A Southwestern Ontario photographer and storm chaser says the rate of erosion along the north shore of Lake Erie is not only alarming, but will create an environmental crisis unless something is done about hazardous items falling into the lake.
David Piano, of Ingersoll, has taken a series of photos with a drone to show the erosion along the shore. He says some areas in the Port Bruce area have lost between five and ten metres of shore in the last three months and hazardous items, such as propane tanks, fridges, and trailers are falling into the lake because of the erosion.
Piano calls it an environmental crisis waiting to happen and said more needs to be done to prevent houses, vehicles, and boats from also falling into the lake.
“The Lake Erie north shore is in a dire state of crisis. I visited the same locations I scouted in November and found the bluff had eroded 20-30 feet further in just 3 months. Unprecedented erosion rates are causing large chunks of property to succumb to the lake,” Piano said. “A failure by the local levels of government to mandate the removal of environmentally hazardous items in the path of the erosion has resulted in a sobering scene as all sorts of debris has fallen over the edge. This includes propane tanks, refrigerators, trailers and scrap metal.”
Chatham-Kent Councillor Trevor Thompson, who chairs the board of directors of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, said he hasn’t heard any reports of hazardous items falling into the lake across the municipality, but can’t rule it out.
“I haven’t heard of any concerns, complaints or instances recently. We have no real way of monitoring that beyond people self reporting or calling in something they’ve seen. But historically when we’ve lost homes to shoreline erosion in CK, a significant amount of building material has been lost,” said Thompson. “It’s another unfortunate aspect that doesn’t often get discussed. When we think about people losing their homes, it’s the human element that first comes to mind. But there’s always the bricks and mortar piece too. All of the material on site gets pulled in too. There is an environmental cost to be sure, but for me personally, the loss of a home is my #1 concern.”
A shoreline erosion study is under consideration in Chatham-Kent and the municipality wants future housing setbacks along the shore to be moved back further.
Catfish Creek Conservation Authority in Aylmer has jurisdiction over the Port Bruce area, but has not yet responded to requests for comment on this story.
Piano said further inaction to “expedite the removal of the junk” about to fall over the edge will result in the environmental toll becoming “exponentially more damaging” in the months to come. He pointed out houses, barns, boats, and cars are all on the brink of collapsing into the lake.
“The erosion rate this winter heading into spring is unlike anything I have seen monitoring this situation for the past few years,” Piano said. “Erie is swallowing everything in its path and we must act now to clean up the mess falling towards its waters before it is too late.”
Piano said he will be releasing more photos as a part of a documentary-style photo/video series he’s working on called “On the Brink.” He said it will showcase the stunning effects of the Lake Erie bluff erosion.
