TRANSBOUNDARY AIR POLLUTION

• What is transboundary air pollution?
• What does transboundary air pollution mean to me?
• What is the Ministry of the Environment doing about transboundary air pollution?
• Information and Resources

What is transboundary air pollution

Transboundary air pollution is a significant problem in Ontario. A large amount of Ontario’s smog originates from emission sources in the United States (U.S.).

Air pollution in Ontario comes from factories, power plants, and smelters; mobile sources such as cars, buses, trucks, planes, marine vessels and trains; and finally, natural sources such as forest fires.

Many pollutants, including those associated with smog, remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time. With winds, these air pollutants can travel hundreds of kilometres from province to province and country to country, affecting areas far removed from the actual source.

Research shows that neighbouring U.S. states are major contributors to ground- level ozone and fine particulate matter in Ontario.

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What does transboundary air pollution mean to me?

Each year in Ontario, transboundary air pollution causes more than 2,700 premature deaths, puts almost 12,000 people in hospital, and causes minor illness symptoms in about 2.7 million others. It is responsible for an estimated $5.2 billion in damage to Ontario’s people, economy and environment.

Transboundary flow of pollution from neighbouring U.S. states causes higher levels of smog in Ontario (including both ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter), airborne acidic pollutants and other hazardous air pollutants, such as mercury.

The latest evidence shows a wide variation in the impact of transboundary pollution. In some areas, under certain conditions, transboundary air pollution causes 90 per cent of the pollution, while in other areas the impact is far less.

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What is the Ministry of the Environment doing about transboundary air pollution?

The Ministry of the Environment believes that the solution to this shared problem lies in our ability to work across borders together with our partners.

The MOE has developed many initiatives to help combat transboundary air pollution.
 
Ontario has hosted two annual Shared Air Summits on June 20, 2005 and June 26, 2006. The first event brought together leading North American scientists, health care professionals, environmentalists, economists, industry leaders and public officials to discuss air quality issues and their impact on health, the environment and the economy. The second summit explored innovative solutions in addressing the problems associated with transboundary air pollution.
 
Ontario filed comments with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) detailing the Ontario government’s concerns with proposed changes to the EPA’s New Source Review (NSR) program that would allow coal-fired power plants to operate for longer hours and pollute more per year.  

The government of Ontario, at the request of the New York State Attorney General’s office, filed an amicus brief in the case of United States v. Cinergy Corporation.

The government has held ongoing discussions with Quebec on working together to clean up our shared airshed and signed an agreement on transboundary environmental impacts.
 
For more information on transboundary air pollutions and the Ministry of the Environment’s initiatives, please visit the Shared Air Summit website.

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Information and Resources

• Sharedair.ca, the Government of Ontario's Transboundary Air Pollution Website

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