By David Helwig
SooToday.com
Saturday, September 02, 2006

A preliminary report from a world-renowned water quality expert at Michigan State University shows that Sault Ste. Marie's East End Sewage Treatment Plant is to blame for high bacterial levels in the St. Mary's River, U.P. Congressman Bart Stupak says.

Stupak cites unacceptable concentrations of bacteria found at the plant's discharge point by Dr. Joan B. Rose of MSU's Water Quality and Environmental Microbiology Laboratory as proving that improperly treated sewage is entering the river there.

Six years ago, Dr. Rose (shown) was named by Water Technology Magazine as one of the 21 Most Influential People in Water in the 21st Century.

She was appointed in 1998 to the Water Science and Technology Board of National Academy of Science and served as vice chair from 2002-04.

Dr. Rose's current activities include chairing the drinking water committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Science Advisory Board, and serving as vice-chair of the U.S. National Committee of the International Water Association.

Last year, she was named as principal investigator and co-director of a $10 million Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment set up by the EPA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The City of Sault Ste. Marie has repeatedly denied that sewage washing up from the St. Mary's River onto Michigan's Sugar Island could have come from the East End plant.

Congressman Stupak issued the following news release:

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Stupak: Report shows St. Mary's bacteria comes from Ontario waste facility

Calls for end of sewage discharges, Canadian cleanup

WASHINGTON - Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) yesterday commented on a report prepared by Dr. Joan Rose at Michigan State University on the presence of E. coli and other bacteria in the St. Mary's River.

Stupak said the study found that the bacteria in the river is emanating from the East End wastewater treatment plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

"Dr. Rose is a widely respected expert in the field of water quality research," Stupak said. "Her work shows that improperly treated sewage originated from the Sault, Ontario waste treatment plant."

The report found high levels of bacterium such as E. coli, coliform, enterococci and clostridium at the discharge point and downstream of the Canadian plant.

While the report is preliminary, Stupak said it clearly demonstrates a need for the Canadian government to more closely monitor discharges from the Ontario waste treatment plant to prevent harmful bacteria from entering the St. Mary's River.

Stupak also cited a recent letter from the International Joint Commission (IJC) to the government of Canada.

"After looking into this issue at my prompting, the International Joint Commission wrote the Canadian government and asked them to more closely monitor what comes out of the Sault, Ontario plant," Stupak said. "It is time for the governments of Canada and Ontario to meet their obligations to the local environment in the Sault region by monitoring what they are discharging into the St. Mary's River, stopping untreated waste from flowing into the river and taking steps to clean up pollutants that are already there."

The IJC is an independent, binational organization established to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters and to advise Canada and the United States on related questions.

While the report released today did not specifically conclude that solid human waste recently found in the St. Mary's River and on Sugar Island originated at the Ontario plant, it did find levels of bacteria much higher at the discharge point of the Canadian plant than is generally considered acceptable.

The study was initiated as a result of complaints of polluted water and of sewage washing up onto the shores of Sugar Island.

Water samples were collected for analysis from locations upstream and downstream of both the Michigan and Ontario sewage treatment plants by Chippewa County Health Department personnel.

In June, it was reported that tests for E. coli on Sugar Island beaches had exceeded 2419.6 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres.

This is more than eight times the standard for closing a beach, 300 colony-forming units.

Those reports prompted Stupak to write the IJC and work with Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials, the Chippewa County Health Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to draw attention to the problem.

In early July, Stupak toured affected areas of the St. Mary's River and convened a meeting of American and Canadian officials to seek resolution of the problem.

Stupak has a long history of working on water quality and environmental issues.

In 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation authored by Stupak that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from loosening its rules to allow partially treated human sewage from being dumped into waterways.

Stupak has also received numerous awards recognizing his legislative work to protect the Great Lakes.

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