Collingwood Harbour is situated on the south shore of Nottawasaga Bay,
which constitutes the southern extension of Lake Huron's Georgian Bay.
The Town of Collingwood, which has a permanent resident population of
16 000, surrounds the harbour.
Why was this area listed?
Major environmental concerns in the area which led to the designation
included:
nuisance growths of algae in the harbour
contaminated sediments
What was done? How was it done?
In order to improve the environmental conditions noted above, a Remedial
Action Plan (RAP) was developed for Collingwood Harbour. The Collingwood
RAP was a partnership between the federal and provincial governments with
cooperation from the Public Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC was a group
of citizens who represented industry, labour, municipal agencies, farmers,
environmental organizations and recreational groups.
This plan, which was initiated in 1987, involved the following steps:
defining the problem
planning for implementation
implementing the actions
monitoring the restoration of the environment
A number of recommended remedial actions to restore the above environmental conditions were selected through the RAP process, which included extensive consultation with the public. The RAP team implemented these recommendations, followed by an evaluation period. It was determined that the environmental concerns had been restored and that Collingwood Harbour should no longer be considered an Area of Concern.
The Stage Three RAP document was submitted to the federal and provincial environment ministers in June 1994. The International Joint Commission (IJC) received the document in August 1994, and in November 1994, the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario the federal and provincial governments delisted Collingwood Harbour, in concordance with the International Joint Commission.
HIGHLIGHT of the RAP
Collingwood Harbour was the first Area of Concern to be delisted. In
1994, the governments of Canada and Ontario agreed that impaired beneficial
uses had been restored in accordance with the Great
Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the two governments removed Collingwood Harbour from the
list of Areas of Concern.
