Burlington Bay , also known as Hamilton Harbour, is a branch of Lake Ontario bounded on the northwest by the City of Burlington, on the south by the City of Hamilton, and on the east by Hamilton Beach (south of the Burlington Skyway Bridge) and Burlington Beach (north of the channel). Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Burlington ( 2006 population 164415 is a city located at the western end of Lake Ontario Hamilton (ˈhæməltən ( 2006 population 504559 UA population 647634 CMA population The Burlington Bay James N Allan Skyway, originally called the Burlington Bay Skyway, is a pair of high-level freeway bridges located in Hamilton and It is joined to Cootes Paradise by a narrow channel formerly excavated for the Desjardins Canal. See also Geography of Hamilton Ontario Cootes Paradise is a large Wetland at the western end of Hamilton Harbour, bordering the cities of Hamilton The Desjardins Canal, named after its promoter Pierre Desjardins was built to give Dundas Ontario, easier access to Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes system Within Hamilton itself, it is referred to as Hamilton Harbour, the Harbour and the Bay, but never Burlington Bay. [1]
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History
Access to the bay was important for the early water transportation and industrial development of the area, including Dundas, Ontario, which had an early but ultimately unrealized lead over both Burlington (Brant's Block) and Hamilton. This article refers to Dundas, a constituent community of Hamilton Ontario since 2001 in south central Ontario.
Over the years, the bay was roughly treated by its littoral residents. Littoral refers to the coast of an ocean or sea or to the banks of a river lake or estuary Constant infilling, particularly in the North End of Hamilton, damaged fresh water streams and the wildlife they supported. Channel dredging tended to stir up natural and unnatural sediments, further disrupting the ecological balance in the area. Chemical, industrial and thermal pollution, especially as a byproduct of the burgeoning steel industry after the 1890s, continued to degrade the environment. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in
By the 1970s, the International Joint Commission, which governs water usage in the Great Lakes Basin, and other agencies began to recognize the need for action. The International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the United States and Canada under the International Boundary The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota Greater water quality awareness, improved pollution controls, and an economic downturn all served to improve conditions in the 1980s. In the 1990s, beautification and ecological control were well underway. These measures included sealing the Lax Lands, contaminated with heavy metals and other pollutants, under a cap of clay; landscaping Bayfront Park (also known as Pier 4 Park); and keeping Asian carp from entering Cootes Paradise. There are many Species of heavy-bodied Cyprinid fishes collectively known as Asian carps. The visible and measurable improvement in water quality in Burlington Bay was showcased by the very public swim of Sheila Copps, a local MP and federal cabinet minister. Sheila Maureen Copps, PC (born November 27, 1952) is a Canadian Journalist and former Politician. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. A minister or a secretary is a Politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional Government. Access and recreational use of the bayfront has improved, but use of the water for swimming is still prohibited. [2]
Hamilton Harbour is listed as a Great Lakes Areas of Concern in the The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada. Great Lakes Areas of Concern are designated geographic areas within the Great Lakes Basin that show severe environmental degradation [3] Part of the remediation plan is to reclaim the harbour's wetlands. [4]
Randle Reef, a site in the harbour, is considered the most dire of identified water pollution issues awaiting remediation in Canada. [5] [6]
Trivia
The bay is thought by some to host a North American cryptid, described by witnesses as a large snake-like creature. Cryptid is a term used in the study of Cryptozoology to refer to a creature whose existence has been suggested but not demonstrated scientifically [7] A diver drowned in the bay during the filming of a low-budget horror film titled Marina Monster on August 21, 2005. [8]
External links
References
- ^ Houghton, Margaret (2002). See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Hamilton Street Names: An Illustrated Guide. James Lorimer & Co. Ltd. . ISBN 1-55028-773-7.
- ^ Bay Cleanup: Going Swimmingly? Hamilton Spectator, July 9, 2005
- ^ Hamilton Harbour AOC Remedial Action Plan, Environment Canada
- ^ Great Lakes Wetlands Conservation Action Plan, Environment Canada contains five paragraphs about the harbour project
- ^ At Last, Clean Water, National Post, November 13, 2007
- ^ Cleaning Up Randle Reef In Hamilton Harbour - Part of the Government of Canada's Action Plan for Clean Water, Environment Canada, 2007-11-09
- ^ The Kingston Daily News, August 17, 1877, Great Lakes Newspaper Transcriptions
- ^ Diver Drowns on Low-Budget Film Shoot in Hamilton Harbour, CBC News, August 22, 2005
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