On June 8, 2026, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Anne Vogel was joined by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Director Phil Roos and environmental advocates at the William G. Milliken State Park & Harbor in Detroit, Michigan, to celebrate several projects to restore the Detroit and Rouge Rivers.
“Cleanups along the Detroit River are moving from plans to visible results,” said EPA Regional Administrator Anne Vogel. “Powered by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, projects are tackling legacy pollution, restoring habitats and opening waterways for safer fishing, boating and neighborhood access with a momentum we intend to keep.”
The Monguagon Creek-Upper Trenton Channel cleanup project will remove 28,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment south of Bridge Road to the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge in Riverview. The two-year project is projected to begin this year to dredge the contamination and install a sand cover. The project is funded by a partnership between EPA and Bridgestone America Tires Operation. Construction will be led by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Detroit District.
Two new cooperative agreements between EPA and EGLE will assess cleanup alternatives for the Harbortown and Harbortown-Upstream shorelines and develop preliminary cleanup goals for the remaining areas in the Detroit River Area of Concern. These investments will kickstart efforts to address about 800,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and streamline future remediation efforts in the Detroit River.
The final phase of dredging is now complete in the Lower Rouge River’s Old Channel that removed more than 100,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment propelled by an $84 million cost sharing partnership between EPA and Honeywell International, Inc.
To learn more, read the full press release on EPA’s website: EPA and Partners Announce Projects to Clean Up Detroit Area Waterways