Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 14, Number 5 • Winter 2006
Lake Superior
Basin Update
Pressure Builds to Clean-up Sewage in the St. Mary’s River
By Brian Christie, Lake Superior Conservancy and Watershed Council
In a recent issue of G.L.A.N. News (Vol. 14
Issue 3) writer Joanie McGuffin reported
ongoing concerns with pollution in the
St. Mary’s River in the vicinity of Sault
Ontario’s east-end sewage treatment
plant. Residents of Sugar Island
Michigan living immediately opposite
the plant, continued through the
summer to contend with beach closings
and no body contact orders issued by the Chippewa County Board
of Health due to water-born health hazards including coliform
and E. coli counts beyond the capacity of instruments to measure,
and offensive materials that accumulated
on their beaches.
Sugar Island residents complained about
the presence of “pop-ups” in the river,
chunks of sediment that break loose due to
gaseous activity, suggesting this material
might in fact be raw sewage released by the
50 year old primary level sewage treatment
plant. Some 25 years ago the International
Joint Commission (IJC) recognized the St.
Mary’s River as an environmental “hotspot”
and among other things recommended that
the east-end plant be upgraded to provide
secondary level treatment.
For 16 years the Binational Public Advisory
Committee for the St. Mary’s River Remedial
Action Plan (BPAC) had highlighted the issue
of contaminated sediments and defined
them as “areas of concern” designated for
clean-up. Indeed, in 1992 the Canadian and
Ontario governments had committed to
taking the lead in this clean-up effort.
Sugar Island residents launched a petition
writing campaign aided by the BPAC to
bring their concerns directly to area
politicians. Some Island residents collected
water samples for analysis. The Chippewa
County Department of Health was
persuaded to undertake more comprehensive
and strategic water testing. Lake
Superior State University students were engaged to conduct the
field work. Dr. Joan Rose of Michigan State University, a
world-renowned water expert and chair of the U.S. EPA Science
Advisory Board – Drinking Water Committee was requested to
review the results.
Water samples were taken from the river above and below the
east-end sewage treatment plant on both sides of the river and
analyized for microbiological qualities. Preliminary findings were
released in July. The analysis found evidence of fecal bacteria,
viruses and parasites coming from the Ontario outfall pipe and
described the water quality at that same “boil site” as being
inferior when compared to the U.S. “boil site.” During field work
Chippewa County Health Department staff noted a lot of floating
solids and a lot of murky water emanating from the old outfall
pipe. However, the floating solids were not sampled or analyzed.
This August a 77 million dollar state-of-the-art secondary-level
treatment plant came on line at the east-end
plant site. That same month a small group of
Sugar Island residents applied more pressure
by filing a civil suit against the Public Utilities
Commission in Sault Ontario. The PUC
oversees operation of the city’s sewage and
water treatment infrastructure. The suit
alleged that the PUC was responsible for
damages to properties on Sugar Island caused
by waste materials from the east-end sewage
treatment plant.
Throughout the summer a flurry of public
meetings and private consultations were
organized by local Canadian and U.S federal
politicians and state representative.
Excursions on the river provided elected
officials with a close-up view of the situation.
Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak and Sault
Ste. Marie Member of Parliament Tony Martin
wrote letters of concern to the Canadian
Minister of the Environment. They also wrote
letters to the U.S. Secretary of State and
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs to
highlight the significance of this international
situation. A “diplomatic note of concern” was
sent from the State Department in
Washington to Ottawa.
The IJC wrote to Environment Canada
requesting that they more closely monitor
discharge from Sault Ontario’s east-end
treatment plant. State Representative Gary
McDowell engaged in correspondence with Sault Ste. Marie
Mayor John Rowswell over the city’s dismissal of Dr. Rose’s preliminary
findings and continued refusal to take responsibility.
Representative McDowell even offered to provide Michigan engineers to supervise operation of the new sewage treatment
plant, if that would help. Environment Canada put a bureaucrat
in Toronto on the file as did the EPA in Chicago. Out of all this
activity came a protocol which calls for the various levels of
government and local health agencies to share information to
facilitate investigation of complaints, provide for better
monitoring of the St. Mary’s River and development of
short-term and long-term solutions to the problem.
On November 8th a treaty was signed between the Sault Tribe of
Chippewa Indians, Garden River First Nation, Bay Mills Indian
Community, and Batchewana First Nation expressing their
concerns and hopes regarding the preservation, protection and
enhancement of the waters of the St Mary’s River. The treaty
unites the efforts and influence of the four tribal nations bordering
the St. Mary’s River to persuade governments to rehabilitate
the waters and ecosystems so they are once again safe for human
use. Signers of the treaty were wise enough not to lay-blame or
point fingers, and remained optimistic. Garden River Chief, Lyle
Sayers put it succinctly, “It’s not going to get any better if they
don’t fix the problem.”
Notwithstanding the bubbling sewage issue, other cleanup
activities were underway on the river. Tannery Bay dredging
moved ahead as did the clean-up of coal dust and tar laden
sediment at Algoma Steel’s docking facilities. Engineering studies
commenced to determine the nature and extent of contaminated
sediments in two hot spots including parts of the river
adjacent and downstream from the east-end sewage treatment
plant. Will the river again be safe for human contact? There
appears to reason for hope.
For more information:
Brian Christie, Lake Superior Conservancy and Watershed Council
285 Wilson Street • Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6B 2K6
PH: 705 946-0044 • Fax: 705 946-4980
E-mail: info.lscwc@ontera.net.
|
