St. Marys River: Area of Concern

The St. Marys River was designated as a binational Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 under the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Pollution from industrial and municipal wastewater, along with changes to the watercourse, led to degraded water quality and ecosystem health. Nine out of 14 beneficial use impairments (BUIs) were identified, which measure the environmental, human health and economic impact of poor water quality. One additional beneficial use was deemed “requiring further assessment”, meaning more information was required to determine whether it was impaired.

Accomplishments

Over the past 35 years, there has been significant progress in restoring the water and environmental quality of the AOC. On the Canadian side, this includes:

industrial regulations introduced in the mid-1990s, which reduced pollution from the local steel mill and from a paper mill that closed in 2012

upgrades to the City of Sault Ste. Marie’s largest wastewater treatment plant in 2006 and the implementation of a Stormwater Management Master Plan in 2015 to better manage urban runoff and reduce pollution from entering the river
removal of over 31,000 cubic meters of contaminated sediment from the Algoma Steel boat slip, which prevents additional contaminants from entering the river
restored fish and wildlife habitat, including a naturalization project in the Bar River tributary to reduce sedimentation, expand habitat and allow for better fish spawning

Restoration of beneficial uses

Significant progress has been made to improve environmental conditions on the Canadian side. These beneficial uses are no longer considered “impaired”:

bird or animal deformities or reproduction problems (2016)
eutrophication or undesirable algae (2018)
beach closings (2018)
degradation of aesthetics (2018)
degradation of fish and wildlife populations (2024)
restrictions on dredging activities (2024)

Work continues on restoring the remaining beneficial uses:

restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption – wildlife consumption is not impaired and an updated assessment on the safety of fish consumption, using results from a community survey, is underway
fish tumours or other deformities – an updated assessment is being conducted to determine current fish tumour rates
degradation of benthos – a sediment management strategy has been developed with community input, which outlines specific actions for sites across the AOC
loss of fish and wildlife habitat – there is no impairment of wildlife habitat and efforts are underway to improve aquatic habitat for fish, specifically around Whitefish Island

Recent actions

The overall health of the St. Marys River has improved through these recent actions:

the dredging and removal of over 17,000 cubic meters of contaminated sediment from the Algoma Steel boat slip in 2017 and 2019, and the current assessment of remaining contamination and next steps
the planning of fish habitat improvements at Whitefish Island, in collaboration with the Batchewana First Nation, which will include naturalizing a cold-water stream and adding fish nursery sites

Remaining actions

We will continue to work with local and provincial partners to support restoration actions and the environmental monitoring and assessment studies needed to confirm objectives are met. Priorities are to:

implement the sediment management strategy, which outlines specific actions for sites in the AOC
advance efforts to improve fish and wildlife habitat, specifically working with the Batchewana First Nation on the Whitefish Island habitat project

Outlook

The St. Marys River has made significant progress towards restoration since its designation as an AOC. Under the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health, we will work with the province of Ontario to continue making progress towards remediation, environmental recovery and the restoration of beneficial uses.

Partners

On the Canadian side, we partner with other levels of government, non-government groups, Indigenous communities and members of the public. This restoration work requires a large amount of scientific and technical expertise, local knowledge, hard work and the help of:

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