Lake Calumet
The bringing of sediment from the Illinois River to the Lake Calumet area to restore the soil was the most visible work in the area this year, but much more was taking place. The Lake Calumet area in Chicago is a site of former landfills and abandoned industrial facilities. WMRC is sponsoring research in the area, providing technical assistance to businesses, and partnering with the City of Chicago Department of Environment on a number of projects.
WMRC is funding a black-crowned night heron research project in Chicago's Calumet region. In addition, the laboratory is providing all of the chemical analyses of the fish, heron embryo, and heron regurgitate samples collected in the study area. The fish samples represent nine different species of fish, collected from six different locations where the herons are known to feed. The embryo samples are from three different locations - the Calumet black-crowned night heron colony, a colony in Virginia, and a colony in Minnesota. The regurgitate samples were collected from young herons still in the nests at the Calumet colony. Organic analysis of nearly 200 samples was completed during the year for contaminants. Calumet area fish samples showed elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) depending on the location in which they were collected. Other samples had high levels of chlorinated pesticides. Heron embryos in the Calumet region showed substantially higher levels of the PCBs and pesticides than did embryos collected in other regions of the country.
Metals analysis on samples from this project is nearing completion but evaluation of the data remains to be completed. This project is a collaborative effort between WMRC, the Department of Natural Resources, and the City of Chicago Department of Environment.
The work in the Lake Calumet area also involves the establishment of an Ecotoxicological Roundtable. WMRC personnel have been involved with the City of Chicago in planning and participating in these workshops.
The Ford Motor Company is building a "supplier park" in the Lake Calumet area. WMRC is working with Ford suppliers to design and implement the most environmentally friendly technologies and practices into the new facilities. WMRC is also working with the suppliers to examine waste savings opportunities.
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