Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

The St. Clair River flows southward about 64 km from the southern tip of Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. The river is bordered by the State of Michigan, United States of America, to the west and the Province of Ontario, Canada, to the east. The St. Clair River has an average width of 600 metres. Adjacent land use is a mix of agricultural, residential, and industrial.

The entire St. Clair River is an “Area of Concern” under the United States' and Canada's Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. An Area of Concern is a geographic region with levels of contamination and habitat loss that impair beneficial uses or the area’s ability to support aquatic life. Impaired uses of the St. Clair River include restrictions on fish consumption, fish tumours or other deformities, degradation of benthos, restrictions on dredging activities, eutrophication or other undesirable algae, beach closings, degradation of aesthetics, added cost to agriculture and industry, and loss of fish and wildlife habitat.

One of the contaminants of concern on the St. Clair River is mercury. Mercury is extremely persistent in all media and displays very high acute toxicity to fish and other aquatic organisms. It is also capable of reproductive and teratogenic effects in mammals. Consequently, mercury is universally accepted as a deleterious substance and regulatory organizations such as the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment have established guidelines for the protection of water quality, aquatic life, and ultimately human health.

Coal-fired power plants have been linked to the presence of mercury in the environment. Two coal-fired power plants located on the west bank of the St. Clair River in Michigan, United States were found to be contributing significantly to the total mercury loading in the St. Clair River. They are the Belle River Power Plant, located in China Township, and the St. Clair Power Plant, located in East China Township. These facilities form one contiguous industrial complex owned by DTE Energy. This DTE Energy complex is releasing significant quantities of mercury into the air. This airborne mercury then falls to the earth downwind of the plant, contributing to the contamination of fish and fish habitat in Canada.

February 6th, 2007: Scott Edwards swore an Information at the Ontario Court of Justice in Sarnia, alleging that DTE Energy Company of the State of Michigan did unlawfully carry on a work or undertaking contrary to Canada's Fisheries Act. Edwards launched a private prosecution against DTE Energy in March of 2007.

August 9, 2007: Justice of the Peace Hurst of the Ontario Court of Justice found that Edwards had a prima facie case based on the evidence presented. However, due to Hurst's concerns about transboundary jurisdiction in the case, Edwards was denied from calling DTE Energy to court for litigation. Disagreeing with this outcome, Edwards filed a mandamus application. A mandamus is a legal tool for getting a superior court to order a lower court to perform a specific duty.

January 17, 2007: the mandamus application was heard in Sarnia, ON before Judge Donahue of the Superior Court of Ontario. Based on the established prima facie nature of the case, Judge Donahue issued an order directing the Ontario Court of Justice to summon DTE Energy Company to face charges for poisoning the St. Clair River with dangerous amounts of mercury.

June 30, 2008: Summons served on the accused

July 7, 2008: Ontario judge sets trial date for February 2, 2009. A pre-trial conference will occur in October, 2008.

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