Great Lakes Areas of Concern

Accelerated Cleanup and Restoration of the Great Lakes

EPA Announces $1 Billion Investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Significantly Accelerate Cleanup and Restoration of Great Lakes
Spirit Lake in St. Louis Area of Concern Cleanup Continues

The large Spirit Lake environmental cleanup includes dredging, capping and monitoring impacted sediment. The cleanup supports the eventual delisting of the St. Louis River AOC and will result in benefits to people and the ecological system.

The U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (Annex 1 of the 2012 Protocol) defines AOCs as "geographic areas designated by the Parties where significant impairment of beneficial uses has occurred as a result of human activities at the local level." An AOC is a location that has experienced environmental degradation. EPA and other federal and state agencies are working to restore the 25 remaining U.S. AOCs in the Great Lakes basin.

AOC Map

AOC List, Map and Contacts

photo of an aoc with water and native plants

Delisted AOCs

United States:

Ashtabula River (Aug. 2021)
Lower Menominee (Aug. 2020)
White Lake (Oct. 2014)
Deer Lake (Oct. 2014)
Presque Isle Bay (Feb. 2013)
Oswego River (July 2006)

Canada:

Great Lakes Areas of Concern

Accelerated Cleanup and Restoration of the Great Lakes

Spirit Lake in St. Louis Area of Concern Cleanup Continues

AOC Map

Delisted AOCs

Related Information