Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
Volume 11, Number 2 • Spring 2003
Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat NewsThe Newsletter of the Great Lakes
|
|
By: Susan Smith
Recently, US EPA and Environment Canada issued a news release announcing that levels of the most critical and persistent pollutants around the Great Lakes continue to fall. According to the agencies' 2002 Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy Progress Report, these reductions are part of a downward trend in toxic substances in the Great Lakes over the last 15 years. On the US side, mercury releases have been reduced by 40 percent since 1990; dioxin releases have dropped 92 percent since the 1980s; hexachlorobenzene emissions fell 75 percent; and benzo (a) pyrene went down 25 percent.
According to the report, success in reducing these pollutants has been due to a combination of stronger regulations and voluntary actions. Some of the voluntary projects undertaken in 2002 were:
While voluntary reductions are welcome, enforceable regulations remain extremely important to continued reductions.
The Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy is an agreement between Canada and the United States to reduce or eliminate persistent, bioaccumulative toxic substances from the the Great Lakes basin. Environment Canada, EPA, tribes, First Nations and other government, public and private partners work together toward that goal. 2002 marks the halfway point in the 10-year timeline of the strategy, which was established in 1997.
Level 1, or priority, substances identified by the strategy are mercury, PCBs, dioxins/furans, hexachlorobenzene, benzo(a)pyrene, octachlorostyrene, alkyl lead, aldrin, dieldrin, mirex, chlordane, toxaphene and DDT. The report is available on www.binational.net.
Pennsylvania Governor-elect Edward G. Rendell turned to a highly regarded veteran of government and public service to head the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Kathleen McGinty, the former senior White House aide is Rendell’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. Kathleen McGinty’s credentials include a stint as Director of the White House Office on Environmental Policy before being appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to Chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality.Until June of 2001, McGinty served as Counselor to former Vice President Al Gore. Previously, she worked for then-Senator Gore as his Senior Legislative Assistant for Energy and Environmental Policy. http://www.rendelltransition. state.pa.us/dep118.htm
May 2003 is designated as Watershed Awareness Month in Pennsylvania, featuring the theme “Take a Walk in Your Watershed!” Scheduled events will promote the importance of watersheds at the grassroots and community levels and encourage people to organize and conduct watershed education and awareness activities.
Several activities are being planned for Watershed Awareness Month including a kick-off educational event at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg on May 1. The event is open to the public and will feature interactive displays, special presentations, and networking opportunities.
To focus on Watershed Awareness Month, the Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force group has planned the first “Bike Around the Bay” event on May 17 in Erie, PA. Participants will bike along Lake Erie and the Presque Isle Bay, biking 10, 25 or 50 mile routes. Event displays will focus on the Lake Erie watershed and include watershed related games and activities conducted by the Pennsylvania Lake Erie Watershed Association (PLEWA) and JrPLEWA. Contact: 814-899-2572.
Annette Marshall, OSB |