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News release
Special Team Formed to Reduce Industrial Toxic Waste in the St. Lawrence River
Montreal, 8 June 1989 – Federal Environment Minister Lucien Bouchard and his Quebec counterpart, Lise Bacon, today announced the establishment of a special joint team to work on the St. Lawrence River, a unique initiative in the field of federal-provincial co-operation.
Composed of approximately thirty industrial pollution control specialists, the team will be responsible for working with the fifty priority industrial plants. The list of these plants was released today by the two governments. The team will be charged with ensuring that the main objective of the St. Lawrence Action Plan is attained: a 90 % reduction in the liquid toxic waste discharged into the St. Lawrence River by the fifty most serious industrial polluters.
The team will also ensure that technology development is taken into consideration by the targeted plants during the entire process in order to reduce toxic substances. To this end, it will maintain constant contacts with Environment Canada’s St. Lawrence Centre in order to allow for timely action at plants requiring support in terms of technological development.
The team will also be responsible for implementing the activities listed in Appendix B of the agreement signed today by the two governments. These activities include the establishment of the environmental track records of the fifty most serious industrial polluters along the St. Lawrence River, the development of environmental standards, the formulation of government requirements based on the best feasible technology available to unregulated industrial sectors, the negociation of pollution control protocols with the fifty plants and verification of compliance with the clean-up program.
According to Environment Ministers Bouchard and Bacon, the creation of this tean demonstrates the commitment of the two governments to achieving the objectives of the St. Lawrence River Plan. "It also bears witness to our determination to provide, by 1993, concrete quantifiable results of our efforts to reduce industrial toxic waste in the St. Lawrence River," the two ministers said.
Further information:
Clément Dugas
Environment Canada
(418) 648-5777
1 800 463-4311
Jocelyne Richer
Quebec Ministry of the Environment
(418) 643-8259
Aussi disponible en français
Date modified: 1989/06/08 – Important Notices
