THE ‘BLOB’

Abstract

Canada will remember 1985 as the year of the ‘Blob,’ that mixture of toxic chemicals found in the St Clair River that attracted national attention. The ‘Blob’ was discovered by divers from the Great Lakes Institute (gli) of the University of Windsor, who were engaged in taking samples of sediment from the bottom of the river. The oily sludge was found to be a mixture of nasty chemical compounds - including dioxins. In the words of one government scientist, it was the most contaminated material ever found in the Great Lakes! Traces of the dread dioxin were found in the drinking water of municipalities downstream, and citizens demanded action from all levels of government. Did the chemicals come from spills from Chemical Valley industries? or industrial sewers? or seepage from deep wells where chemical waste has been stored? Do these toxic contaminants bioaccumulate in the food chain? And what is their effect on humans? No one knows the answers to these questions, but the problems have not gone away. One important result has been a great increase in research efforts. The Gli had been engaged for three years in research in the Essex region on four toxic contaminants — lead, cadmium, pcbs, and ocs (octachlorostyrene) under a contract with the federal Department of Environment. This research indicated that these contaminants are widespread in the sediments and clams of the rivers and Lake St Clair- and also in the soil and plants of the region. The latter finding is of concern, since recent research has shown that food (not drinking water) is the chief source of many contaminants to the human body. Since the ‘Blob’ findings, the Gli has received grants from the World Wildlife Fund and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to pursue its research into toxic contaminants in the ecosystem. The ‘Blob’ incident has been a justification for the existence of the Great Lakes Institute. It demonstrated that university institutes could bring to public attention environmental hazards that may be concealed or minimized by private companies and overlooked or condoned by government agencies. The multidisciplinary cli was formed at the University of Windsor in 1981 to provide an alternative to government research on the Great Lakes. In Ontario at that time there was no university-based organization doing Great Lakes research, though all the Great Lakes states had such university institutes.