Great Lakes, Great Pollution: Canadian Pollutant Releases and Transfers to the Great Lakes
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Nearly 30 years after Canadian and American governments signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement , pollution in the Great Lakes basin is a significant problem.
Data collected by the federal government through the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) show that large amounts of pollutants are released and transferred in the Great Lakes basin. In 2002, Canadian facilities in the Great Lakes basin reported:
- Releasing about half of the total toxic air pollution in Canada .
- Releasing over 1 billion kilograms of pollutants into the air; most pollutants released to the air are suspected respiratory toxins.
- Releasing about 28 million kilograms of pollutants into the water.
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Great Lakes, Great Pollution recommends the provincial and federal governments take immediate action to significantly reduce pollution in the Great Lakes basin, including:
- accelerate timelines for the virtual elimination of persistent, bioaccumulative toxics by 2010 and provide assurance that targets under the Canada-Ontario Agreement and Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are met on time;
- aim to virtually eliminate all carcinogens and endocrine disrupting substances by 2015. There should be at a minimum a 50% reduction of endocrine disrupting and carcinogenic substances within 5 years;
- develop or accelerate reduction and elimination targets for all other pollutants released and transferred in the Great Lakes basin; and,
- require that the targets be met through pollution prevention methods.
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