Great Lakes Cities Tackle Pharmaceutical Pollution

By Bud Lowell

Rochester, NY – An association representing cities around the Great Lakes is demanding the United States and Canada move to keep chemicals from pharmaceuticals out of the water supply.

The Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Cities Initiative is holding its annual meeting in Trois Riveries, Quebec. It's strongly supporting this month's agreement between the U.S. and Canada to negotiate a new Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

George Heartwell is Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Vice-Chairman of the Initiative. In a conference call he told reporters that the cities around the Great Lakes deserve to be part of those negotiations. The Great Lakes mayors say that's because their communities together are putting about $15-billion a year into projects to protect and improve water quality on the lakes.

The Initiative identifies its top concerns for the Great Lakes as invasive species, water quality and chemical pollution from drug-related compounds.

Mayor Heartwell says people are improperly disposing of pharmaceuticals and personal care products by flushing down drains, and chemicals from those drugs are increasingly building up in the Great Lakes. He says the producers should be held accountable for their disposal, and environmental testing should be required before drugs can be licensed.

The Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Initiative represents mayors and local officials from cities on both the Canadian and the U.S. sides of the Great Lakes. It works with both federal, state and provincial governments.

Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy is a member of its Board along with Mayor Heartwell.

They say they've stepped up with local initiatives to prevent improper disposal of drug compounds and will begin keeping track of what it's costing them as part of a campaign to force drug companies into taking responsibility for proper disposal of their products.