Great Lakes Areas of Concern

Ohio’s Maumee Area of Concern on Lake Erie

Otter Creek Legacy Act Project complete.
EPA Removes Ohio’s Ashtabula River from Binational List of Areas of Concern on the Great Lakes

Nearly $70 million for cleanup and restoration results in Ohio’s first area of concern delisting. Read news release.
Habitat Improvements at Rochester Embayment Area of Concern

EPA Confirms Habitat Improvements at Rochester Embayment Area of Concern in New York (Photo Credit: NYSDEC)
2021 Great Lakes AOC Conference Rescheduled

Conference rescheduled to May 25/26, 2022

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 26 remaining U.S. AOCs in the Great Lakes basin.

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

Ohio’s Maumee Area of Concern on Lake Erie

EPA Removes Ohio’s Ashtabula River from Binational List of Areas of Concern on the Great Lakes

Habitat Improvements at Rochester Embayment Area of Concern

2021 Great Lakes AOC Conference Rescheduled