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Canada and the United States Achieving Elimination of Toxins in the Great Lakes Region
Windsor, Ontario, May 29, 2002 - Officials and stakeholders from the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States will meet in Windsor today to mark the mid-point of a 10-year strategy to virtually eliminate persistent toxic substances from entering the Great Lakes basin.
The GLBTS has proven to be an effective mechanism for tackling the problem of pollution by encouraging cooperation between federal, state, provincial, and municipal agencies, First Nations groups industry associations and many non-government organizations. It is projected that by 2006, nearly all of the reduction targets set in 1997 - in some cases calling for up to a 90 per cent reduction - will have been met or exceeded.
Canada and the United States committed to work toward the virtual elimination of twelve Level 1persistent toxic substances (also known as the "Dirty Dozen") from the Great Lakes Basin, including aldrin/dieldrin, benzo(a)pyrene, chlordane, DDT, hexachlorobenzene, alkyl-lead, mercury, mirex, octachlorostyrene, PCBs, dioxins and furans. These substances have been linked to widespread, long-term adverse affects on fish and wildlife in the Great Lakes ecosystem.
"The multistakeholder efforts that are part of the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy have not only led to an overall reduction of toxic substances entering the Great Lakes basin, but in some cases, have exceeded reduction targets," said the Honourable David Anderson, Canada's Minister of the Environment. "This Strategy is an excellent example of how environmental protection and remediation can be achieved through voluntary participation and cooperation amongst industry, governments and non-government organizations."
"As the largest freshwater system on the face of the earth, the Great Lakes ecosystem holds the key to the quality of life and economic prosperity for tens of millions people," said Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "We understand and are absolutely committed to the importance of partnerships in getting things done. That's where we are going to make the difference in the environmental issues of the twenty-first century."
GLBTS stakeholders will gather in Windsor to reflect on the progress that has been made so far and set the course for the next five years. The GLBTS will look to expand its focus towards the environmental impacts of individual actions such as household garbage burning, which accounts for a significant amount of uncontrolled air-borne pollution.
Environment Canada states that burning household garbage is the third largest known source of dioxins and furans in Ontario, after medical waste incinerators and iron sintering. Almost a quarter of rural residents in Ontario told pollsters last year they burn garbage. Among other pollutants released by this practice are the GLBTS toxics: benzo(a)pyrene, mercury, hexachlorobenzene and PCBs. The work of the GLBTS on reducing household garbage burning is also being used as a model for Canada-Wide Standards for dioxins and furans, as a way to address this practice across Canada.
For additional information about the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy, please visit Binational.net.
Environment Canada's Green Lane
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