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Chapter VI: The International Joint Commission’s Reference on the Lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River
- The University of Akron Press
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while united states government agencies on the one hand, and Canadian agencies on the other, had begun separately to tackle pollution problems in the Great Lakes, under the International Joint Commission’s leadership their efforts were coordinated, extended, and intensified in what would be the most comprehensive, thorough, and authoritative studies of the lakes to date. The initial focus of the IJC was the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. It found eutrophication to be the lakes’ most serious problem, and its recommended remedial measures placed phosphate detergents squarely in the spotlight on both sides of the border. In October 1964, as noted, the governments of Canada and the United States had requested the International Joint Commission (IJC) to investigate and report on the pollution of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the international section of the St. Lawrence River. In undertaking its “massive and complex investigation,”1 the IJC developed a three-phase program. In the first phase, short-term concentrated studies were begun to determine the extent, origin, and location of pollution in the lakes and river. These studies would include chemical and physical analyses of the waters of the lakes and their tributaries, assessments of domestic and industrial wastes, and bioassays. The IJC had available to it the preliminary results of the ongo83 The International Joint Commission’s Reference on the Lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River C H A P T E R V I ing independent studies of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Ontario Water Resources Commission (OWRC). It expected to report on this phase of its investigation by 1969. The second phase, involving continuing studies, was begun concurrently with the first. The IJC reasoned that the comprehensive information required could be obtained only through repetitive and long-term studies. These would concern circulation, mixing, and diffusion phenomena within the lakes; the chemistry, physics, and biology of the lakes; the changing effects and relative significance of pollutants; assessment of the effectiveness of remedial measures; and assessment of potential dangers from, and control of, the entry of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. The final phase, overlapping with the second, concerned long-term research . The commission viewed previous research projects concerned with the Great Lakes as having been localized, brief, and uncoordinated. It recognized deficiencies in the existing scientific knowledge and understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological behavior of the Great Lakes, particularly in regard to pollutants and their dispersal. Research was needed on the development of more effective means of treating municipal and industrial wastes; the toxic levels of constituents of such wastes under Great Lakes conditions; the cycle of eutrophication and its effects on aquatic life and water quality; and the distribution of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. This chapter deals primarily with the first phase of the IJC’s program. In undertaking its task, in December 1964, the IJC established two technical boards, the International Lake Erie Water Pollution Board and the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Water Pollution Board, composed of experienced scientists and other professionals from both countries. Board members included individuals who were also conferees in the United States’ Lake Erie and Lake Michigan enforcement conferences . Notably, H. W. Poston of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration chaired the U.S. section of each board.2 The boards were charged with advising the IJC on the specific questions set out in the reference . They were to review relevant information collected by federal and state, or provincial, government agencies in the two countries, and to conduct any necessary investigations. 84 The IJC Reference on Lower Great Lakes [54.225.1.66] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 03:09 GMT) Within a year of their appointment, the boards apprised the IJC of “certain relevant and important information deriving from various studies which have already been made, notably those of the United States Public Health Service.”3 Although far from complete, the information revealed that the situation, particularly in Lake Erie, was serious and deteriorating. Deciding that these facts should be relayed immediately to the two governments , the IJC issued an interim report in December 1965. It explained that the major “element” in the situation was the excessive enrichment of the lakes’ waters by nutrients, a high proportion of which were contributed by effluents from municipal and some industrial facilities. It continued : “Although there is as yet no conclusive evidence that the removal of phosphates, one of...