EPA, together with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the Niagara County Soil and Water Conservation District, removed the Degradation of Benthos Beneficial Use Impairment from the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern (AOC) on August 29, 2025. BUIs are designations listed in the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement that represent different types of significant environmental degradation.
Within the Eighteenmile Creek AOC, historic industrial and municipal discharges, waste disposal, and pesticide use resulted in poor water quality and contaminated sediment. The Degradation of Benthos BUI was originally designated due to concerns about PCBs affecting benthos, small invertebrates that live at the bottom of lakes, rivers, and streams which are critical for a healthy ecosystem. However, a recent extensive survey by NYSDEC and the U.S. Geological Survey found that both benthic communities and sediment toxicity results were similar or healthier than a regional reference site.
Ongoing EPA Superfund cleanup efforts are also expected to further reduce upstream sources of contamination, improving sediment quality within the AOC. Of the five BUIs originally designated at the Eighteenmile Creek AOC, Degradation of Benthos is the third to be removed. Successful completion of the Superfund remediation efforts will be necessary to remove the remaining two BUIs and ultimately delist the AOC.