Nipigon Bay: Area of Concern (Delisted)
Nipigon Bay was designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 under the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Pollution from industrial and municipal wastewater, hydro-electric development in Lake Nipigon and Nipigon River, and debris from past logging activities contributed to degraded water quality and ecosystem health. Seven out of 14 beneficial use impairments (BUIs) were identified, which measure the environmental, human health and economic impact of poor water quality. An additional beneficial use was deemed “requiring further assessment”, meaning more information was required to determine whether it was impaired.
Accomplishments
In 2026, Nipigon Bay became the fourth Canadian AOC to be delisted. We delist an AOC when monitoring shows that targets for all BUIs have been met and environmental quality has been restored.
Monitoring confirmed that environmental quality was restored through:
- improvements to wastewater treatment in the Townships of Nipigon and Red Rock, including upgrading facilities to secondary treatment in 2012 and 2021, respectively
- improvements to water quality following development and implementation of federal and provincial regulations for Red Rock’s pulp mill in the mid-1990s before the mill closed in 2006
- enhancing fish populations and aquatic habitat through remedial actions, including naturalizing river flow near hydroelectric dams; restoring former wetland and historic spawning grounds in the lower Nipigon River; rehabilitating Clearwater Creek; creating habitat at the Red Rock marina; and naturalizing Kama Creek
Restoration of beneficial uses
All “impaired” beneficial uses have been restored:
- tainting of fish and wildlife flavor (1995)
- restrictions on dredging activities (1995)
- fish tumours or other deformities (1995)
- degradation of fish and wildlife populations (2016)
- degradation of benthos (2016)
- eutrophication or undesirable algae (2016)
- degradation of aesthetics (2016)
- loss of fish and wildlife habitat (2016)
Partners
We partner with other levels of government, non-government groups, Indigenous communities and members of the public. This restoration work requires a large amount of scientific and technical expertise, local knowledge, hard work and the help of:
- Biigtigong Nishnaabeg
- EcoSuperior Environmental Programs
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Lakehead University
- Métis Nation of Ontario
- Nipigon Bay Remedial Action Plan Public Advisory Committee
- Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
- Parks Canada
- Red Rock Indian Band
- Township of Nipigon
- Township of Red Rock