PollutionWatch National Report

Partners in Pollution: An Assessment of Continuing Canadian and United States Contributions to Great Lakes Pollution

View a map of pollution from Canadian and U.S. facilities in the Great Lakes Basin (2002).

Partners in Pollution is a groundbreaking report that offers, for the first time in many years, an assessment of continuing Canadian and U.S. contributions to Great Lakes pollution. It uses a matched pollution data set, collected through Canada 's National Pollutant Release Inventory and the U.S. Toxics Release Inventory, to analyze the releases and transfers of pollutants on both sides of the Great Lakes border for 2002 and the trends between 1998 and 2002.

Among the findings of the report:

More than 4,000 Canadian and U.S. facilities reported pollution releases and transfers of over 627 million kilograms into the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin in 2002.
U.S. facilities contributed a greater percentage to the total amount of pollutants released and transferred (65% of the total). For specific toxins, however, Canadian pollution was higher on a per facility basis

The report makes 15 specific recommendations to Canadian and U.S. governments, including:

Develop an inclusive, common database to determine the annual loading of all pollutants, including all persistent toxic substances to the Great Lakes .
Develop and implement a bi-national pollution elimination and reduction strategy that builds upon, and significantly expands, the Bi-national Great Lakes Toxics Strategy.
Reconfirm their commitment to the virtual elimination of persistent toxic substances and expand that goal to include carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.
Commit to reaching the prescribed targets through pollution prevention measures which would include the application of green chemistry and materials substitution.
Enhance and expand the U.S. TRI and the Canadian NPRI programs , including rejection of the proposal to collect TRI data every two years, and other burden reduction proposals

Download the full report [ English Version ] [ French Version ].

Download Appendix B: Methodology for Matched Data Set and Mapping Facilities in the Great Lakes Basin

Download Appendix C: Releases and Transfers from NPRI and TRI Matched Facilities in the Great Lakes Basin in 2002 and from 1998-2002.

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List of Facilities

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