Great River Cleanup Exposes Decades Old Toxic Waste

During the Great River Cleanup, it was announced by the St. Lawrence River Institute Remedial Action Plan Coordinator Karen Cooper, that a number of buoys, lights and aids to navigation batteries have been found in the St. Lawrence River. The batteries are between 18 inches and 24 inches long and have a circumference of a small dinner plate and weigh between 25 lbs (11 kgs) and 30 (13 kgs) lbs. The batteries may contain a number of heavy metals including; potassium hydroxide, lead sulfate, sulfuric acid, nickel hydroxide, lead, nickel cadmium and methyl mercury.

The large batteries appear to be discarded old batteries from buoys, lights and aids to navigation and are regularly changed over time and the United States and Canadian Coast Guard are responsible for them.

According to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System the "The U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation maintains 99 lighted buoys and 112 fixed aids in the U. S. Section of the St. Lawrence River. These aids to navigation are commissioned in late March as ice conditions permit. They are decommissioned in mid to late December during Seaway closing activities. All Canadian aids to navigation are managed by the Canadian Coast Guard and follow approximately the same schedule."

According to Nancy Alcalde, St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, depending on the jurisdiction of where the battery is located, depends on who will properly retrieve the battery. She stated she wasn't aware of any batteries being improperly disposed of by the Seaway and mentioned all newer batteries should have an identifying number or code on them.

For as long as the St. Lawrence Seaway has been in place, the buoys have been in place – and the issue of improperly disposed batteries is now over fifty years old. In 1971, the Canadian Coast Guard received a pollution warning from the Ontario Water Resources Commission. According to their complaint, the Coast Guard cutter, the Simcoe was dumping used buoy batteries into the St. Lawrence River. In 1998, the New York Times brought the issue to an international level when they ran an article, 'Coast Guard Faces Suit Over Toxic Batteries...', environmental groups, conservationist and anglers joined together in a Federal lawsuit intended to retrieve the batteries. Affected rivers included the Tennessee, Hudson, St. Lawrence and other major waterways throughout the United States. Twenty years ago, they referenced 100,000 batteries being improperly disposed of.

Recent protocols have been set by the Canadian Coast Guard to properly dispose of the old batteries. The U.S. Coast implemented the National Plan for ATON Battery Recovery and disposal in 1994. They identify the batteries as intact primary, intact secondary and primary and secondary battery "debris", which should be disposed of in the "most cost-effective manner possible".

The manual goes on to read, "Except for intact secondary batteries, all batteries and remnants will be handled, packaged, stored, manifested, transported and disposed of properly as hazardous waste in accordance with reference. Because of the potential effect on local organisms, removal of batteries and attached biota is prudent."

According to Cooper, the 2018 Great River Cleanup Committee divers found a couple of dozen batteries. In the past decades, well over 100 batteries were found in areas between Cornwall and Akwesasne in the St. Lawrence River. Some were removed by volunteers and anyone finding a battery should definitely not handle it due to the degradation of the battery encasements. Cooper just recently filed a report with the Canadian Coast Guard and she hopes to work with them on a plan to properly recover the batteries.

Cooper added, "As just one of the partners in the Great River Cleanup, I feel we all have a responsibility to come together to re-claim the Great River for future generations. When we see an environmental issue such as this one (even one we did not cause ourselves) – we need to work together to solve it."

Scott Peter, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Environment Division, stated, "Historically, this has been a regular practice – to discard the batteries into the river. Some were aware of this practice and Karen Cooper, St. Lawrence River Institute, confirmed it. I will work on identifying their location using an underwater camera and possibly divers in the near future. If anyone finds a battery – do not touch it or attempt to remove it, please contact my office at 613 936 1548, ext. 1044 or contact MCA Conservation officers."

"The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe is committed to protecting the health of our rivers and will be working with our partners to ensure that the hazardous materials are safely removed and properly disposed. SRMT is calling on those responsible to take swift action," said Tony David, Program Manager, Water Resources, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, Environment Division | U.S. Member, International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board.