It's slow going but positive steps are being taken in the 30-year battle to delist the St. Clair River as an environmental hot spot.
The provincial and federal environment ministries say three of the river's beneficial use impairments, or BUI's, have been designated as no longer impaired.
St. Clair Region Conservation Authority Remedial Action Plan Coordinator Kelly Johnson said beach closings are no longer an issue.
A species of frog and the common snapping turtle are no longer showing signs of deformation or reproductive problems, and dredged materials are clean enough to be reused for beach nourishment and construction infill.
"With the redesignation of these three BUI's, it leaves two additional BUI's classified as needing further assessment and four BUI's as being impaired," said Johnson. "However, significant work has already been done and is taking place on these additional beneficial use impairments, and we're hoping to see the redesignation of some of these in the coming year or two."
St. Clair Conservation Authority in Strathroy.
One of the remaining BUI's is mercury-contaminated sediment between Sarnia and Stag Island, believed to have come from the former Dow Chemical plant.
The removal could cost more than $28 million. Earlier this year, Ottawa provided $250,000 for detailed engineering work on how best to remove the sediment.
The St. Clair River is one of 43 Areas of Concern (AOC) originally designated in 1987 under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.