Clean Water Victories

WATCHING OUT FOR MERCURY IN OUR WATERWAYS
When the province granted its approval for the large-scale DeBeers Victor Diamond Mine pit in Ontario’s northern Boreal Forest, the public had no say in the matter. This spring, after Ecojustice launched litigation alleging the government had circumvented this crucial step, the government backtracked and opened the project for public comment. Ecojustice filed comments on behalf of an environmental group and the government put extensive requirements to monitor and study mercury releases and impacts into the mine permits.

POLLUTION INVESTIGATION CROSSES BORDER
An Ecojustice complaint to NAFTA ’s environmental watchdog, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, resulted in the first ever full investigation of the US government by this body.
The investigation will look at whether the US has failed to enforce its water pollution laws against American coal-fired power plants and thereby allowed lakes and rivers in Canada and the US to be contaminated with toxic mercury.

Dr. Elaine MacDonald
As Ecojustice’s Senior Scientist, Dr. Elaine MacDonald uses science to fight for environmental justice. Elaine has advocated at the national level for a ban of toxic fire retardants, and she is currently researching the need to modernize Ontario’s 20 year old industrial wastewater regulations. Elaine has gained enormous credibility both in Canada and stateside for authoring the Great Lakes Sewage Report Card and co-authoring the follow up report Green Cities, Great Lakes, which can be downloaded here.