Call for cooperation on Great Lakes ship spills
An International Joint Commission report on the health of the Great Lakes says that more needs to be done about spills from ships.
A joint commission has called for better cooperation between the U.S. and Canada when it comes to dealing with spills from ships and other environmental health issues on the Great Lakes.
In a recommendation stemming from its July Report on Spills in the Great Lakes Basin with a Special Focus on the St. Clair–Detroit River Corridor [2.1MB PDF], the multidisciplinary, multicountry International Joint Commission (IJC) said in October that communication and risk criteria between the two countries need to be strengthened. Many of the commission’s findings were echoed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in a separate report, Better Information and Targeted Prevention Efforts Could Enhance Spill Management in the St. Clair–Detroit River Corridor [64KB PDF].
The IJC examined ship spills from 1990 to June 2005 and, in its latest report, points out that the responsibility for cleanup costs for spills on the Great Lakes remains unclear. The controversial topic has been simmering since April 2002, when more than 100,000 gallons of lube oil and diesel fuel were dumped into the Rouge River and later spread to the Detroit River. Canada and the U.S. are expected to review their agreements on the Great Lakes in the near future.
