The Spanish Harbour is the first designated “Area in Recovery” and covers the lower 53km of the Spanish River, from the town of Espanola to the river mouth at the town of Spanish. In past years environmental concerns in the river have been linked to the impacts from the Espanola sewage treatment plant, past log-driving operations, effluent from the pulp and paper mill in Espanola (Domtar Inc. Eddy
Forest Products Ltd.), and discharges from past and ongoing mining, milling and smelting activities in the Sudbury area. These industrial and municipal point source discharges contributed to degraded water quality and environmental health. In 1987 the Spanish Harbour was designated an Area of Concern (AOC) under the Canada- U.S. The AOC covered the lower 52 km of the Spanish River, from the town of Espanola to the river mouth at the town of Spanish. Area of Concern, or AOC, is a term used to identify hotspots on the Great Lakes where the environment has been harmed to the point that it affects the use and enjoyment of that area or the overall health of the lake. Consequences of environmental degradation may include beach closures, loss of fish and wildlife habitat, loss of biodiversity, and restrictions on the amount of fish people can eat. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement recognized 43 AOCs in the Great Lakes Basin. Of these 43 AOCs, 12 are on the Canadian side, 26 are on the United States side, and 5 are considered “Binational” as they are shared between Canada and the United States. A Remedial Action Plan (RAP) process was initiated to improve the deteriorated environmental conditions that were present. Remedial Action Plans or RAPs are three stage plans that aim to protect and restore Areas of Concern. Canada and the United States work together with conservation authorities, municipalities, Aboriginal communities, environmental groups, industry, special interest groups, and others to develop and implement the plans. Stage 1: Identifying the Environmental Challenges
-1993: the Stage 1 Remedial Action Plan (RAP) report identified nine environmental issues requiring restoration or assessment
-1997: confirmation that many of the environmental issues had been restored
-1999: Six of nine environmental issues were successfully addressed by the Remedial Action Plan Partners
Stage 2: Planning and Implementing Remedial Actions
Over the past 30 years, there has been significant progress in restoring the water and environmental quality in the Harbour. This includes:
-Improvements to the Town of Espanola’s municipal wastewater treatment
-Compliance with federal and provincial pulp and paper regulations
-Reduced exposure of wildlife to harmful chemicals
-Return of musky fish back to the river system after a decade-long absence
-1999: Stage 2 RAP completed; the Spanish Harbour was re-designated as the first “Area of Concern in recovery” (AOCiR). Which means that all actions to restore water quality and ecosystem health are complete and the area now needs time to recover naturally.
-2003-present: active monitoring to track recovery
Stage 3: Monitoring Actions and Delisting of the Area of Concern
For the remaining environmental issues currently being monitored all restoration actions have been completed and time is required for the environmental quality to recover and for environmental quality objectives to be met. These include:
-Restrictions on Fish Consumption (Learn more at: ontario.ca/fishguide)
-Degradation of Benthic species (worms and bugs living in sediment)
Status of recovery:
-Monitoring has shown environmental recovery is occurring in the Spanish Harbour AOCiR
•Fish consumption advisories are similar to other Lake Huron areas
•Spanish Harbour has some of lowest contaminant levels in Great Lakes colonial waterbirds
•Benthic health is improving
•Nickel levels in sediment have declined
•Concentrations of dioxins and furans are declining at some sites while remaining stable at others
•There are no added costs to dredging operations
We will continue to work with local and provincial partners to support restoration actions and the environmental monitoring and assessment studies needed to confirm environmental quality objectives are met. Priorities are to:
continue implementation of a long-term monitoring plan to track further recovery, with a focus on the benthic community and fish contaminants
Once restoration has been confirmed, the Spanish Harbour will be removed from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
