Input session planned on Fox River & Lower Green Bay “Area of Concern”

DNR and US Environmental Protection Agency to host

GREEN BAY - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the United States Environmental Protection Agency will host a public input session for the Lower Green Bay and Fox River Area of Concern on Thursday July 23rd from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Center Auditorium.

In the 1980s, Lower Green Bay (out to Long Tail Point and Point Au Sable) and the Fox River below the De Pere Dam were listed as one of 43 Great Lakes Areas of Concern by the International Joint Commission of Canada and the United States.

Areas of Concern are places where contaminated sediment, poor water quality, or habitat problems affect the use of the waterway such that it needs priority attention. Goals or targets must be set, and then met, for each of the problems before the area can be considered restored. The end goal is for all of the Areas of Concern to be restored and protected so that they can be “delisted,” or removed from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

The purpose of this public input session is to share information about problems in the Area of Concern and restoration goals (known as “delisting targets”) that have been developed to address them. Input received at the session will be included in the Lower Green Bay and Fox River Area of Concern delisting targets report that will be finalized in the summer of 2009.

Problems identified in the Lower Green Bay and Fox River Area of Concern are related to: fish and wildlife habitat, populations, health, and consumption advisories. Other populations including plankton (free floating plants and animals) and benthos (bottom living plants and animals), nutrient pollution and undesirable algae, beach closings, aesthetics, and restrictions on drinking water and dredging.

Identifying the restoration goals for each of the problems is only one step in removing Lower Green Bay and Fox River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. “The process will take time and commitment, and like most of the other Areas of Concern, restoration is still in progress, “ said John Perrecone, RAP/AOC Program Manager for the US EPA Great Lakes National Programm Office. Of the 43 Great Lakes Areas of Concern designated in the United States and Canada, only three have been delisted and two more are considered in recovery.