Environmental Justice Case Study: Walpole Island First Nation and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI):

Proposed discharge to release treated wastewater into Lake St. Clair

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The Problem

Walpole Island Indian Reserve is located between Ontario, Canada, and Michigan at the mouth of the St. Clair River. Upstream from Walpole Island is Canada's petrochemical and refining region, coined "Chemical Valley." This area has been bombarded with 32 major spills between 1974 and 1986, as well as several hundred minor spills.

Imperial Chemical Industries, a Canadian chemical company, is proposing to discharge lime-treated and aged process water, currently held in a number of ponds on site, into the St. Clair River. The discharge will occur 10 kilometers upstream from Walpole Island, and will cause a 57 litres/second of dispersal over a 4.5 year period, with an estimated release of 3.4 million cubic metres of water (750 million gallons). First Nation of Walpole Island stauchly opposes the discharge, which could affect the traditional way of life for residents. First Nation depends on the St. Clair river for food and water, and contamination will eliminate that resource, either directly through the discharge itself or by disturbing sediments on the river bottom. With over 150 chemicals in the proposed discharge, few have published safe guideline levels.

One of the First Nation's concerns is the contamination of the river delta and 6,700 hectares (16,782) of wetlands on their land, which are crucial to the First Nation's economy. Roughly $2 million a year is generated from hunting and fishing on the wetlands.

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Background

Located in the delta of the St. Clair River, Walpole Island is Canada's southernmost Indian territory. It is part of the traditional homelands of the Pottawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa people who together comprise a political compact known as the Three Fires Confederacy. While administered as reserve land for over 150 years, it was not included in any of the 18th and 19th century treaties that saw the surrender of most Indian lands in the Great Lakes. Walpole Island is located roughly 24 kilometres downstream of the proposed discharge pipe. It encompasses 58,000 hectares (23,472 acres) of which 43% is Class 1-3 Agricultural Land (best being 1). A remaining 30% is compromised of 30% World Class Wetlands. Located just below Bowens Ck. are the ICI chemical ponds. The plant was sold to Terra International of Iowa, Inc. in 1993 with the ownership and cleanup charged to ICI.

As part of the plant closure in 1986, ICI was forced to deal with treating the remaining pond water as well as any seepage from the gypsum stacks. The chemicals of concern in the pond were:

Phosphate

Ammonia

Fluoride

2,4 & 2,6 dinitroluene

In 1985, ICI obtained a drainage permit to prevent an overflow due to rising pond levels. As a result of outcry from citizens of Wallaceburg and Walpole, the Canadian Ministry of Energy and Environment (MOEE) revoked the permit and the discharge was stopped in 1987. In 1988, a Community Liason Committee was formed with members from Sombra Township, Wallaceburg, Walpole Island and the MOEE, as well as employees from ICI. The committee discussed a variety of issues including the management of stormwater and pond water at the site.

In 1991, a specialized group emerged, Phosphate Planning Committee (PPC). Its mandate was to develop a short term solution to pond water storage and a long term plan for the gypsum stacks and pond water area. Meeting from October 1991 to February 1995, they focused on solutions that did not include discharging into the St. Clair River. Instead, from the PPC, the process of reverse osmosis (RO) was implemented. However, due to problems with the system (clogging of membranes and inclement weather), this was stopped in 1994. ICI then hired consultants to reappraise the situation and to suggest options. They came up with two such options: the RO option and /or landfill. The PPC was not consulted nor asked for comment. Soon after, ICI declared its intent to seek a permit to discharge into the St. Clair River.

Gord Clarke, a lakeshore resident, states, "No one, not the Ministry of Environment, nor the chemists of the world can tell you the results of drinking water containing the substances ICI wants to dump into the St. Clair River." True, no one really knows the environmental effects of these chemicals. But, we are familiar with the operational effects of using such substances. The plant used fertilizer production technology that involved the reaction of sulphuric acid with phosphate rock to produce a high temperature mixture of phosphoric acid and gypsum. This mixture was then filtered to separate the gypsum from the phosphoric acid. The phosphoric acid was reacted with ammonia to produce ammonium phosphate fertilizers. Water pumped to the site from the St. Clair River, as well as precipitation falling on the site, was used to transport the gypsum from the phosphate fertilizer building to two settling ponds, where the gypsum was allowed to settle and the water allowed to drain. The two gypsum settling ponds were developed into a gypsum stack, as the settled gypsum increased in height. One cooling water pond was operated in conjuction with each gypsum settling pond/stack, to cool and recycle seepage and direct it to the cooling ponds. The plant left an 18 metre (60 foot) pile of gypsum by product covering 40 hectares (100 acres) and at least 2.2 billion litres (500 million gallons) of contaminated pond water that has increased over the years due to rain and snowfall.

Ron Pinson, a conservation officer within the Algonac area shared his opinion, "The government passes laws, we enforce them by writing tickets and they allow the dumping of 750 million gallons of toxic waste...how can I, with a fair conscience write up littering tickets when the government allows this type of thing to happen!"

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Key Actors

Walpole Island First Nations, Walpole Island, Ontario

From day one, people of Walpole have insisted on 'zero discharge'. They have been in contact with both levels of government and the other concerned communities along the waterway.

Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI)

They maintain that since the treated water falls below Provincial Guidelines that there will not be any appreciable degradation. In the meantime, they have contributed $1.6 million dollars towards Wallaceburg, Ontario's water tower, presumably to quell any dissent in that community.

Ministry of Environment & Energy, Province of Ontario

Since tests indicated the pond water met MOEE's guidelines, they went along with the ICI consultants and agreed that the controlled discharge would present no measurable change in existing water quality of the St. Clair River.

Federal Government of Canada

People of Walpole Island continue to petition the Government of Canada to invoke the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in order to undertake a full assessment of the impact of ICI's toxic disposal system.

Provincial Government of Canada

An appeal to halt discharge by Walpole Island to the board was accepted and both parties (ICI & WI) were asked to submit their arguements to the Province of Ontario's Cabinet. A decision is pending.

City of Marine City, Marine City, Michigan, USA

The City has continued to support Walpole Island and presses for further involvement from their respective political leaders.

City of Algonac, Algonac, Michigan, USA

Citizens of Algonac have also formally expressed its support for Walpole Islanders' committment to zero discharge and has forwarded its own petition to the Ministry of Environment requesting the appointment of a review panel.

Environmental Assessment Board, Toronto, Ontario

The board concluded, "Those opposed to the discharge have not introduced sufficient technical evidence to suggest, beyond speculation, that this discharge will cause harm to the River, the downstream ecosystem, or the public that use the River and its resources."

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Demographics

Walpole Island has approximately 3000 citizens with about 2,200 year-round residents. It has a high rate of unemployment (62%) and depressed economic conditions. Approximately 16% of the 38% employed earn less than minimum wage, while one quarter of those employed earn between $7.00/hr and $10.00/hr (Walpole Island First Nation, Canada, 1996).

Language

Linguistic Affiliation:

Algonkian

Mother Tongue

Ojibwa

Pottawatomi

Spoken Language

English

85%

Aboriginal

11%

English & Aboriginal

7%

French & Other

1%

Nearly all of the households on Walpole Island are directly or indirectly involved in hunting, fishing and trapping activities. Recreational tourism is the number one industry. The second largest is agriculture. The third ranking sector is government services and the fastest growing. The remainder are involved in manufacturing, trade industries, transportation, communications and other utility industries, and miscellaneous commercial activites. Local facilites include an economic development and industrial-training complex. Unfortunately, during the transitional seasons, unemployment rises to nearly 70% for the whole reserve.

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Strategies

First, Walpole Island First Nation has called to question the Provincial Water Quality Objectives (PWQO's), which are used to evaluate the levels of contamination in waste water and determine whether they are within specified limits. Unfortunately, PWQO's do not address water quality for uses such as drinking water, livestock watering, and the protection of freshwater aqautic life, all of which apply directly to Walpole Island First Nation. They also state that the PWQO's do not have limitations established for 27 of the substances found in the ICI waste water.

Further, Walpole Island First Nation called into question the thoroughness of the risk assessment performed by ICI. First Nation states that 14 substances have been addressed in the risk assessment. Thus, they filed a petition to oppose the discharge into the St. Clair River. According to the petition, some of these substances have been directly linked to impacts on human health, and the should be investigated further. Also, First Nation believes that the risk assessment did not evaluate the pre-existing or future potential sources of contamination in the river. The possibility that the controlled discharge could interact with the existing substances and cause environmental or health problems needs to be addressed. Another possibility is that the addition of the discharge to the existing sediment in the river could have adverse reactions.

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Solutions

As of October, 1996, The Ministry of Environment and Energy has made a decision to allow the discharge of the treated pond water into the St. Clair River. Walpole Island First Nation has accepted this loss, but continues to struggle to attain zero discharge.

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Recommendations

Walpole Island First Nation should continue its demands for zero discharge without compromise. Their resilience and determination help give their cause legitimacy in the eyes of the public and the U.S. and Canadian governments. Also, Walpole Island First Nation should attempt to organize surrounding communities in order to broaden its base of support, which may help apply pressure to the Canadian and U.S. goverments to support zero discharge.

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Notes and Key Contacts

ICI Canada Inc. 1995. Application for an amendment to certificate of approval 4-0069-93.

ICI Canada Inc. Funding Decision.

Peters, Marcia. 1996. Bkejwanong Stands Fast on Toxics in the St. Clair River.

Walpole Island First Nation Petition: for the referral of this project to a review panel pursuant to the provision of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. S.C. 1992, s. 48, as amended.

Reilly, Linda. 1996. Department of Economic Development, Walpole Island. Personal Contact.

Contact for further information:
Walpole Island First Nation
Heritage Center RR #3
Wallaceburg, Ontario N8A 4K9
Canada

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