The 2023 State of the Strait Report, “The Contaminated Sediment Remediation Challenge: Complicated Problems that Require Interdisciplinary and Creative Solutions,” is now available. The report calls for “urgency” in cleaning up toxic sediment on the bottom of the Detroit River. Remediation is needed on the Detroit side, but not on the Canadian side, according to the report.

Jon Allan, senior academic and research program officer at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) co-authored the report with Casey Godwin, assistant research scientist at the Center for Cooperative Great Lakes Research at SEAS. Godwin also was the co-chair of the State of the Strait Conference Steering Committee.

The State of the Strait is a binational (Canada-United States) collaboration that hosts a meeting every two years to bring together government managers, researchers, students, environmental and conservation organizations, and concerned citizens. Participants work to understand historical ecosystem conditions and assess current ecosystem status to achieve a better future for the Detroit River and western Lake Erie.

Read the full report.