Report of The Niagara River Toxics Committee
October 1984

On it's route from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the Niagara River passes through a complex of steel,  petrochemical, and chemical manufacturing industries . The Niagara Frontier's proximity to a source of cheap electrical power and water for use in industrial processing has caused it to become a highly industrialized area, particularly on the U.S. side.

Historically , decisions about the development of the Niagara Frontier have been based solely on economic factors, such as the creation of jobs and the production o f cheaper materials. These decisions have proven to be the cause o f environmental problems both in the Niagara River and the surrounding area.

More recently, environmental degradation and its impact on human health has become a prevailing consideration in decisions regarding use and management of the Niagara River. Over the last decade, high levels of bacteria, phenols, oil , iron , phosphorus, chloride, mercury, and color have been reduced significantly.

Currently, toxic substances and their effects on human health and the ecosystem are being focused on. Major toxic waste disposal sites have been identified along the Niagara River corridor, and toxic substances have been measured in the effluents of Industrial and municipal facilities discharging into the river .

With increased research, the link between the discharge of toxic substances into the Niagara River and the subsequent effects on the ecosystem has become more clear . In some cases, conditions in Lake Ontario can be attributed directly to substances from the Niagara River; the occurrence of mirex and dioxin in Lake Ontario fish is an example of such a direct relationship. Certain species of fish from specific areas of the lake are banned for commercial fishing as a result of mirex and PCB levels, attributable, in part, to Niagara River contaminants. In other cases, the linkage is less direct but nonetheless real; chemicals originating in the Niagara River combine with other sources to Lake Ontario to contaminate the water, sediment, and biota in the lake.

The presence of toxic chemicals in the Niagara River is not new; these substances have probably been in the river for years. The development of more sophisticated analytical equipment and methodology has led to greater detection capability, enabling scientists to find chemicals at very low concentrations. Unfortunately, the ability to detect these compounds has outstripped our ability to correlate their concentrations with direct adverse effects on human health and the environment.

Existing long term data show a decline in many contaminants, and, for the chemicals for which drinking water standards exist, monitoring shows that they are within current Canadian and United States limits. The development of drinking water standards is an on-going process, however, and there are chemical compounds presently being identified in the Niagara River for which no standards have as yet been established.