Great Lakes
Our Great Lakes Commons: A People's Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever
By Maude Barlow, March 2011
Our Great Lakes Commons: A People’s Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever is an in-depth report about the critical importance of forging a new future for the Great Lakes watershed, which provides life and livelihood to more than 40 million people in Canada and the United States, as well as thousands of species that live around it.
The paper is intended to serve as a background and a call to understanding and action on a new proposal to designate the Great Lakes and its tributary waters as a lived Commons, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around them.
Download the paper here (6.46 MB).
ACTION ALERT: Tell Niagara-on-the-Lake Council to protect the Great Lakes from fracking!
Maude Barlow, keynote speaker, 2011 Conference Saving the Great Lakes Forever, Michigan, May 6-7, 2011
Wenonah Hauter - 2011 Conference Saving the Great Lakes Forever, Michigan, May 6-7, 2011
Roundtable Discussion - 2011 Conference Saving the Great Lakes Forever, Michigan, May 6-7, 2011
Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes
Bruce Power has applied for a licence at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway to Sweden. Bruce Power plans to recycle 90% of the 16 steam generators by contracting Swedish company Studsvik to ship, decontaminate, melt down and sell the metal on consumer markets. Studsvik will return 10% of the most radioactive parts to Bruce Power. Bruce Power currently has a contract with Studsvik to ship and recycle 32 steam generators.
City mayors, US Senators, environmental groups, First Nations communities and other civil society groups have raised many important concerns about this shipment. The total radioactive level exceeds the legal limits set out in International Atomic Energy Agency's Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material by 50 times. Public consultation has been inadequate. There are many unanswered questions concerning Bruce Power's application and emergency response plan. This could set a dangerous precedent for regularly shipping radioactive waste that exceeds legal limits through the Great Lakes. Nearly 80 groups provided written submissions and half of them intervened at a public hearing on Sept. 28-29, 2010. After accepting supplementary information from interveners, the CNSC is currently in discussions about whether or not to permit Bruce Power to ship the generators to Sweden.
BLOG UPDATE: Our campaign against radioactive shipments on the Great Lakes » March 17, 2011
BLOGS: Read analysis of the Great Lakes in the Council of Canadians' Water and Campaign blogs.
Fact sheets:
Letters, submissions and reports:
- Great Lakes Water Quality Submission, The Council of Canadians, October 2011
- Creating a New Narrative for the Great Lakes Radioactive shipments planned for Lakes, Canadian Perspectives, Summer 2011
- Letter to Sweden's Minster of the Environment re Proposed shipment of radioactive steam generators from Canada to Sweden, Maude Barlow, June 13, 2011 (Svenska | Français)
- Open letter to Canadian, US, UK, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish governments from 20 European civil society organizations demanding a stop to Bruce Power’s plan to ship radioactive waste on the Great Lakes to Sweden, April 26, 2011
- Submission to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources re CNSC's decision to approve shipment of 16 steam generators by Bruce Power, Council of Canadians, March 10, 2010
- Supplementary written submission for CNSC re Bruce Power application, Council of Canadians, November 22, 2010
- Amended submission for CNSC Public Hearing re Bruce Power application, Council of Canadians, September 22, 2010
- Open letter to Commissioners of the International Joint Commission (IJC) re: Shipment of Bruce Power's 16 steam generators to Sweden, Council of Canadians, October 19, 2010
Media highlights:
- MEDIA RELEASE: Expiring nuclear waste shipping licence gives feds a second chance to do it right, says Barlow, February 2, 2012
- Water Law: Public Trust May Be Fresh Approach to Protecting Great Lakes, Circle of Blue, January 17, 2012
- MEDIA RELEASE Council of Canadians supports New York's regulations on ballast waters to protect Great Lakes from invasive species, October 18, 2011
- JOINT MEDIA RELEASE: Water Organizations and Advocates Ask International Joint Commission to Declare the Great Lakes a Public Trust While Continuing to Assess Persistent Threats, October 22, 2011
- MEDIA RELEASE: Council of Canadians to deliver more than 101,000 signatures to Dalton McGuinty urging him to stop nuclear waste on the Great Lakes, September 29, 2011
- MEDIA RELEASE: European civil society demand governments stop Bruce Power’s shipment of radioactive waste, April 26, 2011
- MEDIA ADVISORY: Council of Canadians meets with key European groups to deepen opposition against Bruce Power's radioactive waste shipment, April 15, 2011
- MEDIA RELEASE: Protect the Great Lakes as a Commons, says Council of Canadians, March 22, 2011
- NEWS: We are draining the Great Lakes dry, Council of Canadians warns, Ottawa Citizen, March 22, 2011
- AUDIO: More Generator Opposition, with Emma Lui, National Water Campaigner, Bayshore News Staff, March 21, 2011
- NEWS: Nuclear shipment is safe: watchdog, The Montreal Gazette, February 21, 2011
- NEWS: Battle to stop radioactive shipments, Shetland Marine News, February 15, 2011
- NEWS: Plan to ship radioactive material on the Detroit River gains steam, Detroit Metro Times, February 9, 2011
- NEWS: Nuclear shipment gets green light, Kahnawake News, February 8, 2011
- MEDIA RELEASE: Council of Canadians condemns CNSC approval of radioactive shipments through Great Lakes, February 5, 2011
Action alerts:
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Compact
Background
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Compact is an interstate agreement based on the Great Lakes Annex Agreement signed by Ontario, Quebec and the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes in 2005.
In order to be recognized in U.S. federal law, the Compact had to be approved by the legislatures of all eight states and by U.S. Congress. Michigan was the last state to sign in July, 2008. The Compact was approved by U.S. Congress, and then was signed into law by U.S. President George Bush in December 2008.
Critical concerns about the Compact
It exempts bottled water
While the Compact sets out to prevent diversions from the Great Lakes, the definition of diversions does not apply to water as a “product” and gives bottled water corporations the right to extract water from the Great Lakes in containers of 20 litres or less. Once bottled water corporations are granted this right, Michigan lawyer Jim Olson argues that once bottled water corporations are granted this right it will be difficult to regulate taking water out of the Great Lakes in containers because the practice would be protected in international trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
It allows for out-of-basin transfers
The Compact grants special rights to communities and counties straddling the Great Lakes. These communities are exempted from the “no diversions” clause and are not required to return a minimum amount of water to the Great Lakes basin, if any at all. These exceptions – along with the infamous Chicago diversion of 2 billion gallons a day – mean vast amounts of water will be transferred outside the Great Lakes basin, which will have adverse effects on its ecological integrity and lead to further depletion of water in the basin.
It undermines Canada’s ability to protect the watershed
The Canadian government was not at the table when these agreements were being discussed. The Great Lakes Compact sets up a regional authority to regulate water takings in the Great Lakes Basin. A body comprised of two provinces and eight Great Lakes states puts Canada at a disadvantage in negotiating water disputes. The International Joint Commission (IJC) is responsible for overseeing and arbitrating conflicts over water issues between Canada and the United States. The Great Lakes Compact makes the IJC irrelevant and weakens the ability of the Canadian government to protect the Great Lakes -St. Lawrence River Basin.
The Council of Canadians calls for:
Amendments to the Compact.
The Council of Canadians is supporting our allies in the United States who are calling for an amendment to the Compact to incorporate the public trust doctrine as a standard for protection, and to eliminate the bottled water exception.
Federal government intervention.
Throughout this process, the federal government has remained silent. In its silence, it has abdicated its responsibility to protect the Great Lakes and the Canadian public interest. The federal government is the only body with the authority to negotiate international agreements on shared natural resources. The Council of Canadians is calling on the federal government to intervene immediately.
The IJC to retain authority.
The federal government must also uphold the integrity of the International Joint Commission by ensuring that the IJC remains the primary body responsible for deciding disputes over the management of the Great Lakes.
The Council of Canadians is leading the fight to protect the Great Lakes from diversions, and to ensure that Canada takes responsibility in protecting this important watershed.
Click here (PDF 1MB) to read the letter sent by the Council of Canadians to municipal councillors in the Great Lakes -St. Lawrence River Basin.
Great Lakes Annex
