March/April 1998
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March/April 1998 |
by Robert E. Townsend
Stage 2 remedial action plans (RAPs), for six Areas of Concern (AOCs), were recently completed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) in cooperation with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Region 2 and locally involved citizens. Completion of this development stage for New York State's AOCs is a major milestone for its Great Lakes program activities. New York is the first among the eight Great Lakes states and the province of Ontario to accomplish this objective.
With the completion of RAP development, resources can now fully focus on implementation activities. NYDEC and U.S. EPA are excited about their achievement and commend the numerous people and organizations that have been involved with RAP development and those that continue to commit valuable resources to the RAP implementation process.
Each New York RAP is designed to correct the contamination problems affecting use restrictions on drinking water, public swimming and eating fish. In stage 2, they not only identify problems and their causes and sources, but also identify remedial measures and strategies. Also assessed in the RAPs are use impairments involving the loss of fish and wildlife populations and habitat, the contamination of bottom sediments and bottom life, deformity and tumor effects, aesthetics and the increased costs of water use due to pollution.
The goals of New York's RAP program are to correct the water use impairments in their AOCs caused by contamination and assure that adequate protection practices are in place to prevent recurrence.
The six AOCs in New York State include two international connecting channels, the Niagara River and the St. Lawrence River at Massena. The other four are the Buffalo River; Eighteen Mile Creek encompassing the lower creek and Olcott Harbor; the Rochester Embayment encompassing the lower Genesee River and the Lake Ontario outlet area; and the Oswego River at Oswego Harbor.
The U.S. Great Lakes Critical Program's Act of 1990 requires each Great Lakes state to include RAPs in their state water quality program activities. NYDEC,s Division of Water completed its environmental impact assessment under the State Environmental Quality Review process and is in the process of certifying to U.S. EPA that all six New York RAPs are now part of the state's water quality management plan.
The completion of RAP development in New York State involved the publication of a Stage 1 and Stage 2 report document for each RAP. Remedial Advisory Committees continue to meet on a regular basis to focus efforts on the implementation of priority remedial measures.
The amount of direct government funding affecting Great Lakes program activities is a special interest for many local environmental organizations. Funding is therefore a key element of all implementation activities. Limited funding and some reductions have challenged stakeholders to assume increased responsibility and develop creative funding methods to implement RAP activities. Because of limited resources, commitments to implement RAPs continue to be of great concern.
NYDEC and U.S. EPA Region 2 have effectively maintained a consistent resource commitment to RAPs. Many development and implementation activities have been conducted, including investigations and physical construction; however, numerous monitoring and evaluation ctivities remain to be performed. The dedication among all stakeholders to persevere with RAP development and implementation in New York State has involved considerable time and effort. Through implementation, these commitments will eventually be rewarded by improvements in the water uses and protection. As implementation efforts and progress reporting continue, NYDEC and U.S. EPA intend to maintain this strong commitment to remediate all six AOCs. This is accomplished by direct Great Lakes program funding as well as the core environmental program areas of water, air, hazardous waste and pollution prevention program activities conducted through partnerships involving government, industry and other stakeholder organizations.
The completion of RAP development in New York State is a timely achievement. Grants available under the New York State 1996 Clear Water/Clean Air Environmental Bond Act and the New York State Environmental Protection Fund currently provide valuable funding resources to further the implementation of RAP-related projects.
Robert Townsend is an employee of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Water. Website summaries of activities in AOCs are available on the Great Lakes Information Network at http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc(.) RAP coordinators and chairs for Remedial Advisory Committees are listed in each summary.
sommaire
Le New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYPDEC) a récemment mené à son terme la deuxième étape des plans d'assainissement (PA) pour six secteurs préoccupants (SP), en collaboration avec la U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), région 2, ainsi que de simples citoyens à l'échelon local. New York est le premier parmi les huit États riverains des Grands Lacs et la province de l'Ontario à avoir atteint cet objectif. Les PA étant dorénavant complets, on peut maintenant consacrer toutes les ressources aux activités de mise en oeuvre.
Les six SP de l'État de New York comprennent deux voies interlacustres internationales, la rivière Niagara ainsi que le fleuve Saint-Laurent à la hauteur de Massena, en face de Cornwall, Ontario. Les quatre autres SP sont la rivière Buffalo; le ruisseau Eighteen Mile englobant le cours inférieur du ruisseau et le port de Olcott; la baie Rochester englobant le cours inférieur de la rivière Genesee et la décharge du lac Ontario; ainsi que la rivière Oswego à Oswego Harbor.
Revised: 7 April 1998
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net