Phase III GIS-based Sediment Quality Database for the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC)—Minnesota Focus: Addendum to the Phase II Help Section for Database Users

The lower St. Louis River, including the Duluth-Superior Harbor, provides an important coastal resource to western Lake Superior. In particular, this transboundary waterway provides critical habitat to invertebrate, fish, and waterfowl species and also provides an economic venue for Great Lakes shipping and business (Figure 1). Contaminated sediments have contributed to several use impairments in the lower St. Louis River and were a factor in the International Joint Commission's (IJC) decision to designate the lower St. Louis River as one of 43 Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the Great Lakes basin (IJC 1989). Consequently, a number of entities have conducted contaminated sediment and fish tissue studies in the lower St. Louis River AOC since 1990 to delineate the extent and magnitude of contaminants of potential concern and to assess the potential for ecological effects (Figure 2). Sediment quality issues in the Lower St. Louis River AOC are of interest to Minnesota and Wisconsin state and local agencies, as well as the federal government, tribal groups, responsible parties, and other concerned stakeholders.