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THE CANADA-ONTARIO AGREEMENT RESPECTING THE GREAT LAKES BASIN ECOSYSTEM
2002–2003 BIENNIAL PROGRESS REPORT
Annex 1 - AREAS OF CONCERN (AOC)
Introduction
This annex focuses on the cleanup of the Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the Great Lakes Basin.
AOCs are locations where environmental quality is significantly degraded and beneficial uses to humans and wildlife are impaired. There are 15 Canadian AOCs, five of which Canada shares with the United States. The Canadian AOCs are:
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Thunder Bay |
Wheatley Harbour |
St. Clair River |
Collingwood Harbour and Severn Sound are former Canadian AOCs that were delisted in 1994 and 2003, respectively.
Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) are being implemented in each AOC and considerable progress towards restoring environmental quality has been made. Ongoing activities include:
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• Restoring and sustaining ecological systems. |
Progress has been made by COA agencies working alone, together and through partnerships with local communities, municipalities, conservation authorities and non-government organizations. It is an ongoing challenge to find solutions to problems that are costly, not easily resolved, and are a result of decades of environmental degradation.
On a regular basis, information on ongoing activities, current knowledge and practices as well as successes and challenges in all the AOCs has been regularly exchanged in workshops and training sessions attended by COA agencies and their partners.
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About AOCs |
Progress Report 2002–2003
Annex 1 addresses Canadian and Ontario initiatives that directly support the restoration and protection of environmental quality and beneficial uses in the 15 AOCs.
Under the COA Agreement, Canada and Ontario have identified three five-year goals and seven results that are to be achieved as a part of restoring environmental quality in the Areas of Concern.
The Goals and Progress Made
Goal 1
To restore environmental quality and beneficial uses in at least two locations, resulting in the removal of the AOC designation.
• Environmental quality and beneficial uses were restored in Severn Sound. This AOC was formally delisted by Canada and Ontario in January 2003.
Goal 2
To complete all required actions for RAPs in at least six AOCs (and continue to monitor recovery).
• Required actions were completed in Spanish Harbour and monitoring is ongoing. This AOC has been recognized by Canada and Ontario as an area in recovery since 1999. Delisting is contingent on monitoring, which will demonstrate that beneficial uses have been restored.
• Work plans have been prepared, and are being implemented, that identify required actions in the remaining AOCs. Good progress is being made toward achieving this goal.
Goal 3
To make progress towards rehabilitation of ecological systems in the remaining AOCs.
• Significant gains have been made toward rehabilitating ecological systems in all AOCs. These are summarized in Canada’s RAP Progress Report 2003.
The Expected Results and Progress Made
Result 1
Reduced pollutant discharges from municipal sewage treatment plants and combined sewer overflows.
• Identified five AOCs (Thunder Bay, Nipigon Bay, St. Marys River, Detroit River and St. Lawrence River) requiring sewage treatment plant upgrades as priorities for federal-provincial infrastructure funding. Funding was granted in three of the five AOCs (Thunder Bay; St. Marys River – Sault Ste. Marie East Plant; and Detroit River – Windsor Plant) for sewage treatment plant upgrades to secondary treatment standards.
• Completed the Class Environmental Assessment to determine the most environmentally sound and cost-effective means of increasing the ability of the Woodward Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant to treat wet weather peak flows to Hamilton Harbour.
• Completed the Class Environmental Assessment for upgrading the Red Rock Wastewater Treatment Plant in Nipigon Bay to secondary treatment.
• Developed and implemented demonstration projects for high-rate treatment of combined sewer overflows in three AOCs (Niagara River – Niagara Falls and Welland, Toronto, and the Detroit River – Windsor).
• Implemented a demonstration project on low-cost sewage treatment for communal systems.
• Published the UV Manual for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants in Canada to provide information on disinfection technology.
Result 2
Reduced loadings of nutrients, pathogens and trace contaminants from urban storm water.
• Published the Stormwater Management Planning and Design Manual and the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Handbook. These manuals provide technical and procedural guidance to municipalities, conservation authorities, developers and consultants about the planning, design and review of stormwater management practices, as well as the prevention of pollution from stormwater.
• Published reports on the performance of stormwater treatment technologies.
• Evaluated the performance of five stormwater treatment technologies.
• Supported the City of Toronto in completing their Wet Weather Flow Management Master Plan.
Result 3
Reduced nutrient, microbial and trace contaminants from agricultural sources.
• Provided financial and technical assistance to rural landowners, farmers and stewardship councils to improve water quality in eight AOCs (Toronto and Region, Bay of Quinte, Hamilton Harbour, Niagara River, St. Clair River, Detroit River, Wheatley Harbour and St. Lawrence River). Through these community stewardship projects, nutrient loading impacts from agricultural sources have been reduced, best management practices have been promoted, watershed planning has been undertaken, and work has been carried out with landowners to rehabilitate streambanks and remove barriers to fish movement.
Result 4
Management strategies for contaminated sediment.
• Drafted a risk-based decision-making framework for managing contaminated sediment.
• Developed sediment management strategies in two AOCs, including Hamilton Harbour (Randall Reef site) and St. Clair River (Zone 1, adjacent to Dow Chemical property).
• Sediment management strategies are being developed for seven AOCs including HamiltonHarbour (Windermere Arm and Dofasco Boat Slip sites), St. Lawrence River (Cornwall, 3 zones), Niagara River (Lyon’s Creek East and other sites to be determined), St. Marys River,Thunder Bay (Cascades site), St. Clair River (zones 2 and 3) and Peninsula Harbour (Jellicoe Cove).
• Completed sediment remediation activities at Northern Wood Preservers in the Thunder Bay AOC. Follow-up monitoring is ongoing.
Result 5
Rehabilitated aquatic and riparian habitat leading to the reestablishment of fish and wildlife populations.
• Updated the Framework for Guiding Habitat Rehabilitation in Great Lakes Areas of Concern(targets areas for habitat rehabilitation). New rehabilitation science required that some of theguidelines be revised. For details, visit Environment Canada’s website:www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife.
• Constructed and repaired fishways to improve fish migration in the Niagara River and Toronto and Region AOCs.
• Initiated coaster brook trout rehabilitation projects in the tributaries of Nipigon Bay.
• Supported fish community assessment and restoration of the muskellunge population in Spanish Harbour.
• Supported habitat rehabilitation and wetland restoration projects in the St. Clair River and in the Rouge and Upper Humber Rivers in the Toronto and Region AOC.
• Participated in the development of, and endorsed, the Toronto Waterfront Aquatic Habitat Restoration Strategy.
Result 6
Collaborative action among government, local organizations and Basin residents.
• Provided technical support and funding to local organizations for facilitating local RAP implementation in St. Marys River, Detroit River, Niagara River, Hamilton Harbour, Toronto and Region, Bay of Quinte and St. Lawrence River AOCs.
• Published Canada’s RAP Progress Report 2003.
• Revised the RAP website in 2004. Visit the site at www.on.ec.gc.ca/water/raps/.
Result 7
Publicly available environmental monitoring information for evaluating environmental recovery and adjusting remediation strategies.
• Supported sportfish collections in St. Lawrence River (Cornwall), Toronto, Bay of Quinte, Thunder Bay, Peninsula Harbour and Nipigon Bay AOCs.
• Published the Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish.
• Monitored fish communities in St. Clair River, St. Lawrence River, Detroit River, Bay of Quinte, Severn Sound, Spanish River and Niagara River AOCs.
• Completed assessments of fish communities, habitat rehabilitation and bioaccumulation of mercury in the food chain in the St. Lawrence AOC.
• Provided technical support and water quality monitoring in St. Lawrence, Toronto, Hamilton Harbour, St. Clair River and Severn Sound AOCs.
• Published a report on seasonal impacts of trace organics.
• Complete second year of a five-year study of fish and wildlife health effects in the AOCs of the lower Great Lakes (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario). A fact sheet is available at www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife.
• Continued the Herring Gull Egg Monitoring program, which shows a sustained decline in contaminant levels. An exception was the increase throughout the Basin in the level of polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs), which are compounds of increasing concern.
Delisting of Severn Sound: An AOC success story
2003 was a great year for Severn Sound. It began with Canada advising the International Joint Commission (IJC) that the Sound could be removed from the list of AOCs. It finished with the IJC completing its review of the Severn Sound RAP report and announcing that the environmental quality in the Sound had been fully restored.
About Severn Sound
Severn Sound is located in southeastern Georgian Bay. Situated between Canadian Shield country to the north and rich agricultural land to the south, the watershed covers more than 1,000 square kilometres and is a patchwork of farms, forests, parks, and urban centres.
The Sound is dotted with thousands of rocky islands with small inlets, bays, and harbours along its edges. It is a popular tourist spot with its shores ringed with cottages, marinas, and resorts.
Today, its waters sparkle, its wildlife is healthy and locals and visitors are enjoying some of the finest recreational fishing in the Great Lakes. But it wasn’t always so.
The Sound in the 1980s
“By the late 1980s, the Sound was in bad shape,” says Keith Sherman of the Severn Sound Environmental Association.
There were restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption. The aquatic habitat was badly degraded and most game fish had abandoned the murky, algae-choked waters. Slime covered much of the shallows and suspended algae clouded the water. When the massive algae blooms died back, the decomposing mass stripped much of the oxygen from the water.
In 1987, under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, Canada and the United States designated AOCs in the Great Lakes Basin. Severn Sound was listed as one of 17 AOCs on the Canadian side of the border.
The Severn Sound RAP
The Severn Sound RAP is considered a model among AOCs because of the extraordinary level of support from local municipalities and the public. This energy was harnessed through a Public Advisory Committee (PAC) and the SSEA. In partnership with federal and provincial agencies, local municipalities, businesses and concerned citizens, the PAC and the SSEA worked tirelessly for 13 years to bring the Sound back to its former glory.
Cooperative projects that relied on local support and expertise were launched throughout the Sound to:
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• Reduce phosphorus levels by controlling stormwater and rural runoff. |
The results
By June 2003, when a party was held in Penetanguishene to celebrate reaching the RAP objectives, the phosphorous loadings had been reduced by approximately 8,000 kilograms per year, more than 129,000 native trees had been planted, 2,400 cows and other livestock had been fenced off from the watercourses, and 132 kilometres of stream habitat had been restored.
“This milestone demonstrates what can be accomplished when we all work together,” said David Anderson, the federal environment minister of the day, at the Penetanguishene celebration. “This is an example of civic engagement at its finest.”
The Sound joined Collingwood Harbour as the only other delisted AOC in the Great Lakes.
Going forward
“Delisting marks the end of the beginning,” says Sherman. “There is a lot more work to be done to safeguard and improve on the gains already made.”
In the past the focus was on remedial action. Now it is on pollution prevention and sustaining the improvements that have been achieved through the RAP process. The community is continuing to work together to make Severn Sound a model Canadian sustainable community.
Thunder Bay harbour cleanup: The birds are back
Once again, Thunder Bay harbour is looking good to people and to wildlife.
Eleven thousand cubic metres of contaminated sediment have been removed, over 30,000 seedlings and trees have been planted, and fish habitat has been greatly improved.
The restoration and remediation of the Northern Wood Preservers site is a major milestone in the overall cleanup of the Thunder Bay AOC.
The AOC runs approximately 28 kilometres along the shoreline of Lake Superior and up to nine kilometres offshore from the City of Thunder Bay.
The harbour before the cleanup
Like all harbours, rivers and estuaries in Great Lakes AOCs, Thunder Bay harbour suffered from a legacy of decades of industrial pollution and municipal wastewater discharge. There were regular fish consumption advisories and declining populations of fish and other species. General water quality had worsened. Beaches were regularly closed.
There were approximately 60,000 cubic metres of contaminated sediment, containing a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pentachlorophenols and dioxins and furans, with the problem being most severe around the Northern Wood Preservers pier.
How best to address this was a complicated and vexing environmental challenge
“There’s no single remediation approach that applies to all contaminated sites,” says Environment Canada’s Roger Santiago. “Contaminated sites require a biologically based assessment study to establish site-specific criteria for cleanup. This allows evaluation of sediment management options so the most appropriate remedial design for that site can be selected.”
The cleanup
“The sheer size of the area to be remediated was a challenge,” says Patricia Inch, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s project engineer. “The shipping channel water depth made it difficult to dredge. The liquid contaminants, the variety of debris mixed in with the sediments, and the space limitations at the site for dewatering the material once it was brought up from the bottom made the project far from routine. Cleanup activities were taking place while attempting not to disrupt the industrial site.”
The project began in 1997 with the construction of an 800-metre-long rockfill containment berm. Then the dredging began. A precision environmental clamshell dredge, enhanced with global positioning system equipment, was used to minimize sediment re-suspension to prevent the spread of contaminants.
Of the 60,000 cubic metres of contaminated sediment, 11,000 cubic metres were removed, treated and reused as clean fill. About 28,000 cubic metres with low concentrations of contaminants, and considered to be of minimal biological risk, were left for natural recovery and monitoring. The remaining 21,000 cubic metres were contained and capped with clean fill.
An innovative approach to remediation was used at this site involving several remedial technologies.
It took the latest testing equipment and remediation techniques to make this project a success. However, it was the working partnership between Abitibi Consolidated, Northern Wood Preservers, Canadian National Railways, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada that made it happen. Public support and involvement was also essential. Storm water control improvements were established at the Northern Wood Preservers site, and a program to replace lost fish habitat implemented. Trees have been planted to provide a natural buffer between the industrial site and the fish habitat. These initiatives are working and, according to Pat Inch, “lots of geese, ducks and gulls are enjoying the site and deer have been seen feeding in the reclaimed area.”
“At each stage of the process, extensive consultation was undertaken to ensure public acceptance of the plan,” says Bob Hartley, a member of the Thunder Bay Public Advisory Committee (PAC).
Other activities in the community included organized cleanups of the Thunder Bay waterfront, Lake Superior Day celebrations, and waterfront development workshops.
The remediation work was finally completed in 2004. The project is a major achievement in the restoration and remediation of a highly contaminated sediment site.
A post-construction study will determine the level of improvement in the sediment left in place for natural recovery. Long-term monitoring will continue.
Challenges along the way
Many large-scale remediation projects have some project modifications along the way.
“The PAH concentrations in the dredged sediment were higher than anticipated,” explains Roger Santiago. “As a result, the on-site biological treatment process was not able to meet the site-specific treatment requirements. The sediment was therefore shipped to a thermal treatment facility in British Columbia.”
Some sections of the clay isolation barrier, which was designed to prevent migration of contaminants into the lake, did not create the seal needed and a steel sheet piling wall was installed as a contingency measure to contain on-site contaminants.
“These modifications,” says Santiago, “and the associated extra costs, might have been enough to sink the project but the partners worked together to find solutions.”
Ongoing work
The harbour cleanup is a significant part of the overall remedial action plan for the Thunder Bay Area of Concern. Other improvement projects are underway, including:
• the City of Thunder Bay’s $97 million upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant, with its state-of-science secondary treatment process, ammonia removal and ultraviolet disinfection.
• abatement projects and process improvements at a number of pulp mills and other area industries, which are producing dramatic improvements in effluent quality.
• several rehabilitation projects for restoring wetland and shoreline fish and wildlife habitat along the Thunder Bay waterfront and within the river mouths draining into the bay, which are nearing completion.
“Delisting is still a ways off,” says Ginette Brindle, assistant director, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Northern Region. “We’re making great progress and, with this sort of cooperation and dedication, we’ll stay the course and in time join Severn Sound and Collingwood as a delisted Area of Concern.”
Photo Credit - Thunder Bay - Environment Canada photo
