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Ecowrappin'
Where do you live? I live on the river.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
If you say that to someone between Sarnia and Wallaceburg, they know exactly what you mean. It is not necessary to ask which river. It is not necessary to use the term St. Clair. This river is filled with history of shipwrecks and rum runners, a day at the beach and family reunions. It has suffered some abuses such as spills of toxic chemicals and destruction of shoreline from those unforgiving steel barricades called breakwalls. The First Nations give the river a living name – they call it their Mother because it provides them with the necessities of life.So is there a doctor in the house who can check up on the health of the St. Clair River?
According to a group called Friends of the St. Clair River (Friends), one could say the River, this giver of life, is doing a little better these days compared to the past decades. The Friends, a non-profit organization, has recently published a series of fact sheets about the St. Clair River. This information will be on line shortly and can be viewed in the Wallaceburg and Sombra Libraries. Hopefully, the fact sheets will soon be distributed to all the other libraries and schools in the area.
So what is happening to the St. Clair River these days? And what the heck is a RAP?
The Fact Sheets are a series of 5 colourful packages that examine the river for:
Improving the Health of the St. Clair River
Improving the Quality of Our Water
Wildlife Habitat
Stopping Pollution from Specific and Broad-Based Locations
Cleaning Up Pollution at the Bottom of the River
Each section looks at topics such as The Issue, Condition of Concern, Evidence of Concern, Goals and Strategies, Accomplishments, Current Conditions and Future Endeavors.
So what the heck is a RAP?
Remedial Action Plan (RAP) is a blueprint created by the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and caring citizens from both sides of the border. The outline describes how the river can be improved from such problems as restrictions on fish consumption, dredging of contaminated sediment, quality of the river bottom (benthos), beach closings, loss of fish and wildlife habitat.
This time of year many students are researching topics on pollution and environment. This makes a great resource for teachers and scholars of every age. The information is in very plain English and gives a great overview about the St. Clair River as a unique ecosystem.
In the first section "Improving the Health of the St. Clair River", there is a good map of all the major locations along the shoreline which impact the river via outfalls, called point source discharges. It also describes very briefly the role of organizations in charge of monitoring and improving the quality of the ecosystem.
In the second section "Improving the Quality of Our Water", there is a list of substances that are monitored and a great flow diagram of who is contacted when a spill occurs.
The third section "Wildlife Habitat", lists the current projects which have benefited wildlife in the area and increased the ëgreen corridorí effect.
The fourth section "Stopping Pollution", sketches a food web of the bioaccumulation factors and gives an outline of the accomplishments which have reduced the point and non point source pollutants thus far.
Lastly, the fifth and final section "Cleaning Up Pollution at the Bottom of the River", describes possible ways to clean up polluted sediment.
HYPERLINK http://www.friendsofstclair.ca www.friendsofstclair.ca
Take a look at this web site and see you on the river.
Kris Lee is a high school science teacher in Wallaceburg, Ont. She is working hard to bridge the gap between industry and community, with a major goal of reducing harmful effects to the environment. For over 10 years Kris has been an active member of several national industry and government advisory panels.
