediment survey of the bay in 2005. The survey, which included research done with EPA’s research vessel Mudpuppy, found that contaminants in the sediment were no longer degrading the ecosystem.

"We congratulate all the federal, state and local partners who have been instrumental in helping restore the health of Presque Isle Bay,” said Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region. “This action brings the bay one step closer to removal from the list of the most degraded areas of the Great Lakes basin.”

Officials credit the sediment improvements to reduced industrial discharges, upgrades in the city of Erie’s wastewater treatment plant, and actions taken by local organizations to reduce harmful storm water runoff.

“Improving the health of the Great Lakes and removing these restrictions is essential to boosting the economic vitality of the region, maintaining Erie as an important shipping port and offering improved recreational opportunities,” Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said. “This announcement by EPA is the result of a commitment by the city of Erie and other local municipalities, businesses and private citizens to improve water quality entering Presque Isle Bay.”

Among the most significant activities undertaken to improve the water quality entering the bay was a $100 million upgrade of the Erie wastewater system to improve sewage treatment, eliminate unauthorized combined sewage overflows entering the bay and greatly reduce stormwater runoff which overloaded the sewer system during heavy rain.

In 2002, DEP recommended, and EPA concurred, that the Presque Isle Bay be designated in the recovery stage as the result of significant environmental improvement in the last decade. This was the first area of concern in the United States to be recommended for recovery status.

Last fall, a team of scientists and environmental experts joined forces to study the effects of sediment on the bay’s aquatic ecosystem to find out if changes in the watershed have improved the quality of sediment entering the bay.

More information, visit the Presque Isle Bay Area of Concern webpage.

Link: Tom Ridge Environmental Center, Presque Isle

4/20/2007