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In 1909, as part of an international effort to protect and
manage the Great Lakes, the United States and Canada formed the
Boundary Waters Treaty and created the International Joint
Commission. The Commission is comprised of representatives for
each of the two countries including individuals from surrounding
states, tribes, and federal agencies. As increased use and
environmental pressures continued throughout the 1900’s the
Commission strengthened the Treaty with the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreements of 1972, 1978, and later revised in
1983. With increased concern about protection of the Great
Lakes the Commission’s Water Quality Board identified 43 sites,
as of 1985, that may be negatively impacting the five Great
Lakes. These sites were identified as Areas of Concern and
include rivers, lakes, and bays that pose the greatest threat to
the overall health of the Great Lakes.
Within Michigan, State agencies and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency classified 14 Areas of Concern; one of those
being White Lake. In 1987 the Water Quality Agreement was again
reorganized to include guidelines for preparing locally based
plans. These plans, known as Remedial Action Plans, are used to
restore water quality at Areas of Concern sites and eliminate
negative impacts to the Great Lakes.
White Lake's
Area of Concern Designation
Sites recognized
as Areas Of Concern contain degraded water quality conditions
that do not allow the water body to be used for designated
purposes. These criteria are known as Beneficial Use
Impairments and reflect the ecological health of the system.
The designation and use for lakes, rivers, and streams are
determined by state and federal programs that meet specific
criteria. White Lake was designated as an Area of Concern
because of severe pollution harming biological life including
fish and wildlife, and preventing residents from using water for
drinking, recreation, or other purposes. This original
designation was due to contaminated groundwater migrating into
the lake from the Occidental Chemical Corporation site.
However, White Lake continues to be designated as an Area Of
Concern because of other contaminated sites surrounding the lake
and restrictions of water use.
Because of White Lake’s designation, the Remedial
Action Plan is being used as a guideline to restore and protect
White Lake, Lake Michigan, and the Great Lakes. This plan is
locally based and designates environmental problems, provides
information concerning those original problems, establishes
goals for water quality and water use, and provides solutions
for restoring White Lake. The development of the White Lake
Plan continues to change and may yet expand with further studies
revealing problems that extend the scope of original concerns.
The final goal of the Plan is to confirm that each of the
beneficial uses have been restored. Secondarily, it will
provide documentation to the Commission’s Water Quality Board
for removal of White Lake as an Area of Concern.
In preparing the 2002 Update, the Public Advisory
Council continues to believe that focusing on impairments may be
too rigid a structure for public involvement. Without public
involvement the Remedial Action Plan will not gain support, and
fail to meet the needs of the White Lake Area of Concern. This
publication uses more common and recognizable terms to address
many of the complicated issues underlying specific impairments
and defines impairments utilizing a wider scope to increase
public understanding and involvement. Thus, the 2002 Update
has evolved into the
White Lake
Community Action Plan.
Addressing the Issues
The White Lake Public Advisory Council has
prepared the White Lake Community Action Plan as the
Remedial Action Plan Update for 2002 in order to address many of
the complicated issues underlying specific impairments.
Overall, this publication looks to document: remaining pollution
sources; evaluate restoration; measure/assess successes; and
establish targets and actions to improve and protect White
Lake. This document will guide future planning in the White
Lake area and within the White River Watershed. If relevant
planning is not implemented, it is feared that continued
development will have an overwhelming negative impact on the
system in spite of the restoration of sediments taking place.
White Lake is a community resource that is
beginning to recover from years of neglect and under
appreciation. In the past, major efforts have been made to
increase the quality of the system by focusing on major points
of contamination within the immediate drainage area of White
Lake. In 1985, when White Lake was first listed as an Area of
Concern for the Great Lakes, the emphasis for remediation looked
at determining groundwater pollution sources and sediment
contamination. Since that time, many advances have been made
toward restoring the lake, including remediation and containment
of sites that were adversely impacting groundwater. The
overall impact to the White Lake system from these sites is
decreasing, but some threats still remain. The greatest threats
existing for White Lake presently include sediment
contamination, excessive nutrient inputs, changes in land use,
and loss of aquatic and terrestrial habitat . These threats
directly relate to the Beneficial Use Impairments listed for
White Lake and must be addressed in order for this tremendous
resource to remain a valued asset to the community.
Sediment Contamination
Sediment contamination has been the focus for
most restoration efforts within White Lake and considerable time
and effort has been made to eliminate the associated impacts
affecting many of the Beneficial Use Impairments. In 2002, a
long term effort to locate, reduce, and remove two contamination
“hot spots” within the sediment of White Lake was initiated.
One of the hot spots was near the Occidental discharge pipe and
the other in Tannery Bay at the former Whitehall Leather
Company. Following the clean-up of these two sites, three areas
with high contaminant concentrations remain. If left as is,
these three sites may continue to negatively impact the lake and
groundwater. Unfortunately, contamination is wide spread
throughout the entire system and even with the remediation
sediment contamination will remain. Short of dredging the
entire bottom of White Lake, the ecological health of the system
will require the slow recovery through natural processes and
time.
Nutrient Inputs
Nutrient inputs to White Lake have changed
considerably throughout the history of the White Lake
Community. Most notably was a dramatic decrease in associated
discharges into White Lake following the closing of municipal
sewage treatment facilities and constructing a local Muskegon
County Treatment facility in the early 1970’s for the White Lake
area. Subsequent testing has shown increases in water quality
from reduced nutrient discharge. Cultural eutrophication
appears to have slowed its pace, yet many nutrient sources need
to be addressed to improve water quality within White Lake.
A major source for nutrients to White Lake
continues to be the White River Watershed which contributes
approximately 95% of the water to the system. Because of this,
the river system may be the major contributor for nutrients and
sediment. White Lake’s nutrient sources need to be evaluated
and determined to address these issues, whether individually, or
within the larger watershed.
Changes in Land Use
The White Lake community is experiencing the same
sprawl as neighboring communities, as new development continues
to grow from the north side of Muskegon. Changes in the
landscape continue throughout the watershed regardless of the
White River’s designation as a “Natural River” and its
associated zoning regulations and restrictions. The landscape
changes are impacting the ecological health of the system by
altering natural processes throughout the watershed.
Loss of Habitat
Another influence of development around White
Lake is the loss of habitat, as the shoreline is quickly
becoming encircled by residential development or altered for
commercial and recreational use. Habitat loss is a major
concern as extensive shoreline development in recent years has
led to the elimination of riparian and submergent plants, while
isolating upland habitats that still remain. People are
building larger homes in smaller spaces along steep hillsides,
in ravines, and altering unique habitats like wetlands.
Overall, development is eliminating important breeding areas and
habitat corridors for fish and wildlife.
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