Clean Production and Toxics

Legacy Pollution

The Great Lakes have always been an attraction for industry. The abundant, cheap, and accessible water enticed many pulp and paper mills, chemical plants, refineries, steel mills, and other industries to set up shop on our shores. And until the early 1970s there was little concern about the impact that waste discharged into the Great Lakes system would have on human and wildlife health. At the same time, other wastes were buried in toxic dumps, only to spring leaks and seep out of the ground.

Blantant signs that something was amiss began to appear in the 1960s and 1970s. Cormorants were born with twisted beaks. Bald eagle eggshells were thin and easily crushed. Contaminants caused disfiguring tumors in fish. And algae growth was strangling Lake Erie.

These were serious signs of an ecosystem on the verge of collapse. Excessive nutrients from sewage discharges created a large de-oxygenated zone in Lake Erie where life could not survive, and toxic substances in the water, including DDT (a pesticide), PCBs (used in electrical transformers and other places), mercury (emitted from coal plants) and dioxin (from the incineration of waste), were having devastating impacts on wildlife.

The problems were becoming too large to ignore. Understanding that Canada and the United States needed to work together to end this threat, the two countries committed to reducing nutrient discharges and cracking down on toxic chemical releases. The Great Lakes region steadily climbed out from under the reputation of a toxic soup, as world-leading chemical research led to an understanding of the causes of these problems, resulting in tightened pollution controls.

Today, discharges of some of these harmful, persistent chemicals have been reduced substantially, though mercury emissions from coal-burning plants and new mining operations are still a major problem. Overall, wildlife populations are recovering, and the concentration of contaminants in open water is lower than in the past

Toxic hotspots

While we have reduced the amount of pollution entering the Great Lakes, the most troublesome chemicals take a very long time to break down. That means old toxic contamination is still in our water. In the Great Lakes region, the most heavily polluted places are classified as “Areas of Concern”. In all, there are 43 of these toxic hotspots.  17 in Canada, 26 in the United States, and 5 shared between both countries.  Currently, only 4 have been delisted, while another 2 are considered “in recovery” – clean up actions are done, and natural processes are expected to finish the job.

We know how to clean up these toxic hotspots: eliminate the pollution sources, cleanup toxic sediments, and upgrade sewage treatment systems. All that is lacking is the political will to put the necessary funding in place. While it’s an expensive job, it breathes new life into a community. These are typically places where the big polluter was also the big employer. A changing economy has meant the industry has left town, leaving behind a broken environment and a disheartened people. Cleaning up toxic pollution opens the door to new investments while the natural beauty of the Great Lakes draws tourism.

The New Concerns

While we have grappled with the pollution of the past, we are also learning that some of the chemicals we never thought were dangerous are having harmful effects. Flame retardants, for instance, can be found in everything from furniture to building materials, to electronics. But, certain kinds of flame retardants, called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), have been found to be endocrine disruptors – these substances mimic and interfere with our body’s natural hormones and can cause permanent damage to the nervous and reproductive systems.

We’re also learning more and more about the impact that pharmaceuticals can have on human and wildlife health. From birth control, antibiotics, painkillers, and those drugs used to treat high cholesterol and epilepsy, anywhere from 50-90% of the active ingredients are not absorbed by the body. This means they are excreted into the sewer system, and because water treatment plants cannot remove them from the water, they eventually get into the environment.

Even in small amounts, these drugs can have an impact. Deformities in fish and frogs have been linked to pharmaceuticals, while the risks to human health are still unknown. Meanwhile, old problems are reappearing – excessive algae growth in Lake Erie is once again creating places in the lake where no life exists.

What can I do?

• Only use non-polluting materials on your lawn and gardens to control weeds or to fertilize. These chemicals end up in rivers and contaminate the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
• Reduce emissions from dirty coal-fired plants by using less energy in your home. Turn down your thermostat in the winter and turn it up in the summer, turn off lights when you are not in a room, line-dry your laundry, and buy energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. Support alternative energy sources.
• Pressure companies to produce alternatives to toxic products.
• Safely dispose of toxic household waste such as batteries, compact florescent light bulbs, paint, etc. Contact your municipality for more information about how this is done.
• Return unused medications to your pharmacist and ask them to ensure proper disposal. Never flush drugs down the toilet or sink, or throw them in the garbage.

• Continue to tell your government representatives that you don’t want harmful chemicals in our water. And reiterate that it is vital that they provide adequate funding to clean up existing toxic contamination.
• Demand that federal officials force manufacturers to produce safe alternatives to the toxic products they now make and sell, and require them to pay for the safe disposal of their products, clean up contaminated sites, and stop mercury pollution from coal-fired plants.
• Demand rigorous safety testing before new chemicals are allowed to be used to ensure that they don’t become toxics that later devastate the Great Lakes system,
• Demand that toxic chemicals now is use, such as fire retardants and PBDEs (polybrominated dephenyl ethers), are removed from production and actions are taken to clean up their sources that are now entering our Lakes.