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Water Today Title March 29, 2024

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Update 2018/1/21
Contamination


THE ST LAWRENCE RIVER INSTITUTE, A GRASSROOTS, CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACH TO ADDRESSING AN AREA OF CONCERN IN THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER



This story is brought to you in part by TransNorth - Biomass Stoves


By Cori Marshall

The St. Lawrence River has long been an entry point to the interior of the North American continent, and with industrialization came development. This progress and use of chemicals have impacted the river and the communities that depend on it. The St. Lawrence River Institute, a cross-cultural partnership with the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, is not only researching the contaminant residuals from industrial production, they are educating and building strong community bonds.

We spoke with Karen Cooper, Communications Officer and Remedial Action Plan (RAP) Transition Coordinator for the St. Lawrence River Institute.

Cooper explained that "the Institute was established 24 years ago as a result of this area (the Upper St. Lawrence River) being designated as an area of concern." She underlined that "due to industrial pollution and degradation we were facing a lot of issues."

"The River Institute was formed as a partnership between the municipality, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, and individual people who are concerned about the health of the river," Cooper said.

The Institute itself represents a different approach to addressing the issues that are faced in the Cornwall area. "A lot of communities have (brought) in the academic institute, they come from (outside the community), they identify issues and research and remediation, we decided in this community to have it here, and make it a community-driven initiative."

The institute focuses on freshwater science, and does "extensive environmental education for all ages," Cooper said, "we are not an advocacy group as such, but we certainly have partners who are."

Cooper told us that "the United States and Canada built a real industrial complex on both sides of the river." The St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959 and Cooper explained "that had a lot of impact in this area as well, so on the American side this really impacted the community of Akwasasne, they had General Motors and Alcoa. This not only affected Akwasasne it also impacted Messina in up-state New York."

There was also extensive industrial development on the Canadian side of the river. "We had Howard Smith Paper, that would become Domtar Fine Paper, they have been here for 100 years," said Cooper. There was also a textile industry in the area for over a century, this area of the river was not void of industrial pollutants.

All the contaminants "were going into one watercourse and settling in different areas, and there were lots of different issues,"Cooper said.

    "There are over forty areas of concern in North America, there are only five that are cross-border and we're one of them. We are the only one that is Tri-National, in the sense that Akwasasne straddles the US and Canada and (Ontario and Québec)"
    Karen Cooper, Communications Officer and RAP Transition Coordinator for the St. Lawrence River Institute.
Cooper states that through the work of the fish lab the Institute identifies contaminants in the local fish population. "Mercury is big on this side of the river, (Polychlorinated biphenyls) PCBs have been an issue more on the American side," Cooper said, "it is because of the flow of the river."

Cooper explained that the Institute is looking more and more at the cumulative effect of the contaminants, "what kind of impact does it have when different contaminants come together." This is important when you look at the list of contaminants that have been found in the area, "a certain amount of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel," to name a few.

Cooper told this reporter that "there hasn't been a lot of assessment done on health and our relationship to the river."

When asked whether the dispersion of different pollutants in different areas had to do with the difference between Canadian and American regulation Cooper responded "it is more to do with what was being used in the industrial processes and the way the currents work."She continued "it is particularly bad for some portions of Akwesasne because they get both contaminants from each side of the international border."

The partnership that the St. Lawrence River Institute has with the community of Akwesasne gives a sense of empowerment to the community, and Cooper said that it's not only for the First Nation, "it is for us as well."

"We have taken on small projects, literally diving into the river, doing clean-ups and pulling debris out of the river," Cooper explained, "we are doing it together." The solidarity between communities has helped to "pull tons of garbage, and metal out of the river over the past couple of years."

Cooper shared that she "could not begin to express the amount of capacity building, community building," because the communities of Akwesasne and Cornwall are working together, "It's amazing."

The location of Akwesasne complicates deploying volunteers. "The border is right here if I were to go to Akwesasne I might have to go through it three or four times in a day," Cooper explained.

"We decided to say, whatever it takes," and it has worked, Cooper said that for clean-up work volunteers have ranged from infants to those in their 90s. She added that "we are working together trying to solve environmental and educational problems."

To accomplish the work that the Institute engages in they rely heavily on the traditional ecological knowledge of the Akwesasne community, Cooper said "they have an understanding and awareness of the land and the water that is unmatched."

The Institute is a non-profit organization and seeks to fund specific projects. They "try to get the funding, or rely on sweat equity to get the job done," Cooper said. The River Labs engage in mercury monitoring to sediment mapping, and all of their published research can be found on their website.

The clean-ups end in large communal suppers where volunteers can exchange, and as part of their outreach hold "Science & Nature on Tap" events where environmental topics are discussed at a local pub. The St. Lawrence River Institute is an example of communities coming together to address a common problem.

cori.m@watertoday.ca






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