2021-Jan-25
Review of Great Lakes Areas of Concern Spending Since 1985
In 1985, the development of a remedial action plan began with the goal of restoring 42 heavily contaminated sites identified as Areas of Concern (AOC) in the Great Lakes. Over the past 35 years, $22.78 billion dollars has been collectively spent by the Canadian and US governments to clean and rehabilitate these areas. As of 2019, seven AOCs were delisted, two were designated as “in recovery” and 43% of known use impairments have been eliminated.
Addressing these Areas of Concern has been a core focus of the Great lakes Water Quality Agreement that GBA has been deeply involved with, first on the advisory panel to put it together, and afterwards attending regular annual update sessions providing input on Georgian Bay matters, which is ongoing. Read more here.
Map of Canadian and U.S. Areas of Concern