International Joint Commission
Autumn 2000
Volume 25, Issue 3
IJC Advises Governments That Greater Efforts Are Needed or Great Lakes
Agreement May Fail
In 1978, the United States and Canadian governments made an historic commitment
to restoring the water quality of the Great Lakes. The
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
calls for restorating and maintaining the integrity of the waters of the Great
Lakes basin ecosystem. The IJC is tasked with assessing the governments'
progress toward this goal every two years.
In its
Tenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality
released in July, the IJC concludes that it is clear that unless the United
States and Canadian governments take the actions the Commission now recommends,
they will fail to achieve the purpose they set for themselves in 1978.
The cleanup of contaminated sediment, human health concerns from eating
contaminated Great Lakes fish, air deposition of persistent toxic substances,
urban land use, and monitoring and information needs are cited as major
concerns in the new report. The IJC feels that the power of the vision captured
in the Agreement has not been reflected in the two governments' implementation
efforts. Although progress has been made, governments have not committed
adequate funding or, more importantly, taken the decisive actions required to
ensure that the citizens of both countries can safely swim in, drink water and
eat fish from the Great Lakes.
The IJC makes direct recommendations regarding the following concerns:
Contaminated Sediment
Persistent toxic substances found in contaminated sediment are the dominant
issue in Areas of Concern (AOCs). Less than 2.4 percent of known contaminated
sediment by volume in the U.S. AOCs has been remediated, while in Canada, the
amount is only 0.2 percent. Sediment remediation is a large scale, high cost
problem throughout the Great Lakes basin. Federal, provincial and state
governments should immediately develop a comprehensive program, which sets
priorities and timetables and provides the resources for completion of
remediation in each AOC.
Contaminated Sport Fish
The IJC has some concerns about the injury to human health from exposures to
contaminants in Great Lakes fish. It also views fish consumption advisories as
only an interim solution and one that could be more effective. The IJC
recommends that provincial and state governments require that sport fish
consumption advisories state plainly that eating certain Great Lakes sport fish
may lead to birth anomalies and other serious health problems for children and
women of child-bearing age. These advisories need to be addressed and
distributed directly to women, and they need to clearly identify fish to be
totally avoided in the light of the precautionary approach.
Airborne Toxic Substances
The federal governments should identify both in-basin and out-of-basin sources
of atmospheric deposition of persistent toxic substances, and use this
information to formulate and implement appropriate prevention and control
measures. The Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy must be strengthened to
address fully the issue of airborne toxic substances.
Urbanization
The impervious surfaces of cities, towns and suburbs increase runoff, which can
contain nutrients, pathogens, sediment, industrial chemicals and pesticides,
into waterways. The increased runoff can exacerbate erosion and flooding and
also threaten groundwater. Although measures have been taken in specific
locations, governments at all levels must give adequate attention to the issue
of urban sprawl.
Alien Invasive Species
These species, such as zebra mussels, are most often introduced through the
release of ballast water from ships. The federal governments should adopt and
implement a binational ballast water research strategy, and ask the IJC to
develop binational standards for discharges of ballast water and the most
appropriate methods for implementing those standards.
Monitoring and Information Management
Without data and information from a full range of sustained and consistent
environmental monitoring and surveillance programs, the governments, the public
and the IJC are not in a position to identify issues that threaten human and
ecosystem health, to choose effective solutions, and to assess whether progress
toward restoration and protection is being achieved. Federal, provincial and
state governments should develop and maintain the full range of coordinated
monitoring and surveillance programs necessary to enable them to fulfill their
commitments under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and adopt a
binational information policy to support implementation of the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement.
The
Tenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality
is available at
www.ijc.org
or from any IJC office.
Join Us in Montreal!
The IJC cordially invites you to participate in our 2001 Great Lakes Water
Quality Forum to take place in Montréal, Quebec, September 14-15, 2001.
This biennial Forum is truly a forum for the Great Lakes and the people who
care about their future. Our goal is to provide a format that energizes the
Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River community groups to work in partnership with
the IJC and governments at all levels to carry out the purposes of the Great
Lakes Water Quality Agreement. It is a forum for the people of the basin to
come together and celebrate progress, assess and question current action,
discuss new and emerging issues regarding the cleanup and restoration of the
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River System, and share the successes and mutually
tackle the road blocks toward restoration of Areas of Concern.
The mighty St. Lawrence
The IJC encourages your input and participation during the planning of the
forum. We want our forum to include a wide spectrum of organizations and
institutions that can share knowledge with and among participants. We would be
very interested in learning about innovative approaches and successful efforts
by citizen groups, industry, educators, native Americans/First Nations, labor,
governments at all levels and others to restore and maintain the integrity of
the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. If your organization would like to be
involved, or if you know of any such efforts, please contact the IJC's Great
Lakes Regional Office at 519-257-6734 in Canada or at 313-226-2170 ext. 6734 in
the United States.
IJC Receives U.S. Funding for Water Levels Study
In July the IJC received initial funding to study water levels and flows in
Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The $2.15 million supplemental
appropriation provides the U.S. share for the first year of the five-year
study. The Canadian Section of the IJC is currently seeking funding from the
Canadian Government.
The study will review the criteria for regulating Lake Ontario outflows set by
the IJC in 1956 in its Orders of Approval for the hydro-electric project that
spans the St. Lawrence River at Massena, New York and Cornwall, Ontario. Review
of the criteria has become increasingly urgent because some interests are
dissatisfied with the working of the system and because environmental concerns
and climate change issues have not been addressed. However, the IJC recognizes
that the study may not resolve all the issues or result in significant
additional benefits for any interest group.
Initial efforts will focus on gathering data needed for technical analyses and
on involving the public in the study.
IJC Combines its Boards within Watersheds
For many years the IJC has been encouraging the use of ecosystem approaches for
dealing with issues along the U.S.-Canadian border. For its own part, the IJC
and its many advisory boards and boards of control have been exploring
different ways of sharing information, involving the public and working
together on issues of common concern.
One approach the IJC has been exploring recently is combining its existing
boards that operate within the same watershed so that water quality, water
quantity and aquatic ecosystem health issues might be addressed in a more
integrated fashion. To date the IJC has combined its boards in the St. Croix,
Red and Souris river basins. There is also some consideration being given to
combining its two boards in the Rainy Lake-Rainy River watershed.
In the St. Croix River basin the Board of Control and the Pollution Advisory
Board have been working in an increasingly cooperative fashion for several
years. Both boards were recently involved in an assessment of the need to
modify the IJC's St. Croix Orders of Approval in response to concerns raised by
local residents. The two boards also regularly hold joint annual public
meetings. The union of these two boards will provide the IJC with a more
integrated perspective on issues in the basin that impact the shared boundary
water resource.
The Woodland dam on the St. Croix river
The IJC has also been assigned several responsibilities by the governments in
the Souris River and Red River basins. It has been asked to investigate and
report on a variety of water quantity issues such as water needs and uses and
the potential for projects in transboundary streams that would benefit both
countries. In the Souris River basin, the IJC oversees the apportionment of
water as approved by the Canadian and U.S. governments. In the Red River basin,
the IJC monitors water quality at the border and recommends new water quality
objectives as appropriate. To encourage a more integrated basin wide
perspective, the IJC has refocused these responsibilities along basin lines and
has established one advisory board in each basin, the International Souris
River Board and the International Red River Board. The boards will continue to
provide advice to the IJC on issues related to the transboundary environment.
As this issue of Focus is being prepared, the IJC is considering directives for
these institutions that will encompass all of the current responsibilities of
the former boards and ensure a more integrated approach to undertaking its
responsibilities in these river basins. Watch for additional information on the
IJC's web site.
2001 U.S. EPA Environmental Education Grants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces its 2001 round of grants to
be awarded under the National Environmental Education Act. The grants support
environmental education projects that enhance the public's awareness, knowledge
and skills to make informed decisions that affect environmental quality. Since
1992, EPA has received between $2 and $3 million in grant funding per year and
has awarded about 1,700 grants. Grants of $25,000 or less are awarded in EPA's
ten regional offices, and grants of more than $25,000 are awarded at EPA
Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Applications are due in mid-November 2000.
Specific information about the application process and award history can be
obtained on the Internet at
www.epa.gov/enviroed
or by contacting Jospehine Lageda at (212) 637-3674 or by email at
ippolito.teresa@epa.gov
.
People
IJC welcomes the recent appointments
to its boards:
Michael Brauer
Associate Professor, School of Occupational and Environmental
Hygiene and Department of Medicine Respiratory Division
at the University of British Columbia
International Air Quality Advisory Board
Lynn Cleary
Director, Information Management and Dissemination Section
Environment Canada, Centre Saint-Laurent
Council of Great Lakes Research Managers
And we thank those who have finished their service
Charlotte Bastien
Director, Information Management and Dissemination Section
Environment Canada, Centre Saint-Laurent
Council of Great Lakes Research Managers
Hot Off the Press
For the full text of IJC reports, click on the publications button at
www.ijc.org
or go to the specific web site below. Limited numbers of hard copies are also
available from the IJC at (519)257-6734 in Canada, (313)226-2170 ext. 6734 in
the United States, and
commission@windsor.ijc.org
by email.
IJC's
Tenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality
cites the cleanup of contaminated sediment, human health concerns from eating
contaminated Great Lakes fish, air deposition of persistent toxic substances,
urban land use, and monitoring and information needs as major concerns in the
new report.
www.ijc.org/php/publications/html/10br/en/indexen.html
.
IJC 1999 Great Lakes Water Quality Forum Transcripts from the September 24-26
meeting held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are available online. In particular, we
draw your attention to the transcript of the Municipal Caucus -
Land Management: A Tool to Protect the Great Lakes.
www.ijc.org/php/publications/html/postprog.html
What's Happening
Public meetings of the IJC and its boards:
September 26, 2000
Osoyoos Lake Board of Control
Public Meeting, Oroville, Washington
October 2, 2000
Kootenay Lake Board of Control
Public Meeting, Bonners Ferry, Idaho
October 4-5, 2000
Great Lakes Science Advisory Board
Workshop on Methodologies for Assessing
Community Health in AOC's, Windsor, Ontario
October 6, 2000
Great Lakes Science Advisory Board
Meeting, Windsor, Ontario
November 1-2, 2000
Great Lakes Water Quality Board
, Quebec City, Quebec
November 8-9, 2000
Second Delta/
International Air Quality Advisory Board
workshop on Atmospheric Modeling and Policy -- in conjunction with the Lake
Michigan Forum, St. Joseph, Michigan
November 29-30, 2000
Great Lakes Science Advisory Board
Meeting and Niagara River RAP Status Assessment, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Stay in Contact
The IJC is interested in your views on any of our activities. You may contact
us in the following ways:
Canadian
Section
United States
Section
Great Lakes Regional Office
Contacts
Murray Clamen
Secretary
Fabien Lengellé
Public Affairs
Gerald Galloway
Secretary
Frank Bevacqua
Public Affairs
Tom Behlen
Director
Jennifer Day
Public Affairs
Email
Commission@ottawa.ijc.org
Commission@washington.ijc.org
Commission@windsor.ijc.org
Mail
234 Laurier Avenue West
22nd Floor
Ottawa, ON
K1P 6K6
1250 23rd Street NW
Suite 100
Washington, DC 20440
100 Ouellette Avenue, 8th Floor
Windsor, ON
N9A 6T3
or
P.O. Box 32869
Detroit, MI 48232-2869
Fax
613.993.5583
202.736-9015
519.257-6740
Telephone
613.995.2984
202.736.9000
519.257.6700
or
313.226.2170
Home Page
www.ijc.org
Commissioners
Thomas Baldini,
U.S. Section Chair
Leonard Legault,
Canadian Section Chair
The International Joint Commission prevents and resolves disputes between the
United States of America and Canada under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty and
pursues the common good of both countries as an independent and objective
advisor to the two governments.
International Joint Commission
Autumn 2000
Volume 25, Issue 3
IJC Advises Governments That Greater Efforts Are Needed or Great Lakes Agreement May Fail
In 1978, the United States and Canadian governments made an historic commitment to restoring the water quality of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement calls for restorating and maintaining the integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. The IJC is tasked with assessing the governments' progress toward this goal every two years.
In its Tenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality released in July, the IJC concludes that it is clear that unless the United States and Canadian governments take the actions the Commission now recommends, they will fail to achieve the purpose they set for themselves in 1978.
The cleanup of contaminated sediment, human health concerns from eating contaminated Great Lakes fish, air deposition of persistent toxic substances, urban land use, and monitoring and information needs are cited as major concerns in the new report. The IJC feels that the power of the vision captured in the Agreement has not been reflected in the two governments' implementation efforts. Although progress has been made, governments have not committed adequate funding or, more importantly, taken the decisive actions required to ensure that the citizens of both countries can safely swim in, drink water and eat fish from the Great Lakes.
The IJC makes direct recommendations regarding the following concerns:
Contaminated Sediment
Persistent toxic substances found in contaminated sediment are the dominant issue in Areas of Concern (AOCs). Less than 2.4 percent of known contaminated sediment by volume in the U.S. AOCs has been remediated, while in Canada, the amount is only 0.2 percent. Sediment remediation is a large scale, high cost problem throughout the Great Lakes basin. Federal, provincial and state governments should immediately develop a comprehensive program, which sets priorities and timetables and provides the resources for completion of remediation in each AOC.
Contaminated Sport Fish
The IJC has some concerns about the injury to human health from exposures to contaminants in Great Lakes fish. It also views fish consumption advisories as only an interim solution and one that could be more effective. The IJC recommends that provincial and state governments require that sport fish consumption advisories state plainly that eating certain Great Lakes sport fish may lead to birth anomalies and other serious health problems for children and women of child-bearing age. These advisories need to be addressed and distributed directly to women, and they need to clearly identify fish to be totally avoided in the light of the precautionary approach.
Airborne Toxic Substances
The federal governments should identify both in-basin and out-of-basin sources of atmospheric deposition of persistent toxic substances, and use this information to formulate and implement appropriate prevention and control measures. The Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy must be strengthened to address fully the issue of airborne toxic substances.
Urbanization
The impervious surfaces of cities, towns and suburbs increase runoff, which can contain nutrients, pathogens, sediment, industrial chemicals and pesticides, into waterways. The increased runoff can exacerbate erosion and flooding and also threaten groundwater. Although measures have been taken in specific locations, governments at all levels must give adequate attention to the issue of urban sprawl.
Alien Invasive Species
These species, such as zebra mussels, are most often introduced through the release of ballast water from ships. The federal governments should adopt and implement a binational ballast water research strategy, and ask the IJC to develop binational standards for discharges of ballast water and the most appropriate methods for implementing those standards.
Monitoring and Information Management
Without data and information from a full range of sustained and consistent environmental monitoring and surveillance programs, the governments, the public and the IJC are not in a position to identify issues that threaten human and ecosystem health, to choose effective solutions, and to assess whether progress toward restoration and protection is being achieved. Federal, provincial and state governments should develop and maintain the full range of coordinated monitoring and surveillance programs necessary to enable them to fulfill their commitments under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and adopt a binational information policy to support implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
The Tenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality is available at www.ijc.org or from any IJC office.
Join Us in Montreal!
The IJC cordially invites you to participate in our 2001 Great Lakes Water Quality Forum to take place in Montréal, Quebec, September 14-15, 2001.
This biennial Forum is truly a forum for the Great Lakes and the people who care about their future. Our goal is to provide a format that energizes the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River community groups to work in partnership with the IJC and governments at all levels to carry out the purposes of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. It is a forum for the people of the basin to come together and celebrate progress, assess and question current action, discuss new and emerging issues regarding the cleanup and restoration of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River System, and share the successes and mutually tackle the road blocks toward restoration of Areas of Concern.
The mighty St. LawrenceThe IJC encourages your input and participation during the planning of the forum. We want our forum to include a wide spectrum of organizations and institutions that can share knowledge with and among participants. We would be very interested in learning about innovative approaches and successful efforts by citizen groups, industry, educators, native Americans/First Nations, labor, governments at all levels and others to restore and maintain the integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. If your organization would like to be involved, or if you know of any such efforts, please contact the IJC's Great Lakes Regional Office at 519-257-6734 in Canada or at 313-226-2170 ext. 6734 in the United States.
IJC Receives U.S. Funding for Water Levels Study
In July the IJC received initial funding to study water levels and flows in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The $2.15 million supplemental appropriation provides the U.S. share for the first year of the five-year study. The Canadian Section of the IJC is currently seeking funding from the Canadian Government.
The study will review the criteria for regulating Lake Ontario outflows set by the IJC in 1956 in its Orders of Approval for the hydro-electric project that spans the St. Lawrence River at Massena, New York and Cornwall, Ontario. Review of the criteria has become increasingly urgent because some interests are dissatisfied with the working of the system and because environmental concerns and climate change issues have not been addressed. However, the IJC recognizes that the study may not resolve all the issues or result in significant additional benefits for any interest group.
Initial efforts will focus on gathering data needed for technical analyses and on involving the public in the study.
IJC Combines its Boards within Watersheds
For many years the IJC has been encouraging the use of ecosystem approaches for dealing with issues along the U.S.-Canadian border. For its own part, the IJC and its many advisory boards and boards of control have been exploring different ways of sharing information, involving the public and working together on issues of common concern.
One approach the IJC has been exploring recently is combining its existing boards that operate within the same watershed so that water quality, water quantity and aquatic ecosystem health issues might be addressed in a more integrated fashion. To date the IJC has combined its boards in the St. Croix, Red and Souris river basins. There is also some consideration being given to combining its two boards in the Rainy Lake-Rainy River watershed.
In the St. Croix River basin the Board of Control and the Pollution Advisory Board have been working in an increasingly cooperative fashion for several years. Both boards were recently involved in an assessment of the need to modify the IJC's St. Croix Orders of Approval in response to concerns raised by local residents. The two boards also regularly hold joint annual public meetings. The union of these two boards will provide the IJC with a more integrated perspective on issues in the basin that impact the shared boundary water resource.
The Woodland dam on the St. Croix riverThe IJC has also been assigned several responsibilities by the governments in the Souris River and Red River basins. It has been asked to investigate and report on a variety of water quantity issues such as water needs and uses and the potential for projects in transboundary streams that would benefit both countries. In the Souris River basin, the IJC oversees the apportionment of water as approved by the Canadian and U.S. governments. In the Red River basin, the IJC monitors water quality at the border and recommends new water quality objectives as appropriate. To encourage a more integrated basin wide perspective, the IJC has refocused these responsibilities along basin lines and has established one advisory board in each basin, the International Souris River Board and the International Red River Board. The boards will continue to provide advice to the IJC on issues related to the transboundary environment.
As this issue of Focus is being prepared, the IJC is considering directives for these institutions that will encompass all of the current responsibilities of the former boards and ensure a more integrated approach to undertaking its responsibilities in these river basins. Watch for additional information on the IJC's web site.
2001 U.S. EPA Environmental Education Grants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces its 2001 round of grants to be awarded under the National Environmental Education Act. The grants support environmental education projects that enhance the public's awareness, knowledge and skills to make informed decisions that affect environmental quality. Since 1992, EPA has received between $2 and $3 million in grant funding per year and has awarded about 1,700 grants. Grants of $25,000 or less are awarded in EPA's ten regional offices, and grants of more than $25,000 are awarded at EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Applications are due in mid-November 2000. Specific information about the application process and award history can be obtained on the Internet at www.epa.gov/enviroed or by contacting Jospehine Lageda at (212) 637-3674 or by email at ippolito.teresa@epa.gov .
People
IJC welcomes the recent appointments
to its boards:
Associate Professor, School of Occupational and Environmental
Hygiene and Department of Medicine Respiratory Division
at the University of British Columbia
Director, Information Management and Dissemination Section
Environment Canada, Centre Saint-Laurent
And we thank those who have finished their service
Director, Information Management and Dissemination Section
Environment Canada, Centre Saint-Laurent
Hot Off the PressFor the full text of IJC reports, click on the publications button at www.ijc.org or go to the specific web site below. Limited numbers of hard copies are also available from the IJC at (519)257-6734 in Canada, (313)226-2170 ext. 6734 in the United States, and commission@windsor.ijc.org by email.
IJC's Tenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality cites the cleanup of contaminated sediment, human health concerns from eating contaminated Great Lakes fish, air deposition of persistent toxic substances, urban land use, and monitoring and information needs as major concerns in the new report. www.ijc.org/php/publications/html/10br/en/indexen.html .
IJC 1999 Great Lakes Water Quality Forum Transcripts from the September 24-26 meeting held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are available online. In particular, we draw your attention to the transcript of the Municipal Caucus - Land Management: A Tool to Protect the Great Lakes. www.ijc.org/php/publications/html/postprog.html
What's HappeningPublic meetings of the IJC and its boards:
September 26, 2000
Osoyoos Lake Board of Control Public Meeting, Oroville, Washington
October 2, 2000
Kootenay Lake Board of Control Public Meeting, Bonners Ferry, Idaho
October 4-5, 2000
Great Lakes Science Advisory Board Workshop on Methodologies for Assessing Community Health in AOC's, Windsor, Ontario
October 6, 2000
Great Lakes Science Advisory Board Meeting, Windsor, Ontario
November 1-2, 2000
Great Lakes Water Quality Board , Quebec City, Quebec
November 8-9, 2000
Second Delta/ International Air Quality Advisory Board workshop on Atmospheric Modeling and Policy -- in conjunction with the Lake Michigan Forum, St. Joseph, Michigan
November 29-30, 2000
Great Lakes Science Advisory Board Meeting and Niagara River RAP Status Assessment, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Stay in ContactThe IJC is interested in your views on any of our activities. You may contact us in the following ways:
Section
Section
Secretary
Fabien Lengellé
Public Affairs
Secretary
Frank Bevacqua
Public Affairs
Director
Jennifer Day
Public Affairs
22nd Floor
Ottawa, ON
K1P 6K6
Suite 100
Washington, DC 20440
Windsor, ON
N9A 6T3
or
P.O. Box 32869
Detroit, MI 48232-2869
or
313.226.2170
Commissioners
|
Thomas Baldini,
U.S. Section Chair |
Leonard Legault,
Canadian Section Chair |
||
The International Joint Commission prevents and resolves disputes between the United States of America and Canada under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty and pursues the common good of both countries as an independent and objective advisor to the two governments.