THUNDER BAY — Environment and Climate Change Canada says noticeable signs of contamination in Thunder Bay's harbour have dissipated, to the point that it no longer considers the harbour aesthetically impaired.
It made the declaration in a letter to coordinator Samuel Pegg of the Thunder Bay Remedial Action Plan, a program established to help ensure the long-term cleanup of the harbour.
InfoSuperior, the Lake Superior research and information network, published the decision Monday, calling it "a significant milestone."
The International Joint Commission and the Ontario environment ministry were copied on the Environment Canada letter which also congratulated RAP's local public advisory committee.
In 1987, the harbour was designated one of the Great Lakes area's 43 Areas of Concern because of pollution.
"Water quality, recreational use and the aesthetics of the Area of Concern were impacted by discharges of pollutants from local pulp and paper industries and wastewater treatment plants, urban runoff and the use of the harbour for logging booms and shipping waste. Persistent noxious odours, visible scum, organic material and oil deposits were observed," noted a RAP report.
By 2017, RAP was able to recommend that "degradation of aesthetics" be removed from the list of environmental issues in the harbour, and that recommendation has now been accepted.
A number of factors contributed to the improvement that has occurred since the early 1990s, including the closure of waterfront mills:
- cleanup of creosote contamination at the former Northern Wood Preservers facility at a cost of $25 million
- expenditure of over $100 million by Resolute Forest Products and earlier operators of the mill to improve industrial effluent treatment
- implementation of secondary treatment at the Thunder Bay Water Pollution Control Plant at a cost of $74 million
- closure of three paper mills
- improved standards for effluent entering Lake Superior
Surveys conducted by boat in 2015 and 2016, covering all areas of the harbour including the Kam River up to Resolute Forest Products, determined that aesthetic conditions were good to excellent everywhere.
The north end of the harbour remains years away from getting a clean bill of health for what lies beneath the surface, however.
Nearly 400,000 cubic metres of sediment contaminated with mercury lies offshore from the mouth of the Current River,
A working group including two federal departments was reconstituted earlier this year with the goal of choosing a preferred option, but there is no commitment to a date as yet.
Next steps would include an effort to find the money for the project, and engineering design work.
