Efforts to Hold Erie Coke Accountable recall Lake Erie’s polluted past
In 2017, I clumsily completed the Presque Isle Partnership’s final Bay Swim. It wasn’t pretty — lots of gulping and doggy-paddling — but eventually, I emerged (after nearly everyone else) and rinsed the seaweed from my skin.
I didn’t think about what else I was rinsing off; what else I may have ingested.
Most of us wouldn’t. We take clean water for granted. Here on Lake Erie, we can be especially laissez-faire, even when we learn of droughts or pollution elsewhere. Surely, we’ll always have clean water to drink, a clean bay for play, and clean fish to catch and grill on a summer evening.
It seems inconceivable that we could still allow our water to be compromised, after all we’ve learned from a once un-swimmable bay and nearby burning river.
Hold Erie Coke Accountable (HECA) is working to keep us informed and empowered in securing basic rights to clean air and water for everyone in Erie, and to strengthen Erie’s image as a great place for business.
At East Middle School on April 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., HECA is hosting a community educational event, which will explore the various environmental impacts of Erie Coke’s operations. Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) will be on hand to present information on air pollutants, health effects, the permitting process, and ways to get involved. (See sidebar for details.)
One presenter will be aquatic biologist and Mercyhurst University professor Mike Campbell.
Over the last three years (2017-19), undergraduate Mercyhurst University student Emma Mader and professor Campbell analyzed possible causes of winter die-offs of gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) they’d observed at the East Ave. Boat Launch, where Erie Coke discharges heated water into Lake Erie.
Their investigation initially revealed no evidence of disease-causing parasites, nor of circumstances consistent with oxygen depletion from ice cover. The dead and dying fish they were finding this winter showed numerous symptoms of disease, and fish collected at the site on March 19 are currently being tested by a fish pathologist with the Fish & Wildlife Service.
Their investigations in 2017 and 2018 led Mader and Campbell to “suspect that the fish were attracted to the site in winter by warm water released from Erie Coke, and that thermal shock was probably a primary cause of death.” They conceded, though, that “it is possible that chemical contaminants released by Erie Coke and entering the lake through groundwater may exacerbate the situation.”
Mader and Campbell emphasize that “the occurrence of groundwater pollution entering Lake Erie from Erie Coke has not been verified,” so additional research is warranted.
By: Katie Chriest
