Checking In with @waterkeepermark and Lynda Lukasik from Environment Hamilton
For the Checking In series, Mark Mattson speaks with Lynda Lukasik, Executive Director, Environment Hamilton.
Dr. Lynda Lukasik is a long-standing champion for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water. In 1999-2000, Lynda played an incredible role as a community advocate and private informant in the conviction of the City of Hamilton for polluting Red Hill Creek. As part of that private prosecution, she worked with the late Doug Chapman, Counsel, and Mark Mattson, lead environmental investigator. Following that work, Lynda Lukasik helped launch Environment Hamilton in 2001 to help Hamiltonians protect and enhance the environment around them.
MM: How are you?
LL: All things considered, I'm doing great. I'm spending more time than I have in a long time along Lake Ontario’s shoreline and along Red Hill Creek - I cycle down there pretty much every day for exercise, and to check out the creek to make sure all is okay. And to check out the industrial stacks. I’m managing to keep Environment Hamilton alive, and honing up on my backyard gardening skills - including learning to grow native trees from seeds. I've got about 50 seedlings growing in my backyard right now!
MM: Where are you?
LL: East Hamilton - near Red Hill Valley/Creek
MM: What are you looking forward to doing this summer?
LL: Looking forward to spending more time down along Lake Ontario - maybe even doing some swimming in the lake this year (and I imagine more Hamiltonians will be doing the same). I'm also looking forward to reviving Environment Hamilton's Pipe Watch project. We'll be recruiting and teaching community volunteers to do visual observations and to report any problems along Red Hill Creek. Environment Hamilton staff will be doing some sampling and analysis for E.coli contamination along the creek.
MM: How have the last few months changed your outlook on the future?
LL: I feel much more focused on my community. I won't be wandering too far from Hamilton any time soon. The pandemic has made me appreciate much more the fact that I live a 10-minute bike ride from the shores of Lake Ontario - and even closer to Red Hill Creek and Hamilton Harbour.
MM: What is your favourite fish?
LL: My favourite fish is pickerel - some call it walleye - but I was taught that walleye is the American name. When I was a kid we would go up to Parry Sound where my dad taught me to fish on Mill Lake. We caught pickerel and would have shoreline fry ups - it was always so delicious. Now there are pickerel being re-established in the Hamilton Harbour watershed - totally exciting!
MM: Are you involved in any citizen science engagement activities around water?
LL: I'm currently doing my own version of shoreline/sewer pipe monitoring along Red Hill Creek. I have managed to get the attention of the City of Hamilton and the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. We will soon be recruiting and training volunteers to help with a more formal monitoring effort - and we will be doing some sample collection for lab analysis.
Read more from the Checking In with @waterkeepermark series here.
Connect with us on Twitter, @LOWaterkeeper and @waterkeepermark.
