ST. CLAIR RIVER BI-NATIONAL PUBLIC ADVISORY COUNCIL. Minutes Meeting

Transcription

1 ST. CLAIR RIVER BI-NATIONAL PUBLIC ADVISORY COUNCIL 1 Minutes Meeting Thursday June 9, :30 p.m. St Clair County Community College CEM Building, Room 201 Port Huron Michigan. ATTENDEES: Patty Troy Kris Lee Fred Kemp Christine Loeffler Judy Ogden Modris Zandbergs Frank Frisk Paulette Duhaime Archie Kerr Phil Vallance Tip Haagsma Fred Fuller Kristen O Reilly James Clatworthy Joe Hill Whitey Simon Claude Lafrance Robert Clegg REGRETS: Sandra Kok Patricia Hayman Darrell Randell Naomi Williams Sheldon Parsons Terry Burrell Ted Briggs GUESTS: Kevin Kratt, Amanda Huddas, William Parkus, Ken Kingsley, Craig Timm, Aaron Toler, Mark Bessett, Robert Clegg Welcome and Introductions The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Patty Troy. Mr. Joe Hill was welcomed as a new member, representing the City of Sarnia. Approval of Draft Agenda A revised agenda was distributed at the meeting. K. Lee requested that an update item related to the recognition for Janice Littlefield be added to the agenda. The revised agenda was accepted with that modification.

2 2 Approve April 7, 2011 Draft Minutes and actions arising It was moved by Fred Kemp, seconded by Frank Frisk that the draft minutes be accepted. Motion carried. Update on memorial for Janice Littlefield K. Lee advised that the Friends of the St. Clair River will install a plaque in Janice Littlefield s memory on the St. Clair River Trail on the Canadian side. K. Lee provided an opportunity for members to make a donation to the memorial - $159 was collected. The remainder of the costs for the plaque will be provided by the Friends of the St. Clair River. Port Huron habitat project update and presentation Kevin Kratt of Tetra Tech Inc., made a presentation on the plans to rehabilitate a section of the St Clair River shore and river bottom located at the end of Lincoln Street in Port Huron. The goals and details of the plan were presented and discussed. There are two components to the project: in-water and upland. The design is undergoing final refinements and applications for approvals will be submitted shortly. Construction is proposed to begin this fall with the majority of work being completed by November All works must be completed prior to the end of the grant period in April Increased E. Coli monitoring Kristen O Reilly reported that the St. Clair Health Department received a $142,000 grant over two years, to increase E. coli sampling, research a rapid testing method for E. coli, expand sanitary surveys and implement goose control. A summary document was distributed at the meeting, which described the expanded program, including the locations of several new sampling stations for beaches and water courses. In particular, Chrysler beach will be sampled for E. coli three times per week. Goose control methods and contractors are being investigated. Claude Lafrance reported that additional E. coli sampling will be done on the Canadian side of the river as well. Sampling stations will be added along the river and sampling at three additional beach areas will follow the beach sampling protocol. The County of Lambton, Community Health Services Department will take the samples and analytical costs are being supported by the MOE. Tributary sampling by the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority will be enhanced as well. This expanded program is scheduled to continue for a two year period. It was requested that a preliminary report on the results of these sampling programs be presented to BPAC at the fall meeting. St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair Comprehensive Management Plan Implementation Process Bill Parkus, planner with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), described the above-noted plan and the related funding strategies. The plan contains 110 recommendations for protecting, restoring and enhancing the Lake St. Clair watershed. $20 million dollars were authorized for implementing projects which are consistent with the plan. Before funds can be appropriated, a Strategic Implementation

3 3 Plan is required. Bill invited BPAC to join the Lake St. Clair /St. Clair River Protection and Restoration partnership. He suggested that if BPAC agrees to join the partnership, a volunteer would be invited to attend their meetings. He will send an formally inviting BPAC to sign a nonbinding Partnership Agreement and distribute an electronic Project Solicitation Package to Claude Lafrance for distribution to BPAC members. Action: Claude will distribute the partnership agreement and project solicitation package to BPAC members. Members agreed to provide comments to Patty Troy regarding BPAC s participation in the partnership by June 30, Depending on the comments received, Patty may call a teleconference meeting of BPAC or respond directly to Bill Parkus. Joint announcement of re-designation of the tainting of fish and wildlife BUI Claude Lafrance reported that First Nations consultation was successfully completed. In particular, Walpole Island First Nation Chief and Council passed a resolution supporting the re-designation of the tainting of fish and wildlife bui to unimpaired. Ted Briggs scheduled a teleconference meeting for June 13, 2011 of US and Canadian representatives to discuss the logistics of a binational announcement. DEQ response to proposed Action Tracking Table - date for special meeting A special meeting of BPAC members and representatives from MDEQ was scheduled for July 19, 2011 to discuss the MDEQ response to the tracking table. The meeting will be held from 4:30 to 8:30 in Port Huron. Patty Troy will confirm details of the meeting with C. Clark and she will advise members. P Troy also shared correspondence from Christy Clark regarding a survey proposal to assess the status of the aesthetics bui in the St. Clair and Detroit rivers. Patty requested members to review the plan and respond directly to Christy. She suggested that members share photographic evidence of their observations as well. Committee Reports i) SPAC Patty Troy reported that there was no meeting of the SPAC since our last BPAC meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for June 14 15, which includes legislative briefings. ii) Friends of the St Clair River Phil Valance reported new AOC related signs being erected in Wallaceburg, another photo contest will be held covering the summer and fall seasons and an edition of the E- newsletter was distributed in May. The FOSCR is also considering other project ideas for this fiscal year. iii) FOSCR Watershed Kirsten O Reilly reported that there was a 50% increase in the number of volunteers for the spring stream monitoring program, and additional monitoring stations were included in the program. She reported that the Friends of the Watershed received confirmation of a $20,000 grant for assessing the status of buis. The Friends will hire consultants to

4 assess the status of added cost to industry and agriculture and review data on the status of the benthos bui. Action: A presentation on restoration of the St. Clair River is available. P. Troy will forward it to C. Lafrance for distribution to the BPAC. 4 iv) BPAC Membership Committee Whitey Simon reported progress on updating the membership list. K. Lee offered to help update the list. It was noted that Archie Kerr was leaving Lanxess at the end of the month. A. Kerr offered to speak with Lanxess management to determine if they would be willing to provide replacement representative on BPAC. A Kerr expressed an interest to continue as a volunteer with BPAC. K. Lee suggested that he remain a BPAC member and represent the Tourism and Recreation sector. All were in agreement. v) CRIC Phil Vallance reported that Environment Canada received proposals for Great Lakes Sustainability Funds that far exceeded available monies, therefore not all projects may be funded or some may receive less than requested. CRIC has established a number of subcommittees that have started to collect information to report on the work plan, scheduled to be completed this year. The CRIC was hopeful that a contract to complete the additional work to address the contaminated sediments would be issued this summer. The next meeting of the CRIC will be June 23, vi) Four Agencies Managers Meeting Claude Lafrance read a report from Ted Briggs on the last meeting of the Four Agencies Managers Meeting held on May 5, The following issues were discussed: i) Canadian St. Clair River RAP revised delisting criteria, it was determined that the revised draft will be provided to a Work Group for review and comment through Managers - as part of binational consultation process, and will be discussed at the September Managers meeting. ii) The re-designation of the St. Clair River US Dredging BUI was formally approved by EPA on March 3, iii) Canadian approval for re-designation of the tainting of fish and wildlife flavour BUI was imminent. WIFN consultation was proceeding (now complete). There was a recommendation to reconvene the small ad hoc committee to discuss possibilities for making a binational announcement of BUI redesignation. iv) A paper discussing governance on the St. Clair/Detroit River System was being written by staff from USEPA, EC, OMOE and Michigan Sea Grant for presentation at International Association of Great Lakes Researchers being held in early June in Wisconsin. The paper outlines current governance structures found throughout the corridor and analyses how well they function together and whether there are opportunities for improvement. v) The next meeting of the Four Agency Managers will be held in September with the possible location to be in Port Huron.

5 5 No report was available for the OPAC. Other Business Several members reported on the effectiveness of Domtar s abatement program to reduce the filamentous bacteria problem. BPAC agreed to prepare a letter of appreciation to Domtar Paper to recognize the work and effectiveness of their abatement actions. It was also suggested that a request be made to Dunn Paper to attend the next BPAC meeting in the US, to report on their effluent quality and any efforts to improve their environmental performance. Action: P. Troy will draft a letter to Domtar Paper and will contact Dunn Paper to invite them to attend the next BPAC meeting held in Port Huron. Paulette Duhaime asked if the Ministry of the Environment could be requested to report on its response to the 2004 SWAT program that was developed to address spills reduction, contingency planning and response. Action: Claude Lafrance offered to contact MOE Sarnia District Office to advise them of the invitation. Next Meeting The next meeting of the BPAC was set for August 25, 2011 at 6:30 p.m., at the Suncor Sustainability Centre, 1489 London Road, Sarnia, Ontario. Adjournment Moved by Whitey Simon and seconded by Fred Kemp that the meeting be adjourned at 9:05 pm. Motion passed.