1. Katie, Eliza, and David

3. History/ Background 18th and 19th centuries: Industries and individuals during the often used rivers and lakes as garbage cans 1920’s: The lakes had been invaded by 162 nonnative species (genetic pollution) 2006: on average more than 100 Olympic swimming pools of sewage each day was being released from surrounding cities 2007: estimated 460 lbs of pollutants in the Great Lakes

5. Issues Pollutants can take up to 100 years to be flushed out to the sea About ½ the toxic compounds entering the lakes come from atmospheric deposition of pesticides and coal burning power plants and other toxins Farmers use fertilizers Bioaccumulation

6. Importance “Imagine 17,000 dump trucks pulling up to your beach and tipping their toxic load straight into the drinking water of 40 million people,” The Great Lakes contain 95% of the fresh water in the US and 1/5 of the worlds fresh water At least 38 million people in the US and Canada obtain their drinking water from the Great Lakes

7. Future Issues Cost a lot of money to clean up Difficult to prevent because of nonpoint source pollution Disease

8. Solutions Canada and the United States established the International Joint Commission (IJC) Educate the public on ways to prevent further pollution Create stricter laws, to prevent pollution.