Mourning the Loss of Environmental Programs At Laurentian U.

 

                                                              Lake Ramsay, in the heart of Sudbury

1 Touch the earth lightly, use the earth gently, nourish the life of the world in our care:

gift of great wonder, ours to surrender,  trust for the children tomorrow will bear.

3 Let there be greening, birth from the burning, water that blesses and air that is sweet,

health in God's garden, hope in God's children, regeneration that peace will complete.

                                               Touch the Earth Lightly -- Voices United 307

When we moved to Sudbury in Northern Ontario in 1988 the environmental rehabilitation initiative to repair what many described as the moonscape of the degradation and destruction of vegetation  caused by acid rain was ten years old. The mining companies whose smelters  released the suphuric acid worked in conjunction with governments and environmental scientists at Laurentian University to mitigate emissions, neutralize the sulphuric acid in soil and lakes, and replant with native species. It has been hugely successful and by the time we left in 1999, eleven years later, the outcome was evident.

For the April Earth Sunday before my departure I contacted one of those Laurentian environmental scientists seeking some "before and after" photos of areas within the city of Sudbury and the surrounding region which I showed the St. Andrew's congregation as I spoke about caring for Creation. Of course we all went about day-to-day activities and weren't aware of the rebirth of the scarred landscape. These photos of two decades of restored hillsides were quite dramatic. One choir member who had lived in Sudbury through his 65 years admitted that seeing those photos had moved him to tears of gratitude. I was in Sudbury the summer of the 40th anniversary of this program, nearly 20 years after our departure and I was really impressed by the positive changes in that time. We also visited Killarney Provincial Park, a refuge while we lived there, even though most of the lakes had become lifeless because of acid rain. They too have been revived. 

All this to say that I am dismayed that the severe cuts announced yesterday at Laurentian University - 100 professors and staff, and about a third of programs -- will include environmental biology programs which are recognized around the world. The mismanagement which has led to these draconian measures is appalling, as is the lack of involvement by the provincial government in decisions which will also affect unique French-language and Indigenous programs at Laurentian. In Southern Ontario we are often oblivious to what goes on in the North of our province, and I wonder if such sweeping changes would have been allowed at institutions such as Queen's or Western. 

We can all be grateful for the contributions of these environmental programs in restoring ecological health and balance in the Sudbury region. They deserve so much better treatment and we all lose because of their closure.  

This image illustrates the pathway for acid rain in our environment: (1) Emissions of SO2 and NOx are released into the air, where (2) the pollutants are transformed into acid particles that may be transported long distances. (3) These acid particles then fall to the earth as wet and dry deposition (dust, rain, snow, etc.) and (4) may cause harmful effects on soil, forests, streams, and lakes.