St. Louis River Area of Concern

Background | Use Impairments RAP Status | Schedule Progress and Achievements Priorities/Outlook | Research | Publications Community Involvement | Funding | Partners Contacts

What is an AOC and a RAP?

Background

The St. Louis River System Area of Concern (AOC) is the area being addressed by the St. Louis River System Remedial Action Plan (RAP). The RAP focuses primarily on the 39 miles of the St. Louis River below Cloquet, Minnesota.

The RAP began in 1989 as a collaborative effort between the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). At that time, the agencies created a Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). In 1997, with agency assistance, the CAC opened its doors as an independent nonprofit organization known as the Citizens Action Committee. Many of the original citizen and agency partners are still active in the RAP and CAC.

Beneficial Use Impairments

The RAP process determined that nine of 14 identified beneficial uses were impaired. Some impairments were associated with the physical loss and degradation of habitat, with the estuary having lost an estimated 7,700 (of 12,000) acres of wetland and open water habitat since settlement. Other problems were related more to pollution and toxicity. For years, the river smelled bad from industrial discharges. That changed in 1978, when the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) wastewater treatment plant began operation. Nevertheless, pollution continues to come from sources such as contaminated sediments, abandoned hazardous waste sites, poorly designed or leaky landfills, airborne deposition, industrial discharges, chemical spills, improperly sewered wastes, and surface runoff.

Restrictions on Fish & Wildlife Consumption
Both Minnesota and Wisconsin issue fish consumption advisories for Lake Superior and the St. Louis River. These are based on mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). There are no consumption advisories for wildlife.

Please note: Since fish advisories change year to year, the Minnesota Fish Advisory should be consulted for restrictions and advisories.

GLIN: Fish Consumption Advisories; Wildlife;
Toxic Contaminants

Degradation of Fish & Wildlife Populations
Prior to 1979, organic pollution resulted in low levels of dissolved oxygen, which caused fish kills and degraded fish populations; this was remedied by improvements in wastewater treatment. Remaining threats include competition from exotic species (ruffe, etc.), continued loss of physical habitat and possible effects of toxic substances. Fish tissue residues of mercury and PCBs exceed the .5 mg/kg and .1 mg/kg standards established in the 1978 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement for the protection of aquatic life and fish eating birds.

GLIN: Fish; Wildlife

Fish Tumors or Other Deformities
Observations suggest that this is an impaired use, but there is no information on incidence rates of these problems.

GLIN: Fish; Toxic Contaminants

Degradation of Benthos
This was documented in 1989-91 at the Stryker Bay/Interlake Superfund site in Duluth (with reduced numbers and diversity), in Newton Creek/Hog Island Inlet in Superior (with sediment samples that were toxic to benthic organisms), in a 1994 sediment quality survey of the harbor (www.pca.state.mn.us/water/sediments/94mudpuppy.pdf), and in a Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (R-EMAP) project in the AOC. (www.pca.state.mn.us/water/sediments/studies-stlouis.html#assessment)

Restrictions on Dredging Activities
Sediments in many parts of the AOC contain elevated levels of a variety of toxic, bio-accumulative contaminants that can cause adverse effects. Dredging restrictions and containment of contaminated sediment have serious economic consequences. The confined disposal facility (CDF) for contaminated sediments (Erie Pier) is near its storage capacity; local interests are trying to develop creative alternatives to the construction of a new CDF.

GLIN: Dredging

Eutrophication or Undesirable Algae

For the St. Louis River, the Eutrophication beneficial use impairment IJC criterion has been adapted to fit local conditions. The high nutrient and sediment levels in the St. Louis Estuary lead to excessive loadings to Lake Superior, although these high nutrient levels do not seem to be expressed as eutrophication. Thus, a better way to cite this BUI for the St. Louis River would be "Excessive Nutrient Loading to Lake Superior" instead of "Eutrophication or Undesirable Algae".

Prior to 1979's improvements in wastewater treatment, the estuary was eutrophic. Although phosphorus levels remain high, algae is not a problem. Its growth is probably kept in check by limited light penetration due to red clay turbidity and a brown water color. Although algae is not a problem, high sedimentation rates and phosphorus levels indicate possible impacts on Lake Superior.

Beach Closings
Bacterial contamination levels have improved since 1979, but storm-related sewage bypasses still occur in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. For this reason, body contact recreation is considered impaired.

GLIN: Beaches; Recreation

Degradation of Aesthetics
Aesthetics are degraded by oil slicks and odors that occur in Hog Island Inlet in Superior and in Stryker Bay (at the Interlake/Duluth Tar Superfund site) in Duluth.

Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat
Habitat loss and degradation have been caused by filling, dredging, sedimentation, contamination, exotic species and, prior to 1979, water quality. Habitat losses include the filling of 1,215 ha of open water and wetlands, and the dredging of other shallow areas to obtain fill material or create commercial shipping channels. Wetland habitat is being degraded by infestations of purple loosestrife. Habitat has also been degraded by sedimentation, which limits the growth of aquatic plants, and by contamination of sediments, as has occurred in Newton Creek/Hog Island Inlet and Stryker Bay.

GLIN: Habitat; Wildlife

Beneficial Uses for which impairment is unclear:

Tainting of Fish & Wildlife Flavor
Prior to 1979's improvements in wastewater treatment, fish tainting was a problem. A 1980's study suggested that fish from up-river had a better flavor than those from near the WLSSD's mixing zone. However, no instances have been documented in recent years.

Bird or Animal Deformities or Reproductive Problems
Although common terns are considered threatened in Minnesota and endangered in Wisconsin, their limited reproductive success is believed to be due to habitat loss, predation and nest-site competition rather than pollution. However, it may be worthwhile to monitor frogs in the AOC; in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, a number of sites have had a high incidence of malformed frogs.

GLIN: Birds

RAP Status

The Stage One document was published and reviewed in 1992. The IJC gave the RAP high marks for broadening the geographic scope of the AOC and expanding the definition of the use impairments in order to fully encompass local environmental concerns.

Schedule

• St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee (CAC) Board, quarterly in January (annual meeting), March, May and October.
• CAC Executive Committee, monthly
• CAC Stewardship, Habitat, Sediment, and Nonpoint Source Workgroups meet on an as needed basis

RAP Milestones:

• May 1999: CAC received funding to implement the habitat plan recommendation. The CAC is working with several partners from city, county, state, and federal agencies and entities.
• June 1997: The RAP's Citizens Advisory Committee became the nonprofit Citizens Action Committee.
• April 1995: RAP progress report published, including 43 Stage Two recommendations
• April 1992: Stage One RAP document (identification of problems) published

Progress and Achievements

• In 2000, as part of their stormwater permit requirements, the City of Superior did extensive dry weather sampling to test for illicit discharges and have prepared detailed maps of the existing stormwater infrastructure. They are currently in the process of preparing plans to deal with flooding and bypassing during larger rain events and are preparing stormwater management plans to address pollutant, volume and velocity concerns associated with existing and potential new development. To assist with this effort, the City allocated funds for a stormwater engineering position. One of the projects that the City of Superior would like to tackle next is an extensive public information, education and involvement campaign to provide citizen input into the stormwater management plan. This would be a priority project to receive funding if any funds were available. This project would meet several high priority implementation items in the St. Louis River RAP as well as the Lake Superior LaMP.
• Duluth and Superior city councils passed ordinances banning the sale of mercury thermometers at retail outlets in the cities.
• Beneficiary Group for Environmental Improvement for the Interlake Superfund agreement was established. The group awarded over $200,000 to eight environmental improvement projects in the St. Louis River watershed.
• The RAP helped Oliver, Wisconsin, solve its wastewater treatment problems by developing an agreement to lay a pipe under the river and send its waste to the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, in Duluth, Minnesota for treatment.
• Water quality continues to improve, due to pollution prevention efforts, better pre-treatment programs and new stormwater management activities, including efforts to control inflow and infiltration that leads to storm-related sewage bypasses.
• The MPCA, WDNR, WLSSD and the City of Superior wastewater treatment plant are actively encouraging pollution prevention in outreach programs aimed at citizens and businesses.
• In Minnesota, cleanup activities continue at two federak Superfund sites (U.S. Steel and Interlake/Duluth Tar). Each site has a community work group. In 1993, clean up included removal of contaminated soil (some contained mercury and some tar) at the U.S. Steel site. More recently, sediment remediation has been underway at the Interlake site.
• In Wisconsin, WDNR and Murphy Oil USA are working together to clean up the Newton Creek System, which includes Hog Island Inlet of Superior Bay. This is a staged clean-up process that began with Murphy Oil building a new wastewater treatment plant and cleaning up the headwaters of Newton Creek.

Habitat Protection/Improvement:

• The CAC habitat workgroup was instrumental in the recent purchase by The Nature Conservancy of 87 acres of important spawning habitat for fish and forest and wetland habitat for wildlife along the St. Louis River in northwestern Wisconsin.
• The CAC, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, helped to bring about Beetlemania - a project that brought kids with bugs together with kids with boats. Minnesota Sea Grant and Extension worked with 4-H students to raise Galerucella calmariensis, a European species of beetle, and the Duluth Community Sailing Association provided boats to transport the beetles to the Purple Loosestrife-invested areas of the estuary.
• The St. Louis CAC has been instrumental in promoting the Nemadji Watershed project in both the Minnesota and Wisconsin portions of the watershed. The Nemadji project aims to evaluate watershed processes and promote land management and forestry practices which are protective of the unique red clay / sand watershed.
• The St. Louis River estuary was a major focus of the WDNR Lake Superior coastal wetland evaluation project.
• A project to restore common tern and piping plover nesting habitat was completed on Wisconsin Point.
• Minnesota and Wisconsin are working together to re-establish sturgeon in the St. Louis River.
• The RAP was instrumental in WDNR's development of the St. Louis River Streambank Protection Project, upstream of Oliver, Wisconsin. The project is well on its way toward reaching an acquisition goal of 6,900 acres, including five miles of St. Louis River shoreline and 13 miles of the Red River and its main tributaries. The Red River watershed includes steep slopes and highly erodible red clay soils.
• The St. Louis River Board has virtually reached its acquisition goal of 22,000 acres along the St. Louis, Cloquet and Whiteface river (all in the St. Louis River watershed); the property will be owned by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).
• Bio-control is being used to control purple loosestrife infestations on both sides of the lower estuary. Ruffe and zebra mussels are also a problem in the harbor.

Outreach/Education:

• An annual canoe tour and picnic has grown. The most recent tour included over 80 kayaks and canoes on the water. Local historians and biologists provided natural and cultural history information.
• CAC members have cleaned up over 4.5 miles of river shoreline during annual river clean up events.
• In 1999, WLSSD sponsored "The Green Thumb" project. Educational literature on pesticide free lawns, weeds and other pests were made available to the public. Project included basic and advanced lawn maintenance information.
• Riverwatch and Waterwatch Programs have involved numerous area teachers and school children in hands-on, field oriented water quality education and monitoring. These efforts were expanded to include a River Congress, stormdrain stenciling and several art/science collaborations.

• The RAP helped get signs posted to warn recreational users about contamination problems at Hog Island Inlet and Stryker Bay.
• RAP members cleaned up the Connors Point Recreation Area in Superior.
• The CAC has sponsored annual stewardship awards for several years.

Priorities/Outlook

The RAP recommendation implementation status has been updated. Of the 43 recommendations, four have been completed. Working plans have been developed and one or more agencies are working on 23 of the recommendations. A course of action has been established, to be implemented at a future date, for five of the recommendations. For the remaining recommendations, more attention and evaluation is required.

Navigation dredging is an important activity for the Port of Duluth-Superior, which is among the busiest U.S. ports in terms of tonnage. Dredged material management poses a continuing challenge for the local communities and the state and federal agencies. RAP recommendations addressed management of the area's confined disposal facility (Erie Pier). The CAC continues to work on these issues. The RAP has a history of promoting cooperative management for the harbor and estuary. This approach has fostered continuing dialogue and work between the local communities and governmental agencies involved in this issue.

Mercury is a contaminant of particular concern in the St. Louis River. A new project, the St. Louis River Watershed TMDL Project: Mercury Reduction Outreach will use the Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL process to decrease the mercury load to the river. The TMDL process is designed to improve impaired waters such as the St. Louis River, where all facilities with discharge permits are operating within their permitted limits, yet pollutant levels exceed state standards. The TMDL process will complement the mercury-reduction work that is already taking place in the watershed.

Habitat restoration and protection are also important priorities. Although the estuary has suffered extensively from habitat loss and degradation, it also retains tremendous habitat value. Because habitat issues are such a high priority, a comprehensive habitat plan is being developed to enhance the biological diversity and ecological integrity of the lower St. Louis River. The project will provide an estuary-wide vision for resource management and conservation, including a consensus list of conservation and management objectives, targets and actions.

New initiatives within the past few years include the Watershed Guardian Program -- which includes habitat  restoration, storm drain stenciling and a "bio-sentinel" component using minnows as indicators of water quality; and a historical land-use reconstruction project. The CAC's annual Environmental Stewardship Awards are presented at the annual meeting each January.

The transition of the CAC into an independent, nonprofit organization was largely completed in June 1997, with the hiring of an executive director and the establishment of an office. The CAC looks forward to continued involvement and support from state and federal agencies. It anticipates improved opportunities for obtaining financial support from area businesses and industry.

The CAC has also organized a committee to review the progress made to-date in implementation of the 43 Stage Two RAP recommendations. The committee is focusing on updating and/or facilitating implementation of the recommendations, as needed.

Research

A number of sediment studies were conducted in St. Louis River reservoirs and the estuary from 1991 to the present time by state, federal and tribal agencies and university researchers. The results are now being published. Some studies focused on areas of known sediment contamination; another sampled sediment at random (statistically selected sites) to better characterize the overall health of harbor sediments. A summary of the MPCA's studies, including reports in PDF format, is available on their Contaminated Sediments Studies web page.

Groups involved in this research include the MPCA and WDNR (listed above), plus the University of Wisconsin-Superior (including the Lake Superior Research Institute), University of Wisconsin (including the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program), University of Minnesota-Duluth (including the Natural Resources Research Institute), University of Minnesota (including the Large Lakes Observatory and Minnesota Sea Grant Program), Lake Superior College, Fond du Lac Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) Mid-Continent Ecology Division-Duluth. Additional support has been provided by the U.S. EPA, through its Great Lakes National Program Office and its Region V/Water Division, which are both located in Chicago.

Publications

• Lake Superior/Duluth-Superior Harbor Toxics Loading Study. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, September, 1999.
• The St. Louis River System RAP: Progress Report. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, April 1995.
• The St. Louis River System RAP: Stage One. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, April 1992.

Other Recent Major Documents:

• Natural & Cultural History of the Lower St. Louis River: On-the-Water Guide for Canoeists, Kayakers & Boaters. St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee, August 2001.
• Historic Reconstruction of Property Ownership and Land Uses along the Lower St. Louis River. St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee, October 1999.
• Issue Paper Concerning Wet Weather Flow Issues: Sanitary Sewer Overflows Developed For the WLSSD Effluent Quality Master Plan Project. Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, 1999.
• Wisconsin's Lake Superior Coastal Wetlands Evaluation: A Report to the Great Lakes National Program Office, U.S. EPA. Wisconsin DNR PUB ER-09599, 1999.
• Lake Superior Basin Water Quality Management Plan. Wisconsin DNR PUBL-WT-278-99-REV, March 1999.
• Lake Superior Lakewide Management Plan 2000. Lake Superior Binational Program, April 2000.
• Erosion and Sedimentation in the Nemadji River Basin. Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Forest Service, 1998.
• Newton Creek System Sediment Contamination Site Characterization Report. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, December 1995.

Community Involvement

Just as the St. Louis River and estuary are important components of the Lake Superior Basin Ecosystem, the RAP activities are important to the Lake Superior Binational Program and the Lakewide Management Plan. RAP actions, from contaminated sediment cleanup to habitat protection, pollution prevention, and community involvement are all important to meet the Lake Superior basin goals.

Funding

In 1996, the new CAC (the Citizens Action Committee) became established as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Minnesota, and the MPCA made a commitment to pass through approximately two years worth of funding from the U.S. EPA and other sources. These funds included seed money to get the new organization started. The CAC now seeks membership fees, gifts and grants from both public and private sources. The various grant requirements call for a number of specific programmatic activities to be conducted.

Partners

• Harbor Technical Advisory Committee
• Lake Superior Binational Program
• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• Minnesota Sea Grant
• River Watch Project
• River Quest
• St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee
• The Nature Conservancy
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• U.S. EPA
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• Wisconsin Sea Grant
• Numerous local businesses, organizations, agencies, institutions, units of government and individuals.

Contacts

Phil Monson, Minnesota CAC Co-Chair
218-529-5188
monson.phil@epa.gov

Diane Moore, Wisconsin CAC Co-Chair
218-628-5100
dianem@discover-net.net

Carri Lohse-Hanson, Lake Superior Binational Program Coordinator
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
520 Lafayette Rd. N
St. Paul, MN 55155-4194
651-296-9134
carri.lohse-hanson@pca.state.mn.us

Nancy Larson, Lake Superior Binational Program Coordinator
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
810 W. Maple St.
Spooner, WI 54801
715-635-4075
larson@dnr.state.wi.us

Stephen Hopkins, U.S. EPA Liaison
U.S. EPA Lake Superior Team
515 W. First St., Ste. 320, Duluth Federal Building
Duluth, MN 55802
218-720-5738
hopk@mindspring.com

Kay Rezanka, St. Louis River River Watch Coordinator
FDLTCC
2101 14th Street
Cloquet, MN 55720
218-879-0789
krezanka@ezigaa.fdl.cc.mn.us

For More Information:

Additional information is continually becoming available, as more happens and/or is learned about in the AOC, and as the CAC grows and evolves as a nonprofit organization. Contact the CAC Executive Director or Co-chairs above for up-to-date information.

Great Lakes Areas of Concern

Compiled: August 15, 2001
by John Hummer, jhummer@glc.org

Created: November 21, 1997
Revised: June 21, 2000
Maintained by Pranas Pranckevicius
URL: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/stlouis.html