제 목 : U.S., Canada Agree on Great Lakes Cleanup
일 자 : 1997년 08월
제공처 : Safety & health(EPA UPDATE)
The United States and Canada agreed in April to a plan designed to
eliminate toxic substances from the Great Lakes by the year 2006. The plan
is primarily based on voluntary pollution prevention activities and builds
on existing Canadian and U.S. regulatory programs.
The Great Lakes make up 18 percent of the world's fresh surface water.
percent of the world's fresh surface water The Great Lakes region is home
to 33 million people in the United States and Crnada, nearly half of whom
obtain drinnking water from lakes.
The environmental agencies of both countries will use a four-step process
to work toward virtually eliminating toxic substances from the lake :
1. Gather information that idetifies sources of toxic substances and
determine how or why each substance.
2. Analyze current regulations, initiatives and programs that manage or
control releases to identify gaps.
3. Identify cost-effectrive options to achieve further reductions.
4. Work toward the goal of virtual eliminatron.
The strategy sets milestones, or goals, for each country to achieve between
19S7 and 2006. Among the U.S. milestones are a 50 percent reduction in
mercury use nationwide, a 90 percent reduction in PCBs used in electrical
equipment natronwide, and a 75 pertent reduction in total releases of
dioxins and furans released by humans.
The United States and Canada also signed two additional agreements to
expand efforts to control transboundary air pollution, and to cooperate
with research and development activities.
EPA Administrator Caral Browner, who signed the agreements, praised the
Great Lakes agreement and said, "Pollution knows no boundaries, and
therefore, it is vital that our two countries jointly identify the chall-
enges, set common goals and work together to restore the water quality of
these magnificent lakes we share."
The Canadian Minister of the Environment. Sergio Marchi, also signed
the agreements, saying, "Our citizens breathe the same air, drink the same
water and share many species of wildlife. Under tht agreements reached
today, Canada and the United States will work together to better protect
our warer, air and wildlife."
For more information about the Great Lakes agreement, contact Elizabeth
LaPlante in the EPA's Region 5 Office in Chicago (312) 353-2694.
The agreement is also available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo.
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