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Media Release
December 22, 2000
IJC establishes International Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence
River Public Interest Advisory Group
The International Joint Commission (IJC) announced today
that to further public participation in a study to evaluate
options for regulating levels and flows in the Lake Ontario-St.
Lawrence River system it has established an International
Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Public Interest Advisory Group.
Commissioners have appointed 22 of the group’s proposed
24 members, including the U.S. and Canadian co-chairs.
The Public Interest Advisory Group or PIAG will provide public
involvement guidance, consultation and assistance to the International
Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study Board, and periodically
report on its work to the International Joint Commission.
The Study Board, appointed by the IJC earlier this month,
is responsible for conducting the study of the Lake Ontario-St.
Lawrence River system.
The PIAG will have 12 U.S. and 12 Canadian members. Appointments
made by the IJC to date include: Mr. Dalton Foster, Massena,
N.Y., U.S. Co-chair and Mr. Fred Parkinson, Montreal, Quebec,
Canadian Co-chair, Dr. Daniel Barletta, Rochester, N.Y.; Mr.
Bruce Carpenter, Rome, N.Y.; Mr. John Hall, Burlington, ON;
Ms. Marjorie Hare, Toronto, ON; Mr. Marc Hudon, Quebec, PQ
; Mr. Eben James, Trenton, ON; Mr. Elaine Kennedy, Cornwall,
ON and Michel Lamontagne, Montreal, PQ.
And, Mr. Ivan Lantz, Quebec, PQ ; Ms. Sandra Lawn, Prescott,
ON; Mr. Thomas McAuslan, Oswego, N.Y. ; Mr. Anthony McKenna,
Olcott, N.Y.; Mr. John Osinski (NYPA); Ms. Beatrice Schermerhorn,
Hammond, N.Y.; Ms. Sally Sessler, Syracuse, N.Y.; Mr. Max
Streibel, Greece, N.Y.; Mr. Michel Turgeon, Montreal, PQ ;
Mr. Paul Webb, Cornwall, ON; Ms. Stephanie Weiss, Clayton.
N.Y. and Mr. Al Will, Dundas, ON.
The PIAG and Study Board will work independently of the International
St. Lawrence River Board of Control, which is responsible
for overseeing the regulation of the outflows from Lake Ontario.
It has been nearly 50 years since a comprehensive assessment
was performed of water levels and flows regulation in the
Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system. In April 1999, dissatisfaction
with the working of the system on the part of some interests
and environmental concerns and climate change issues prompted
the IJC to inform the U.S. and Canadian governments that it
was becoming increasingly urgent to review the regulation
of Lake Ontario outflows.
In making its decision to re-examine the Lake Ontario-St.
Lawrence River system, the IJC also acknowledged that the
study may not resolve all the issues or result in significant
additional benefits for any interest group.
The International Joint Commission was created under the
Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to help prevent and resolve
disputes over the use of waters along the Canada-United States
boundary. Its responsibilities include approving certain projects
that would change the natural levels and flows of boundary
waters, such as the international Hydroelectric Power project at Massena,
New York and Cornwall, Ontario. If it approves a project,
the IJC's Order of Approval may require that the flows and
water levels resulting from the project meet certain conditions
to protect the interests in both countries.
For more information, visit the IJC's web site at www.ijc.org.
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