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The 2006 raw sewage spill may be dominating recent discussions about Petrie, but local conservationists warn there are ongoing and equally serious ecological issues facing the Ottawa River and its wildlife.
While untreated sewage that flowed into the river for 14 days in 2006 is just about the worst stuff marine life can be exposed to, even treated waste water reintroduced to the river on a continual basis has traces of harmful substances, says Ottawa Riverkeeper executive director Meredith Brown. Some of those substances include endocrine disruptors found in common household cleaning products as well as industrial wastes. Health Canada documents report these can destroy fish embryos and impair their reproduction.
“The reason we talk about fish is because that’s the one species that has been studied but (adverse effects) have also been seen in frogs and other species,” says Brown.
An east-end conservationist says it doesn’t appear the spill significantly affected local wildlife but he and others continue to work toward building a case for protecting a number of turtle species that nest at Petrie whose populations are threatened by human factors.
The sewage spill aside, 2006 also saw the start of an extensive and ongoing study of rare turtle species that nest and breed around Petrie, explains Bill Bower of the Friends of Petrie Island.
Volunteers spent the summers of 2006 and 2007 — and are just beginning work this year — surveying species that use Petrie as nesting grounds, explains Bower, adding that the spill doesn’t seem to have had any major effects on local wildlife. The turtle species in question, he adds, nest and breed over the first few weeks of June.
A 2006 study concludes that nearly half of the turtle species that nest at the site are designated “at risk” by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, a federal government agency.
That 2006 report blames factors such as development and road building, as well as wetland drainage, for putting these species in the at risk category.
It notes that turtle eggs were frequently destroyed before the beach was founded and the site was occupied by a sand excavation business. Since the beach was established in 2003, the report notes strong public sensitivity to the species has developed, demonstrated by reports of hatchlings plus the public and motorists taking care to let the animals cross in front of them.
Human beach users and turtles still come into conflict, Bower adds, an issue being addressed in the study.
“Petrie Island is a key nesting area for turtles,” says Bower. “We’re trying to get a handle on the numbers, key nesting areas and the conflict between the turtles and vehicles. We have a couple of species at risk out there and want to protect them as best we can.”
As yet, Bower explained, there is no end date for the study, but the Friends have made modifications to the 2007 and 2008 work plans to expand the scope of work.
“We’ve been debating whether to get into ways to protect nests when we find them, but there’s a lot of decision-making, a lot of red tape to go through to start protecting nests,” he explained. “We know there are good numbers of snapping turtles and painter turtles so we’re trying to put more emphasis on the species at risk.”
Orleans Star