$2.1 Million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Project Lays Groundwork for Taking White Lake Off Area of Concern List (MI)
For Immediate Release
No. 11-OPA062
(CHICAGO – July 20, 2011) The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, working with the state of
Michigan, today announced a new restoration effort for the
shoreline of White Lake, near Muskegon. The $2.1 million
investment, part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI),
will ultimately result in the lake being taken off a binational
list of U.S.-Canada “Areas of Concern” or AOCs. White
Lake flows into Lake Michigan via the White River.
The White Lake project will restore
fish and wildlife habitat at seven public and private sites along
the lakeshore. Field work for the project is now under way and will
be completed in 2012. GLRI funding for this work was awarded in
2010 to the Muskegon Conservation District, in partnership with the
White Lake Public Advisory Council. The Conservation District will
oversee the work, which will be performed by local
firms.
“This project will help achieve
GLRI goals, revitalize the community and move us closer to taking
this Area of Concern off the binational cleanup list,” said
Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator. “But
we can’t stop here. We’re looking for other partners to
identify matching funds so we can accelerate cleanups in other AOCs
in Michigan and around the basin.”
Contaminated sediment removal projects
in 2002 and 2003 set the stage for the new habitat work and
eventual “de-listing” of the White Lake AOC. In 2002,
under Michigan oversight, 92,000 cubic yards of sediment were
removed from Tannery Bay on White Lake’s northeastern shore.
In 2003, the Occidental Chemical Corp., removed 10,500 cubic yards
of sediment from the lake near Dowies Point.
The GLRI habitat grant will be used to
restore 5,158 feet of shoreline, to create 35 acres of wetland and
aquatic habitat, to reconnect and restore 8 acres of riparian and
upland habitat corridors, and to remove 27,134 cubic yards of
shoreline debris—all necessary steps in the AOC de-listing
process.
See more information on the White Lake
Area of Concern at www.epa.gov/greatlakes/aoc/whtlake.html. See
more information on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at
greatlakesrestoration.us.