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EPA presents Success Story Award to Muskegon community organizations for Ruddiman Creek project

Release Date: 11/21/2006
Contact Information: Karen Thompson, (312) 353-8547, thompson.karen@epa.gov

CHICAGO (Nov. 21, 2006) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock presented a Success Story Award to Muskegon, Mich., community organizations for their involvement in a the recently completed Great Lakes Legacy Act sediment cleanup of Ruddiman Creek.

Team members from Muskegon Lake Public Advisory Committee and the Ruddiman Creek Task Force accepted plaques at the 2006 State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) awards dinner in Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 1. Other Ruddiman Creek awardees will receive plaques from Marc Tuchman of the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office at a ceremony Nov. 27 at the Muskegon Lake Public Advisory Committee meeting. They include: the city of Muskegon, Illinois/Indiana Sea Grant, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality-Water Bureau, Grand Valley State University-Annis Water Resources Institute and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act Ruddiman Creek and Pond sediment cleanup in the Muskegon Lake Area of Concern began years ago with a grassroots community effort to address contamination in Lake Michigan that was harming recreation and development. The partners worked with state and federal agencies to plan and fund the sediment cleanup. Completion of the project is an important step toward the removal of the Muskegon Lake Area of Concern from the list of Great Lakes impaired sites.

The SOLEC Success Story Awards are presented every two years to groups in government, industry, the not-for-profit and non-government environmental sectors and tribes that exemplify a strong commitment to improving the environment of the Great Lakes basin. Criteria for the award include strong partnerships, broad community involvement and demonstrated success.

The Ruddiman Creek project is one of seven award recipients for 2006. Other Michigan Success Story Award winners are Earth Keepers in the Upper Peninsula and the Pulp and Paper Environmental Council.