FY 2000 Great Lakes Project Summaries

MONITORING

Basin-wide or Multiples Basins

Deposition of Toxic Organic Compounds to the Great Lakes: The Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network - Year 7 (GL995656-03-2: $659,949)
Grantee: Indiana University
Project Officer: Paul Horvatin (312) 353-3612

This agreement will provide funds for the seventh year of operation and maintenance of the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) by Indiana University. The IADN is a binational network made up of 19 stations. There are 5 master stations (one per Great Lake) where all IADN substances are monitored in air and precipitation. Twice a month atmospheric samples vapor and particles are taken and analyzed for pesticides and other organics; precipitation is sampled once per month. The results are used to calculate loadings of these substances to the Great Lakes. More information is available at our website at www.epa.gov/glnpo/air.

Contaminant Trends in Fish (GL975242-01-0: $152,511)
Recipient: Regents of University of Minnesota
Project Period: 6/1/00 - 6/30/02
Project Officer: Sandra Hellman (312) 353-5006

The agreement will provide analytical chemistry support and scientific input for the Great Lakes Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program (GLFMP), which has monitored contaminants in Great Lakes fish for 30 years. The University of Minnesota will analyze whole fish composites of lake trout and walleye samples, and composite fillets of game fish such as salmon and rainbow trout, for selected organic contaminants such as PCBs, toxaphene, and selected organochlorine pesticides. The University will also help GLNPO and other members of the GLFMP with data analysis and interpretation of long term contaminant trends. This project will provide important information regarding both potential human exposure to contaminants through consumption of popular sport species and the impacts of water contaminants on the Great Lakes fishery. The project will complement trend analyses performed in previous years in the GLFMP.

Great Lakes Fish Monitoring Program Historical Fish Database (DW-14-947985-01-0: $50,000)
Recipient: U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division
Project Period: 9/15/00 to 9/15/01
Project Officer: Sandra Hellman (312) 353-5006

The USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (currently US Geological Survey/Great Lakes Science Center (USGS/GLSC)), and other federal and state agencies, has monitored contaminants in Great Lakes fish since the 1970s. This program, the Great Lakes Fish Monitoring Program (GLFMP), has collected data on top predator whole fish and sport fish skin-on fillets. This project will ensure that the historical data collected under this program is assimilated into one database for long-term storage and use. USGS/BRD will assimilate the historic fish data collected from 1970-1990, design an Access database, and then populate the database with the historic fish contaminants data. The compilation of the top predator whole fish and skin-on fillet sport fish data into a simple and accessible Access database will benefit all GLFMP partners, as well as the Great Lakes Community in general, and is crucial to the continued success of the program.

Logistics Support for Survey of Dissolved Oxygen in Central Lake Erie (DW-14-947831-01-2: $6000)
Recipient: U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Great Lakes Science Center
Project Officer: Paul Bertram (312) 353-0153

The study objective is to measure the profiles of dissolved oxygen and temperature from the surface to the bottom of the central basin of Lake Erie at 10 sites, six times annually to track progress in reducing oxygen depletion in the hypolimnetic zone. This interagency agreement augmentation and extenstion is intended to secure the services of the U.S. Geological Survey's R/V Siscowet for those occasions when the EPA vessel, the R/V Lake Guardian is unavailable. This IAG covers use of the USGS vessel in 1997 - 2000 for the third or forth week of August when the R/V Lake Guardian is scheduled to be elsewhere.

Vertical profiles of dissolved oxygen and temperature will be obtained by a SeaBird (brand) remote sensing CTD unit equipped with a Beckman (brand) dissolved oxygen sensor. This instrument has been used successfully by U.S. EPA for the purpose stated from the R/V Lake Guardian. Operational details are presented in Quality Assurance Project Plan: Dissolved Oxygen and Temperature Profiles for the Central Basin of Lake Erie, prepared by U.S. EPA. In addition, measurements of dissolved oxygen will be performed by standard Winkler titrations for comparison with the SeaBird data at the surface and bottom of each profile.

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