Lake Ontario Basin Update
Giving Meaning To Industrial Pollution Laws
In 1961, speaking about civil liberties,
United States Attorney General Robert
Kennedy said that high-minded laws
and high-sounding rhetoric were
meaningless unless people breathe
meaning and force into them.
In 2005, thinking about the environment,
his words still ring true. In the
last thirty-five years, a generation of activists has built a movement
by identifying gaps in environmental protection and lobbying
for new law and policy.
Their hard works – and frequent
successes – have paved the way for a
new generation of environmentalists:
enforcers. Powerful tools like
the Clean Water Act and the Ontario
Water Resources Act, won by the
first wave of environmentalists, now
need vigilant citizens to push for the
enforcement of them.
In Ontario, one of the most
ambitious efforts to curtail
industrial pollution is the
Municipal/Industrial Strategy for
Abatement (MISA). “MISA” is a dispassionate
sounding name for a
program that requires strict
monitoring at industrialfacilities
and mandatory reporting to the
public. Through MISA, we know who
is dumping what into our waterways and every Ontario citizen
has the legal ability to reign in polluters.
The Ontario government introduced the MISA rules between
1993 and 1995.Their goal is the virtual elimination of persistent
toxic substances in the nine major industrial sectors in
Ontario, including Iron and Steel Manufacturing.
Ten years have passed since MISA rules were introduced.
The reporting structure is in place. Now it is time to start
tightening the noose on pollution.
In a study conducted by law students in 2004-2005, Lake
Ontario Waterkeeper discovered that the MISA rules for steel
plants granted four of the province’s large polluters permits to
dump a combined total of up to
87.4 kg – almost 200 lbs – of lead
into the Great Lakes in one day. Two
of the plants are located in the same
place – Hamilton Harbour, at the
west end of Lake Ontario.
The permits are unseemly. Lead is
widely considered one of the most
toxic substances we can release into
the environment. It is a probable
human carcinogen that can result in
developmental and reproductive
problems in humans. There is no
known “safe” level of exposure to
lead.
After ten years, Waterkeeper thinks
MISA can do better.We responded to
the permits by filing a legal brief
with the Ontario government, challenging
them to update the MISA rules and move closer to the
goal of virtual elimination.
Our challenge is just the tip of the iceberg. Using the MISA
rules, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper can protect our lake by forcing
every major industrial facility in the basin to start using the
best treatment technology possible.
MISA, like the Clean Water Act, the Ontario Water Resources
Act, and the environmental rules still being drafted, is a tool. It
is up to us – as Robert Kennedy reminds us – to wield them.
Disclaimer:
The interpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, the C.S. Mott Foundation, subscribers, donors, or any organization mentioned in this publication.
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