News by Topics - AOCs
EPA, State, and Local Partners Announce $37.6 Million Investment to Restore Maumee Area of Concern
On August 12, 2026, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency along with state and local partners announced three projects totaling more than $37.6 million in funding to support continued restoration and remediation efforts in the Maumee Area of Concern in Northwest Ohio.August 18, 2026
Innovative $13.4M Niagara River Fish Passage Completed, Revitalizing Critical Great Lakes Food Web
On July 23, 2026, representatives from EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the City of Buffalo attended a celebration event for the Emerald Shiner Fish Passage Project in the Niagara River Area of Concern. Fish are already using the 778-foot-long structure at Freedom Park.August 5, 2026
EPA Begins Cleanup Project at Torch Lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
EPA has started a $12 million cleanup at the Lake Linden Recreation Area in Lake Linden, Michigan. Crews will remove about 13,300 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with lead, zinc, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).June 23, 2026
EPA and Partners Announce Projects to Clean Up Detroit Area Waterways
Multiple cleanups around Detroit, including Monguagon Creek, Harbortown and Lower Rouge River’s Old Channel, will help restore the Detroit and Rouge Rivers. EPA and partners have already addressed about 400,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and restored more than 320 acres of habitat within the Detroit River AOC.June 12, 2026
EPA, MPCA and Partners Celebrate Completion of St. Louis River Cleanup Projects in Minnesota
With the completion of the Thomson Reservoir project, all eight sediment cleanup projects are now complete for the Minnesota side of the St. Louis River Area of Concern. More than 1.9 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment have been addressed and over 1,000 acres of habitat have been restored across the AOC.May 28, 2026
EPA and Partners Celebrate Completion of Fish Passage Project and Return of Lake Sturgeon in the Milwaukee River
The Estabrook Falls Fish Passage Project modified the waterfall which prevented native fish from being able to swim upstream to critical spawning habitat during a majority of the year. After the project was completed, several Lake Sturgeon made their way upstream to Ozaukee County for the first time in over 100 years.May 13, 2026
EPA Resumes Contaminated Sediment Cleanup in Detroit’s Lower Rouge River Old Channel
On March 30, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resumed dredging contaminated sediment from the Lower Rouge River Old Channel in Detroit, Michigan. More than 100,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with coal tar and petroleum products will be remediated.April 2, 2026
EPA Resumes Sediment Cleanup Project in Cuyahoga Falls
In early March, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began the second year of its cleanup project on the Cuyahoga River in Gorge Metro Park. Throughout the duration of the project, EPA expects to remove more than 850,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the river.March 27, 2026
EPA and Partners Announce more than $200 Million to Clean Up Grand Calumet River Area of Concern
The project will remove over 240,000 cubic yards of contaminated canal and river bottom sediment and remediate over 100 acres of sediment at two sites in the AOC.January 26, 2026
Degradation of Benthos BUI removed at Eighteenmile Creek AOC
The Degradation of Benthos Beneficial Use Impairment was removed from the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern after federal, state, and local partners concluded that communities of benthic macroinvertebrates are not negatively impacted by PCBs.November 25, 2025