Lake Memphremagog
Submission ID: SEM-19-003
Party concerned: Canada, United States
Date filed: July 5, 2019
Submission Status: Closed
Latest Update: November 13, 2019
The sixty-day term expired without the Secretariat receiving a submission that conformed to Article 14(1). In accordance with guidelines 6.2 and 6.3, the process was therefore terminated.
Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:
The Submitter asserts that both the United States and Canada are not effectively enforcing the International Boundary Waters Treaty with respect to water pollution in Lake Memphremagog, a cross-border lake in both Quebec and Vermont. The Submitter contends that a proposed landfill expansion in Coventry County, Vermont will cause water pollution to cross the US/Canadian border via the lake, which is used for drinking water by Quebec residents in the province’s Eastern Townships. The Submitter also asserts that under applicable Vermont law, the state must insure that a landfill expansion project will not unduly increase water pollution or the discharge of toxic waste into groundwater. The Submitter is specifically concerned with landfill leachate which often includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and requests that meaningful studies be carried out before the landfill expansion is approved.
Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:
International Boundary Waters Treaty
Vermont Land Use and Development Act (Act 250)
Submitter(s):
Memphrémagog Conservation Inc.
Submission Timeline
The Secretariat received a submission and began a preliminary analysis of it under the guidelines.
Submission - Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 05/07/2019
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 05/07/2019
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 05/07/2019
Annex - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 05/07/2019
Acknowledgement - Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 09/07/2019
The Secretariat notified the submitter(s) that the submission did not meet all of the Article 14(1) criteria and the submitter(s) had 30 days to provide the Secretariat with a revised submission that conforms with Article 14(1).
Determination - Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 15/08/2019
The sixty-day term expired without the Secretariat receiving a submission that conformed to Article 14(1). In accordance with guidelines 6.2 and 6.3, the process was therefore terminated.