Ecological disaster tourism - the world's most polluted tourist spots

1. Windsor, Ontario: the most polluted city in North America (search for photos) This is a day trip for Ontarians. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has declared Ontario’s border town the most polluted city in North America. Kennedy made the declaration last spring prior to announcing that his Riverkeeper watchdog group is taking U.S. companies to court under Canada’s Fisheries Act. Riverkeeper alleges that DTE Energy’s power plants are depositing mercury into the Canadian side of the St. Clair River.

The production of bitumen and synthetic crude oil from the sands has been held responsible for the largest greenhouse gas emissions growth in Canada, accounting for 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Canadian First Nations groups also complain that the oil sands projects contaminate local water supplies. Forty-four percent of Canadian oil production in 2007 was from our oil sands. Canada is now the largest supplier of oil and refined products to the United States, nosing ahead of Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

There is also an estimated 560,000 tonnes of contaminated soil at the former coke ovens site. 

In addition, Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour is considered one of the most contaminated sediment sites identified as a Canadian Area of Concern in the agreement. A remediation proposal includes encasing the sediments, which contain concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons.

A $260 million cleanup is planned for these low-level radioactive wastes, attributed to historical discharges from Eldorado Nuclear Limited, a former crown corporation. 

Creating the source of Quebec’s cheap and non-polluting hydro power was a double edged sword because damming and diverting rivers to create the hydroelectric project’s reservoirs drowned almost 13,000 square kilometres of land. Phase 1, which constructed generating stations on the La Grande River and diverted the Eastman and Caniapiscau rivers into the La Grande watershed, created five reservoirs that covered an area of 11,300 kilometres. Phase 2, which constructed five secondary power plants on the La Grande River and its tributaries, created three reservoirs that covered an additional 1,600 kilometres.

Getting to this testament to consumer waste will be an adventure, unless you own your own boat. Most chartered boats won’t go there. If you sail there, be prepared to paddle back out. It’s avoided by sailors because there’s rarely any wind, one of the reason these plastics get there and stay there.