The River Raisin obtained a small grant for Remedial Action
Plan Outreach this year. The details of this grant are outlined
below.
E. coli Investigations:
The persistence of E. coli in our Area of Concern (AOC) has been
defined as a Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI), past beach closings at
Sterling State Park in the AOC led to the BUI designation. Political Action
Committee (PAC) members wish to better define the source of the
contamination providing up-to-date data to the public. The E. coli
Investigations are proposed to better define the presence of E. coli in the
Watershed and the AOC during and proceeding rain events. The data will be
used by the technical committee to formally assess the status of the defined
BUI, and should identify that sources of the contamination are from upstream
of the AOC leading to delisting of this BUI. 80 samples will be taken during
the study period.
Support for PAC Meetings:
PAC support money will be used to set outstanding delisting criteria,
assess the status of the Beach BUI, and will support the development of Fish
& Wildlife restoration criteria.
We have requested funds for meeting costs including:
-Water, coffee, and snacks.
-Meeting Room Rental
-Background information on the AOC for public meetings and copies
for:
-AOC and Watershed Maps
-Copies of reports and data collected for review
-Development of educational material
-Support for Environmental Outreach Projects
We have requested funds for materials and supplies necessary to
conduct public outreach projects including:
-Invasive aquatic plant elimination program, a component of delisting
the Fish and Wild life habitat BUI. Preventing further spread of the
Flowering Rush.
-Woody debris removal program. Developed to addressing some of the
aesthetic BUI, and will address potential navigation hazards.
-Boy Scout Clean-up in AOC proposed to address the aesthetic BUI
component.
Click on their links to access the following documents:
MDEQ
RAP Update for the River Raisin AOC
Guidance for
Delisting Michigan's Great Lakes AOC
Additional information about the River Raisin Area of Concern:
Under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), the River
Raisin Area of Concern (AOC) has nine Beneficial Use Impairments
(BUIs):
- Degradation of Benthos
- Restrictions on Dredging Activities
- Eutrophication or Undesireable
Algae
- Beach Closings
- Degradation of Aesthetics
- Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat
- Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife
Consumption
- Degraded Fish and Wildlife
Populations
- Bird or Animal Deformities or Reproductive
Problems
This is nine of the fourteen BUIs identified under GLWQA. The other
five are not likely to occur in the River Raisin AOC, but are
listed here as a precaution:
- Restrictions on Drinking Water Consumption or
Taste and Odor Problems
- Added Costs to Agriculture or
Industry
- Degradation of Phytoplankton and Zooplankton
Populations
- Tainting of Fish and Wildlife
Flavor
- Fish Tumors or Other Deformities
Given the condition of the Federal Navigation Channel and Turning
Basin, anything can happen and additional BUIs may be added to
the "List" by the Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) which
is part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The GLNPO
and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) have
agreed to a "Scope of Work" for developing delisting targets for
the two Habitat BUIs within the River Raisin AOC. This work is
supported through a contract (NOT a grant) with EPA-GLNPO, with
oversight from MDEQ personnel. This work does not cover any
interactions with the River Raisin Public Advisory Council (PAC) on
establishing targets related to non-habitat BUIs. The Scope of
Work calls for the MDEQ Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Coordinator
and River RAisin PAC to develop a Delisting Target Technical Committee
which would consist of up to twelve people from the
following:
- County Health Department
- Planning Agencies
- Drain Commissioner
- Public Works within the Watershed
- Area Universities
- NGOs
- Consultants who have expertise in various
ecological disciplines and/or are familiar with the
Watershed, the RAP process and the
delisting process. The timetable for this process follows:
- Project initiation
6.30.07
- Project schedule
7.31.07
- Final Report for the AOC
containing specific, quantifiable delisting targets for the two
BUIs
to EPA-GLNPO by December 31,
2008.
None of the River Raisin AOC BUIs have been delisted. Even though
progress has been made to remediate the contaminated sediments
in the AOC and delisting targets have been set up for the
non-habitat BUIs by the MDEQ, no delisting has taken place. Once
the delisting targets for the two Habitat BUIs are completed
and residual contaminated sediments are removed from the Federal
Navigation Channel, the delisting process should take place in an
orderly manner.
In the interim, the River Raisin AOC Remedial Action Plan (RAP) will
be subjected to two Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPP)
which set the stage for the delisting process:
- Habitat QAPP (2 BUIs)
- Beaching Closing QAPP (1
BUI)
This same process will be required for the remaining BUIs. To help
facilitate the process, DTE Energy and the Wildlife Habitat
Council have partnered in a stewardship program for wildlife habitat around
the Monroe Power Plant as part of ISO 14001. American
Lotus beds have returned to Plum Creek Bay and eagles
congregate on Raisin Point along the thermal discharge canal. In 1832, the
U.S.Army Corps of Engineers changed the course of the River
Raisin by dredging a navigation channel through a barrier beach
that protected the Monroe Marshes. This unalterably changed the marsh
ecosystem. Since that time dredging and filling continued
unabated. I-75 truncated Plum Creek Bay and the upper reaches of the
River Raisin estuary, the City of Mnroe used the area for a sanitary
landfill, the Consolidated Paper Company disposed of lead and
PCBs in lagoons and finally Detroit Edison built one of the world's
largest fossil fuel electricity generating plants in the world on
Guyor's Island adjacent to the Federal Navigation Channel. The
Power Plant changed the flow of the River once again. The water
intake draws cooling water at 3,000 cubic feet pr second and discharges it
on the old river bed. This is creating an alluvial
formation over the historic River delta on Raisin Point at the mouth of
the thermal discharge. There are 1,200 acres of biodiversity
habitat in LaPlaisance Bay that compensate for the destruction
of habitat in the Area of Concern. Lotus beds have been observed south of
Raisin Point in LaPlaisance Bay. Another 2,000 acres of
wildlife habitat exists upstream from Raisin Point on Plum
Creek Bay with the Flyash Basin. Overall, Monroe Harbor has 6,000 acres of
wildlife habitat that surrounds the AOC. There is a great
opportunity for wildlife habitat restoration in Monroe
Harbor. Much of the property is already owned by the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Sterling State Park)
and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Eagle Island
Marsh). DTE Energy owns Raisin Point in LaPlaisance Bay and the flyash
basin along Plum Creek Bay
.
The boundary of the River Raisin AOC has been established by Region V,
EPA. The River Raisin AOC is 2.6 miles long from the last dam
to Lake Erie on the Federal Navigation Channel. Eagles
are nesting along this stretch of the River. The Detroit District
Corps of Engineers has not been able to do maintenance dredging
on this channel; however, there is a confined disposal facility
(CDF) at Sterling State Park that relieves some of the restrictions
on dredging activities (BUI). DTE Energy is currently doing
their own dredging and using the CDF to dispose of the dredged
material. This would suggest that a Quality Assurance Program
Plan could be developed for the Dredging BUI for delisting
purposes.
