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| Areas of Concern (Great Lakes) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Areas of Concern (Great Lakes) |
| Location | Great Lakes |
| Established | 1987 |
| Governing body | International Joint Commission; United States Environmental Protection Agency; Environment and Climate Change Canada |
| Designation | Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement |
| Current status | Various stages of remediation and delisting |
Areas of Concern (Great Lakes) Areas of Concern are specific geographic locations within the Great Lakes basin identified under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement for severe environmental degradation, where industrialization, urbanization, and resource extraction led to impairments affecting fish, wildlife, and human use. The term arose from binational collaboration involving the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the International Joint Commission, and numerous provincial, state, municipal, and tribal partners to prioritize remediation, monitoring, and eventual delisting.
The designation "Areas of Concern" was formalized by signatories to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to indicate sites requiring focused intervention to restore beneficial uses such as fish consumption, aquatic life support, and recreation, with legal and technical input from agencies like the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Each AOC is described in binational documents and technical annexes prepared by commissions and task forces, including contributions from Environment Canada legacy reports, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studies, and municipal remediation plans coordinated with indigenous authorities such as the Anishinaabe and federally recognized tribes like the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
The AOC concept emerged after environmental crises highlighted by events involving the Cuyahoga River fire and contaminant studies by researchers at institutions like the University of Michigan, the University of Toronto, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Formal designation followed amendments to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement negotiated between the Government of Canada and the United States with technical assessment input from the International Joint Commission. Identification relied on contaminant inventories produced by agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Geological Survey, and provincial ministries, and on legal frameworks like the Federal Clean Water Act and Canadian provincial statutes governing contaminated sites.
The original AOCs span locations on lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior and include well-known sites such as the Buffalo River (New York), the Detroit River, the Cuyahoga River (Ohio), the St. Clair River and the Waukegan Harbor (Illinois), as well as Canadian sites like the Hamilton Harbour, the Thousand Islands-New York Bight adjacency, the Severn Sound, and the Niagara River. Other designated sites encompass the Ashtabula River, Tar Creek (Oklahoma) is unrelated geographically but provided contaminant precedent studies, the Maumee River, Bay of Quinte, Port Hope (Ontario), Saginaw River, Black River (Ohio), and numerous harbors, river mouths, and industrial embayments cataloged in binational databases maintained by the Great Lakes Commission and regional agencies.
Impairments in AOCs stem from historical discharges of persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, inputs of heavy metals including mercury and lead, nutrient over-enrichment linked to agricultural practices examined by researchers at the Ohio State University and Purdue University, and habitat loss from dredging and shoreline modification executed during projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and provincial counterparts. Consequent effects include fish consumption advisories issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, degraded benthic communities documented by the Great Lakes Science Center, reduced recreational access observed by municipal partners like the City of Cleveland and the City of Hamilton, and impaired drinking water source protection referenced by utilities such as the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
Remediation strategies combine sediment remediation projects, engineered capping and removal performed under contracts with firms experienced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada, habitat restoration funded by programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and regulatory enforcement via mechanisms in the Clean Water Act and provincial statutes. Key projects include contaminated sediment dredging in the Buffalo River, habitat reconnection in the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, and contaminant source controls implemented with partners including the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy, and local watershed councils.
Delisting an AOC requires meeting binational Beneficial Use Impairment removal criteria established by the International Joint Commission with verification from agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada, relying on long-term monitoring by academic centers including Michigan State University and the Great Lakes Research Consortium. Challenges to delisting include legacy contaminants with low degradation rates studied by chemists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, climate-driven changes documented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, funding continuity dependent on appropriations from the United States Congress and Canadian provincial budgets, and coordination complexities among municipal, tribal, provincial, and federal entities exemplified in cases reviewed by the Government Accountability Office.
Stakeholders include federal agencies such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada, state and provincial entities like the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, indigenous governments including the Ojibwe and Haudenosaunee Confederacy, municipal governments such as the City of Buffalo and the City of Windsor, nongovernmental organizations like the Great Lakes Commission and World Wildlife Fund, academic institutions including the University of Toronto and University of Michigan, and private sector partners engaged through remediation contracts and public–private partnerships. Governance relies on coordination frameworks under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, multi-stakeholder advisory councils, bilateral reporting to the International Joint Commission, and community engagement models that reflect treaty rights and co-management precedents established in regional environmental law cases adjudicated in Canadian and U.S. courts.