The U.S. EPA, together with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Water Resources Division (WRD), and Area of Concern (AOC) Program, has removed the Degradation of Benthos BUI from the Muskegon Lake AOC. The BUI was removed on October 31st, 2024, and was the first BUI removed under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan IV. BUIs are designations listed in the 1987 amendment to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) that represent different types of significant environmental degradation (see Beneficial Use Impairments for the Great Lakes AOCs to learn more).
Muskegon Lake was originally listed as an AOC in 1987 due to historic discharges of industrial and municipal wastewater as well as urban runoff. Elevated levels of contaminants including heavy metals and oils degraded benthic communities by reducing diversity. Since then, 190,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment in the AOC have been remediated by Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) projects, reducing toxicity that impacted benthic communities. Additionally, seven habitat projects were completed in the AOC, restoring approximately 134 acres of habitat, and removing 110,000 tons of logging-era sawmill debris from the lake.
The completion of these projects has culminated in the restoration of the AOC and removal of all nine identified BUIs. The October 31, 2024, removal of the Degradation of Benthos BUI marked the ninth and final BUI removal. With all BUIs removed, the Muskegon Lake AOC is now eligible for delisting, a monumental accomplishment in the AOC program. Once an area is delisted, it is no longer considered an AOC as all its once-impaired beneficial uses have been restored. Of 31 U.S. AOCs, only seven have been delisted since the program began in 1987. All but one of these AOCs have been delisted since the GLRI was established in 2010. The delisting process includes the development of a Delisting Report, an invitation to tribes to consult on the delisting recommendation, and a review by the International Joint Commission (IJC) and the public.
The beginning of the delisting process at Muskegon Lake AOC will come on the heels of another recent delisting. Rochester Embayment was delisted on October 3, 2024 following the removal of all 14 of its original BUIs. Each delisting constitutes an historic achievement in the restoration of the Great Lakes and a notable success under both the GLWQA and the GLRI. The proposed future delisting of Muskegon Lake in 2025 would be the eighth delisting of a U.S. AOC and a celebration of decades of hard work by federal, state, and local partners.