[All] Response to Ken Seiling re: Lake Erie fish kills

Sat Sep 8 13:44:16 EDT 2012

Hi folks

I wrote to our local. provincial and federal politicians last night regarding Lake Erie's fish kill.

I got a written response from Ken Seiling and then I wrote him back. Below are the correspondences exchanged in regards to Lake Erie's fish kills. 

I highly encourage members of GREN to contact these people if you would like to contribute further knowledge regarding this situation. 

Louisette Lanteigne

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
To: Ken Seiling <KSeiling at regionofwaterloo.ca>; Brenda Halloran <bhalloran at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Scott Witmer <switmer at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Karen Scian <kscian at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Angela Vieth <avieth at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Diane Freeman <dfreeman at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Mark Whaley <mwhaley at city.waterloo.on.ca>; "melissa.durrell at waterloo.ca" <melissa.durrell at waterloo.ca>; "jeff.henry at waterloo.ca" <jeff.henry at waterloo.ca> 
Cc: Regional Councillors <RegionalCouncillors at regionofwaterloo.ca>; "dschultz at grandriver.ca" <dschultz at grandriver.ca>; "dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org" <dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org>; "ahorwath-qp at ndp.on.ca" <ahorwath-qp at ndp.on.ca>; "catherinefife at on.ndp.ca" <catherinefife at on.ndp.ca>; "jmilloy.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org" <jmilloy.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org>; "stephen.woodworth at parl.gc.ca" <stephen.woodworth at parl.gc.ca>; "harold.albrecht at parl.gc.ca" <harold.albrecht at parl.gc.ca>; "gary.goodyear at parl.gc.ca" <gary.goodyear at parl.gc.ca>; "peter.braid at parl.gc.ca" <peter.braid at parl.gc.ca>; Peter Kent P.C. M.P. <minister at ec.gc.ca>; "bob.rae at parl.gc.ca" <bob.rae at parl.gc.ca>; "thomas.mulcair at parl.gc.ca" <thomas.mulcair at parl.gc.ca>; "pm at pm.gc.ca" <pm at pm.gc.ca>; "Elizabeth.May at parl.gc.ca" <Elizabeth.May at parl.gc.ca>; "tim.hudak at pc.ola.org" <tim.hudak at pc.ola.org> 
Sent: Saturday, September 8, 2012 1:39:10 PM
Subject: Re: Lake Erie massive fish and bird deaths 

Dear Mr. Seiling et al: 

I respectfully decline the belief that Lake Erie's fish kill is a "Natural " act. On the contrary, it is the result of man made actions taking place within the watershed.  For the MNR to imply this is anything less than a man made issue is morally, ethically and scientifically wrong.

Here is the feedback from World Reknowned Biologist and Fish Expert Alan Marshall regarding this fish kill and how human actions at the local level are having an impact on Erie: 
http://elmiraadvocate.blogspot.ca/2012/09/anthropogenic-human-causes-of-massive.html

Cottager Nevill Knowels has lived along Lake Erie for 50 years and he has never experienced anything like this before. 

Globally, this is NOT an isolated incident. Fish, mammals and even whales are washing up right now along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec along Les Escoumins in the Lower North Shore and the Southern Shore. Globally we're seeing more and more Blue Green Algae and Red Tide outbreaks at huge scale. Currently, the Yangtze, the world's third largest river, has gone red and it's most likely from Red Tide. You can view the photos here: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2199800/The-river-DID-run-red-Residents-Chinese-city-left-baffled-Yangtze-turns-scarlet.html

The article implies they don't know the cause but the fact is, Red Tide has covered over 1000 km2 of the Yangtze at least 25 times before: 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22165212

The general ministry attitude is: Keep calm, don't tell the public the truth just say it's a natural process but the reality is it's a situation based on pollution and it's being aggravated by climate change. 

Our region needs to get real with the fact, that we're loosing Erie as a viable water supply. It will not be drinkable. Our growth ambitions, our gravel pit extractions and development plans that were established by over 30 years are proving to be scientifically unsustainable. This fish kill is proof of that. It's already tipping. 

If we continue to proceed to continue on the path of business as usual, we continue to will lose volumes of water that provides for our local economic systems and there will not be a viable alternative should the decline of Erie's water volumes continue.

If you want to see where we are headed I suggest you review this article showing what is taking place in Lake Winnipeg. That location is considered to have the worst algae problem of any freshwater lake in the world.  Algal blooms kill fish, increase costs of water treatment, devalue shoreline properties and pose health risks to children, pets and livestock. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/algal-toxin-high-here-study-166226686.html

Experts have been trying desperately to fix Lake Winnipeg for years but if they they can't save this lake, what on earth makes you think they can fix Erie? 

Louisette 

________________________________
 From: Ken Seiling <KSeiling at regionofwaterloo.ca>
To: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>; Brenda Halloran <bhalloran at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Scott Witmer <switmer at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Karen Scian <kscian at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Angela Vieth <avieth at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Diane Freeman <dfreeman at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Mark Whaley <mwhaley at city.waterloo.on.ca>; "melissa.durrell at waterloo.ca" <melissa.durrell at waterloo.ca>; "jeff.henry at waterloo.ca" <jeff.henry at waterloo.ca> 
Cc: Regional Councillors <RegionalCouncillors at regionofwaterloo.ca>; Jan d'Ailly <jdailly at city.waterloo.on.ca>; Ian McLean <imclean at city.waterloo.on.ca>; "dschultz at grandriver.ca" <dschultz at grandriver.ca>; "dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org" <dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org>; "ahorwath-qp at ndp.on.ca" <ahorwath-qp at ndp.on.ca>; "catherinefife at on.ndp.ca" <catherinefife at on.ndp.ca>; "jmilloy.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org" <jmilloy.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org>; "stephen.woodworth at parl.gc.ca" <stephen.woodworth at parl.gc.ca>; "harold.albrecht at parl.gc.ca" <harold.albrecht at parl.gc.ca>; "gary.goodyear at parl.gc.ca" <gary.goodyear at parl.gc.ca>; "peter.braid at parl.gc.ca" <peter.braid at parl.gc.ca>; Peter Kent P.C. M.P. <minister at ec.gc.ca>; "bob.rae at parl.gc.ca" <bob.rae at parl.gc.ca>; "thomas.mulcair at parl.gc.ca" <thomas.mulcair at parl.gc.ca>; "pm at pm.gc.ca" <pm at pm.gc.ca>; "Elizabeth.May at parl.gc.ca" <Elizabeth.May at parl.gc.ca>; "tim.hudak at pc.ola.org" <tim.hudak at pc.ola.org> 
Sent: Saturday, September 8, 2012 10:09:45 AM
Subject: RE: Lake Erie massive fish and bird deaths 

Thanks for your email Louisette. The story which I read this morning in the Star attributed the fish kill to lack of oxygen due to a cold water inversion in the lake. It is always interesting to keep tabs on the Great Lakes as they are so important to us.  Ken

________________________________

From: Louisette Lanteigne [butterflybluelu at rogers.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 2:47 AM
To: Brenda Halloran; Scott Witmer; Karen Scian; Angela Vieth; Diane Freeman; Mark Whaley; melissa.durrell at waterloo.ca; jeff.henry at waterloo.ca
Cc: Regional Councillors; Jan d'Ailly; Ian McLean; dschultz at grandriver.ca; dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org; ahorwath-qp at ndp.on.ca; catherinefife at on.ndp.ca; jmilloy.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org; stephen.woodworth at parl.gc.ca; harold.albrecht at parl.gc.ca; gary.goodyear at parl.gc.ca; peter.braid at parl.gc.ca; Peter Kent P.C. M.P.; bob.rae at parl.gc.ca; thomas.mulcair at parl.gc.ca; pm at pm.gc.ca; Elizabeth.May at parl.gc.ca; tim.hudak at pc.ola.org
Subject: Lake Erie massive fish and bird deaths 

Dear Council Members et al. 

Currently Lake Erie is seeing the largest die off of near shore fish in recent history. The beaches are littered, and in some cases, covered with tens of thousands of rotting fish. Species found included carp, sheephead, yellow perch, Lake Erie catfish, suckerfish, smelt, whitefish and minnows. 

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2012/09/06/fish-kill-cause-could-have-huge-implications

Thousands of rotten dead fish and some dead birds are along Lake Erie's shoreline right now, along 40 km of beach.  The cause according to this news story published in the Toronto Star is: Nitrate issues: The lack of oxygen resulting from the breakdown of organic matter.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1253189--lack-of-oxygen-killed-lake-erie-fish-tests-show

As a precaution, Chatham-Kent public utilities increased sampling of the water since the incident. The results show there's no need for additional treatment of the water and quality of drinking water hasn't been affected, according to Dr. David Colby, the Medical Officer of Health for Chatham-Kent.

http://www.am980.ca/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1770024

Recently this research story came out noting the presence of a pathogen linked to human sewage at Beaches on the US section of Erie. The researchers found Arcobacter at all beeches they tested. 75.2% of 129 samples with occurrence and densities in concordance with the level of fecal contamination. 

http://phys.org/news/2012-08-gi-pathogen-lake-linked-human.html

In my view, I suspect that part of the reason we are having these issues is due to the fact we've had drought conditions most of this summer. Very little water has been circulating in tributaries. Very little groundwater has been available to dilute farm wastes and aquifer contaminates. With the recent heavy rains we had a high flush of manure dust and organic materials introduced into tributaries creating a spike in nitrate issues.  

I'm wondering if the lack of rain over summer months may have gone beyond the design constraints of our sewage discharge processes resulting in the release of higher than normal concentrations of organic manner into the Grand. I have a hard time thinking we actually had enough flow to reasonably dilute the waste materials. The situation might pose serious health risks for private well system owners right now since there is less water to dilute point source contamination.

When you factor in these considerations plus the amount of stress fish face in regards to the elevated temperatures we've been experiencing, it's no wonder they're dying off. 

Now more than ever we must prohibit any further activity that threatens our primary recharge areas.  Lake Erie is already reaching a major tipping point and we are only at the very beginning of all this. The least we can do is seek provincial help to expand the Greenbelt to include our ESL's to protect them from potential aggregate extractions.  I created this power point which I presented to ARA committee for consideration during the review of the Aggregate Resource Act. If you have not reviewed it I highly encourage you to to do so in order to understand the enormous economic, ecological and social risks posed by gravel pit operations in our area. Knowledge of this must be shared with higher powers in order to get them to realize the urgency of this situation.

http://www.slideshare.net/Waterloomoriane/ara-submission-lanteigne-aggregate-risks-gdp-impacts

To save the water supply we must protect the natural sediment composition of our primary recharge areas. Protect the trees and vegetation  that captures the dew and holds in the moisture while protecting the biodiversity that supports healthy ecosystems including the microbacterial enzymes that assists in removing pathogens. 

We must protect and preserve all of our remaining wetlands including Hidden Valley. These wetlands filter the water, reducing 80 to 90% of phosphate and nitrates naturally plus they regulate the atmospheric temperatures. 

Storm water management ponds cannot reasonably replicate the function of natural wetlands due to the presence of roadsalts and other contaminates. These man made ponds attract geese and water fowl who release nitrate and phosphate rich droppings and are often located in  urban areas where there is a lack of natural predation to control bird populations. This contributes to the growth of toxic algae.

One way we can afford to purchase lands such as HIdden Valley in Kitchener is by way of creating a municipal levee on heavy industrial water users. The logic being, water is a public commodity and private industries are benefiting from it paying a pittance of the true costs of water treatment and transportation. Even if companies have their own wells, the burdens they create associated with the depletion of the public resource falls heavily upon local taxpayers.  If we create a levee it will help to secure the long protection of natural source areas for all of us. It's a mutually amicable solution. The levee will also serve as an economic incentive to implement corporate water reduction or recycling strategies.

Thank you kindly for your time. 

Louisette Lanteigne
700 Star Flower Ave.
Waterloo Ont.
N2V 2L2
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