Rivers of Sawdust: The Battle Over Industrial Pollution in Canada, 1865-1903

Abstract

This article deals with the debate over the pollution of waterways in eastern Canada from 1866 to 1903. Water-powered sawmills, producing lumber largely for export to the United States, poured vast amounts of sawdust and mill waste into major river systems, fouling fish spawning grounds, choking navigable channels and leading to instances of spontaneous explosion. From 1866 onward, criticism of these abuses by the lumber industry grew. The controversy over sawdust pollution focussed on the Ottawa River, where influential lumbermen carried on their operations in sight of Parliament Hill. The battle to end sawdust dumping on the Ottawa — the practice was not stopped until 1903 — led to an important victory for early environmentalists in Victorian Canada.