The Great Lakes Cleanup Effort

Abstract

The Great Lakes Basin is a complicated ecosystem without parallel anywhere in the world. Some have suggested that the ecosystem is in severe environmental difficulty, like a hospital patient staying alive only with a life support unit. A more accurate description might be that it is like a victim that was once about to lose one of its limbs, but now the limb has recovered to a large degree, although the whole body still suffers from a pervasive sickness. The effort to clean up the Great Lakes began in 1972. In some ways, it has been successful. Other regions that intend to clean up large bodies of water, such as the Chesapeake Bay, are using the Great Lakes agreements as models of cooperation between different jurisdictions. However, efforts to address the problem of persistent toxic substances in the Great Lakes are just beginning. During the past few years, scientists have learned that more than half ...