Volume 21, Issue 3, 1996 November/December 1996

While cutbacks in environmental protection and restoration programs clearly affect Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) and Lakewide Management Plans (LaMPs), the success and timeline of these efforts are affected by cuts to science and research programs as well. This is because scientific knowledge provides the foundation for the decisionmaking process for RAPs and LaMPs.

One example is the use of mass balance and load reduction models to select remedial options. Where does one most effectively apply limited cleanup resources to elminate, for example, fish consumption advisories? Mass balance models are used to identify how much mass of contaminant must be removed from the system and load reduction models give the most expedient means to accomplish this removal. The alternative to using information to select from among different scenarios is to use trial and error. Yet this cumbersome approach would be the only option if the budget cuts projected in November 1995 had become reality. Almost every program surveyed that conducted work in mass balance and load reduction modeling had already been cut or expected to be cut in the near future.

Other cleanup actions that have been directly supported by research include:

• Leveraging public and private funds to restore habitat in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario
• Relocating drinking water intakes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to reduce the risk of cryptosporidium contamination
• Reducing costs for sediment remediation in Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Optimizing sewage treatment expenditures in Collingwood Harbour, Ontario
• Restoring spawning conditions for walleye and brook trout in Nipigon River, Ontario
• Reaching agreement with USS-KOBE Steel Company to remove sediments in the Black River (Ohio)
• Supporting the development of the Lake Michigan LaMP with the Lake Michigan Mass Balance Study
• Restoring beneficial uses in the Bay of Quinte, Ontario
• "Surgically" dredging contaminants in the Buffalo River, New York.

In addition to these examples, at least half of the RAPs and LaMPs have successful actions that are directly linked to research. Yet governmental budget cuts have resulted in the "uncoupling" of research from RAPs and LaMPs as evidenced by research projects that have completed project deadlines, but no end-users. One example is the Detroit River RAP, where scientists from the University of Windsor and other institutions study degraded areas of the river, but the results of their work languish in reports. The situation in the more successful RAPs often stands in marked contrast in that researchers have been directly involved in the utilization of their work.

For more information, contact David Dolan or John Hartig, International Joint Commission, Great Lakes Regional Office at (313)226-2170 or (519)257-6700; fax (519)257-6740.

Revised: 14 January 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle, mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net

URL: www.ijc.org/rel/focus/v21i3/col02.html