Introduction
- About the AOC Program
The United States and Canada created the Areas of Concern (AOC) Program in 1987 under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Forty-three Great Lakes sites with environmental damage were designated as Areas of Concern in need of restoration, 14 of them in Michigan.Michigan’s AOC program works with federal and local partners to restore these sites affected by legacy contamination and development. Two sites, White Lake and Deer Lake, have been successfully restored. Twelve are in various stages of restoration.
AOC staff members work with partners to remove contaminants from river and lake bottoms, restore fish and wildlife habitat, monitor environmental health, and fix problems created by pollution. These problems are labeled “beneficial use impairments,” or BUIs, which must meet specific standards to be removed.
This page can be accessed as www.michigan.gov/aocprogram.
Information
- Assessment of the Bird or Animal Deformities or Reproductive Problems BUI in Michigan's AOCs, 2020
- Beneficial Use Impairment Progress
- Delisting Guidance for Great Lakes Areas of Concern
- Great Lakes and Fresh Water web site
- Michigan Areas of Concern Program Grant Opportunity For Public Advisory Council Support
- Strategy for Delisting Michigan's Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Areas of Concern
- Get Involved in AOC Restoration
- Clinton River AOC
- Deer Lake AOC (delisted)
- Detroit River AOC
- Kalamazoo River AOC
- Manistique River AOC
- Menominee River AOC (delisted)
- Muskegon Lake AOC
- River Raisin AOC
- Rouge River AOC
- Saginaw River/Bay AOC
- St. Clair River AOC
- St. Marys River AOC
- Torch Lake AOC
- White Lake AOC (delisted)
