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Water Quality Agreement

The Great Lakes today are considerably cleaner than they were in the 1970s, thanks in large part to a landmark water quality agreement signed at that time by the United States and Canada, which set forth joint goals for ridding the lakes of toxic chemicals and sludge.

Since the agreement was signed in 1972, pollution levels have dropped and nearly 70 species of fish have returned to areas once so dirty they couldn’t support any life at all. But now the lakes have new problems – such as invasions from exotic species, climate change impacts and issues related to shoreline development – that present new challenges to those who wish to preserve the area’s environmental health.

Scientists and advocacy groups are urging the U.S. and Canada to revise their joint agreement to reflect the new challenges by setting new goals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing the matter, but it’s unlikely to make any recommendations until 2008. Even then, it is likely to limits its recommendations to whether the two governments should revisit the accord, not specify the changes to be made.

In the meantime, fish advisories remain in effect for children and women of childbearing age, who are warned against lingering contaminants that could make their way into the food supply. Shoreline development has also led to sewer overflows and suburban runoff. And zebra mussel infestations may be to blame for algae problems that suffocate fish populations by choking off oxygen supplies.

Clearly, more needs to be done to preserve the lakes. The question is, who should do it? And how? Those are the questions a new accord could answer.

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To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org