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Lake Erie lives again

Broadcast Date: July 11, 1979

Lake Erie has gotten a reprieve. For most of the 1960s and '70s it has lived under a death sentence as scientists and the public believed pollution had sealed its fate. There's reason for hope with a new report by the International Joint Commission. Evidence shows that chemical pollution is waning and local gull populations are recovering. But, the CBC's Michael Vaughan reports, scientists are concerned the rebound may be temporary.

Lake Erie lives again

• In his 1986 book The Late, Great Lakes, William Ashworth says Lake Erie appeared to improve beginning in 1975. Algae bloom was not apparent, beaches remained open and oxygen levels were good. But, he said, the lake was still in distress. Phosphate levels in the lake had not decreased, and should water levels plunge the lake would once again bloom with algae.

• According to Environment Canada, Lake Erie's shallowness (it's the shallowest of the five lakes) makes it more prone to oxygen depletion than the others.
• Despite a continued decrease in phosphates in the lake, scientists observed low oxygen levels through the 1980s and 1990s.
• In 2002 the extent of the "dead zone" was increasing. Theories explaining it include the added presence of zebra mussels, unknown sources of phosphorus, or global warming.

• Environment Canada has documented other examples of success stories on the Great Lakes. Among them are: Hamilton Harbour with improvements to sewage treatment; the return of walleye to Severn Sound on Georgian Bay, where stocks had collapsed due to murky waters in the 1990s; and sea lamprey control on the St. Marys River linking lakes Huron and Superior.
• The sea lamprey is a parasitic fish that devastated fish stocks in the 1950s.

Lake Erie lives again

Medium: Television

Program: The National

Broadcast Date: July 11, 1979

Guest(s): Eugene Whelan

Host: Jan Tennant
Reporter: Michael Vaughan

Duration: 2:22

Last updated:
July 26, 2004