Awareness in Hamilton

I was always aware of oil being dumped into lakes, rivers, etc. and covering animals with oil because of the Dawn dish soap commericals. In 1860s, Hamiltonian John William Kerr, reported that the fish caught in the Sherman Inlet tasted of coal oil emitted frmo two refineries at the water’s edge alongside the railway tracks. It’s been 156+ years since people been dumping waste into the water. I don’t know how much research has been put into figuring out an alternative method to get rid of the waste. But we live in a world where people figure out innovative ways to solve their daily “problems”. We literally have an app that can do whatever you want. An app can’t fix this and it’s more complicated than it seems. However, what I’m trying to say is I believe people can come up with an alternative method to get rid of wastes while protecting the environment but still in a cost effiective way. If not – just make a law to force the industries to dispose their waste properly. I know it’s not easy and it’s a lot more complicated. There are laws to protect the environment but industries are ignoring them and paying the fine because it’s still cheaper than disposing their waste properly. After going to the conference and learning the great lakes have improved from the past, it gives me hope that humans can still fix their mistakes. Slowly, but surely we can make sure the ducks, muskrats, and the fish aren’t covered in oil floating on the water.

For someone who lives near Hamilton, I find it cool to think a town near me had an impact by World War II. When I learned about World War II in grade 10 history class, I never learned anything that impacted small towns near where I live. I know it’s wrong to think its cool because it was impacted in a negative way. But I think it’s interesting information. The oil produced from 1937 to 1942 doubled because of World War II. From 715 to 1,455 tons of oil produced by the Stelco Steel Plant, polluted the Hamilton Harbour.

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