United States Office of Volume 11 Environmental Protection Public Affairs (A-107) Number 2 Agency Washington DC 20460 March 1985 The Great Lakes Silhouetted against the w aters of Lake Supenor, strollers en1oy the sunset in Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park, Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Great Lakes Fifteen yea rs ago, it was w idely Canada's approach to dealing The efforts by EPA Region 5 to EPA-related legislative matters. believed that the Great Lakes with pollution of the Great Lake's make a cleaner fu ture for the The story of how an EPA were dying. This issue of EPA is spelled out by J. D. Kingham, Grand Calumet River in the water quality specialist, Leroy Journal exa mines the si tuation the Ca nadian Co-Chair of the IJC Chicago area are reported by " Bub" Loiselle, Jr., has helped to now. What cleanup progress has Water Quality Board. Kathleen Osborne Clute of that control pollution from gold been made? Wh at remains to be The lessons scientists have region's Office of Public Affairs. placer mining in Alaska is re lated done7 lea rned in their far-flung This is the sixth in a seri es in the by Roy Popkin, a w riter in the In the first article, Valdas laboratory-the five lakes- are Journal by EPA regional offices. EPA Office of Public Affairs. Adamkus takes an overview . He explained by William Richardson, In other stories, the Journal Loiselle won an agency gold is Administrator of EPA Region chief of EPA's Large Lakes includes excerpts of the medal for his w ork on this 5, and is Co-Chair of the Water Laboratory in Grosse lie, Mich. A statement by EPA Administrator problem. EPA's steps to Quality Board of the Great Lakes ecologica l puzzle is Lee M. Thomas at his safeguard divers in polluted U.S.-Ca nadian International Joint discussed by Lee Botts, a confirmation hearings February 6 waters are explained by Susan Commission (IJC). planner and long-time participant before the Senate Committee on Tejada, Associate Editor of the The next article focuses on the in the effort to protect the lakes. Environment and Public Works. Journal. personality of the Great Lakes The Great Lakes environmental Also included is an article Concluding the issue are a region, describing its history, challenge for the 1980s-toxic analyzing the President's book review and the magazine's culture, and economy. The piece substances-is described by L. proposed budget for EPA in regular featu res, Update and is by Jack Lewis, Assistant Editor Keith Bulen, U.S. Commissioner Fiscal Year 1986 Appointments. [] of the Journal. of the IJC. In another article, Senator Congressman Henry J . Now ak, Three journalists present their John H. Chafee, R-R.I., gives his D-N.Y., forecasts the views on Great Lakes problems view s on the ou tlook for environmental fortunes of Lake and progress. The writers, who environmental legislation in the Erie, which borders his home report on environmental affairs, 99th Congress. Chafee is city of Buffalo. are Pa ul M acClennan, Buffalo Chairman of the Senate News; Casey Bukro, Chicago Subcommittee on Environmental Tribune; and Dean Rebuffoni, Pollution, which oversees Minneapolis Star and Tribune. United States Office of Volume 11 Environmental Protection Public Affairs (A-107) Number 2 Agency Washington DC 20460 March 1985 oEPA JOURNAL Lee M. Thomas, Administrator Josephine S. Cooper, Assistant Administrator for External Affairs Paul A. Schuette, Acting Director, Office of Public Affairs John Heritage, Editor Susan Tejada, Associate Editor Jack Lewis, Assistant Editor Margherita Pryor, Contributing Editor EPA 1s charged by Congress to Restoring Thinking Ecologically Environmental Outlook protect the nation's land. air. and water systems. Under a mandate of The Great lakes in lakes Protection in the New Congress national environmental laws. the by Valdas V. Adamkus 2 by Lee Botts by John H . Chafee l6 agency strives to formulate and implement actions which lead to a The Five Sister Toxics: Today's Safe Diving in compatible balance between human activities and the ability of natural Lakes: A Profile Great lakes Challenge Polluted Waters systems to support and nurture life. by J ack Lewis 5 by L. Keith Bulen '" by Susan Tejada 28 The EPA Journal 1s published by the U.S. Environmental Protection The Benefits of a Views from Fighting Waste Agency. The Administrator of EPA has determined that the publication Cleaner lake Erie Other Vantage from Gold Mining of this periodical 1s necessary in the by Henry J. Nowak 7 Points by Roy Popkin 0 transaction of the public bu siness reqttired by law of this agency. Use How Canada Controls Cleaning up the Update: Recent of funds for printing this periodical 31 has been approved by the Director Great lakes Pollution Grand Calumet River Agency Developments of th e Office of Management and by J .D. Kingham 9 by Kathleen Osborne Budget. Views expressed by Clute 21 Appointments at EPA 32 authors do not necessarily reflect Learning in the EPA policy. Contributions and Great lakes "lab" inquiries should be addressed to the Thomas States Book Review 32 Editor (A-107). Waterside Mall. 401 by William Richardson 11 Goals for EPA M St. , S.W, Washington. D.C. 20460. No permission necessary to EPA's Budget: reproduce con tents except copyrighted photos and other An Analysis materials by Jack Lewis Front cover: Wading into Lake Design Credits: Robert Flanagan; Huron at daybreak, a smelt Ron Farrah. fisherman tries to net his catch. Every spring the smelt run 111 the lake near East Tawas Ciry, Mich. Photo by Don Emmerich. EPA JOURNAL Subscriptions The annual rate for subscribers 1n ame - First, Last PLEASE PRINT the U.S. for the EPA Journal is $20.00. The charge to subscribers in I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I foreign countries is $25.00 a year. The price of a single copy of the Company Name or Additional Address Line EPA Journal is $2 .00 1n this country and $2.50 11 sent to a foreign country . Prices include mail costs Street Address Subscriptions to the EPA Journal as well as to other Federal I I I I I I I I I I I I I Government magazines are handled only by the U.S. Government Cty Zip Code Printing Office. Anyone wishing to subscribe to the EPA Journal should I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I .I I I I fill in the form at right and enclose a check or money order payable to 0 Payment enclosed (Make checks payable to Superintenden t of Documents) the Superintendent of Docum.ents. The requests should be mailed to: 0 Charge to my Deposit Account No . Superintendent of Documents. GPO. Washington. D.C. 20402 could begin by citing some Iawe-inspiring statistics about the Great Restoring the Great Lakes Lakes, but I won't. There are too many, by Valdas Adamkus and they' re cerebral; it is w ith our hearts that we consider the lakes. You are probably aware of the dedicated efforts the U.S. and Canada have made during the last two decades to restore the lakes to their proper state. The w idespread, and widely publicized, decline into which they had fallen by the 1960s has been halted. Last summer, all but eight of the lakes' 516 beaches had reopened; water quality is significantly improved. We can say with great assurance that the lakes are no longer in immediate danger. We are proud of the achievements we've made, but we're not na ive enough to believe that these are sufficient. We cannot and must not ignore the problems that loom up before us: toxic chemicals nestled firmly throughout the Great Lakes ecosystem; pressure to divert Great INDIANA OHIO A SC 11 \ V'v ' r 2 EPA JOURNAL Lakes water to arid southwestern states; EPA's Chicago-based Great Lakes framework to integrated resource and questions about how to balance National Program Office (GLNPO) has management was pioneered for the appropriately the demands of our worked for several years with the U.S. Great Lakes by the International Joint economy with the needs of our Department of Agriculture and the states Commission {IJC). a six-member board environment. of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana on established by the U.S. and Canada in The most immediate problem facing us conservation farming programs designed 1909 to protect the waters shared by in the 1960s was accelerated to reduce the amount of fertilizer-laden both countries. eutrophication: the premature aging of topsoil washing into Lake Erie. A major The IJC, through the Water Quality the lakes due to the overproduction of feature of that program has been the use Board I co-chair, is concerned w ith microscopic plant life and algae. This of farming methods which leave crop maintaining and improving the quality of plant life was being nourished by raw res idues on the surface of fields after the Great Lakes ecosystem. This will and partially treated sewage, which they have been harvested. These happen as we move steadily forward in contained hefty loads of phosphorus, to residues keep the soil bound together our efforts to identify and to control toxic the detriment of fish and other aquatic and help trap topsoil during rainstorms. pollutants and to preserve the wetlands life. The Lake Erie project, which operates in that are so vital to the growth and health The U.S.