Group offering update on St. Clair River restoration efforts

A group helping restore the St. Clair River plans to host free annual updates on the effort, starting this month.

The inaugural Honoring the St. Clair River event, set for 5:30 pm Sept. 28 at Bogey’s Inn and Venue in Sombra, will feature updates from the St. Clair River Remedial Action Plan team on ongoing efforts to delist the river as an area of concern, said plan co-ordinator Mike Moroney of the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority.

“There’s been quite a lot of progress over the years” since the river was listed in 1987, when eight of 14 beneficial uses were flagged as impaired, he said.

Four required further assessment, he said, and five remain impaired today.

This year, a plan to manage mercury-contaminated sediment was announcedwith Dow Canada expected to pay to cap sediment deposits in the river between the current TransAlta site in Sarnia and Guthrie Park in St. Clair Township.

Provincial and federal environment ministries are working with Dow to implement the plan that, earlier this year, was projected to happen this fall.

“We’re just waiting for confirmation about when it is going to be able to proceed,” Moroney said, noting dealing with the sediment could lead to gains for two beneficial use impairments (BUIs): degradation of benthos, the organisms living on or near the river bottom; and fish and wildlife consumption.

Other remaining BUIs include loss of fish and wildlife habitat, degradation of fish and wildlife populations, and drinking water consumption.

HAS five-year plan for river restoration work also launched this year.

The Sept. 28 event, which has space for 100 attendees and includes a light dinner, a Fisheries and Oceans Canada aquatic biologist is to speak about invasive species, particularly Asian carpMoroney said.

“Invasive species (are) always a concern when it comes to the Great Lakes and specifically the St. Clair River,” he said.

River updates are also scheduled from the Binational Public Advisory Council and Friends of the St. Clair River.

The event title was selected to signify the importance of the river, and ongoing work to restore its health, Moroney said, noting other places with areas of concern hold annual updates.

“This is something we’d like to do on an annual basis,” he said.

Registration is required by Sept. 18 at bit.ly/honoringthestclair, or by contacting Moroney at 519-245-3710, ext. 255, or [email protected].

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