Final Projects to Remove Sheboygan River Area of Concern from Great Lakes Cleanup List Funded

The EPA and Sheboygan area officials are joining forces to kick off the final dredging work and habitat restoration projects needed to remove the Sheboygan River area of concern (AOC) from a list of toxic hot spots identified in the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The EPA is spending $57 million for the project while the state and the City of Sheboygan and Sheboygan County are contributing a combined $5 million.

The Sheboygan River is one of 39 remaining AOCs on the Great Lakes. Since the United States and Canada identified the list of AOCs in 1987, only one on the U.S. side has been "delisted." The Sheboygan River is one of four AOCs that the EPA has targeted for 2012. Five more AOCs are targeted for completion in 2013 and 2014.

One EPA dredging project will remove contaminated sediment from the river between Kiwanis Park and the 8th Street Bridge. The other project with remove contaminated sediment from the bridge to the mouth of the river on Lake Michigan. Three EPA-funded habitat projects will restore the shorelines at Kiwanis Park, on Wildwood Island, and near the intersection of Taylor Drive and Indiana Avenue.

For more information, visit www.epa.gov/greatlakes/aoc/sheboygan/