Fall Update 2004

please! let them be!

Note: The following article was contributed to Algonquin Eco Watch by Don Scallen, a teacher, writer and nature photographer. Don loves the natural world and has a particular interest in reptiles and amphibians. He is deeply concerned with the decline of these animals in Ontario . Don has written several nature articles, his most recent being one on salamanders for “In The Hills” magazine.

This summer a new Eco Watch sign alerts Algonquin Park visitors to the plight of Ontario's reptiles and amphibians. Reptiles and amphibians are under pressure from a variety of human generated threats. Many species of these animals have suffered significant declines in recent years due to habitat loss, road mortality, collection for the pet trade, and increased predation by animals such as raccoons and skunks. Bullfrogs and our larger turtle species are also threatened by illegal collecting for human consumption.

Visitors arriving at Algonquin from the west will encounter this sign on Highway 60, just outside the Park boundary.
The disappearance of reptiles and amphibians is happening quietly, because for the most part, they exist “under the radar.” Many people, even long-time naturalists, are unaware that they are in trouble. But consider the facts: Among the reptiles, five of Ontario's eight species of turtles have been designated as species of “special concern” or as “threatened” by COSEWIC ( Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada). Eight of Ontario's seventeen snake species are also recognized by COSEWIC as being in difficulty. Amphibians, while generally in better shape, are in need of attention as well. They suffer from the causes of mortality listed above and have particular problems of their own. Their highly permeable skin permits the easy passage of moisture into their bodies. This makes them especially vulnerable to toxins such as pesticides and herbicides in the environment.

As the largest protected area in Southern Ontario, Algonquin Park provides important refuge for reptiles and amphibians. It is home to one of the few remaining Wood Turtle populations in the province. Small numbers of Blanding' Turtles and threatened Hognose Snakes inhabit the park. Midland Painted Turtles and Common Snapping Turtles are fairly common, as are Bullfrogs and a number of other frog and salamander species.

How can you help ensure that these animals continue to thrive in Algonquin Park? First it is important to understand that all Park wildlife including frogs, snakes and turtles is fully protected and that the harassment of these animals or their removal from the park is illegal.

The casual collecting of reptiles and amphibians by people who want to take them home as “pets”, can have disastrous effects on populations. This is particularly damaging to turtles – animals that have very low survivorship rates when young. ( Although adult female turtles lay several eggs each season, most of these are eaten by predators. The life of immature turtles is perilous as well, with few reaching maturity) Admire reptiles and amphibians in their natural habitats. Resist the urge to take them home.

Drive slowly within the Park and be conscious of wildlife crossing the roads, including small animals such as turtles . Don't intentionally feed raccoons. These opportunistic mammals are flourishing in 21 st century Ontario because we have eliminated most of their natural predators and because they enjoy our crops, garbage and handouts. They supplement this unnatural diet with small animals including amphibians, reptiles and their eggs.

Carry this conservation message home with you. Advocate for the protection of remaining natural habitats wherever you may live. Particularly crucial for reptiles and amphibians is the preservation and rehabilitation of wetlands and their adjacent dryland habitats, where they also roam. Learn more about these fascinating animals and of their roles in the ecosystem.

May reptiles and amphibians always find shelter in the forests and wetlands of Algonquin. With knowledge and compassion may we find the resolve to ensure their survival here and beyond.

THE KEARNEY GRAPHITE MINE

BEFORE: The Graphite Lake area prior to mining activities (North at top of photo). Graphite Lake is in the lower left with McGuire Lake immediately to its east and Minnow Lake to its south (the “whitish” effect in Graphite, McGuire and Minnow Lakes is due to reflected sunlight) . Tim Lake may be seen in the upper right, with the headwaters of the Tim River lying between Graphite and Tim Lakes
AFTER: The Graphite Lake area after mining operations during the 1990's (North at top of photo). Minnow Creek has been filled in, drainage from the open pit flows through McGuire Lake into Graphite Lake and the tailings area south of the refinery continues to generate acid flow into the Magnetawan River

In May 2002, as a result of charges laid by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, fines totaling $55,000 were levied against the Kearney Graphite Mine for ongoing pollution problems. In January 2004, Environment Canada charged the owners of the mine with allowing “acutely lethal effluent, which is toxic to fish, to enter a tributary of the Magnetawan River ”. Recently, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines commissioned a consultant to submit a plan outlining what steps should be taken to rehabilitate the mine site, should that be deemed necessary.

Throughout this whole process Algonquin Eco Watch, together with environmental lawyer Dianne Saxe and her team, has maintained contact with the 2 concerned government agencies in an effort to exert a positive influence on possible rehabilitation activities at the Kearney mine site. As well we continue in our attempts to have all associated mining claims in the Tim River drainage system permanently removed from future mining activity, since pollution generated in that area would ultimately flow through Algonquin Park via the Tim River into the Petawawa River . It appears that there is currently no system in place in Ontario whereby mining claims can be permanently withdrawn from future activity where such activity may adversely affect the natural environment.

LANDS FOR LIFE / ONTARIO'S
LIVING LEGACY

We continue to make progress through ongoing negotiations with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in our attempts to have all headwater drainages sourcing outside Algonquin Park but flowing into it, classed as “E67n – Algonquin Headwaters”, under the Lands For Life / Living Legacy initiative. The headwaters of the Tim River , some of which lie within mining claims, have already been designated to fall within this category (see above article and photos). However, the fact that “mineral exploration and development are permitted” within this designation means that unless the land use guidelines can be changed, no protection from mining activities is guaranteed under the Lands For Life / Living Legacy program.

Algonquin Eco Watch will continue to press for changes to the present guidelines during the upcoming public consultation process.

HIGHWAY 60 BRIDGES

Plans are presently underway to rebuild the Highway 60 bridges over Kearney and Clarke Creeks. You may remember that, as a result of consultation between Algonquin Eco Watch and Totten Sims Hubicki Associates, Design Engineers, changes were incorporated into the design of the Smoke Creek replacement bridge (see 2001 “Algonquin Eco Watcher”). Those changes included the removal of drains, which would have allowed the drainage of water containing road salt into Smoke Creek. In addition, the placement of neoprene seals between the bridge itself and the adjacent approaches ensures that all water will drain off the bridge into the adjacent soil where the salt ions can be bound to soil particles. We are pleased to advise that Totten Sims Hubicki Associates have once again incorporated these design improvements into the new Kearney and Clarke Creek bridges. Moreover, these changes have now become standard practice.

Algonquin Eco Watch has learned from the Soils Science Department at the University of Guelph that the best way to neutralize the effects of road salt at these locations would be to backfill to the bridge abutments with a mix of mineral and organic soils. The (locally naturally occurring) acidic mineral soil would “tie up” the negatively charged chloride ions, while the organic soil (such as peat) would “tie up” the positively charged sodium ions. This information with appropriate recommendations has been shared with the consultants.

PROBLEMS ALONG THE CNR LINE:
A PHOTO ESSAY

Since 1996, Algonquin Eco Watch has been active in promoting the environmentally responsible decommissioning of the Canadian National Railway mainline through Algonquin Park . Even though petroleum products were found to be present in soil samples and testing of slag from the roadbed has indicated exceedances of toxic heavy metals, there has been no substantial movement on the part of either the Federal or Provincial governments, or the Company itself. The photos below illustrate some of the problems left behind when the rail line was abandoned.
AFTER: This major washout occurred in the spring of 2004, pushing tons of fill, including slag brought in from the Sudbury Basin, into the pristine waters of Mink Lake. Dozens of culverts along the abandoned CNR through Algonquin Park will washout in the future, unless proper rehabilitation is carried out.
BEFORE: Beaver, if left uncontrolled, will plug culverts, inevitably leading to flooding and washouts.
 
 
No effort has been made to remove the oil contaminated soil left behind from the many
greasers used to lubricate train wheels on curves. This former greaser site is located alongside Cauchon Lake .
Ten years after abandonment, almost no vegetation can be found growing up through the layer of slag that stretches the entire length of the rail line through Algonquin Park .
Many “perched” culverts such as this one near mile 180 obstruct the upstream migration of brook trout fry into their nursery creeks, leaving them vulnerable to predation.
 
A consultant's report identified many sources of hydrocarbon pollution at points such as the old Brent town site shown here, adjacent to Cedar Lake .
Many structures such as this trestle between Cauchon and Little Cauchon Lakes continue to seep toxic creosote into Algonquin waters.

HEADWATER SURVEY COMPLETED

Sincerest thanks to field crews and staff members of Sir Sandford Fleming College for a job well done! Left to right. 1 st photo (2001), Andrea Rhodenizer, Hugh Banks (SSFC), Terry Honsberger, Pat Hogan (SSFC). 2 nd photo (2002), Andrea Rhodenizer, Leigh Hann. 3 rd photo (2003), Leigh Hann, Jay McConnell.

After three years of intensive planning and fieldwork, the job has been completed!

The major purpose of this project was to establish baseline data for lakes and streams on watersheds entering Algonquin Park . A secondary aim was to make the same baseline measurements on some of the lakes in the Park itself that are, or in the future could be, subjected to the influence of human activity. One hundred and eighty-nine lakes and twelve streams were intensively sampled over the course of this three-year study.

We are especially grateful to our partners in this venture, the W. Garfield Weston Foundation, the McLean Foundation, Sir Sandford Fleming College , Ontario Parks and the Lake Partners Program of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, for their assistance.

The knowledge gained concerning those watersheds flowing into the Park will not only be useful for comparison with future studies to establish water quality/quantity trend information, but will assist Algonquin Eco Watch in our negotiations with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, as we attempt to achieve recognition for these waters in the “E67n – Algonquin Headwaters” category of the “Lands For Life – Living Legacy” program (see article this issue).

Although the measurement of a large number of components is beyond the scope of this study, the sum of all the ions in a lake or a stream can be estimated by measuring the conductivity of that water body. Very low conductivity readings would be assumed throughout the Algonquin Ecosystem due to the insoluble nature of the Pre Cambrian Shield bedrock, and this was generally the case. Unexpectedly high conductivity readings were noted in small headwater lakes along the Highway 60 corridor, however, possibly resulting from winter road salting operations. Further study of those lakes is probably warranted.

Background information and all the data collected during the 3-year study have been summarized on a CD, which is available to members for $5.00. The price to non-members is $20.00, but includes membership as well as the CD.

THE LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

For over a year, Dianne Saxe* and Jackie Campbell have been working closely with Algonquin Eco Watch (AEW) on major contamination issues affecting Algonquin Park: the (now abandoned) CNR rail line through the Park; the Kearney graphite mine; and sulfur dioxide emissions from the INCO Superstack in Sudbury.

One of our goals is to ensure that AEW participates in decisions on issues that affect the Algonquin ecosystem. For example, ownership of the former CNR rail line and responsibility for its cleanup is not clear. The federal government says it is a provincial matter, CNR has washed its hands of the land, and the Ontario government does not want to be responsible for parkland that may be contaminated. Meanwhile, fish, birds and other wildlife, as well as hikers and campers, could be exposed to contaminated land and water. We are pushing the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to require CNR to take action, and have been successful in persuading them to at least consider the issue seriously.

We also persuaded Environment Canada to conduct a study of the potential threat to birds posed by the exposed slag on the abandoned rail bed. This work has never been done before. Environment Canada concluded from this study that the slag is not a hazard, but, at our request, has agreed to do some more evaluation of the data.

We have also communicated repeatedly with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) concerning the mining leases associated with the Kearney mine, just upstream from the Tim River . MNDM now clearly understands our objections to the renewal of these leases, although continued vigilance will be necessary. MNDM eventually agreed to allow AEW to review and comment on a rehabilitation proposal for the actual mine, which has now been causing acid mine drainage for ten years on the other side of the height of land.

More generally, we have asked MNDM to review the (lack of) links between assessment of a land's mineral potential and environmental issues, including the Ministry of Natural Resources' Living Legacy land use strategy. Right now, the two issues are largely disconnected, but the proposed source water protection legislation may help bring them together.

We will continue to patiently work toward making sure that AEW concerns reach government and corporate decision makers … and that the Algonquin ecosystem is protected.

*Dianne Saxe is a leading environmental lawyer. See her firm's websit