St. Lawrence River AOC at Massena/Akwesasne
The St Lawrence River at Massena Area of Concern (AOC) includes two areas of interest for New York State. The first is the New York State waters of the St. Lawrence River upstream of the Canadian boundary to the Massena public water supply intake, the Grasse River from the mouth upstream to the breached dam in the village of Massena, the Raquette River from the mouth upstream to the NYS route 420 bridge, and the St. Regis River from the mouth upstream to the dam at Hogansburg.
The second area of special interest includes the non-U.S. waters from the Moses-Saunders Power Dam to the eastern outlet of Lake St. Francis, including provinces of Ontario, Quebec in Canada and St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Territory.
Restoring the Massena/Akwesasne Area of Concern
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement outlines the process for restoring all Great Lakes Areas of Concern. The process involves developing a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) to address Beneficial Use Impairments in each AOC. A Remedial Advisory Committee (RAC) was established for each AOC to assist the restoration process.
Massena Remedial Action Plan
All Areas of Concern have a Remedial Action Plan that identifies specific problems and outlines the work needed to restore, or delist, the AOC. The Department of Environmental Conservation takes the lead in developing and implementing the Massena AOC Remedial Action Plan.
Remedial Action Plans are developed in three stages:
- Stage I identifies specific problems, called Beneficial Use Impairments, and sources of pollution. The Massena Stage I RAP was completed in November 1990, and is available for download below.
- Stage II lays out proposed restoration actions and a plan for implementing those actions. The Stage II RAP was completed by the RAC in August 1991, and is available for download below. Additional Stage II RAP status reports are available below as well.
- Stage II RAP, August 1991 (PDF, 2.9 MB)
- Stage II RAP Addendum, 2012 (PDF, 74 KB)
- August 1992 Status (PDF, 2.5 MB)
- April 1995 Status (PDF, 487 KB)
- June 1996 Status (PDF, 1.2 MB)
- May 2000 Status (PDF, 2.2 MB)
- May 2003 Status (PDF, 1.3 MB)
- October 2006 Status (PDF, 962 KB)
- April 2009 Status (PDF, 61 KB)
- April 2013 Status (PDF, 72 KB)
- September 2013 Status (PDF, 71 KB)
- May 2014 Status (PDF, 72 KB)
- Stage III provides documentation that all Beneficial Use Impairments in an AOC have been addressed and that the AOC is ready to be delisted. Currently the RAC is actively involved in determining if the Massena area cleanup efforts have improved the local ecosystem to a point where the specific identified BUIs can be called restored.
| BUI | 2014 Status |
|---|---|
| Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption | Impaired |
| Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations | Unknown / Further Assessment Needed |
| Fish Tumors or Other Deformities | Unknown / Further Assessment Needed |
| Bird / Animal Deformities or Reproductive Problems | Unknown / Further Assessment Needed |
| Degradation of Benthos (benthos is the river bottom or lake bed environment, including substrate/sediment and organisms) | Unknown / Further Assessment Needed |
| Degradation of Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Populations | Delisting Document completed |
| Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat | Impaired |
Massena Area Cleanup Efforts
Much has been done since 1987 to clean up the identified problems and restore water quality:
- municipal wastewater systems upgraded
- new agriculture techniques for resource management implemented
- permitted discharges to water and air reduced through government regulations
- industrial manufacturing and disposal procedures improved
- lagoons, sludge and other land-based waste sites identified, tested, monitored, and in many cases cleaned up or closed
- contaminated sediments in streams and rivers located, and plans for removal or treatment completed or currently under consideration
- targeted cleanup activities have been completed by local industries, including Alcoa and General Motors
Massena AOC RAP Coordinator
Christopher Fidler
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Division of Water
Massena AOC Coordinator
317 Washington St.
Watertown, NY 13601-3787
Phone: (315) 785-2262
