Thunder Bay Harbour is Cleaning Up It's Act

3 cheers for the lake
By PETER BURKOWSKI
Monday, July 21, 2008



Ecological awareness joined up with summer fun on Sunday at the first Lake Superior Day to be celebrated at Marina Park.
Held on the third Sunday in July, Lake Superior Day is celebrated in communities in Canada and the U.S. which lie on the lake‘s coastline.
The purpose of the event is to raise awareness of environmental threats to the lake, and to encourage the public to take action to protect and restore it.
Sunday‘s celebration in Thunder Bay was sponsored by the city, EcoSuperior, the Zero Waste Action Team and the Lake Superior Binational Forum.
About 100 people attended.
“The event‘s gone really well – especially for a first time,” said EcoSuperior program co-ordinator Karen Copeland.
In addition to kite flying, live music, kayaking and tours of a coast guard rescue vessel, the celebration featured information kiosks about the threats to Lake Superior, and what can be done to overcome them.
“Even though (Superior) is the cleanest of the Great Lakes, it still runs into trouble with pollution, invasive species and overconsumption,” said Copeland.
Lake Superior Binational Forum Canadian chairman Glen Dale agreed, but added that locally, things are starting to improve.
“One (area of concern) has been Thunder Bay harbour, and it‘s in a very progressive cleanup stage,” said Dale. “Millions of dollars from government and industry funds have gone into cleaning up the lake.”
The Lakehead Region Conservation Authority also celebrated Lake Superior Day with a picnic at Silver Harbour.

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