News - Maumee AOC Area of Concern

Ohio Area of Concern Summit

AOC Logo Several MAAC members attended the 2020 Ohio Area of Concern Summit earlier this month. The event was held on March 6^th, and hosted by Lorain County Metro Parks at their French Creek Nature Center. Program updates were shared by Lynn Garrity (Ohio Lake Erie Commission) and Kristen Isom (GLNPO-USEPA). After the general program updates, each of the four Ohio AOCs (Maumee, Cuyahoga, Black, & Ashtabula) had the chance to share status updates and summaries of recent achievements and future goals. During the second half of the meeting, a break-out session was held during which committee members and facilitating organizations were able meet in small groups to share ideas, questions, and suggestions. Finally, the meeting concluded with a general Q&A session, where participants were able to pull on the group collective for answers to questions and/or concerns.

Soon to be Released - MAAC Annual Report!

Report Cover We are excited to share that work on the 2019 MAAC Annual Report has been underway for a couple of months and it is nearly ready for the presses (and digital release on the MAAC’s website resource page)! The Report will be updated each year to showcase progress made towards eventual AOC delisting. Please consider requesting copies of the Report to pass out at the next applicable meeting or conference that you attend and share the digital version widely.

We are also working on crafting a series of “rack cards” to highlight and summarize four projects that were/are being conducted under BUI 14b (Wildlife Habitat). Once completed, these cards will be available for distribution at meetings and conferences as well. Stay tuned for updates regarding completion and availability of these new materials!

Biological BUI MAP Meetings - Voting Members

Voting members, please make sure that the following webinars and online meetings have also been added to your calendars. These discussions will help you become familiar with the proposed Biological BUI MAP materials and proposed projects prior to voting on April 30^th.

April 8^th; 1:00-2:00pm (Zoom online meeting) - Maumee AOC BioMAP: Materials Explanation
April 16^th; 9:30-2:00pm (WebEx meeting) - Maumee AOC BioMAP: Project Review & Discussion
April 22^nd, 1:00-3:00pm (WebEx meeting) - Maumee AOC BioMAP: Q&A

For links to the webinars and the most up-to-date meeting schedule, please see the calendar.

Management Action Project Spotlight – Penn 7

Penn7 Wetland There has been a lot progress made in funding and implementing the MAAC-recommended management action (MAP) projects for Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) 14b (Loss of Wildlife Habitat). Since the list of projects were approved by Ohio EPA and US EPA in early 2018, 17 of the 20 projects have been fully funded, two are funded through engineering and design (E&D) with implementation funding expected or in hand, and one is in the application process for funding. The Penn 7 Restoration Project is one of the projects currently undergoing E&D with implementation funding secured. Read on for a summary of this project and this exciting progress!

As a former confined disposal facility (CDF) on the banks of the lower Maumee River, the vacant 59-acre Penn 7 Property once accepted material dredged from the Toledo Harbor shipping channel. The property was encircled by a large berm to prevent dredged material from moving off-site. This berm currently isolates on-site wetlands from the river, thereby reducing the value of the wetlands with respect to fish and wildlife habitat.

With funds received from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) through a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Regional Partnership awarded to the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and subcontracted to the City of Toledo, the following restoration activities are planned:

Connection of the upstream portion of Penn 7 to the Maumee River to allow river water to flow through the system;
Excavation/re-contouring of the upstream part of the property to improve a wetland to better support fish and wildlife;
Excavation of a channel to connect the wetland to the open embayment portion of the property;
Construction of a berm at the outer boundary of the embayment area to protect a planned wetland behind it;
Installation of aquatic habitat structures and removal of invasive species; and
Habitat improvements for the forested upland area.

This restoration work is expected to support a variety of wildlife and fish species. Once connected to the river, the Penn 7 site could act as a productive spawning and nursery site for over 40 species of Lake Erie fish. It is also expected that the site will act as an important migratory stopover for a number of bird species, while also providing quality habitat for area amphibians and mammals.

This project involves an engaged project management team representing the City of Toledo, NOAA, Great Lakes Commission, Ohio EPA, ODNR Division of Wildlife, and the contracted engineering firm, Hull & Associates, Inc. For questions regarding this project and its progress, please contact the project public liaison at Hull & Associates, Inc.; Jenny Carter-Cornell (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Additional project information is available at www.glc.org/work/aocs/maumee.

For a pdf of the current restoration concept plan, click here.

MAAC Member Openings

MAAC Logo At this time, the MAAC is seeking applications for committee membership for 2020 - 2021. Multiple voting member positions are currently open, and there is no limit to the number of new Non-voting (resource) member seats. Voting members serve for two year terms, while non-voting members are appointed each year based on expressed interest. This year, we are especially interested in adding more community members to the MAAC; please consider!

Voting Member applications are available at maumeeaoc.org for those interested in joining the MAAC. The application deadline is Sunday, December 15th, 2019. Non-Voting Members do NOT need to complete the application. They only need to send an email to Cherie Blair (Ohio EPA) or Kris Patterson (Partners for Clean Streams) indicating their interest and for which level of involvement (Ex-Officio and Resource members). The time and your ability to represent your respective agency should be approved within your agency per your own internal process.

We want to make sure the Maumee AOC has a strong and representative voice in the AOC process and encourage all interested individuals to apply. The members of the MAAC will play an important role in defining the future course of the activities in the AOC. Some of the key activities for 2020 include:

Work with Ohio EPA to determine any BUIs that can be removed;
Continue to evaluate conditions and needs utilizing recently collected data;
Continue to develop strategically located projects that will lead most directly to BUI removal;
Continue development of final management action projects (MAPs) list for all remaining BUIs.

We invite you and your agency to be involved in improving the Maumee AOC as either a Voting, Ex-officio or Resource Member of the MAAC. As you consider this, please see the details regarding each of these positions here.

Thank you for considering this opportunity. We look forward to hearing from you by December 15^th!

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The Maumee AOC Committee works toward fishable and swimmable waters in the Maumee Area of Concern and delisting the beneficial use impairments. The Committee is working towards all major restoration projects being completed by 2025, through collaboration of partners and volunteer opportunities by its facilitating organization, Partners for Clean Streams. The committee is made up of representatives from various organizations, citizens, businesses and non-government agencies to build long term solutions to the area’s water quality issues.