08/12/2020- After 30 years of clean-up efforts, the Lower Menominee River has officially been removed from the list of the most polluted locations on the Great Lakes- an accomplishment that was highlighted in Marinette yesterday. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler visited Marinette to announce the removal of the river from the Great Lakes Area of Concern listing and says the habitat restoration and sediment remediation efforts at the site have returned the river to a vibrant and healthy ecosystem for wildlife and the public. The work was paid for through tens of millions of dollars in federal funding plus additional money contributed by the State of Wisconsin and City of Marinette. Though Wheeler’s focus Tuesday was on industry pollution from coal tar, paint sludge, and arsenic, numerous residents showed up to call for more to be done at the federal level about PFAS contamination, including the development of regulations for the compound across a variety of media.