The Lake Champlain Toxic Substance Management Strategy is a plan to reduce toxic contamination in Lake Champlain to promote a healthy ecosystem and protect public health as outlined in Lake Champlain’s management plan Opportunities for Action (plan.lcbp.org). The Toxic Substance Management Strategy delineates strategies for monitoring and reducing several classes of toxic substances found within the Lake Champlain watershed. This strategy will be implemented by the Lake Champlain Basin Program, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and Quebec’s Ministère du Développement Durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs.
This strategy was written under the premise of the Precautionary Principle, by which preventative actions should be taken when there is the possibility of health or environmental concerns, even when scientific evidence of the threat is not immediately conclusive. Recent research has begun to identify toxins and their sources in Lake Champlain, which can be sourced to many different human activities and human infrastructure within the watershed, and from external sources. These toxins can accumulate in the sediments, remain in the water column, or enter the food chain, ultimately impacting water supplies, flora and fauna in the basin, and human recreational activities.
Categories of toxins that are reviewed in this management strategy include bioaccumulating toxins (e.g. mercury, PCBs), pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (e.g. medications, soaps), trace elements (e.g. lead, arsenic), road salts, and cyanotoxins (from blue‐green algae). A more complete list of toxic substances of concern in the Lake Champlain watershed is provided in Table 2 of this document.
Many of the strategies identified in this document focus on education and outreach to the greater residential and business community in the watershed, either for reduction in use of toxic substances or for proper disposal of the substances. Implementation of monitoring programs for specific toxins is also an important component of the management strategy. Lastly, as many of these emerging toxins are not fully understood, some research into effects and life‐span of the toxins is critical to managing them in our watershed.