Contact: Brennan Dow, a Sheboygan River and Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern coordinator,
brennan.dow@wisconsin.gov or 414-263-8651
Public Invited To Comment On Proposal To Remove Impairment In Sheboygan River Area Of Concern
View of Wildwood Island, one of the important habitat restoration projects completed in the Sheboygan River AOC.
Photo credit: Debbie Beyer
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is seeking public comments on the recommendation to remove the Degradation of Benthos Beneficial Use Impairment from the Sheboygan River Area of Concern.
After the Sheboygan River was listed as an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987, the Remedial Action Plan identified “degradation of benthos” as one of nine environmental problems, called beneficial use impairments or BUIs, in the AOC program.
Communities of organisms that live on or in the bottom sediment of a waterbody are collectively referred to as benthic invertebrates or benthos. These essential creatures are at the base of aquatic food webs, which provide food for a wide array of fish, birds and other aquatic life.
The lower 14 miles of the Sheboygan River downstream from the Sheboygan Falls Dam, including the entire harbor and nearshore waters of Lake Michigan, were identified as an AOC primarily due to contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
These toxins were discharged directly into the river from municipal and industrial sources and settled to the river bottom, leading to many contamination-related impairments within the AOC. Because benthic organisms are in direct contact with the sediment and water, they are harmed by toxins, poor water and sediment quality, low dissolved oxygen, high ammonia and poor substrate conditions.
To address the harm to benthic organisms, several sediment remediation projects were completed to remove the sources of toxic pollutants in the AOC. Monitoring was then conducted to confirm if pollution cleanup and benthic community recovery goals have been met.
The monitoring results showed that removal targets are being met and multiple lines of evidence support a recommendation to remove this impairment from the AOC. The results of these studies, along with support from a team of technical experts, agency partners and stakeholders support this recommendation.
The removal recommendation document is available for public review and comment now until Nov. 6, 2020, using this link.
Questions and comments can be sent to Brennan Dow, a Sheboygan River and Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern coordinator, at brennan.dow@wisconsin.gov or 414-263-8651.
To date, two of the nine impairments have been removed in the Eutrophication or Undesirable Algae and Restrictions on Dredging Activities AOCs. Once all impairments have met their targets and are removed, the AOC can be formally delisted.
The Sheboygan River AOC was designated as one of 43 sites on the Great Lakes with significant environmental damage by the United States and Canada under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding, first authorized in 2010, is helping AOCs clean up pollution and restore waterways.
