New report shows Canadian companies in Great Lakes-St.
Lawrence River basin produce more cancer-causing air pollution than
US counterparts

TORONTO, CANADA - Canadian companies in
the Great Lakes basin reported releasing more cancer-causing
pollutants to the air than companies in the United States,
according to a report released today by Great Lakes-area
environmental groups from both sides of the border. Per facility,
Canadian facilities emitted to the air, on average, almost three
times more known cancer-causing pollutants.

The comparison is based on a matched dataset of 2007 data
provided to the Canadian National Pollutant Release Inventory
(NPRI) and the US Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), and is outlined
in Partners in Pollution 2: An Update on the Continuing Canadian
and United States Contributions to Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River
Ecosystem Pollution.

In total, four million kilograms of substances
considered known carcinogens were released to the air in 2007 from
matched NPRI and TRI facilities in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
River basin.

“Facilities in the Great Lakes basin are major sources of
pollution in the Great Lakes ecosystem, particularly cancer-causing
chemicals to air,” said Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director of
Canadian Environmental Law Association. “Chemical threats to the
Great Lakes need the attention of our governments more than ever.
Our governments must commit applying an elimination and prevention
approach to persistent toxic chemicals and other toxins including
cancer causing chemicals.”

According to the report, Lake Erie, which includes Lake St.
Clair, St. Clair River, and Detroit River in its watershed, had the
highest level of releases to air of known carcinogens. Lake Erie is
the smallest and shallowest of the Great Lakes. The watersheds of
the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario come second and third,
respectively. The majority of Canadian NPRI facilities reporting
releases to air of known carcinogens are located in these two
watersheds.

    Note:
Canada and U.S. data only. Data include chemicals common to both
NPRI and TRI lists from selected industrial and other sources. The
data reflect estimates of releases of chemicals, not exposures of
the public to those chemicals. The list of 67 carcinogens is based
on the California Proposition 65 List (see href=”http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65.html”
target=”_blank”>http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65.html
).

The report has been released to coincide with the renegotiation
of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, a landmark agreement
between Canada and the United States to address threats to the
quality of the Great Lakes. First signed in 1972 by the US and
Canadian governments to address non-point sources of pollution from
nutrients and phosphorus loadings, the Agreement was later revised
in 1978 and amended in 1987.

Through these revisions, the Agreement shifted its emphasis to
focus on the virtual elimination of persistent toxic chemicals. It
was instrumental in saving Lake Erie from excessive algal growth,
achieving reductions of persistent toxic chemicals such as lead,
mercury and PCBs, and it initiated cleanup of contaminated
sediments and areas of concern. However, in the 23 years since its
last renegotiation, government commitments to its principles have
waned as funding for cleanup has been cut and hundreds of new
chemicals have emerged on the market and are now being detected in
the Great Lakes ecosystem.

“Clearly, the goals of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
have not been fully achieved,” said Mike Layton, Deputy Outreach
Director, Environmental Defence. “With the number of chemicals in
market growing every year and new chemicals being detected in the
waters, air and land of the Great Lakes, governments and facilities
cannot keep pace by simply applying end-of-pipe technology or
upgrading wastewater treatment plants. A greater emphasis on
prevention of use of these chemicals is absolutely necessary.”

The report provides a small snapshot of the pollution entering
the Great Lakes. It examined only matched data between the NPRI and
TRI. This encompasses 204 of 605 pollutants, and only in
overlapping sectors. For example, mining and sewage treatment
plants are not included. Meanwhile, only the largest facilities
report. Medium and small sized plants - whose cumulative discharges
are greater than the largest facilities combined - do not have to
report to the NPRI and TRI.

“This report analyses 285 million kilograms of pollutants
reported to NPRI and TRI. While this data is shocking enough, it
represents less than 10 per cent of the pollutants discharged to
the Great Lakes each year,” said John Jackson, Director of Clean
Production and Toxics with Great Lakes United. “We must expand the
NPRI and TRI so that we can get a more complete understanding of
the toxics that endanger the Great Lakes.”

Other key findings from the report include: 

• 285 million kg of pollutants were released and transferred
  (excluding recycling) from NPRI and TRI facilities in the Great
  Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin in 2007.
  
  
  
  



• Approximately 75 million kg of pollutants were released into
  the air  from matched NPRI and TRI facilities.
  
  
  
  



• About 5 million kg of pollutants under Canada’s NPRI and US TRI
  were released to water. However, this is a large underestimate of
  the pollutants released to water because wastewater treatment
  plants do not report to TRI and, therefore, are not included in the
  matched dataset. On a per facility basis, TRI facilities released
  to water over twice as much as NPRI facilities.

Environmental groups working to protect and restore the Great
Lakes basin ecosystem are recommending that governments in Canada
and the US:

• quantify and report annually the pollution loading to the Great
  Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin;
  
  
  
  



• develop and implement a binational strategy for elimination and
  reductions of persistent toxic chemicals and other chemicals of
  concern such as, but not limited to, carcinogens, reproductive and
  developmental toxicants, endocrine disruptions, principally through
  a strengthened Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement;
  
  
  
  



• expand and strengthen Canada’s NPRI and US TRI programs;
  and,
  
  
  
  



• expand and strengthen the role of the International Joint
  Commission (IJC) for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River protection

Partners in Pollution 2 is available to download for free on the
PollutionWatch web site (target=”_blank”>www.PollutionWatch.org).