Environmental Summit

On Behalf of the Binational Public Advisory Council for the St. Marys River Area of Concern, I would like to invite you to attend the 11th Annual Environmental Summit organized by the BPAC Resource Office. The summit will be held on Saturday March 17th, 2012 from 10:30am – 3:00pm in the Great Lakes Conference rooms in the Walker Cisler Center at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. There will be speakers starting at 11:30am. Come join us, as this year’s theme will be “Urban Watershed Management.” 

This year’s summit again will offer displays by various organizations with an interest in the St. Marys River and surrounding environment. Along with various displays, there will be a kids section with games focused on water resources. 

BPAC is excited to host this annual summit for the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Ontario. If you have any questions, please contact me at the BPAC Resource office. The office phone number is 906-635-2136 or email stmarysriver@lssu.edu, or you may contact Gregory Zimmerman, BPAC Chairman, at 906-635-2470 or at gzimmerman@lssu.edu. Hope to see you at the summit!

Too Late to Panic: Protecting Canada’s Water and Energy Supplies

The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre hosted a workshop January 24, 2012, Too Late to Panic: Protecting Canada’s Water and Energy Supplies where Maude Barlow, Chair of the Council of Canadians, was the guest speaker. She explained that Canada’s national water act is more than 40 years old while experts are predicting our Great Lakes will be dried up and gone in the next 50 years. Change to protecting our Great Lakes will have to come from the bottom up: we the people who live on the Great Lakes, said Maude, “every effort counts, but we are not doing enough!”

“The world will come calling for this water. We have the responsibility to say how we’ve taken care of it – or not.” ~ Maude Barlow. 

To learn more about Corrina Barrett & the St. Marys River Remedial Action Plan, Maude Barlow & The Council of Canadians or Paula Antunes & the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre please visit our Water Portal!

St. Marys River Geotechnical Sediment Assessment

As an important part of the Remedial Action Plan for the St. Marys River Area of Concern, a geotechnical assessment of sediment in the area East of Bellevue Marine Park (near the sailing club) is currently being undertaken to assess the sediment’s geotechnical properties, depth, and contaminant profile.

The project is being led by the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre and M.R., Wright & Associates Co. Ltd., and was carried out in collaboration with Environment Canada, the Ministry of the Environment, Algoma University, Marathon Drilling Ltd., Purvis Marine, ConeTech, and Guardian Rescue Services. Funding for the study was provided by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada.

For more information about the St. Mary's River, please visit the Water Portal.