LANCASTER, Ontario – On Saturday May 19, community organizations came together to retrieve garbage pollution from the St. Lawrence River. Efforts started at 10 a.m. at the South Lancaster Wharf.
“This is our first year in Lancaster,” said Mike Seguin, who works with the Ministry of the Environment. “So we chose the Wharf as a starting point. We’ll have divers in the water today and they’re working with the South Lancaster Fish and Game Club. The club is providing the boats. We’ll be working around the Wharf today and the Glengarry Carin.”
According to Karen Douglas Cooper, who works with the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences, this is the third year of cleanup efforts between South Lancaster, Cornwall and Akwesasne. Lancaster was chosen for the tenth cleanup event. Since 2016, over 20 tons of garbage has been removed from the St. Lawrence River by everyone who makes the Great St. Lawrence River Cleanup possible.
“People were concerned they were seeing debris in the water,” said Douglas Cooper. “We noticed at the River Institute too, things like shopping carts and bicycles. The shopping carts are actually killing the fish, so we are really concerned about that.”
Some of the organizations and community groups present at the cleanup were the South Glengarry Fire Department, St. John Ambulance, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Seaway Valley Divers, the Cornwall Lunker Club, the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences and the South Lancaster Fish and Game Club. Over the last two years, over 700 volunteers have helped to clean up our river.
“We all really care about the river,” said Douglas Cooper.
The Cornwall Harbour cleanup will take place on July 22, and the Akwesasne cleanup will take place on Aug. 3. For more information about volunteering, contact Karen Douglas Cooper or Pam Griffiths at 613-936-6620 or email kcooper@riverinstitute.ca.
