“Actions to curb plastics pollution are essential to protect the Great Lakes and are needed now more than ever. But you can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been,” said former IJC Great Lakes Regional Office Director Heather Stirratt. Her presentation to the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) at its semiannual meeting in Washington, D.C. this March highlighted the critical gap in monitoring and tracking microplastics in the Great Lakes.
The meeting was part of a week of activities in the US Capitol focused on educating lawmakers about the importance of maintaining essential protections that ensure the water quality of the Great Lakes supports a safe, strong and more prosperous region.
Stirratt’s presentation to the GLC highlighted the IJC’s ongoing work looking at microplastic pollution. The IJC’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board began “watching” the issue in 2015. Shortly following that the IJC hosted a workshop and issued a 2017 report with recommendations to Canadian and US governments about monitoring and taking action to curb microplastic pollution. The GLC passed a resolution in 2017 supporting the IJC’s recommendations that governments should act on microplastics.
“The IJC’s 2017 report, as supported by the GLC’s resolution, and the recent work of our Great Lakes Science Advisory Board, all provide compelling evidence in support of Canadian and US governments’ adopting microplastics as a Chemical of Mutual Concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement,” said Stirratt.
Read more about the board’s latest work on Great Lakes microplastics pollution in this newsletter article.
IJC Commissioners, staff and the cohort of Great Lakes Fellows participated in other activities throughout the Great Lakes Week, such as the Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast and the reception at the Canadian Embassy. The IJC joined hundreds of individuals from civil society organizations, state and provincial government, and tribes and Indigenous organizations participated in the events, focused on shared priorities and goals for protecting Great Lakes water quality.
Many organizations were on the hill to advocate for their latest set of shared priorities, which focus on maintaining, strengthening and upgrading key policies and programs that safeguard the Great Lakes.
Some of these organizations’ shared priorities include: reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, provide clean drinking water for all, maintain and upgrade navigation infrastructure including the Soo Locks Asset Renewal, hold the line on invasive species projects, support innovative agricultural conservation and measures addressing contaminants like nutrients, PFAS and microplastics, and advance an integrated, basinwide science plan to secure a sustainable future for the region’s economy, workforce, communities and environment.
The IJC continues to align efforts and advance shared goals with the GLC and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission under their memorandum of understanding signed at last year’s Great Lakes week.
Allison Voglesong Zejnati is public affairs specialist at the IJC’s Great Lakes Regional Office in Windsor, Ontario.
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