Condition of macroinvertebrate communities in the Buffalo River Area of Concern following sediment remediation

The lower 10 km of the Buffalo River, a tributary to Lake Erie, was designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement because sediment contamination and habitat alteration from past industrialization caused several Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs). Extensive remediation efforts conducted between 2011 and 2015 removed approximately 688,100 cubic meters of contaminated sediment from the Buffalo River AOC, and subsequent chemical analysis of sediments indicated that most remedial goals had been achieved. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities and sediment toxicity were evaluated in the AOC and an upstream reference area in 2017 and 2020 to determine whether remediation has improved benthic conditions sufficiently that the benthos BUI designation can be removed. Community condition was characterized using the New York State multi-metric index of biological integrity and bed sediments were used for 10-day toxicity tests with Chironomus dilutus and Hyalella azteca. Macroinvertebrate communities were classified as moderately to slightly impacted at most AOC sites compared to slightly impacted at most reference sites, but toxicity tests did not identify any evidence of toxicity in sediments from the AOC. A linear mixed effects model indicated that total organic carbon concentration in sediments, distance upstream from the river mouth, and the relative dominance of zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha were the primary predictors of macroinvertebrate community condition. These findings are consistent with those from other AOCs in New York which indicate that contemporary benthic communities are generally shaped by legacy habitat alterations rather than AOC-specific sediment contamination and toxicity.     

Setting an agenda to catalyze research in the social and organizational dimensions of Great Lakes remediation,restoration, and revitalization

The Great Lakes region was once a hub of industry and innovation that provided wealth and identity to the region. Economic upheavals have left the region trying to recreate economies and cleanup degraded environments. There have been multiple, overlapping efforts to change these conditions and create a new narrative for the region through environmental remediation, habitat restoration, and community revitalization on the path towards resilience. The elements that contribute to success are organized differently in different places, and are not always identified or characterized in the environmental literature. Trying to fill this conceptual gap is critical because landscape-scale environmental cleanup has been delivered at the local scale through various partnerships and arrangements. Thus, this special collection of articles in the Journal of Great Lakes Research explores how individuals, organizations, and communities are engaging in the complex process of environmental cleanup and revitalization throughout the region. This collection of articles represents a range of approaches to unpack how people are navigating and contributing to this regenerative process from quantitative studies at the regional scale that characterize global patterns to in-depth qualitative studies that identify and characterize the processes that unfold in specific places to change our environments both ecologically and socially. These articles represent the broad experience unfolding in the region to understand these activities through research and navigate them through practice. This collection will add new dimensions to Great Lakes research by including the individuals, organizations, and agencies as components of the ecosystem.     

Reflections on social and organizational dimensions of Great Lakes remediation,restoration, and revitalization

We congratulate the authors and co-authors of this special issue that addresses the social and organizational dimensions of Great Lakes remediation, regeneration, and revitalization. It makes an important contribution to our understanding and practice of making the Great Lakes resilient to the human pressures invoked on them.     

Goals,beneficiaries, and indicators of waterfront revitalization in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and coastal communities

Cleanup of Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) restores environmental benefits to waterfront communities and is an essential condition for revitalization. We define waterfront revitalization as policies or actions in terrestrial waterfront or adjacent aquatic areas that promote improvements in human socioeconomic well-being while protecting or improving the natural capital (the stocks of natural assets, biodiversity) that underlies all environmental, social, and economic benefits. Except for economic measures such as development investments, visitation rates, or commercial activity, evidence of waterfront revitalization in the Great Lakes is mostly anecdotal. We offer a perspective on waterfront revitalization that links indicators and metrics of sustainable revitalization to community goals and human beneficiaries. We compiled environmental, social, economic, and governance indicators and metrics of revitalization, many of which are based on or inspired by Great Lakes AOC case studies and community revitilization or sustainability plans. We highlight the role of indicators in avoiding unintended consequences of revitalization including environmental degradation and social inequity. Revitalization indicators can be used in planning for comparing alternative designs, and to track restoration progress. The relevancy of specific indicators and metrics will always depend on the local context.     

Community engagement and the importance of partnerships within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern program: A mixed-methods case study

The Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC) program was created through amendments to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) in 1987 to restore contaminated sites using an ecosystem-based approach. This program represents one of the first instances of ecosystem-based management (EBM) in the Great Lakes region with a specific focus on the inclusion of the public and local stakeholders in the process. Despite official language incorporating EBM in the AOC program, implementation of these practices has not been consistent across AOCs given differences in local arrangements of Public Advisory Councils (PACs), approaches to community engagement, and environmental problems. To better understand community engagement in these complex AOCs, this research investigated community, PAC, and state agency perspectives in three AOCs in Michigan: the Kalamazoo River, Saginaw River and Bay, and Rouge River AOCs. We gathered data through interviews, focus groups, and participatory observations with community members, PAC members, and state officials in each AOC. Findings indicate that communities in these areas have minimal connection to the AOC program and PACs. Community members tended to have greater connection to local organizations that provide a variety of opportunities for community members to engage with their environment in ways they value. To better connect the public to the AOC program, PACs may benefit from intentional partnerships with community organizations to increase community engagement. To consistently bolster community engagement in AOCs, we further recommend that state agencies provide additional resources to improve connection to local communities.     

Assessment of fish consumption beneficial use impairment at the Great Lakes Thunder Bay and St. Marys River Areas of Concern,Canada

The North American Great Lakes were designated with 43 locally degraded Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the 1980s. Remediation activities geared towards restoring beneficial use impairments (BUIs) at the AOCs have been conducted by both the American and Canadian governments. Here we examine if the fish consumption BUI has been restored at the Thunder Bay Harbour and St. Marys River AOCs within the Canadian waters by applying a three-tier assessment framework using the fish contaminant data collected by the Government of Ontario, Canada. Fish consumption advisories published by the government as well as simulated advisories based on the post-2005 data were examined in Tiers 1 and 2. The results highlighted that the restrictions advised on eating fish from the AOCs are mild and are typically similar to other non-AOC areas of lakes Superior and Huron. Temporal trend analyses of three contaminants of concern, mercury, PCB and dioxins/furans, generally showed substantial improvements over the last 30+ years and mostly continued declining trends in the recent years. These findings support a re-designation of the fish consumption BUI to “not impaired” at the two AOCs. As a follow up, it is recommended to confirm improvements in the dioxin/furan/dioxin-like PCB levels in fish at the Thunder Bay AOC. It is also advisable to conduct a survey to properly define “beneficial use” of fish consumption for the AOCs (i.e., which fish and in what quantity do people eat), and thereby validate the critical assumption of 8+ meals/month as a non-restrictive advice used in this assessment.