Beach closures not OK, volunteers needed

While city councillors take plenty of heat from their constituents over beach closures, many city residents seem to accept that a polluted lakefront is a simple fact of urban life.

Krystyn Tully is the executive director of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, a water-quality advocacy group that's part of the high-profile, US-based Waterkeeper Alliance led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She doesn't buy into the notion of routine beach closures, and says her organization plans to ensure the city of Toronto cleans up its act - even if that means taking the municipality to court.

She points to a little-known environmental guideline called F-5 that says municipalities must ensure that beaches are clean enough for swimming 95 per cent of the time. Toronto has not complied with that guideline for decades, she says, and litigation may just be the way to make it do so. "The solution to the sewage problem is not to restrict access to the lake, it's to actually address the sewage problem," insists Tully.

Volunteers needed: June 18-21, 2003
Between June 18 and 21, more than 125 members of the international Waterkeeper Alliance will arrive in Toronto for our annual conference and general meeting. Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is looking for volunteers to help us create one of the most inspiring, dynamic environmental events of the year. If you are interested, please contact Krystyn at 416.861.1237 or news@waterkeeper.ca.

Bookmark your calendars for Saturday June 21, closing night of the conference!