Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario, bounded on the north by Ontario and on the south by Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and by New York State, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America.

Enviromental concerns

During modern times the lake became heavily polluted from industrial chemicals, untreated sewage, including phosphates in laundry detergents, and agricultural fertilizers and chemicals. By the 1960s and 1970s the lake was dying, with frequent algal blooms during the summer, which killed off large quantities of fish, and left stinking piles of seaweed and dead fish along the shores, at times becoming so thick that waves could not break.

Related Topics:
Polluted - Industrial - Chemical - Sewage - Phosphate - Detergent - Agricultural - Fertilizer - Chemicals - 1960s - 1970s - Algal bloom - Fish - Seaweed

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Environmental concerns forced a cleanup of industrial and municipal wastes through better treatment plants. Phosphates were banned from detergents, and farm runoff was regulated more closely. Today Lake Ontario has recovered much of its pristine quality, and it is boasted that walleyes, which are a sort of marker of clean water, now abound in its waters. The lake has also become an important sports fishery, with introduced coho and chinook salmon also thriving.

Related Topics:
Walleye - Fishery - Coho - Chinook

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The lake has been plagued with problems of invasive species, including the lamprey, and zebra mussels. The lamprey is controlled by poisoning in the juvenile stage in the streams where they breed. Another recent problem had been E. coli bacteria.

Related Topics:
Invasive species - Lamprey - Zebra mussel - E. coli

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