Public Comment Sought on Strategy to Virtually Eliminate Persistent Toxic Substances
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Volume 18, Issue 1, ISSN 0832-6673 March/Aprill993 ocus On International joint Commission Activities ... Public Comment Sought on Strategy to Virtually Eliminate Persistent Toxic Substances - - - - - by Douglas McTavish I he Virtual Elimination Task Force, appointed by the Inter- national Joint Commission in the summer of 1990 to recommend a strategy for virtually eliminating the input of persistent toxic substances to the Great Lakes environment, has released its draft final report for pub- lic comment. The virtual elimination policy was set by the Governments of Canada and the United States in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978. Article I1 of the Agreement states, .... (Credit: Tim McCabe, U.S. Soil Conservation Service) "It is the policy of the Parties that the I discharge of toxic substances in toxic have been considered by the task force. An important part of a virtual elimi- amounts be prohibited and the dis- These considerations provided a basis nation strategy is to identify criteria for charge of any or all persistent toxic for the strategy it developed. selecting substances of concern and the substances be virtually eliminated." In July 1991, the task force submit- mechanism to eliminate those sub- For the past decade, the Commission ted an interim report to the Commis- stances. In effect, criteria are needed has expressed increasing concern about sion and presented the findings in to decide "where do we start?" The the lack of progress in preventing fur- October 1991 at the Commission's Bi- task force's interim report called for ther releases of persistent toxic sub- ennial Meeting on Great Lakes Water stances to the air, land and water of the Quality in Traverse City, Michigan. Inside: region, which also then enter the waters Public meetings in Milwaukee and of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. Hamilton, roundtable discussions Dipis ter les produits toxques trouvks The recommendations of the task sponsored by the Commission, and dnns les b67ugas du Saint-Laurent ............... 3 Tracking Toxic Contaminan ts force will help the Commission advise written submissions from other inter- in St. Lawrence Belugas .............................. 4 the two governments on developing a ested persons also played a prominent WQB Examines Risk Assessment ................5 strategy to meet their Water Quality role in preparing the interim report. Garernments Reaffrrm Commitment Agreement commitments regarding The task force recognizes that sub- to 1978 Agreement ......................................6 virtual elimination. stantial recovery in environmental Mayors Conference to be in Montrhl .......... 6 To form the task force, the Commis- conditions in recent years has resulted 7heConfhence des Maires ...................... 7 sion appointed a diverse set of mem- from improved effluent treatment, Water Levels Study Nears Completion ...... 11 bers from government, academia, restricted use and bans of production Human Health Issues in RAPS ................. 13 indushy and environmental organiza- of certain persistent toxic substances Rouge River Basin Selected tions in the United States and Canada such as PCBs, and modified production for National Demonstration Program ........ 14 with backgrounds in environmental processes to diminish the use of par- Public Comments on Progress under Canada-U.S.Air Quality Agreement ........ 19 sciences and other disciplines. ticular substances. To a large extent, Columns Briefs ....................................8 Studies and reports on injury to fish, however, these efforts have been di- Lake Levels Update .............11 wildlife and human health linked to rected toward traditional pollutants RAP Updates ..................... 13 toxic compounds, particularly persis- and have not resulted in a strategy to RAP Highlights ................. 16 tent toxic substances which bioaccumu- virtually eliminate persistent toxics as Bookshelf ............................ 17 late in the tissue of living organisms, called for in the Agreement. Events ................................ 21 governments to begin planning in this legislation conducted by the area and not wait for the final task force Commission's Great Lakes Water report. Quality Board identified needed im- leGroupe de travail sur l'elhination Governments responded to this provements such as a stronger multi- yirtuelle, rnis sur pied par la Commis- challenge in a number of ways. For media approach, but also determined 'ion mixte internationale Yet6 de , f example, the Ontario Ministry of the that the authority to implement much 990 et charge de recommander une Environment released a report in of the virtual elimination strategy can $trat&giepour IJi.limination virtuelle April 1992, Candidate Substances List be found in existing legislation. du rejet de substances toxiques for Bans or Phase-Outs, that identifies For many substances of concern, 5hanentes dans l'ecosysthe des 21 candidate substances and an ap- implementing a virtual elimination Grands Lacs, sollicite l'avis du public proach to select additional substances. strategy will mean stopping their pro- $ur l'ebauche de son rapport final. The task force's interim report was duction altogether. Different actions La Commission mixte interna- %onate s'appuiera sur les recomman- cited as a catalyst for the Ontario re- may be needed to eliminate substances qations du Groupe de travail pour port. This list and those produced by that are unintentional byproducts of vonseiller les gouvernements du other agencies were considered in production processes. The availability Canada et des Etats-Unis sur la facon detail as the task force developed of substitute substances and processes, Me respecter leur engagement << ...de criteria to include in its final report. as well as the benefit to society from 'hbcher d'eliminer ies rejets de toutes les The draft final task force report using a substance, must all be weighed ,&stances toxiques r6manentes,, aux reviews the tools to achieve the virtual in implementing virtual elirnina tion #emde l'Accord de 1978 relatif a la elimination goal, including available strategies, particularly in deciding on a qualit6 de I'eau dans les Grands Lacs. technologies, legislation, economic and timeline for action. The draft final re- L Toutes les personnes interess&s social factors, and monitoring meth- port provides conceptual g-udelines for pourront se faire entendre a I'occasion des trois audiences pubhues Fvues, ods to measure improvements as the these considerations and emphasizes 1 Liont une avec services dlinterpr& strategy is applied. A workshop on the need for public participation by Bation, le 15 avril1993,g Toronto. Le governments, industries and others as icroupe de travail tiendra egalement they implement virtual elimination Lqompte de tout memoire rep avant le strategies. YO mai 1993 inclusivement. On Ceasing the production of sub I pouvera a la fin de l'article des Lntemalionad Joint Cammission stances of concern may not provide Anformations sur la facon d'obtenir C~mtmisaicnrmix& intamtionale sufficient environmental protection in ropie du rapport preliminaire en FOCUS STAE some cases. Destroying the material in 4ranGais ou en anglais, ainsi que sur Exrcurkx Ed*: SaQ CdpMisch use or storage, or removing and de- lks audiences publiques. Managing HEW: Frank Bevacqua P Graphic Art& Brrrce Jmieson stroying a substance already in theenvi- April 29,1993 For morr isfmhon lnt&hI ronrnent may be required. The report . 1~htf3mnkswn activities, contact: also addresses these important areas. Westin Harbour Castle Public participation and consultation 1 Harbour Square Wchbuakn Offrcer continues to be an essential ingredient Toronto, ON IJC, 12!X 23rd Street, NW,Suite 100 (Simultaneous interpretation provided) Washington, DC 20440 of the task force's process. Before sub mitting its final report to the Cornmis- For those unable to attend the ses- Nan Q;ske, Communications Advisor sion, the draft report is being widely sions, written comments received by IF, 100 Metcalfe Sheet distributed to find out if its advice is May 10,1993 will be taken into ac- KIP 5M1 18th %or, Ottawa, ON properly focused and practical. Public count by the task force. comment is invited at the public consul- For a copy of the draft final report in Public AfEtirs Directox or tation sessions to be held in the evening either English or French, or more in- Beverley CroEt, Information Officer at the locations listed below. formation about the public consulta- IJC Great Lakes Regional Office April 27,1993 tion sessions, contact Dr. Marty Bratzel, 100 Onellette, Eighth Floor Marc Plaza Wirdsor ON N9A 63,or 509 West Wisconsin Avenue International Joint Commission, 100 P.O. k 32859, Detroit. MI 48232 Milwaukee, WI Ouellette Avenue, Eighth floor, (519)256-7821 or (313)226-2170 Windsor, Ontario N9A 6T3, or P.O. Box per April 28,1993 three times ya Cobo Conference / Exhibition Center 32869, Detroit, Michigan 48232-2869. In 1 Washington Boulevard Canada, call (519)256-7821, and in the Detroit, MI United States (313)226-2170. FOCUS 3 Des chercheurs de l'lnstitut national d'e'co- Researchers at St. Lawrence toxicologic du Saint-Laurent nourrissent ce National Institute oJEcotoxiwlogy jeune bduga qu'ils ont trouvk isole' de sa m2re. feed a baby beluga found after it (Credit: Robert Michaud, Group de recherche had become isolated from its mother. et d'iducation sur les mammifmes marins) Depister les produib toxiques belugas du - - - I Laurent par Pierre Bdand n 1988, je debutai une +entation par une diaposi-