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Commentary: Persistent Toxic Substances Across the Canada-United States Border: The International Joint Commission and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Geoffrey Thornburn
Geoffrey Thornburn*
Affiliation:
International Joint Commission; on assignment at the Centre for Public Sector Studies, University of Victoria.
*
School of Public Administration, Centre for Public Sector Studies, University of Victoria, Box 1700, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2; (fax) 250-721-8849; (e-mail) [email protected]
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Abstract

The International Joint Commission was established by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty to assist the governments of the US and Canada in preventing and resolving disputes along their border. Since the signing of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972, the Commission and the two governments have had significant experience—from scientific, managerial, and public involvement perspectives—dealing with the problem of toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes Ecosystem. This paper examines the recommendations proposed by the Commission concerning persistent toxic substances. The author then identifies six fundamental dilemmas that society must face in dealing with persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals. These are: (1) the use of science in the debate on toxics, (2) how economics is factored into decisions about toxics, (3) long term costs versus short term economic and social values, (4) the concept of reverse onus, (5) social discontinuity as change occurs, and (6) the political will of governments. While the US and Canada have made progress in diminishing the quantities of the most egregious pollutants, there is still significant work to be done in the Great Lakes region, as well as in other areas along the Canada-US border and throughout the world.

Type
Features & Reviews
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , March 2000 , pp. 79 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2000

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References

Notes

1. International Joint Commission, 1998, The International Joint Commission and the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.Google Scholar

2. International Joint Commission (consolidation), 1998, Revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978 as Amended by Protocol Signed November 18, 1987.Google Scholar

3. International Joint Commission (consolidation), 1998, Revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978 as Amended by Protocol Signed November 18, 1987.Google Scholar

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