| Montreal, 11/02/2005 – The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) of North America is requesting information for use in preparing a factual record on allegations that Canada is failing to effectively enforce section 36(3) of the federal Fisheries Act in connection with deposits of polychlorinated biphenyls, polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons, and other pollutants to the Saint Lawrence River from the Montreal Technoparc site. The Secretariat will accept information until 31 May 2005.
The allegations were made in submission SEM-03-005 (Montreal Technoparc), filed with the Secretariat on 14 August 2003, by Waterkeeper Alliance, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Société pour Vaincre la Pollution, Environmental Bureau of Investigation and the Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper/Save the River! On 20 August 2004, the CEC Council voted unanimously to instruct the Secretariat to develop a factual record in connection with the submission.
Under Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the Secretariat may consider a submission from any person or nongovernmental organization asserting that a Party to NAAEC (Canada, Mexico, United States) is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. The submission process can lead to the development of a factual record. A factual record seeks to provide detailed factual information allowing interested persons to assess whether a Party is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law in connection with the matter raised in the submission. In accordance with Article 15(7) of NAAEC, the CEC Council may, by a two-thirds vote, make the final factual record publicly available.
The CEC was established under the NAAEC in 1994 to address environmental issues in North America from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those arising in the context of liberalized trade. The CEC Council, the organization's governing body, is composed of the top environment officials of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Please visit the Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page for more information.
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