The Canatara Park Binders - Chapter 10 (Lambton County Archives)

Chapter 10

Lake Chipican, 1950 - 2000

1 Highlighted #’s refer to those pages in the original binder. They may not be shown in sequence.

– Brief history of Lake Chipican: 1840 - 1940

Summary of Lake Chipican: 1950 – 2000

– 1953 Aerial Photo

– 1953 Map and Notes

1950s Photos

– 1956 Golf Club Water Proposal

– 1956 – 1959 Landscape Alterations

1959 – 1960 Storm Drain Reservoir Scheme

– 1960 Maps and Notes

– 1960s Photos

– 1963 Low Water and Dredging Scheme

– 1969 – 1970 Channel Dredging

– 1970 Maps

1970 Aerial Photo

– 1973 – 1975 Channel Dredging

– 1973 – 1975 Map and Notes

1974 – 1975 Nature Preserve Established

– 1970s Photos

– 1980s Vegetation Changes

– 1986 Aerial Photos

– 1990 – 2000 CPPV Projects

1990 Depth Survey

1990 – 1996 Management Plan

Trail Pamphlet

Lake Chipican History, 1840 - 1940

Below is a brief summary of some of the activities and events which occurred around Lake Chipican during the period of 1840 – 1940.

Henry Seward: From approximately 1840 – 1855, Henry Seward lived in a house near the northwest corner of Lake Chipican, which was then known as Seward's Pond.

GTR Main Line: In the summer of 1858, construction crews of the Grand Trunk Railway built a railroad embankment through the marsh at the south end of the lake, on the present site of the road leading to the Children's Farm. In November 1859, trains began crossing this embankment, which was on the GTR main line stretching from Chicago to Portland, Maine. For the next thirtythree years, an immense amount of traffic passed through the Canatara area along this line, including hundreds of thousands of immigrants bound for the western parts of Canada the United States.

International Park: In the spring of 1879, two entrepreneurs leased the property around Lake Chipican and constructed a summer resort on the site. This International Park, as it was called, consisted of a sixty bedroom hotel, a dance pavilion, a boat house, a merry-go-round, a bowling alley and other amusements. Although billed as “the loveliest spot on earth”, the daily attendance was not enough to cover expenses and, within a month of opening, the two entrepreneurs declared bankruptcy. Although the GTR advertised for someone to operate the resort in 1880, no one took the offer, and the site was abandoned.

Quarantine Station: During the 1880s, government regulations required that all cattle entering Canada from the United States for breeding purposes be quarantined for a ninety day period. To implement the regulations, a quarantine station consisting of three cattle sheds and a caretaker's residence was constructed in 1882 on the west side of Lake Chipican on the former site of International Park. After the railway tunnel opened at Sarnia in 1891, the quarantine station was relocated to the tunnel yards.

Cottages : From 1910 to 1930, the McDougall, Grace, Cawthorn and Phillips families each built a summer cottage on the sand hills at the north end of Lake Chipican

Bird Sanctuary: In the early 1920s, several prominent Sarnians were encouraged by Jack Miner, the famous Kingsville naturalist, to set aside the Lake Chipican area as a crown game reserve and a bird sanctuary. In 1933, Charles A. White, the Chairman of the Sarnia Board of Education and owner of most of the sanctuary property, donated a large section of the reserve to the city so it could be incorporated into the newly established Canatara Park. Since then, it has continued to provide both a protected haven for the city's wildlife and an outdoor classroom for area school children.

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Mayor Crawford Helped To Keep Lake Chipican in Natural State

Sarnia Observer by Dan McCaffery

He was an environmentalist half a century before anyone even heard of that term.

George Crawford, who served as Sarnia's 40th mayor in 1921 and 1922, was the chief magistrate who helped preserve the city's most treasured wilderness area.

Born in Kingston on May 28, 1862, he moved to Point Edward as a boy.

After serving on the old village school board, Crawford moved to Sarnia in 1900.

He worked for the Grand Trunk Railroad for 43 years, serving most of that time as an engineer. Popular with co-workers, he was named chief of local railroad engineers.

Elected to city council in 1920, Crawford served one term as an alderman before moving up to the mayor's chair.

Once in office, he strove to prevent over-development in an area that would later become Canatara Park; in fact, The Observer reported Mayor Crawford “devoted a great deal of effort to have Lake Chipican set aside as a bird and game sanctuary.”

Today, the lake remains in a pristine state. Through the years, city council has followed Mayor Crawford's example, steadfastly resisting any efforts to change its character; in fact, as

recently as last month, council approved a master plan for Canatara that calls for protection of Lake Chipican's special plants and animals. And in 1994, council refused to allow an entrepreneur to operate paddle boats in Lake Chipican because it feared such a business could disturb wildlife.

Mayor Crawford also took action to honour Sarnia's war dead, presiding over the council that erected a soldiers' memorial in Victoria Park. The monument, The Observer reported, was “brought about largely by the earnest efforts” of the mayor. 4

Summary of Lake Chipican History: 1950 – 2000

In the 1950s, two proposals that would have adversely impacted Lake Chipican were opposed by area residents. One involved the Sarnia Golf Club using the lake for irrigation purposes and the other involved the City using it for a storm drain reservoir. Neither of these schemes was implemented.

In the 1963-1964 period, the lake was at a very low water stage and to solve the “problem”, the City proposed that the entire lake be dredged and all the surrounding marsh be filled with the dredged sediment. Fortunately, this scheme was also not implemented. In the 1969 -1975 period, the City did dredge a channel around the south and east sides of the lake.

In 1974 a Nature Preserve was established around the lake, which caused some controversy when several people accused the City of creating a “jungle” adjacent to the lake. During the 1970s, the Preserve was enhanced by planting trees and shrubs, building a nature trail with accompanying benches and constructing a bird observation tower. In the 1980s, the trees and shrubs grew to form a pioneer woodland that provided a buffer around the periphery (5) of the Preserve.

In the 1990s, a group of volunteers undertook various projects designed to improve the Preserve such as doing a depth survey of the lake, producing a management plan and writing a trail pamphlet. Since 1997, oil seeping from the former sludge dump has caused major problems in the southern portion of the Preserve.

All these matters are described in more detail below, along with supplementary records such as maps, photos, letters, newspaper items and Park Board minutes.

Notes for Map - Lake Chipican, 1953

The wetland surrounding the lake consisted of mostly marsh vegetation, primarily of cat tails and bull rushes (yellow-green). There were also patches of shrubs consisting of button bush as well as swamp and grey dogwoods (brown). Several tamarack trees were located at the southeast shore of the lake and some black and weeping willows were in the marsh on the west side (green). The sand ridge just inland of the marsh on the west side was dominated by oak trees (dark green).

Located in the marsh at the south end of the lake adjacent to the “dump road” (marked D) was the ditch and catch basin dug in the late 1930s to trap the oil that was seeping northward from the sludge dump. City staff would periodically burn the oil that had collected in the catch basin. In the northeast portion of the marsh was a shallow channel that had been dug by a bucket-type crane in the spring of 1953. (This channel was closer

Photo of Landfill Site and Lake Chipican (1953)

to the park road than the much deeper and wider one that was dredged in the 1969-1975 period (as described below).

Map – (sketch) Lake Chipican 1953

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Various photos of Lake Chipican

Lake Chipican 1950s Photos

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo 1 and 2, which is an enlargement of photo 1, show the view looking northwest across Lake Chipican from the ridge on the east side of the lake in June 1951. Photo 2 shows the extensive area of marsh on the east side of the lake that existed until the 1973-1975 period. At that time, much of the marsh was filled when a channel was dredged throughout it, as described below.

Photo 3 was taken in January 1956 and shows the view from the east side of the lake looking northwest with some skaters on the northern section of the lake.

Photo #3

Photo #4

Photo 4 shows the view from the south end of the lake. View looking north from the dump road across the marsh at the south end of Lake Chipican, c1945. The ditch and catch basin used to trap the oil seeping from the sludge dump area in the foreground.

Photo 5 shows the view from the northwest side of the lake. View looking southeast from the northwest corner of Lake Chipican, 1958.

Photo #5

Photo #6

Calendar Says It’s Spring Despite the Snow

“This was certainly one scene Sarnia didn't expect to see again for a few months. Spring came in, bringing with it sunshine and warm weather an inkling of the summer yet to come. But Thursday night, it was back in reality as winter made a traditional parting gesture and dumped three inches of snow on the area. At Lake Chipican, in Canatara Park, the ice had melted, but for a brief moment at least, the snowfall recalled the rigours of the past few months.”

Photos 6 and 7 are Sarnia Observer photos which show the north end of the lake. These 2 photos from the Sarnia Observer show the north end of Lake Chipican in September 1957 and March 1959.

Photo #7

Photo #8

Photos 8 and 9 were taken in November 1952 and show the view looking east from the west side of the lake. Views looking east from the west side of lake Chipican, November 1952

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Shades of Marilyn Bell, Etc.

Everyone Chips in For Chipican Swim

Sarnia Observer, August 17, 1955, p13

By Marian Passmore

Crowds began gathering at 4 p.m. Tuesday around Lake Chipican to witness the marathon “Lake Chipican Swim” undertaken by a group of young hardies at 6 p.m.

By 6 p.m. there was an accumulation of at least 50 cars and 300 spectators. Trainer, P.F. Wade, whose energies are largely responsible for the event, cycled through the crowd on his motorbike, directing traffic and lining up the swimmers. Previous estimated slated 15 for the swim, but only six finished. Two were lost in the dense rushes of the lake, two barred for being under-age (five years), one succumbed to DDT fumes, and one was picked up in the weeds at the end of the course.

Congratulations

The trainer was equipped with a megaphone and directed the start. Before the gun went off a member of the organization sponsoring the swim (The Lambton County Etcetera’s) read a number of telegrams, from Cecil B. DeMille (asking for complete film rights), Florence Chadwick (the English Channel pales into insignificance before Lake Chipican), and Captain Webb, the first man to swim the Channel, who suggested the group attempt the Niagara River next.

Leaped From Car

A lakeside resident stated that conditions on Lake Chipican Tuesday afternoon were “the worst in years,. They present a real danger,” he added. He doubtless referred to the fact that two dump trucks and a team of horses had once fallen through the lake ice and disappeared forever.

Photo #9

As the gun went off and the accompanying boats pushed into the lake, the sixth swimmer leaped out of his car and made for the lake. A practising dentist, he had until the last minute to battle with a patients cavity, but he made the lake in time to start with the rest. One woman entrant withdrew when she saw the lake.

The swimmers waded out through weeds, mud turtles, flora and fauna until they could prop themselves up on the boat and assume a somewhat bogged-down horizontal condition and set out to the northwest across the lake. Several crises occurred in the course of the swim: there was no yogurt aboard the boat, and a hungry swimmer had to be fed on chocolate bars. He found difficulty treading water in the eight-foot depth of seaweed.

Eddy “Fins” Murray battled his way through the viscous waters in the record time of 9.04, and was presented with a large silver trophy by Recreation Commission director K. Herbert Linder, who commended the group for their, “ingenuity in livening up a monotonous summer. This sort of thing has great therapeutic value,” he said. Jim “Snorkel” Kim came second. Third was Biff “The Body” Smith, fourth Peter “Tadpole” Lumb. The “Tail Brothers” fell exhausted at the end of the course and came in fifth and sixth.

After the presentation of the trophy, which was accompanied by a check and a ticket to Juan de Fuca, the swimmers trailed off to Lake Huron to wash off the seaweed, and the crowd wandered to Canatara Park with their picnic baskets.

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Hundreds of Sarnians witnessed a marathon swim across Lake Chipican Tuesday evening as six hardy youths clawed their way through muddy waters to compete for a large silver trophy. The swim was sponsored by the Lambton Kent Etcetera’s’ Left, Al Craig, one of the sponsors ….(missing words)…. DDT in preparation for the event . DDT was used instead of the usual swimming grease, as it was thought more suitable for the conditions in Sarnia’s own lake. All swimmers received medical and dental check-ups, and were thoroughly sprayed with…..???... participants of the swim posed for the press. The two young ladies with them wished to compete, but were disqualified as being under age. Winner was Ed “Fins” Murray, who said, “I would rather swim Lake Ontario backwards then swim Lake Chipican…….??

Sarnia Golf Club Water Supply Proposal: 1956

Parks Board Minutes, January 13, 1956. “The Sarnia Golf Club is requesting permission to install a pumping station at the south end of Lake Chipican and an easement over the lands to the south of the lake to provide water for watering the golf course. They suggested that since Lake Chipican is presently higher than Lake Huron, that the quantity of water they would require might lower the level of Lake Chipican somewhat, but no more than 2 to 3 inches below Lake Huron. More information is needed.”

Documents concerning this matter are found in the following pages:

1. A petition by Lake Chipican Drive residents asking that they be given an opportunity to present their views.

2. A return letter by the Board assuring the residents that their views will be considered.

3. A brief presented to the Board by the residents detailing their objections to this proposal.

After considering the presentations of both the Sarnia Golf Club and the Lake Chipican Drive residents, the Board rejected the proposal.

Mr. H. B. Page, Chairman

Sarnia Parks Board Commission, Sarnia, Ontario

Dear Sir:

Sarnia, Ontario April 20, 1956

Several months ago, the Sarnia Golf Club made an application to the Sarnia Parks Board to use Lake Chipican as a source of water for a proposed pumping system. Some weeks later, the Golf Club Committee was given an opportunity to present its proposal in person at a Parks Board meeting. According to reports, the Committee was unable to guarantee water levels and other necessary information required by the Parks Board, so the decision was held in abeyance until the guarantees were forthcoming.

At present, the Golf Club is installing a new watering system which uses only city water as a source of supply; however, Lake Chipican is still a live issue.

A number of residents adjacent to Lake Chipican have been following the progress of the pumping proposal. Living close by the lake, we are quite familiar with its contours, depths, and water levels. After studying the effects of a pumping system on the lake, we are concerned about the undesirable conditions which could arise. We feel these conditions would be detrimental to the large number of people using the park, as well as adjacent residents.

Therefore, we ask that before the Parks Board makes any commitments or decisions in favour of the pumping system, that spokesmen for the undersigned be given the opportunity to address the Board and present their views on the subject.

Yours very truly, 21

J.J. Legate Planning Director

Board

of

Parks and Recreation

June 7, 1956

Mr. E. A. Storey, 1330 Chipican Drive, Sarnia, Ontario,

Dear Sir:-

Your petition of April 20th last to the Board of Parks and Recreation, regarding the proposed use of Lake Chipican water by the Sarnia Golf Club was considered by the Board at a meeting on May 23rd last.

The Board wishes to assure you and the other petitioners that you will be contacted regarding this matter before any decision is arrived at.

Yours very truly,

J.J. Legate

J.J.L./gt

J. J. Legate Secretary

QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERING REGARDING PUMPING OF

LAKE CHIPICAN WATERS TO SARNIA GOLF CLUB

Is it necessary to use Lake Chipican water?

Why not proceed a short distance farther to Lake Huron where pumping equipment will have to be installed anyway, thus saving double pumping?

What compensation is Parks Board receiving for this privilege, which may add to their worries and possibly jeopardize certain plans and purposes for Canatara Park?

Does such “sale” of water break the covenant the City made with the late Mrs. Hanna regarding commercialization of Canatara Park?

Has the Board considered the possibility of needing some water itself someday?

The amount of money necessary to be spent to bring about this plan will necessitate a long term contract. Is the Board willing to have its hands tied for such a long period when they might well desire to proceed with other plans for “Little Lake”?

It can be safely assumed that after installation of this system, the Sarnia Golf Club will become more concerned with their grass than with the proper maintenance of Lake Chipican. Any breakdown in supply from Lake Huron will be met at the expense of Lake Chipican levels.

In the heat and dryness of last summer (1955), there was a swampy smell from the low areas exposed by low water. Any further drop would increase these undesirable odours.

The new easterly channel would be of no avail if water levels are not kept right up to normal. The channel would then be a detriment instead of a help.

If any attempt were made to equalize Lake Chipican with Lake Huron by a balance line and no pumps, Lake Chipican would be the loser and irreparable damage would ensue. An unstabilized level in winter would hazard skating and all the skaters using the lake surface.

Who will police the situation and have the responsibility of seeing that agreed levels are strictly maintained, or will the grass come first and Lake Chipican second?

As the area has been said to be a wild life sanctuary, any tampering with nature could lead to desertion of the area by the normal wild life already established.

By estimate of one competent observer, a six inch drop in Lake Level will reduce the size of the lake by one third.

Test pumping should be done first, before any privileges are granted.

Swimmers last summer waded across the lake, and to give some idea of the shallowness of the lake, the East shore was so shallow the summer of 1955 that a canoe could not be launched from shore. It was necessary to wade out 20-25 feet before getting into the canoe.

No question should proceed to decision until opposition is heard.

Applicants should demonstrate an adequate input capacity before any matching output should be allowed.

Consider the Board’s position if they found their position wrong and had to go to court to get an injunction against further removal of water. Would it not be a hopeless case?

Can applicants install a foolproof mechanical control of operation level? If it fails who takes the penalty?

1963 MAP - From: Pathfinder, Air Surveys Lmt.

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LAKE CHIPICAN CHANGES 1956-59

(SEE 1963 MAP)

In Jan. 1956 a small pond was dug in the wetland near the southeast corner of Lake Chipican (see Jan 5, 1956 photos below). The excavated material was used to fill in the marsh between the pond and the park road (green on 1963 map). The resulting flat field was grassed and used by local children as a ball field.

n Oct. 1958 the Board agreed to allow Lake Chipican to be used as a storm sewer outlet for the new Highbury Subdivision. During Nov and Dec 1958 an 18” cement pipe was laid from this subdivision to the southeast corner of the small pond (see 1963 map) A shallow overflow channel was dug from this pond to Lake Chipican. In addition, a drainage ditch (marked X) was excavated from the southwest corner of Lake Chipican westward to the south end of the previously dug ditch (marked Y) along the west side of the present Children’s Farm area. This system of drainage pipes and ditches allowed water coming from the Highbury Subdivision to eventually empty into Lake Huron through the pipe under the beach parking lot. (marked P).

In Sept.1959 a small wooden dam (marked D) was constructed across the drainage ditch at the southwest corner by Lake Chipican in order to control the timing and amount of outflow, as well as the level of water in Lake Chipican.

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CRANE DIGS DEEP INTO MUD OF CHIPICAN LAKE

The biggest crane even seen in Lake Chipican marsh was at work Wednesday. Odds are 50-50 that if the big drag line machine gets in it won’t get out. A board ramp will be used to give it a footing in the soft mud. Parks Superintendent Harry Savage at the site said the machine will excavate about two acres of marsh to widen the Canatara Park lake.

From the mid 50’s to mid-60’s park staff used this jeep and a tractor to remove the snow from the ice for skating.

Crane digging pond near Southeast corner of Lake Chipican, Jan. 1956

Observer Staff Photo (8/57)

PLOW GIVES LAKE ‘THE SLIP’

A snow plow from the Parks and Recreation Board was busy Monday keeping Chipican lake in a good condition for skating. William Palmer, board secretary said today the area would probably be flooded to give it a good surface. The board is also considering erecting lights and a public address system for music. The main difficulty seems to be supplying the power which has to come some distance.

STORM SEWER RESERVOIR SCHEME: 1959-60

During the late 1950’s McLaren Associates, a Toronto consulting firm, was commissioned by the city to investigate the possible routes and outlets for the projected storm sewer system in the northern section of Sarnia. At a Nov. 1959 Sarnia council meeting James McLaren noted that Lake Chipican was the best choice for a storm sewer outlet and outlined how the lake could be converted into a storm drain reservoir. At the same meeting residents adjacent to Lake Chipican strenuously objected to this scheme. The Parks Board also discussed this proposal at its Nov meeting, but no position was taken since it was decided that more information was needed.

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On Feb 15, 1960 McLaren presented his written report regarding this matter, which recommended that Lake Chipican be used as the outlet for the city’s northend storm water drain system. However, at a March 2 special meeting council decided to use Sarnia Harbour for the outlet rather than Lake Chipican.

The following items related to this Reservoir scheme are listed below

1. Observer article describing a special council meeting held on Nov 5, 1959

2. Brief given by residents at the Nov 5 council meeting

3. Nov 16 letter sent by residents to the Parks Board which also included items 2. And 4.

4. Nov 18 Letter to the Editor

4a Board of Parks & Recreation minutes November 18, 1959 meeting, page 3 regarding this matter.

5. Observer article describing Feb 15, 1960 council meeting.

6. Map from MacLaren Report

7. Observer article describing special council meeting on Feb 17.

8. Feb 27 Letter to the Editor

9. Observer article regarding special council meeting on March 2

10. Windsor Star article describing March 2 meeting.

4a. “After considerable discussion on the proposal of using Lake Chipican as a reservoir for storm water from the north end of the city, the Board decided this matter would be tabled for further information and thought.” 32

WILL STORM WATER SPOIL L. CHIPICAN?

Sarnia Observer Nov 6 1959 P 13

City council will have to decide between the practical and the esthetic when it attempts to determine its final policy on the discharge of storm waters in the city’s north end.

At a meeting Thursday James McLaren consulting engineer on local sewage and drainage plans, explained how a proposal to dump storm water in Lake Chipican would work.

ODORS FEARED

Residents of Lake Chipican Drive, have appealed to have the lake retained in its natural state. Their request was also made in fear of pollution and offensive odors that might develop.

Mr. McLaren said use of the lake as a receiving pond would turn it from a natural lake into an artificial one.

The lake was four feet higher than Lake Huron and only 200 feet away. Its average depth, he said, was four feet. Its bottom was filled with five or six feet of organic matter that could easily be pierced by a rod.

Reeds and natural flora would disappear, and the lake would become an artificial one through dredging and stone rip rap along its edges.

OTHER SEWERS FIRST

Water would flow into the lake by gravity. It would be pumped into Lake Huron through a smaller discharge pipe of about 18 inches in diameter.

He said he would not recommend storm drains be constructed until sanitary sewers were in use. All wastes would be carried away by sanitary sewers leaving only ground run off for storm sewers.

“I don’t intend to say that there would not be suspended matter. But with good engineering, screens would be effective and not very much would be left to be noticeable.”

“If you want to keep it for some recreation then you will have to take storm waters elsewhere. It will be more expensive but it has to go somewhere.”

THREAT OF BODIES

In answer to a question, Mr. McLaren felt winter skating would be affected by the rising and lowering of the lake because some run off still existed during winter time. (Continued on page 19)

33 Lake Chipican Residents’ Brief to Council

On behalf of myself and a number of other interested citizens, I have put down here a few notes and comments which we feel are worthy of study and consideration. I have made several copies, and would be glad to furnish anyone interested, including the press, with a copy.

The residential area adjacent to Lake Chipican has been classified as a grade A residential district. It is also a well-known fact that Canatara Park is one of the best in the Province and is used year round by thousands of people. The proposal to dump large quantities of storm waters with its accompanying contamination into Lake Chipican is eminently unfair to property owners in particular, and to all citizens who use and enjoy the park.

In a body of water where the level rises and recedes a great deal, there is a definite problem of odour from the debris and oil etc. that clings to the rushes and reeds when the water recedes. During peak periods there would be considerable change in the water levels, flooding the banks of the existing Lake basin, which is covered by reeds, small bushes and other vegetation.

In our opinion, the resulting large fluctuation in water levels would leave a great deal of dead vegetation, debris, oil etc., causing an unsightly appearance and an offensive odour.

A good example of what can happen already exists. The present 18” drain, put in less than a year ago, flows into a small pond adjacent to and connected with Lake Chipican and drains the partially completed Highbury Park Subdivision. This pond was made by the Parks Board 4 years ago and has been quite clear until this summer, at which time the drain went

into operation. During this summer, the pond became almost completely covered with green slime and gave off a definite offensive odour.

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Interested citizens have taken samples of Lake Chipican waters and the pond and had them checked at a Government Laboratory. This was done to ascertain the present condition of these waters and to be in a position to make comparisons when further samples are taken. A sample was taken from the west side of Lake Chipican, farthest removed from the existing drain. This sample gave a Coliform bacterial count of 100. The same day, a sample was taken from the small pond into which the existing 18” drain tile flows from the partially completed Highbury Park Subdivision. This sample showed a Coliform bacterial count of 100,000. This is a startling comparison to the 100 count of Lake Chipican.

A number of people also expressed fears about the hazards to safe skating. They felt that fluctuating water levels and oil contamination would make unsafe ice. Thousands of people enjoy skating on Lake Chipican every winter.

We feel strongly that the Parks Board should control the affairs of the Parks. In this case they are against this project, but according to the best information we can get, have their hands tied by Council and a very determined city engineer.

In conclusion – it comes to mind that the Park was made possible by the generosity of Mrs. Hanna, who expressed her wishes that it remain a pleasure park – unspoiled and uncontaminated.

Thank you Gentlemen

1308 Lake Chipican Drive

Sarnia, Ontario

November 16, 1959

Mr. Eric B Steward, Chairman

Parks & Recreation Commission, 720 Grove Street, SARNIA, Ontario

Dear Mr. Steward:

Attached please find copies of two letters about the proposed storm sewer water outlet into Lake Chipican. These letters are sent to you on behalf of a group of citizens who are interested in the complications of this proposal and who have spent considerable time and effort finding out the enclosed facts.

Letter No. 1 was presented in person to City Council on the night of Mr. McClaren, the Consulting Engineer, presented his proposals.

Letter No. 2 was recently sent to the Sarnia Observer.

We believe this information will assist the Parks Board while discussing the Lake Chipican proposal during the meeting on Wednesday Night.

Yours truly,

Edna M Spears

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Nov

18, 1959

CHIPICAN SEWER PLAN

The Editor,

The Sarnia Observer, Sir:

One of the problems the City has at present is the location of the outlet for the proposed north end storm water sewer. Several locations have been suggested and one of these is Lake Chipican. This proposal has received a fair amount of publicity, but as most of the publicity has been in general terms, few of the public realize the scope of the job or its complications. With this in mind, I would to discuss some of the details of the proposal which I believe should be of interest to the public.

First of all, the proposal calls for a complete revamp of the Lake Chipican area to make it a part of the sewer system. As the lake would have to be converted into a receiving basin and an allowance made for a frequent two foot rise and fall in the water level, the lake would have to be dredged out, a retaining wall built around it, a pumphouse built; the existing road

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raised and other extensive alterations made. These alterations would develop into a large and expensive construction job, so let no one think this proposal is a cheap, easy way out.

Secondly, many people believe the sewer system would end at Lake Chipican. This is far from the truth. As huge quantities of sewer waters would be dumped into Lake Chipican, it would be necessary to carry them through the small lake and discharge them into Lake Huron. Therefore, the proposal calls for a pump-house at the north end of Lake Chipican to pump the sewer waters through a pipe, which would terminate a short distance off shore at Canatara Beach. In addition, an overflow would be provided as a safety measure during severe peak periods, or pump breakdowns. The proposal suggests this overflow be a ditch from Lake Chipican to Lake Huron. It can readily be seen that practically all of the sewer waters which entered the system from throughout Sarnia’s north end would eventually be discharged at Canatara Beach.

Very likely these waters would enter the system carrying with them types of contamination, and several types would continue through to Lake Huron. One of these would be oils, which could be picked up from service station areas, freshly oiled roads, oil spills, and other sources.

When these oils were discharged from the system at Canatara Beach they would flow through the swimming area or be washed up on shore. This is a startling fact, but what is more startling is the knowledge that the situation could get worse each year, as the city grew and the volume through the sewer increased.

It is time the people of Sarnia who own and use Canatara take an interest in the possible future and let their opinions be known. I doubt if they would be in favor of a proposal which would seriously threaten to spoil their skating in the winter and swimming in the summer.

Yours truly,

WILLIAM FRASER, 1340 Lake Chipican Drive November 16, 1959

FOR STORM DRAINAGE

Lake Chipican Seen Best Bet

Sarnia Observer Feb 16, 1960

Lake Chipican remains the logical outlet for the city’s north end storm water draining system, a comprehensive report compiled for the city by James F. McLaren Associates, Toronto, states.

The report, made available to City Council Monday night, claims that if the only other reasonable alternative is considered – the draining of the water into Sarnia Harbor – the city will suffer an additional expenditure of approximately $228,000.

The nine page survey of Sarnia’s sewer system problem noted, however that in the event that Lake Chipican becomes the outlet for the northern sewer system, a beautification program could “create an atmosphere relating to its aesthetic qualities surrounding the lake.”

STUDY PENDING

The report was received in the city only late on Monday, and council felt some time should be given to study of the report before any action was discussed. Council agreed to hold a special meeting sometime before the next regular council meeting to discuss the report.

Suggestion that the storm waters be drained into the Sarnia harbor was made a year ago following complaints that if Lake Chipican became the outlet, its natural beauty could not be maintained, or improved. Lake Chipican is situated at the eastern entrance to Canatara Park.

The engineers report stated that while provision could be made for the installation of screens to filter the coarse solids from the water, no assurances could be given that highly polluted water would not enter the lake.

ONE OR THE OTHER

Such substances as gasoline and oil might form a part of the regular content of the sewer water due to the hosing down of streets where there has been gas or oil spillage. Salt, from the city’s winter snow clearance projects, would also be part of the water, the report states.

Such instances, the report said would not affect the outward appearance of the lake, or create any offensive situation. In any case, the report suggest, counter-action could be taken by the city to develop the lake as one of features of beauty of the general Canatara area.

The area to be drained by either of the alternative plans, lies north of Highway 402, between Lake Huron and Errol Road.

The city has allowed for the financing of the installation of storm and sanitary sewers in the area in its general five year plan. Council will now have to decide whether to drain storm waters into Lake Chipican, at the least cost possible, or into the harbor.

REPORT ON STORM DRAINAGE FOR A PORTION OF THE AREA NORTH OF THE DUAL HIGHWAY FOR THE CITY OF SARNIA

SCHEME NO. 1

James F MacLaren Associates Engineers Toronto

Scale as shown February 1960

DOWN THE DRAIN?

AT $900 A PAGE REPORT TERMED “WASTE OF MONEY”

Sarnia Observer - Feb. 18, 1960 P17

‘Frightfully incomplete’, said Ald. Harry Turnbull; ‘Disappointing’, said Ald. W. S. Pearson:

‘A joke,’ added Ald. Henry Ross:

‘Almost worthless’, declared Ald. Ruth Donohue; ‘Inadequate’, said Ald. J. G. Church.

The James F. McLaren Associates report, commissioned by the city as an aid in selecting the proper answer to the storm water drainage problem in the north end, was attacked from all sides at council’s special meeting Wednesday.

As a result, council decided to call Mr. McLaren, head of the Toronto consulting firm, to appear before council within the next two weeks, if possible.

Ald. Turnbull criticized the nine page report for its lack of detail.

The report dealt with only two possible routes for the main storm trunk sewer: Lake Chipican as an outlet or Sarnia Harbor.

RIGHT TO KNOW

No mention, other than a sentence stating that “all other possibilities were discarded as impractical.” was made of such proposed routes as Michigan road or Cathcart boulevard, Ald. Turnbull charged.

“If all other methods of directing the storm sewers were nonsense, I still think council has a right to know what was wrong with them. That was what I thought this report was for,” Ald. Turnbull declared.

“There are still a lot of unanswered questions in my mind,” he said.

Ald. Donohue assailed the report as “completely wanting in detail and very disappointing.”

NOTHING DEFINITE

“There is nothing here,” she claimed, “that we didn’t know before. There is nothing that has helped me decide on which sewer route to support. It is almost worthless from my point of view.”

“There are few definite statements in the report,” she charged.” “I feel the report has been a waste of money.”

Ald. Donohue made a motion that the problem he put in the hands of another consultant firm (40)“one that will give us something.”

The motion was not passed but other aldermen continued the flaying.

Ald. Church said he wanted to see comparisons of actual costs of proposed Lake Chipican outlet and the Sarnia Harbor outlet, along with other suggested routes.

He claimed that unless there were some unexplained engineering or cost problems involved, he supported Ald. Turnbull’s Cathcart boulevard route.

Council couldn’t possibly decide on a route, he said, until the details of the costs were known.

POLLUTION ASPECT

Ald. Pearson and Ald. Ross, however, attacked the report on other grounds.

Both agreed the consultant firm must have examined all the possible routes and decided that only the harbor and Lake Chipican outlets were sound.

Both men suggested the worse omission was the absence of facts on the possible pollution and contamination of Lake Chipican if it became the drains’ outlet.

The report stated that “a possibility will always exist that “certain quantities” of foreign matter would enter the lake.

EXPENSIVE READING

Ald. Ross claimed that if contamination were involved, he would recommend that adoption of the harbor outlet, even though it would cost about $228,000 more.

Ald. Pearson agreed, claiming that he had confidence in the report, but said he felt disappointed because it was lacking in detail.

“This is expensive reading,” Ald. Church observed. “It cost us $900 a page.”

Council agreed that rather than contract a new report, which was felt might end up the same way, Mr. McLaren would be called before council, and “asked for all the detail that should have been in the report”, according to Ald. Pearson.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Feb. 27, 1960 p 7

STORM SEWER OUTLET

The Editor

The Sarnia Observer

Sir:

In connection with the current discussion on proposed outlets for the north end sewers, there are several points which I feel should be brought to the attention of the public. Much of the publicity about the proposed Lake Chipican outlet has usually contained the phrase “Lake Chipican residents protest.” However, many of the general public now realize that this proposal would affect all the people of Sarnia. Typical of this reaction were the opinions of

the many people from various sections of the city who attended last Wednesday’s special council meeting on the subject. The following are some of the points which should concern all Sarnians.

1. As stated in the McLaren report, if the Lake Chipican outlet is used, it will be mandatory that the complete system of sanitary sewers be installed in the area north of Errol road before any storm sewers can be used. This will mean that residents of Lakeshore Heights, Woodland Park, and many other subdivisions in the north end will have to wait another five to ten years before receiving use of storm sewers. However, if an outlet other than Lake Chipican is used, the storm sewers can be used as soon as installed.

2. If the Lake Chipican outlet is used, the possibility will always exist, that if sufficient pollution occurs, the city will be forced to remove this outlet and install it elsewhere. The Taxpayers will then have to pay for two outlets instead of one.

3. An outlet in Lake Chipican would constantly cause areas of open water and thin ice during the winter, thereby ending safe skating. In addition, the McLaren report points out that a stone wall would be built all around the Lake’s edge, with the lake being deepened at this wall to a depth of about three feet. Lake Chipican would then become a very dangerous area in a Park where many families come with small children for recreation the year round.

4. Practically all the sewer waters and their pollution emptying into Lake Chipican would be pumped or run into Lake Huron at Canatara Beach. This would threaten to pollute one of the finest beaches in Ontario, used by thousands of local citizens. For some months Sarnia has led a continual battle to prevent the threat of pollution in Lake Huron by the oil drillers. By installing a system that could add pollution to Lake Huron, we would most certainly weaken our case against the oil drilling Companies.

WILLIAM FRASER

SCHEME

LAKE CHIPICAN OUT – SARNIA HARBOR IN Sarnia

Observer – March 3, 1960 P17

There will be no sewers to drain storm waters from the north end into Lake Chipican but instead the drain will run into Sarnia Harbor.

The decision was reached at a special City Council meeting Wednesday after a day of study of the two proposals. The Lake Chipican scheme was the cheaper of the two according to James F McLaren, consulting engineer of Toronto, whose company made a first – hand study of the situation.

Council voted to go ahead as soon as possible this year to install the storm sewers to Sarnia Harbor. Work will proceed as far as money in the 1960 capital budget will allow.

43

NO PUMPS NEEDED

Mr. McLaren was invited to meet with council following severe criticism of the McLaren report which commissioned the firm to do. Mr. McLaren returned to Toronto Wednesday before the council meeting.

The entire project will cost in the neighborhood of $1,243,000.

This year council hopes that a main sewer outlet will be installed, running from the harbor to Rosedale Avenue. In time, the project will drain the entire area north of the Dual Highway and south of Lake Shore Road.

Advantage of either the harbor or the Lake Chipican scheme is that they would be entirely gravity run and would not need pumps. Other routes had been suggested by council but in each case they were thought inferior to Sarnia Harbor.

If the drain was run into Lake Chipican, Ald. Harry Turnbull stated provision would still have to be made for some of the north – end areas that couldn’t be serviced by it.

Said Mayor Iven Walker to the two dozen people who had met in the council chambers to hear the decision.

“We feel this will answer our problems, as well as being fair to everyone concerned”.

Mr. Walker also said that there is a good possibility that the cost of the harbor route may not be as much as anticipated.

Council Passes Harbour Scheme

Protest from Area Citizens Causes Revision of Program.

Windsor Star – March 3, 1960

SARNIA- A plan to construct a store sewage system into Lake Chipican as part of Sarnia’s five-year sewer program for an area north of Highway 402 has been abandoned. The decision was made Wednesday by City council after conferring with the city’s consulting engineer, James F. MacLaren of MacLaren Associates, Toronto.

Council rejected the proposed plan to construct the storm sewer and outlet into Lake Chipican after hearing a detailed engineering report compiled by the Toronto firm.

In abandoning the Lake Chipican sewer, council voted in favour of constructing this drain into the sewer system for storm water which will lead into the Sarnia harbour.

Wednesday’s decision climaxed more than two months of engineering surveys. The surveys dealing with costs and other alternate sewer outlets to serve the north end were brought about as the result of protest by citizens in the Lake Chipican area.

The cost of alternating the storm sewer into the harbour system is estimated at $1,243,000 compared with the original estimate of $982,000 to lead the storm sewer into the lake.

Council members instructed the engineering department to work in co-operation with the MacLaren firm to continue studies on the five-year sewer program for the north end, as a result of the latest developments.

It was pointed out that the size of the storm sewer leading into the harbour will have to be increased with the addition of the drain which was originally proposed for Lake Chipican

The resolution calling for the new storm sewer project said the work on the storm sewer will start at the harbour this year and proceed as far as possible with the amount of capital funds available.

Council expects the harbour drain to be completed as far as Rosedale Ave this year, but it has pointed out it would be three or more years before the entire storm sewer system in the north end is completed.

With the entire north end to be drained into the harbour the area being served will be bordered by Highway 402, Lake Huron and the Murphy Road.

Plans for the construction of the storm sewer leading into the harbour will start immediately and a final and accurate estimate on costs is expected shortly. This prospect does not include sanitary sewers.

44

Lake Chipican Map 1960

This map shows the following changes around the lake between 1953 and 1960.

1) The southern portion of the shallow 1953 channel in the northeastern section of the marsh is filled with cattails and bullrushes.

2) The ditch and catch basin in the southern section if the marsh is also filled with cattails and bullrushes.

3) The pond dredged in 1956 is at the southeast corner of the lake, and the marsh between this pond and the park road, is filled with the dredged material, forming a grass field.

4) The tamarack trees in the southeast shore are no longer there since they were killed when the pond was dug.

5) A short ditch links the pond with Lake Chipican

6) A westward flowing ditch dig in 1959 is at the southwest corner of the lake, as is the small wooden dam across this ditch.

7) The area covered with shrubs has expanded adjacent to the pond and ditches due to the improved drainage caused by these alterations.

Lake Chipican: 1960

1) This February 1961 photo was taken standing on the wooden dam on the southwest corner of the lake, looking northeast.

2) This July 1961 photo was taken from the ridge on the east side of the lake, looking west.

3) This 1960 postcard shows the sun setting over the northern portion of the lake. Visible in the foreground is one of the lily-pad colonies that then existed around the lake. The large tree is a poplar that was located just west of the road into the beach parking lot.

4) This April 1961 photo was taken on the ridge on the east side of the lake looking northwest. Like all the photos taken prior to 1980, it shows how few trees were on the east side of the lake before the pioneer woodland grew up on the reclaimed land after the channel was dredged. (see below)

5) This aerial photo taken in June 1963 looks west over Lake Chipican and Canatara Park. Notice that the water level in Lake Chipican is already visibly lower, with the eastern third consisting of exposed mud flats – at the bottom of the photo.

6) This November 1963 photo looks east across the mud flats at the southern portion of the exposed lake bottom. On the left is the south end of the lake that had shrunken to the size shown on maps LC1 below.

7) This view looks north across the northeast section of the marsh in November 1965. The large tree at the north end of the lake on the extreme left is the same poplar shown on photo 3. The white building on the dunes at the left is the McDougall cottage. It was destroyed in a fire in May 1966.

54

Lake Chipican Dredging Scheme, 1963

In the summer of 1963, a combination of record low water levels in Lake Huron and very hot dry weather led to a rapid drop in the level of Lake Chipican. By November the lake had shrunk to about one fifth of its normal size, with the water being confined to the long narrow trough that runs down the western section of the lake. (see Map LC1 below)

Although this situation was known to have occurred periodically in the past, the unsightly nature of the exposed mud flats during this low water stage, led parks officials to devise a dredging plan for deepening the entire lake. (See Map LC2 below) The scheme involved using the material pumped from the lake bottom to fill in the wetland surrounding the lake. Two artificial islands, consisting of dredged material would be created on the east side for a “bird sanctuary”.

Although residents along Lake Chipican Drive wanted the lake to remain in its natural state, they reluctantly agreed to the plan after presenting their recommendations to the (55)December meeting of the Parks Board.

Fortunately, this $25,000 redevelopment scheme was never implemented since it would have destroyed all the remnant wetland plant communities around Lake Chipican and transformed this section of the park into a totally human-made landscape. The main reasons it never materialized appear to be:

1) It would be more expensive than estimated and the money was not available.

2) The plan to pump sediment from the lake bottom was judged to be impractical.

As detailed below in the 1969-1975 period, a much less expensive and intrusive dredging scheme was implemented which preserved most of the natural landscape and plant communities around the lake.

(56)The following items concerning the 1963 low water situation and dredging scheme at Lake Chipican are included below.

1) Observer photo in August 1963 showing the “shrivelling” of Lake Chipican

2) Letter to the editor

3) Observer and Windsor Star articles revealing that the dredging of Lake Chipican was discussed at the October 16th Parks Board meeting.

4) Photo showing Lake Chipican in November 1963

5) MAP LC, a city map dated November 14, 1963

6) MAP LC2 a city map dated November 14, 1963

7) London Free Press article stating that the Parks Board had approved the dredging scheme at its November 25th meeting.

8) London Free Press article indicating that the Parks Board would consider the views of the residents regarding the scheme.

9) Brief presented by residents at December 18th Parks Board meeting.

10) Observer and Windsor Star article regarding the December Parks Board meeting.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Refers to Tarzanland Nature Trail - 1963

LAKE WOES

The Editor, The Sarnia Observer.

“Where oh where has our little lake gone?”

“Where oh where can it be?”

What is happening to one of the most beautiful streets in the City of Sarnia, Lake Chipican Drive? As I come off Christina street through the pillared entrance, past the eyecatching flower beds, winding on past Lake Chipican and on to Canatara Park, it is one of the most scenic drives in Sarnia and can compare favourably to many in much prettier cities than ours.

LITTLE

What a lovely sight to our citizens and our visitors as they drive along this street with the fine homes with fully treed lots on one side and on the other side, “Little Lake” surrounded by natural bush, lawn-like green grass, reeds etc. (yes! even reeds are pretty when tall and green and also they are a natural haven for many birds) and in the background across “Little Lake”, the stately trees, the weeping willows, the low bushes and shrubs of Canatara Park and further along Chipican Drive, the beauty of the park itself.

In the winter, when one drives along the winding street, the sight is one of rare beauty, suggesting a lovely old-fashioned Christmas card – the trees and the shrubs around “Little Lake” covered with snow or ice, the lake partly snow-covered and partly swept and on the ice, the children and adults enjoy the only natural skating ring in the city. Now this natural beauty spot, our “Little Lake” is being allowed to dry up.

I am incapable of estimating the cost of filling “Little Lake” with water pumped from Lake Huron but, I do not believe the cost would be astronomical, with so much water close at hand. I do know that if the City Fathers or those in charge of town planning had come from some of the western prairie cities where artificial lakes are made right from scratch, so to speak, at a great cost; where the only trees for miles around are those planted by man, years earlier (and all this to beautify their city), they would be most anxious to see something done to our own “Little Lake” and it’s surroundings. We spend countless dollars of taxpayers’ money on erecting a fabulous city hall, to build an attractive band shell in our park, to plant trees on streets and boulevards, to improve and beautify our parks and playgrounds, even building little artificial ponds here and there, but, how ironic that the same time we allow one of our natural beauty spots, Lake Chipican, to fall by the wayside.

In the past three or four years we have allowed another of our City’s natural beauty assets, “Nature Trail” to deteriorate to point of being an extension to the garbage dump. Can you tell us of another city that has a garbage dump in its midst and not only that but, in full view and along the border of our Nature Trail, our picturesque “Little Lake”, our new animal farm and our beautiful Canatara Park, Sarnia’s pride and most often visited spot. I suggest that some money spend on city projects may much better be spent in restoring our Lake Chipican to its natural beauteous state and to purchase more suitably located land for a garbage dump.

Please do something to “Little Lake” and its surroundings before it is too late and before the cost would be so exorbitant as to break the taxpayers back completely.

An Interested Taxpayer.

Operation “Chipican” Considered

Drastic cleanup of Lake Chipican followed by a remodelling and face-lifting job is now under consideration by the parks board.

Small Canatara Park lake has recently become overgrown with reeds and other swamp vegetation, bringing complaints from adjacent residents that it now looks like a bog.

Parks Superintendent, William Palmer, has been instructed to draw up a re-development plan for the area for presentation to the next board meeting.

ISLAND SCHEME

“Basically, we want to clean up the lake and get the water back in there” Mr. Palmer said this morning.

“After dredging the lake out and straightening the sides, we will grass the perimeter and maintain it as a natural park area” he said.

Another possibility, Mr. Palmer said was the establishment of one or two islands in the middle of the lake, complete with trees and shrubbery, as bird sanctuaries.

Parks superintendent felt that the project could be undertaken at a reasonable cost with a possible start being made this winter if the board decided to proceed.

New Scenic Area?

Parks Board to Study Lake Chipican Ideas

Windsor Star – October 17, 1963 P7

SARNIA - A plan for Lake Chipican will be presented at the next meeting of the Sarnia Board of Parks and Recreation for study and possible action toward developing the lake into a scenic area of Canatara Park.

This was decided Wednesday night after comment on the “eyesore” condition of the lake, which is grown up with reeds and other swamp area vegetation and is presently little more than a frog pond.

The board has about $36,000 which it can put into park development, and the members felt this could be used as a start for developing the lake.

The plan will be presented to the next meeting for a decision, as to whether or not, the project will be undertaken.

Such a project could be taken over a period of years which would not call for too great an expenditure at one time.

The board also referred to the next meeting the proposed capital budget covering 1964-68 until its current budget position can be assessed for 1964, so that any revisions necessary can be properly made.

The budget is part of a five-year capital budget plan which is submitted to city council by all departments and boards in a revised state each year. This is the second year the budget has been submitted.

MAP LC1 (NOTE: north is at the bottom)

View from north-end of Lake Chipican, November 9, 1963

Chipican Lake Plan Endorsed

November 26, 1963

Re-development plan for the now almost waterless Lake Chipican, was enthusiastically supported by the city parks board Monday night, with the hope that work could start next spring. Plan, prepared by Parks Superintendent William Palmer, calls for dredging out the existing lake bottom, extensive landscaping, and the establishment of two artificial islands.

Mr. Palmer estimated the scheme would provide an additional three or four acres of picnic area around the lake, which would be assured of permanent water if dredging was made below the level of neighbouring Lake Huron.

Board will now communicate with the residents in the Chipican area, with an invitation to attend their next meeting and view the plan.

Meanwhile the city’s engineering department will prepare cost estimates for the proposal, and Mr. Palmer was instructed to take the plan to provincial authorities for information and professional advice, through Ralph Knox, MPP, Lambton West.

Board Seeks Suggestions, Advice for Beautifying Lake Chipican

London Free Press - December 13, 1963

Free Press Sarnia Bureau

SARNIA – A start may be made later this winter on a proposed plan for beautification of Lake Chipican in Canatara Park, William Palmer, Sarnia parks superintendent said yesterday.

At a meeting last month, Sarnia board of parks and recreation agreed to set aside $25,000 in its 1964 capital budget for the project. Mr. Palmer indicated that with board approval, work could be started within the next few weeks by using monies in a board reserve account.

Meanwhile, Mr. Palmer has forwarded a letter to the department of lands and forest, Toronto, seeking information and advice on the plan.. One of the main concerns is whether it will be feasible to dredge the lake.

The lake, due to drought conditions in late summer has evaporated to one quarter its original size and is now surrounded by a margin of thick mud, which the board of parks and recreation feels poses a problem for the safety of area children.

Besides dredging, it is proposed that two islands be created off the lake’s east shore. Plans also call for planting grass and trees.

Mr. Palmer said residents on Lake Chipican Drive have been invited to next Wednesday’s board meeting to voice opinions on the plan.

Sarnia, Ontario, December 18, 1963

Board of Parks and Recreation,

City Hall, Sarnia, Ontario

On behalf of the residents of the Lake Chipican area, and as their spokesman, I wish to thank you for inviting this delegation to your meeting.

A meeting of the property owners in the area adjoining Lake Chipican was held on December 11th which was attended between 80-90% of property owners. The proposal and drawings were described by Mr. Palmer, Secretary of the Parks Board. This was much appreciated by those present. A general discussion of the proposal was then held by the property owners. It was the general consensus of opinion that we would like to see Lake Chipican as it was several years ago with the rustic beauty and wildlife which were present at the time. However as we are aware that considerable work would have to be done to return it to this state, we realize it would not be feasible. Therefore, we are generally in agreement with the proposed plan and are willing to go along with it.

We do have several recommendations which we feel are important enough to be incorporated into this plan. We feel these will concern not only ourselves, but the general public.

66

1. PARKING

We do not approve of the designated parking areas shown along Lake Chipican Drive. As we have a front seat view of the traffic problems along the road with all the accompanying hazards, we are in a position to recommend the following proposal:

That the existing boulevard between the road and the tree line be left the way it is at present. Parking areas, with appropriate signs could be constructed at the south end of the lake adjacent to the dump road, and also at the west side of the lake adjacent to the existing turnaround. This would have the following advantages:

a) It would leave the main traffic artery of the park from the park entrance around to the north end of the lake with a clear view and free of parked cars and would prevent the flow of traffic being restricted.

b) As there are large numbers of children in form of girl guides, scouts, cubs, etc. who use this route to the park, the existing boulevard would enable them to keep clear of the traffic, which often has been observed at excessive speeds.

c) Cars parked in designated area beside the road would greatly increase the risk of accident to the children playing in the area or enroute to and from the park who may suddenly dart out between parked cars.

2. PICNICING

We strongly oppose picnicking of any kind on the east side of Lake Chipican. We urge the Parks Board to enact a by-law to prohibit tables, benches, or any other equipment which might encourage picnics of any kind.

3. DEVELOPMENT

That the work, if it is necessary to be done in stages, be finished as quickly as possible, and with a minimum of inconvenience to the public using the park. The next stage should not be undertaken until lawns and other landscaping have been established. Not, as for example, in the case of the small slough at the south east end where the mounds of silt were piled high and left exposed for several years. It should be pointed out that the nature of the soil when dry becomes very dusty and is easily blown by the wind.

4. COMMERCIALIZATION

We are against commercialization of any kind in the park, and particularly of boating on Lake Chipican.

5. WILDLIFE

That the area, particularly the islands be cultivated as a wildlife sanctuary. That every effort be made to protect the wild (68) ducks, geese, swans and other wildfowl which use the lake during migratory travels.

We feel that with the plan the Parks Board have proposed, along with our recommendations, the ensuing result should be a worthy asset to the Park and the City.

The Residents of Lake Chipican Drive

Chipican Park Lake Discussed

Area Residents Make Suggestions to Sarnia Board Windsor Star - December 19, 1963

SARNIA – Proposed transformation of unsightly Lake Chipican into a tended park area was not exactly accepted with enthusiasm Wednesday night by a delegation of Chipican Dr. residents.

When the project was first introduced last month, the Sarnia Parks Board regarded it as one of the finest and most worthwhile projects to introduced in Sarnia.

The small lake, which as now evaporated to one third of its original size, is bordered by thick and dangerous mud and poses a problem for adventurous children.

Plans call for dredging the lake approximately two feet and enlarging it to its original size. Fill from the dredging will be used to create two small islands along the east shore.

At Wednesday’s board meeting a group of 10 homeowners met with board members to discuss the proposal.

Although Lake Chipican is located in Canatara Park, a number of homes are situated directly across from the lake less than 100 feet away.

William Fraser, delegation spokesman, said homeowners met earlier and it was the consensus of opinion they would like to see the lake as it was several years ago with the rustic beauty and wildlife which were present at the time.

“However, as we are aware that considerable work would have to be done to return it to this state, we realize it would not be feasible. Therefore, we are generally in agreement with the proposed plan and are willing to go along with it,” Mr. Fraser stated.

Mr. Fraser continued that before the residents’ backing was given they wanted assurance their recommendations and changes would be accepted.

These included parking areas in spots other than in front of their homes and that no public picnicking be allowed on the east side of Lake Chipican.

“We also request that the work, if it is necessary to be done in stages, be finished as quickly as possible and with a minimum inconvenience to the public using the park,” Mr. Fraser said.

Board members did not agree with the resident’s request that no boating of any kind be permitted.

Another recommendation asked that the islands be cultivated as a wildlife sanctuary and that every effort be made to protect the wild ducks, geese, swans and other wildfowl which use the lake during migratory travels.

Mr. Fraser said he and other residents were reluctant to see the lake’s rustic view taken away.

“We would, however, request that during the transformation project things be done in a such a way as to retain as much as possible of the lake’s original natural look.”

Parks Board Gives Nod to Lake Project

December 19, 1963

A $25,000 redevelopment plan for Lake Chipican in Canatara Park was approved in principal by the Sarnia board of parks and recreation Wednesday night.

Board authorized Parks Superintendent William Palmer to go ahead with detailed plans and obtain firm estimates of costs on the proposed plan., which includes dredging, landscaping and the construction of two artificial islands on the east side of the small lake.

Severe drought conditions of last summer dried up Lake Chipican, leaving behind an unsightly and dangerous area of thick mud and silt.

NO BOATING

A delegation of Lake Chipican Drive residents who attended Wednesday’s meeting were in the general agreement with the proposed re-development plan but left a number or recommendations with the board. These included:

Prohibition of boulevard parking on the east side of the lake, in favor of the south and west sides:

Enactment of a bylaw to prohibit picnic tables, benches or other equipment on the east side of the lake:

That the stages of work be completed as quickly as possible, with a minimum of inconvenience to the public, giving priority to landscaping and the establishment of lawns: and That the area, particularly the islands, be cultivated as a wildlife sanctuary, to offer protection to wild ducks, geese, swans and other wild fowl which use the lake during migratory travel.

Delegation also registered their disapproval of “commercialization of any kind” in the park, particularly of boating on Lake Chipican.

70

Chipican Hassle

Windsor Star - December 21, 1963

Throughout each year, one of the many complaints made by local citizens about their city administration, is the lack of park development and beautification being done by the Sarnia Board of Parks and Recreation. Yet, when this body does decide to make a move, it is opposed.

This was evidenced this week when a delegation of 10 homeowners from the Lake Chipican area in Canatara Park met with the board to discuss plans for a proposed development of the unkempt lake into a tended park area and stated the homeowners would rather see its “rustic beauty and wildlife” state of several years restored. Since this was not feasible, they were willing to go along with the board, providing their recommendations would be accepted.

The group’s spokesman said they were “reluctant to see the lake’s rustic view taken away.”

It is rustic all right. In fact the lake is so rustic that when one passes the two large pillars marking the gateway to the park, he wonders upon seeing the “beautiful” lake just what kind of picnic and recreation grounds he is entering.

He sees a lake surrounded by weeds and unsightly growth on at least two sides, while the side nearest to him is filled with reeds which only add to the charm of the setting a relatively short period during the year.

The lake has evaporated to one third its original size and is bordered by thick and dangerous mud which could be disastrous to a wandering child.

The development plans call for dredging the lake to its original size and using the fill to create two small islands along the east shore, and the islands, along with the lakeshore, would be transplanted into sheltered area for wildlife, and grass and trees would be planted.

We must side with the homeowners, however, in this opposition to picnic areas on the east side of the lake. The proposed plan would beautify the area and certainly anyone would be proud and please to have such a picturesque view from their front window. But picnic tables, while they would be popular with picnickers because of the setting, would defeat, as far as the thousands of others who drive through the park for other reasons are concerned, the entire purpose of the project.

71

Lake Chipican Dredging; 1969-70

- During the 1964-68 period no major work was done around Lake Chipican since most Sarnia park funds during this time were used for the creation and development of Centennial Park. In the late 1960’s, excess earth from city excavations was dumped into the marsh on the north side of the road into the Children’s Farm (see 1970 map below). In 1969-70 a channel was dredged through the marsh bordering the south end of the lake (purple on 1970 map). Three small islands were created as a result of their dredging and the marsh south of this new channel was covered with 3-5 feet of dredged material. This reclaimed land was graded and seeded in 1971 as the following records of the Parks board minutes indicate:

- June 16, 1971 –“Fill dredged from Lake Chipican has been levelled and graded opening the view from the south end of the lake”

- July 21, 1971 – “Grading at the south end of Lake Chipican is completed and will be seeded soon.”

- (72) August 18, 1971 – “Initial preparation of the area south of Lake Chipican is underway prior to fall seeding.”

- September 15, 1971 – “Grass seed has been sown around the southern end of Lake Chipican.”

73 Picture – Dredging the channel at the south end of Lake Chipican –Sept 1969 74

Work Begins

for Sanctuary At

Canatara Sarnia Observer – October 15, 1970 P25

A man-made island in Canatara Park’s Lake Chipican, intended to become a wildlife sanctuary, should be completed in three to four years, Robert Harrison, Parks and Recreation Commissioner, reports.

Dredging operations are presently being conducted to clear up the edge of the lake, and simultaneously create the island.

EXCESS SOIL

Mr. Harrison said the excess soil from the dredging operations will be used to form the island.

Project originated in the master plan for Canatara Park released last year, said Mr. Harrison.

The city so far has expended $4,000 on the project, Mr. Harrison said a further $2,000 will be set aside for each of the next four years until the island is created.

The island will then be planted with berry-producing plants, and trees with needles and hawthorns,” he said. “These are plans which would encourage animals to live there.”

A NAME?

The type of wildlife which Mr. Harrison said would probably be attracted to the island are ducks, geese, and other varieties of fowl.

“We have had flocks of geese come here,” he said, “but the area has been too readily accessible to the public and they wouldn’t stay. This island will be closed to the public.”

He estimated that the island would stretch the entire length of the lake on its south side, and three-quarters of its length on the east side.

Will the man-made island be given a name? “I haven’t really give it a thought,” said Mr. Harrison.

–

Photo

“Clam bucket crane dredging channel at southwest corner of Lake Chipican, Oct 1970.”

Gazette, November 4th, 1970 P 6.

The dredging of Lake Chipican is almost completed and with the grading and seeding of the surplus soil early in the spring, it will complete the south-end renovations to the Little Lake. The dredging this year was to widen the original cut made at this time last year. While completing this, three small islands were created at the south end of the Little Lake which will be completed later this fall with plant material suitable to a Bird Sanctuary. 77

“Newly

dredged Channel at South End of Lake Chipican, 1970.”

Map – Map of dredging around Lake Chipican 1970

79 Aerial Image of Lake – 1970

Take Heed of Warning

Sarnia Observer - Dec 17, 1969

“Showing view from north end of lake looking south”

A Lake of Many Uses

Sarnia Observer - February 17, 1970

All that is missing is the strains of “The Skaters Waltz” as Sarnians, young and old, whirl about on the frozen surface of Lake Chipican, The beloved “little lake” of generations of Sarnians, located in Canatara Park, was formed, according to Indian legend, in the wake of a great rush of waters from Lake Huron. Great Bear, a magician living at the Soo, caused Keewadin, the North Wind to blow up the storm as retribution for the abduction by The Keeper of the Gates – another chief and magician living at Petagwano (Point Edward) of his beautiful daughter. Translated, Lake Chipican means Lake-ofRoots where the medicine man got his herbs. Thoughts of the legend are far from the minds of the lake’s modern patrons who skate, play hockey, and sled on the several rinks supervised by the city’s board of parks and recreation.

Stark Scene of Winter’s Approach

Sarnia Observer - October 1975

The red-winged blackbirds have left their summer habitation in the reeds ringing Lake Chipican and the mud turtles their sunning-stones in the wake of approaching winter. Lowering clouds threaten snow that hasn’t yet come but can’t be far away, judging by the nip in the air. Soon the surface of the “little lake” will become the skating rink of area children and grown-ups. A stone’s throw away, beaches at Canatara Park are deserted by bathers who thronged to it during the summer and freighters are making end of the season trips with cargoes of grain from the Lakehead, iron ore from northern Michigan and finished products from Sarnia’s refineries as the navigation season draws to a closed.

“View looking south from the north end of the lake.”

Photo by John Hus

Lake Chipican Dredging: 1973-75

In Sept 1973 a 500 foot section of the channel was dredged through the marsh on the eastern side of the lake (see1973-75 map below). The dredged material was used to fill in the marsh between this new section of the channel and the park road. The reclaimed land was graded and prepared for seeding in October. The following two items from the Parks Board minutes record this work:

1) October 17, 1973, “The continuation of the channel on the east side of Lake Chipican has been completed for this year and is being prepared for seeding”

2) Oct 17, 1973: “K&E contractors paid $2040 for dredging at Lake Chipican”

At the June, 1974 Parks Board meeting it was noted that future plans at Canatara Park include: “the continuation of dredging along the east side of Lake Chipican. The dredging will create a channel to protect wildlife on an island and will build up the bank and provide a better strip between the lake and the road.” (84)

At the Sept, 1974 Board meeting it was noted that a channel was dredged between Lake Chipican and the Children’s Farm pond.

In Sept 1975 the final section of the channel on the last side of Lake Chipican was dredged (see 73-75 Map) as stated in the following item from the Parks Board minutes.

3) Sept 17,1975 “The dredging has begun at Lake Chipican and should be completed within a week. The channel will be completed to the north end of the lake.”

As shown on the 1973-75 map, when the northern section on the channel was dredged in 1975, some of the dredged material was deposited on the Lake Chipican side of the channel, forming the long ridge that compromises the northern portion of the island. In addition, a shrub thicket was preserved on the inland bank of the channel by not covering this thicket with dredged material.

Lake Chipican Dredging & Marsh Filling 1973-75

Lake Chipican Nature Preserve Established – 1974-75

In November 1973, when Dave DeShane became Parks and Recreation commissioner, he initiated a program of naturalizing the reclaimed land around the south and east sides of the lake. As DeShane stated at the Nov. 1973 Parks Board meeting: “The Lake Chipican area is a unique natural resource and one which should be preserved and developed in its natural state.” At this meeting, the board endorsed the concept of naturalizing the Lake Chipican Environment.

To implement this naturalizing program and establish the nature preserve, the following projects were undertaken in the 1974-75 period:

4) Both park staff and the boy scouts planted thousands of trees and shrubs in the reclaimed land around the south and east sides of the lake. This was done to create a woodland for wildlife habitat as well as a visual and noise (buffer) between the nature trail and adjacent roads.

5) A wood-chip nature trail was constructed around the lake.

6) (88) Boating was prohibited on the lake to ensure that the wildlife on the islands were not disturbed by humans

Items concerning the establishment of the preserve are recorded in the following pages.

7) DeShane letter to Board regarding scouts tree planting program and photo

8) DeShane letter to Board regarding boating on Lake Chipican. At the June 19,1974 board meeting the following motion was passed: “That the Board of Parks and Recreation approve the proposal to amend parks by-law #15 in order to prohibit the use of any craft on Lake Chipican which would include a motorized boat, canoe or inflatable craft.”

9) Observer article re: Chipican boating.

10)DeShane 6-page letter to the Board regarding the Lake Chipican Nature Preserve

11)July 1974 Observer articles regarding the preserve.

12)Dec, 1974 articles in LFP and Sarnia Gazette regarding beaver in preserve.

13)Apr 1975 Observer article regarding the value of preserve

14)July 1975 Gazette article regarding wildlife in preserve

15)July 1976 Gazette article regarding birdwatchers use of preserve

Cubs and Scouts planting seedling trees in reclaimed land, 1974. This view looks south down the section of the channel dredged in 1973. On the other side of the channel is the shrub thicket on the southern part of the island.

Report to the Board of Parks and Recreation

From the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation

Gentleman:

I wish to advise you that I have been talking to the Boy Scouts of Sarnia concerning their “Trees for Canada Program.”

At this time they are willing to plant 5,000 seedling trees in Canatara Park, specifically Lake Chipican area.

There will be little, if any cost, to the Municipality for this service. If there are any costs, they would be presented in our 1974 estimates for you approval.

I ask for your authorization to proceed with these plans.

David DeShane

David De Shane, Commissioner

DeS/s

January 7, 1974

91

Report to the Board of Parks and Recreation

From the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation

Madam and Gentlemen:

Re: Boating on Lake Chipican

As you are aware, we have been attempting to protect and conserve Lake Chipican and its environs as a natural preserve.

It had come to my attention that we have no control over the use of boats on Lake Chipican. In fact in our present by-law, there would be no control over even power boats using the lake.

I therefore, am suggesting to the Board to amend the Parks by-law #15 on the need to prohibit the use of any craft on Lake Chipican which would include a motorized boat, canoes, and inflatables.

This spring we have been experiencing considerable disturbance to the water fowl which have been attempting to nest on the islands which we created.

David DeShane

David De Shane, Commissioner

June 11, 1974

92

No Boating on Chipican

Sarnia Observer – June 21 1974 P17

People who have been canoeing and boating on Lake Chipican will no longer be able to do so, according to a motion passed at the meeting of the parks and recreation commission this week.

Members voted in favour of amending park Bylaw 15 to prohibit the use of craft on the small lake in Canatara Park. According to Park officials, the noise of boaters and outdoor motors are disturbing nesting birds.

The amended bylaw will prohibit the use of canoes, motorized boats and inflatable crafts.

Pages 93 - 95

Towards An Environment Understanding

In the winter of 1973-4, the Board of Parks and Recreation adopted a proposal to recognize, preserve and develop the area around Lake Chipican in Canatara Park as a Nature Preserve. Since that time the Parks and Recreation Department has taken positive steps to implement this program. In the spring, 5,000 young trees were planted in the area by the Boy Scout Association. Our own department planted approximately 50 specimen size trees in the same area.

Since then, the native grasses, plants and tree seedlings were allowed to reproduce and grow. In addition, walking paths were started and have been completed across the entire south end of Lake Chipican. We are in the process of planning signs which will identify the area and explain the program.

We are now under attack from some areas of the community because they fail to understand the program, appreciate the value of this unique community resource, and have not had any previous exposure to the concept.

Let’s get one thing straight. This is not my pipe dream!

People are not criticizing me or the Board when they react negatively to our proposals. The people of Sarnia should understand that the program for environment improvement and natural preservation is a worldwide movement. The program is supported by volumes of documentation. In this report, I will attempt to point out why the establishment and protection of a nature preserve in Canatara Park is so important to the people of Sarnia.

WHY CANATARA?

Some people have suggested that there is no need for a Nature Preserve in the city. This resource is available in the Conservation Authority areas and beyond. A Nature Preserve is a recreational facility to some people as an Arena would be to others. We know that there is a direct relationship between the use of a facility and the distance it is away from the user. In other words the further the facility is away from people the less it will be used. This is exactly why we establish numerous neighbourhood parks close to the user instead of creating a few very large parks around the city.

Lake Chipican and its environs is very unique natural resource for the City of Sarnia. There is no other public property in the city which has the potential to be developed as a nature preserve. Much of the area along the east side of Lake Chipican is already in a natural state.

WHAT GOOD IS A NATURE PRESERVE?

The National Recreation and Parks Association produced a book called “Islands of Hope” in 1971. This book is an excellent resource on the subject and one which I wish to quote widely. In it they say, “If people are to rejoin the natural world, they need experience in these four dimensions of life:

The natural dimension gives perspective –on nature’s workings, the mystery of the web of life; on man as one species among many, all living interdependently off the bounty of the earth; on the individual as an integral part of this total system – both biologically and spiritually. The historical dimension gives perspective –on cultures of the past, particularly as expressions of alternate value systems; on the relationships of cultures, to each other and to the rest nature;

on the cultural options chosen that produced success or failure

The recreation dimension gives perspective –on the amenities of life off the treadmill, including both strenuous and serene involvement in natural settings; on individual physical and mental health; on the joy of play, whether experienced as water recreation at a remote reservoir or a game of sandlot ball in a city park.

The social dimension gives perspective –on group relationships of play and community activities; on social reconstruction, particularly in city neighbourhoods; on the unexpected fun of the meeting compatible strangers in the park and recreation context, as opposed to formal social association.”

But let’s talk about some of the specifics. There is a lot of talk about extinction and endangered species. On the local scene if a nature preserve is not maintained much of the flora and fauna indigenous to this area will disappear. In simple terms, if a natural environment is not maintained many plants, animals, birds, and insects normally found here will disappear form out community.

The recreational value of such a facility should not be underestimated. There are a great many people that use the present facility. Nowhere else in the City can you walk in a woodland setting and enjoy the seclusion and detachment from the normal hustle and bustle of the urban scene. Let’s not forget the need to encourage people to become interested in the natural world. Many people already enjoy the sighting of a songbird, a wild flower, native trees and shrubs from blossom to fall colour, or the simple garter snake, chipmunk, ground hog muskrat. A nature preserve has a 52 week a year season with continuous changes in plant and animal life. The area can have a multitude of related uses as well. The trails can be used for jogging, fitness and cross-country skiing as well as walking and bicycling.

Perhaps one of the most important values that nature preserve has is its educational function for our children. Why do you suppose our Day Camp in Sarnia Township is located in a woodland setting? We obviously have already identified the need and value of such a facility. Is this to be the only exposure our children are to receive? The mysteries of the plant and animal world and a person’s relation to it should be constantly reinforced in the early years of life.

Our schools have recognized the need for outdoor education. They presently must bus their classes to the A.W Campbell Conservation Area in Alvinston. Again, is it necessary to

“bus” our children to other areas of the county? Do you really feel this is enough exposure? Or understanding?

I would like to again quote a passage from “Islands of Hope” –

“we are conditioned to accept the societal frame and work within it, rather than being catalyst – along with others – for rebuilding the frame. Yet the most cursory reading of environmental literature shows the need for establishing new assumptions about man’s place in the web of life, then taking action that squares with these new assumptions. We cannot escape, except by default, the call to throw our talents and resources into the fray. Because…

This profession is founded on the ideal of ennobling human life. The places we mange are those places where the whole man – physical, thoughtful, joyful – can reach toward fulfillment. We have a tradition of getting him started toward fulfillment through education and interpretive programs.

Now our duties extend beyond the visitor, as such, to mankind at large. Now our parks become models of environmental quality, samplers where quality life in both the ecological and social senses can be experienced They are the existing contrasts to prevailing ecological unwisdom- unwisdom that is destroying not only the “natural world,” but also that part of it most important to us, humanity itself.

As exemplars of quality environment and life, our area provide the larger society a standard to strive for – not just in special places, but also in the ordinary places where people live their daily lives.

The educational responsibility implied in this vision - park and recreation resources as catalysts for general environment reform – is enough to give us all cold feet.”

And further on “Each person in the profession has to decide the level of his own commitment (read controversy) in the environmental reform struggle. All of us have faced, will face more, the inner torment of rationalization, trying to do what we think is right and courageous. We have argued, will argue more, the pros and cons of standing firm where it really counts, yet preserving effectiveness for future engagements. After all, if you get fired or dead-ended what influence do you have?

The pressures within any bureaucracy – from top to bottom – tend strongly to favour those who don’t rock the boat. Yet the times call for armies of Don Quixote’s, for selfradicalized organizations that can quickly respond to radical new demands.

Individually and organizationally, we as a profession have a lot of the “business as usual” syndrome to overcome – if our promise as contributors to environmental reform is to be realized.”

I would like to challenge the Board of Parks and Recreation to reaffirm their decision, stand firm and assume an even greater obligation to inform and educate the citizens of the City of Sarnia to appreciate and understand their natural environment.

In conclusion, I would like to quote an article from the August 1972 Royal Bank of Canada Monthly Letter entitled “Conservation is a Way to Stay Alive”.

“Even in countries like Canada, with relatively high levels of affluence and material prosperity, there are growing indications of a social tension symptomatic of man’s dissatisfaction with his lot and with the absence of qualitative choices. Enlightened people do not equate ease and irresponsibility with the best that life has to offer but seek quality of living. They look toward excellence.”

“Much can be done to preserve and replenish the world we are used to and to heal the hurt places. What we do should not be done half-heartedly, but appropriately to the greatness of the enterprise.

Improvement is not to be made without inconvenience, but that is a little thing to suffer since we have the knowledge, the science, and the technology to accomplish the grand endeavour. To default would be a crime not only against all humanity but against ourselves.

To take par, in however humble a way, in conserving natural things, is to give ourselves a chance not otherwise obtainable of gaining a conception of eternal varieties at first-hand. How superior that is to the plight of the man told about in The Wisdom of Gibran, who sat by his fireside and watched the fire go out, then blew vainly upon the dead ashes.

It is obviously impossible to correct all past mistakes overnight, but it is possible to start correcting them at once to prevent the worst of the problems from arising in the future.”

David DeShane

David De Shane, Commissioner

July 17, 1974

97

OLD PURITAN ETHICS

Chipican Returning to Nature

Sarnia Observer – July 17, 1974 P1

Sarnia’s “old puritan ethics” may be interfering in plans to turn the Lake Chipican shore in Canatara Park into a natural wildlife habitat.

Reacting to criticism from some members of city council, Parks Commissioner Dave DeShane has reaffirmed the parks board’s stand on naturalizing certain parks of Canatara Park.

He said Sarnians were slow to realize the park must be made more functional.

Monday, certain council members said the park is a disgrace because the grass is never cut.

Mayor Paul Blundy said he received a letter from a woman who lives in Illinois and visits Sarnia each year, saying she was shocked at the way the city had let the park deteriorate.

“Last week,” the mayor told council “I saw a family having a picnic in the park and the grass was almost up to their necks.”

However, in a telephone interview Tuesday, Mr. DeShane said it is the intention of both the parks board and his department to develop the area around Lake Chipican into a natural habitat for wildlife. He said the board has discussed his idea twice since it was first implemented last fall, and both times it agreed with the concept.

“The area around the lake is not far enough advanced yet to attract wildlife” Mr. DeShane said.

“I would like to see the area similar to Tarzan Land with nature trails and wooded areas.”

Commenting on city council’s reaction to Mr. DeShane said: - “I expect this kind of thing from certain people but given the facts I’m sure they wouldn’t want it changed.”

“Its just our old puritan ethics coming through.” He said.

“People look upon a neat park as good, and one that not as something bad.

Sarnia is slow to realize that we must preserve our natural habitat. We have to make our parks more functional, more diverse. The whole problem is that people are not used to looking at the park in its natural state,” he said.

“It’s like the old Burnt Earth Policy,” he said, “all you have to do is look at our neighbourhood parks. There’s nothing there but a flat area of burned grass with a few trees.”

Monday, Ald. Norm Shipley told council he has been concerned since he heard that the park was being returned to its natural habitat.

TOO SMALL

“It has to be a park that can enjoyed by everyone,” he said, “its too small for anything else.”

Ald. Carl Fleck defended the concept as did Ald. Marie Coulter.

“There’s nothing wrong with looking at a new concept for the park,” said Ald. Fleck. “I think the city has been very unimaginative in designing its parks in the past.”

Parks Board Refuses To Reduce Nature Area

Sarnia Observer – July 19, 1974 P15

A motion by Ald. Marie Coulter and John Manton, vice-chairman of the board of parks and recreation to reduce the area in Canatara Park designated as a nature reserve was defeated Wednesday.

The alderman said she feared if the parks board didn’t undertake the action on its own initiative, it would be forced into it by action of council and the police morality squad.

Mr. Manton said it was impossible to see children under three or four feet in the long grass growing around Lake Chipican, He feared for their safety.

The misunderstanding by the public as to what the parks board was trying to do was largely a lack of communication, board member Donald Holmes felt.

ERECT SIGNS

He suggested that if signs were erected and the undertaking explained to city council, along with a copy of a report presented to the board by Commissioner David DeShane, the situation might be remedied. He also suggested that a copy be sent to Sgt. J. R. Allen of the city police morality squad.

Commissioner DeShane said about 75 acres, around Lake Chipican, of the parks total 262 acres, was being let go back to its natural state.

In a philosophical statement entitled “Towards An Environmental Understanding” which he circulated to board members, Mr. DeShane pointed out that in the winter of 1973-74, the board of parks and recreation adopted a proposal to recognize, preserve and develop the area around Lake Chipican as nature preserve.

POSITIVE STEPS

Since then, the native grasses, plants the tree seedlings were allowed to reproduce and grow,” he continued. “In addition, walking paths were started and have been completed across the entire south end of Lake Chipican. We are in the process of planning signs which will identify the area and explain the program.”

Mr. DeShane said the department now is under attack from some areas of the community because they fail to understand the program, appreciate the value of “this unique community resource” and have no had any previous exposure to the concept.

NOT PIPE DREAM

“Let’s get one thing straight,” he stressed. “This is not my pipe dream!”

“People are criticizing me or the board when they react negatively to our proposals,” he declared. “The people of Sarnia should understand the program for environmental improvement and natural preservation is a world-wide movement. They program is supported by volumes of documentation.”

Some people have suggested there is no need for a nature preserve in the city; this resource is available in the conservation authority areas and beyond, he continued, declaring nature preserve is as much a recreational facility to some people as an arena would be to others.

“Lake Chipican and its environs is a very unique natural resource for the city of Sarnia,” DeShane pointed out. There is no other public property in the city which has the potential to be developed as a nature preserve. Much of the area along the east side of Lake Chipican already is in a natural state.”

The natural, historical, recreational and social dimensions of a nature preserve give perspective, he said quoting from the book Islands of Hope produced by the National Recreation and Parks Association.

“Perhaps one of the most important values that a nature preserve – has is its educational function for our children,” he declared.

He said the idea of the nature preserve was to restore the woodland, the Tarzan Land effect, conducive to wildlife so that people would be aware of what was going on around them.

He admitted the logs in the beach parking lot hadn’t enhanced it, but on the other hand they had performed the function for which they were intended (stopping the drag racing).

GRASS IS CUT

As for normal maintenance activities, grass is being cut around the fences and to indicate paths through the preserve areas, and playground equipment has been painted for the first time in several years. So have the first aid building, the band shell and the children’s farm. The farm too, has the animals its can accommodate He asked the board to accept the criticism and recognize it as an indication of misunderstanding of what it was trying to do and not let it interfere with the operation, providing recreational and leisure facilities for the people of Sarnia. 98

The top Decembers 1974 photo shows the view looking north across the east side of the lake, which then contained several patches of bulrushes. The tree that the beaver cut down is beside the channel at the southeast corner of the lake.

BEAVER AT WORK – An

industrious beaver who has been nibbling at trees in Canatara Park Sarnia (upper) is encountering protective fences (lower) placed around some tree trunks. Parks Department officials have also begun leaving large branches near the park lake to distract beavers from the trees.

Lonely Beaver Keeps Busy

London Free Press – December 5, 1974

Photos and Story by Lorne

Gannon

SARNIA – Canada’s national symbol, the beaver, is making a nuisance of itself in Canatara Park while felling a few trees near Lake Chipican.

The furry The furry phantom first appeared in the park in late August and no one seems to know where it came from.

But since its arrival, park attendants have been scurrying about fencing tree trunks in an attempt to protect them from the nibbling beaver.

Parks and Recreation Director David DeShane said the animal has gone into hiding since nearby trees were fenced. Perhaps that last straw was a three-week effort during which the shy creature ate its way through an eight-inch thick oak tree. "He didn't use it for anything. He just ate it down and left it there." Mr. DeShane said

Once the animal’s presence was felt, parks department officials began leaving large branches near the park lake to distract the beaver from the trees. That ruse seems to have been effective because now most of the branches arc part of the beaver’s lodge some distance from shore. Speculating on its origin, Mr. DeShane said he has some suspicions that it was dropped in the park by either a beaver lover or a tree hater.

“Some people think we should get rid of it, but we are playing it by ear for now. It hasn’t created that much of a problem,” the director said.

He added that, after talking with ministry of natural resources people, he found that the beaver population is growing in South-western Ontario.

“It has been growing rapidly in the last few years and they are almost invading counties in South-western Ontario where there hadn’t been that many beaver,” he said.

But his suspicions of this animal's origin are based on a natural fact about the beaver. Fact: Beaver do not normally move more than l0 miles from place of birth. "There is a possibility it could have swam down the lake, but then it would have had to travel more than l0 miles." Wherever it came from, the animal is safe in Canatara Park, at least as long as it nibbles on branches only.

100

City Parks Board Won’t Evict Beaver

Sarnia Gazette - December 18, 1974

“Pirate” the Canatara Park Beaver will be staying in Lake Chipican, where he has built a lodge, for at least the remainder of the winter.

The rodent was placed in the city park by Allan Macdonald of 117 Bright Street, Sarnia who found it bleeding on the road side near Pinery Provincial Park. He nursed the wounded

animal back to health and not knowing what to do with a full-grown beaver, placed it in Lake Chipican. From there it proceeded to cut down several nearby trees and gain the attention of the Sarnia Board of Parks and Recreation. Frost fencing has been placed around nearly 20 trees and steps have been taken to keep the damage down to a minimum.

Parks Commissioner Dave DeShane said the steps seem to be keeping the damage down. I’d be the first one to want to get rid of him if he causes too much damage," he said. '". But there hasn't been much actively lately. We’ve contacted the Department of Natural Resources and they’ll trap him when we give them the word. Right now it's just wait and see. He hasn't done much damage, but that might be a different story in the spring. They’re not too active in the winter. " DeShane feels the beaver will be a great addition to the park and would like to keep it if the trees can be spared from further damage.

101

Rare Animals Choose Canatara for Residence

Sarnia Gazette - July 30, 1975 P43

The Nature Preserve in Canatara Park, mainly confined to the Lake Chipican Drive area, is attracting many rare animals according to City Parks Foreman Bill Skerrett. Last year the area of wild undergrowth totalled 25 acres but the Parks Board ordered the department to cut back on the size because of public complaints that people were being forced to eat picnics in waste high grass. Parks Commissioner Dave DeShane said anyone eating in waste high grass was doing so at their own choice. There are more than 200 acres of picnic area in the 200-acre park.

DeShane told the Parks Board some months ago that Pirate the Canatara beaver who took up residence in Lake Chipican was evidence that his plan for a natural preserve was working. He said the area would look untidy in the beginning but that in time, when the trees and undergrowth had grown, people would be able to walk in that section of the park, along Lake Chipican, and be shielded from the road.

Skerrett told The Gazette "the whole area has seen an increase in population, not only in animals you would expect to see, but also in rare types that haven't been seen in this area in some time. It's a lot more natural for them now and they have berries and other natural food to eat. Last Saturday morning I came across a number of pheasants, a hen and l0 small ones!" The Gazette saw a family of racoons, a mother and two young, cross Lake Chipican Drive at 1 p.m. recently and Skerrett said the animals were probably "feasting in someone’s back yard. The people are really enjoying it. Local bird watchers have seen some very rare birds such as green herons and others."

'Pirate' the beaver has not been seen this year and Skerrett said local residents have not spotted him either. "We have seen no evidence of his work" he said. The beaver cut down several trees in the park last spring. "He may have been killed by dogs in the winter or even by humans. Or he may have left for greener pastures" he said.

Public Needs ‘Educated’ On Value of Nature Area

Sarnia Observer - April 18, 1975

A public education program through the media has been proposed to develop greater appreciation of the nature preserve concept in Canatara Park.

The parks and recreation board has voted to continue with the project but wants a degree of caution in its development to allow the public to become accustomed to the concept.

It will proceed with the project started last year, but the parks staff was instructed to keep the fringes of the natural area manicured so people wont think the change is taking places through neglect.

The effort to establish a nature preserve in the immediate vicinity of Lake Chipican began last year, It involves tree planting and allowing native grasses, plants, and tree seedlings to grow and reproduce unimpeded. Walking paths have been developed through the area and other improvements are planned.

The parks department came under some criticism last year for its “Tarzanland” concept, which it believes was not understood by the public.

Parks and recreation commissioner Dave DeShane views the Lake Chipican area as a “unique community resource” which is “not just an area for wildlife to return to, but also a recognition that many people enjoy walking in a natural area. We believe they should have an opportunity to do so without travelling miles and miles to do it.”

He said the presence of a beaver – “even though we may have to get rid of it” – at Lake Chipican is symbolic of the nature preserve concept.

Ald. John Kowalyshyn suggested the program should be better explained through a continuing series of presentations to the media.

“It’s a darn good program… an ongoing education program would make it a lot easier for the citizens to accept this new concept,” the alderman said.

The board felt the potential still exists for negative reaction from Sarnians and visitors to the community if “too much is done too quickly.”

So it instructed the staff to continue with the program, but provide a “definite” manicured fringe on the perimeters.

103

Canatara’s Rugged Nature Bird Watchers Blessing

The Gazette - July 21, 1976 P41

The City Parks Department decision to allow part of Canatara Park to grow naturally has made it possible for bird watchers to practise their hobby without leaving the city limits, according to Horace Milsom of Lambton Wildlife Inc.

Milsom said, “the area supports considerable birdlife, hence it might be a good spot to get into the hobby of bird watching.”

“It has occurred to us perhaps not everyone is able to drive out to Kettle Point or somewhere else, to carry out some serious bird study. Since Sarnia’s Parks Department’s policy is now concentrating on allowing some areas to redevelop back into their natural state, the bird population, we hope, will improve.”

Milsom said the Canatara Wildlife preserve is “alive with birdlife”. He added birds identified included redheaded woodpecker, swainsons, brown thrasher, boat tail grackle, starling, myrtle warbler, chestnut sided warbler, blue jay, ring necked pheasant, black and white warbler, catbird, common swift, red breasted nut-hatch, robin, indigo bunting, house wren, Baltimore oriole, and even a northern water thrush spotted feeding in the swamp area. Milson suggests bird watchers “try to do it during the week, if possible, and have less traffic.”

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The Gazette – 3rd Section Ratepayers protest “Jungle Park” close to home (Hugo Holland letter supporting Nature Preserve concept)

Controversy over the jungle-like conditions in the Lake Chipican area continues more than a year after commissioner Dave DeShane decided to allow the area to grow wild.

When the program was first launched, numerous complaints were received from ratepayers who said that the “Tarzanland” area was an eyesore and that people were being forced to picnic in waist high grass. As a result the Parks Board ordered DeShane to cut back on the amount of undeveloped area.

In a letter to DeShane last week, ratepayer H.R. Holland expressed support for the program, while pointing out that some people still object to the natural area.

Holland said, “while bird watching in Tarzanland this morning I met two elderly friends who are most indignant that you had allowed the woods to return to a semi-natural state with underbrush, weeds and burrs! Of course they liked birds and had a feeder but their yard was immaculate and weed-free and they did not want it contaminated by the park.

“Had they joined me a few minutes later in watching a goldfinch feasting on a Scotch Thistle, they might have changed their minds. However, this type seems to have difficulty in grasping the connection between wild cover, wild seeds and bird population.

“For the last 30 years, we have been able to keep the back halves of ours and adjacent properties in a semi natural rough cover. This helped to shelter the wild life, particularly the pheasants , through the unfortunate period when Canatara was being over-groomed. Thus we are fully conscious of the beneficial effects of your present policy.”

Bird life in particular is larger, more varied and hence more beautiful. To witness, I saw 61 species within half a mile of my home in the last two weeks of August. I am a strong supporter of your policy of maintaining Tarzanland and a part of Canatara in a fit state for

wildlife. If, at any time, you feel that you require public expression of such support, I shall be happy to rally to your cause.”

– 109

1970’s Photos

Shows the view from the west side of the lake looking east in November 1972. Notice the bulrushes and cattails in the foreground.

This April 1977 view looks north at the section of the channel dredged in 1975. Notice that the island is covered in cattails and bulrushes., the lack of trees on the reclaimed land, and the newly built woodchip trail. The birch tree in the foreground is one of the “specimen trees” planted by the park staff on the reclaimed land in 1976.

This April 1978 view from the south end of the lake looks northeast across the channel at the east side of the lake. Notice the bulrushes along the shoreline.

Shows the view from the south end looking at the west side of the lake in August 1979. Notice the large cattail thicket on the west side.

This November 1979 view looks northwest across the lake with the channel, reclaimed land, and woodchip trail in the foreground. The marsh vegetation around the lake is still dominated by cattails and bulrushes. This photo was taken from the same location as the June 1951 photo (2). 110

Vegetation Changes 1980 – 1993

As noted above, during the mid-1970’s a large number of trees and shrubs were planted on the reclaimed land between the channel and the park roads. During the 1980’s these trees and shrubs grew up to form a pioneer woodland along the southern and eastern sides of the lake. Among the more prominent trees species are the cottonwood, willow, Manitoba maple, silver maple, walnut, birch, cedar, ash, oak and mulberry. In addition a number of shrub species , notably swamp dogwood have colonized the channel shoreline. The northern third of the large island was invaded by giant reed (phragmites). The large patches of water-lilies, cattails and bulrushes which once covered extensive areas of the Lake Chipican wetland disappeared. Beginning in 1990 purple loosestrife appeared along the west shore. In the 1990’s this was being controlled by pulling up as many of the loosestrife plants as possible.

In 1977 a wooden observation tower was constructed at the south end of the lake and some wooden benches placed around the nature trail encircling the lake.

Lake Chipican – 1986

The Canatara Park Preservation Volunteer’s

Projects in the Lake Chipican Nature Preserve

From 1990 – 2003 a group of volunteers known as the CPPV helped the park staff with various projects designed to enhance the Preserve. These included;

1. Doing a depth survey of the lake.

2. Devising a management plan.

3. Removing invasive plants.

4. Planting native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees.

5. Writing an interpretive pamphlet for the nature trail.

Included below are:

1. Maps and cross sections from the 1990 depth survey (6 pages)

2. Material from the CPPV Management Plan (6 pages)

3. The 1993 Trail Pamphlet (2 pages)

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1990 CPPV Depth Survey

In August 1990 the CPPV took measurements of the water depth in Lake Chipican along fourteen transects across the lake and one down the length of the lake from north to south (see transect map below). The measurements were taken about every ten feet along these lines using a twelve-foot measuring pole. On the bottom of this pole was a one-foot square flat-board that prevented the pole from penetrating into the layer of muck which covers most of the lake bottom. Therefore, the contour intervals shown on the Contour Map indicate only the water depth from the lake surface to the top of the muck layer. Measurements taken without the flat-board on the end of the pole revealed that the muck layer ranges from less than one foot thick to five or more feet in thickness. In fact, on the western side of the lake there were places the twelve foot pole didn’t even reach through the muck layer to the lake bed – which consists of a hard surface of sand and gravel.

It is important to emphasise that the depth of the lake from the surface through the muck layer to its bed is in many places much deeper (114) than indicated on the Contour Map and cross sections shown below.

In August 1990, the water elevation in Lake Chipican was measured at 581.43 feet above sea level, which is slightly less than the long-term average. During high water stages (such as 1987)

it is about three feet higher, while during low water stages (such as 1963) it is more than three feet lower. As a result, during high water periods much of the lower areas around the lake are flooded (such as most of the large island and the park road at the north end – see photo below), while during low water periods, the lake retreats to the lower sections along the west side, as well as some deeper portions of the channel.

Transect & Contour Maps

1947 photo looking west showing flooded road at north end of Lake Chipican

Sarnia

May 16, 1947, p3

Observer,

Lake Chipican Depth Survey – August 1990

Cross Section of Lake Basin – Contour Map

Chipican Contour Map – Depth Survey 1990

Lake

Lake Chipican Cross Section of Lake Basin

CPPV Lake Chipican Management Plan

The initial Management Plan was written in September 1990 after the CPPV had made a detailed study of the Preserve in the summer of 1990. A slightly revised 1994 version is included below.

From 1992 – 2000 the CPPV produced additional management reports, maps and other material that were used in the management of the preserve. Some of this material is provided below;

1. A 1996 list of the six management units in the Preserve and a description of their functions; that is, the role each unit serves and the purpose for which it is being managed.

2. A 1992 map showing the location of the six management units.

3. A 1995 map showing the mosaic of plant communities in the Wildlife Shelterbelt on the west side of the lake, which provides some of the best wildlife habitat in the park.

4. A 1996 aerial photo showing the five plant communities on the large island and a map outlining the 2000 vegetation project.

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LAKE CHIPCAN PRESERVE MANAGEMENT PLAN

INTRODUCTION: OVERALL GOALS

The two overall goals toward which management policies and projects should be directed are:

1. TO MAINTAIN THE RESERVE AS A REFUGE OF “NATURAL BEAUTY AND QUIET PEACEFULNESS” WHERE PEOPLE CAN RELAX AND ENJOY THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF NATURE. (Recent research has demonstrated that secluded natural areas have very beneficial therapeutic effects on the people who use them. In fact, environmental psychologists recommend that urban natural areas be designed to function as “stress inoculation facilities”. As a historical footnote, I might add that in 1974 when then-Commissioner DeShane established the nature trail and associated wooded buffer around the lake, he explicitly pointed out that the preserve was being designed to provide Sarnia residents with an opportunity to “enjoy the seclusion and detachment from the normal hustle and bustle of the urban scene.”)

2. TO RETAIN THE DIVERSITY AND ABUNDNACE OF WILDLIFE IN THE PRESERVE. (The lake and its environs were incorporated into Canatara in 1933 as a bird sanctuary and it has served this function ever since and should continue to do so in the future.)

In accordance with these goals emphasis should be given to passive, relaxing activities such as informal socializing, walking, sitting, viewing and appreciating nature. The following policies are designed to further the overall goals by reducing user conflict, improve ecological management, and providing interpretive information. The policies are grouped into six categories: lake and shoreline management, rules and regulations, plant management, wildlife management, facilities and interpretation.

1. LAKE AND SHORELINE MANAGEMENT

1. The area between the road and Lake Chipican at the north end needs to be improved to prevent continued erosion and sedimentation. One possible solution would be to construct a retaining wall of wooden piles and then backfill the area between this wall and the road. The top of this area could be paved with asphalt. This would both solve the erosion problem and provide a place for people to park while viewing the lake.

2. Rocks and stones should not be dumped along the shore of Lake Chipican since they are inevitably used by juveniles as ammunition to be thrown at the ducks, geese and other wildlife.

3. The channel at the south end of the lake is currently less than one foot deep in several places and will need to be dredged out in the future to keep it from silting in and drying up.

2. RULES AND REGULATIONS

The following rules and regulations are designed to minimize user conflict and protect the naturalistic quality of the preserve. They also need to be effectively communicated and enforced.

1. The rules prohibiting boating and fishing should be retained.

2. Swimming should be prohibited in Lake Chipican

3. People should not be allowed to wade out to the islands in Lake Chipican

4. At least one sign should be posted at a prominent spot near Lake Chipican listing the rules and regulations governing its use. In addition, it should point out that the wildlife in the park are protected under city bylaw and are there to be enjoyed and should not be harmed in any way.

3. PLANT MANAGEMENT

1. The vegetation in the preserve should be left in its natural state and allowed to grow and change without human intervention. Exceptions to this general policy are listed below.

2. The following pest species should be eradicated from all areas of the preserve: purple loosestrife, garlic mustard and ragweed.

3. The following species should be controlled where necessary: phragmites, grape vine, Virginia creeper and burdock.

4. Native species that are aesthetically attractive and / or provide food and shelter for wildlife should be planted at appropriate sites in the preserve. Examples include dogwood, raspberry, elderberry, bittersweet, cattails and bulrushes.

5. The oak woodland on the west side of the preserve should be retained by planting oak saplings under canopy openings.

6. The wet meadow on Heron Island should be preserved by periodically removing most of the invading shrubs.

4. WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

1. The carp population in Lake Chipican should be reduced as much as possible.

2. Selected bird species should be encouraged to settle in the preserve by increasing the available nesting sites. For example, in addition to the wood duck boxes already located on the islands, nesting boxes for screech owls and various songbirds should also be introduced.

3. The available food supply for wildlife should be increased by planting selected plant species (see 3.4 above) and possibly restocking Lake Chipican with appropriate fish species.

4. Several logs should be anchored off the west side of Heron Island to provide protected resting sites for herons, egrets, turtles and other wildlife.

5. FACILITIES

The facilities consist of seven benches along the nature trail.

1. The nature trail should be covered with woodchips when necessary to prevent the development of muddy patches.

6.

INTERPRETATION

Interpretative information should be provided to promote public understanding and appreciation of the preserve as a therapeutic, ecological and educational resource. Interpretative tools such as brochures, booklets and maps should be aimed at two broad user groups:

1. General Public: Pamphlets should be made available for a self-guided walking tour around the Lake Chipican nature trail. Such a pamphlet could point out and explain:

how the lake was formed, the human history connected with the lake, the role of the lake for urban wildlife, as well as the plants and trees currently found around the lake.

2. School Groups: A booklet should be provided to teachers for use in curriculum units and field trips to the preserve. Such a booklet should contain detailed geomorphological, ecological and historical data as well as an index of references where additional information can be obtained.

3. In addition, displays should be mounted in the Information Centre on all aspects of the preserve, including its ongoing management.

CONCLUSION

Informal interviews with users of the Lake Chipican Nature Preserve have confirmed that the vast majority have a positive image of its many features and regard it as a valuable component of the park landscape. The above policies are designed to enhance this appeal of the preserve, increase the extent of its use, and enrich the preceptions of its users.

Jack Fraser September 23, 1990

Revised October 26, 1994

Postscript: It should be noted that more extensive plans will be required to implement several of the policies – particularly 1.1, 1.3 and 4.1.

ADDENDUM: The following pages contain other material concerning the management of the Lake Chipican Nature Preserve.

To help attain the two overall goals identified in the revised (1994) Lake Chipican Nature Preserve Management Plan, the preserve has been subdivided into the six management units shown on the accompanying map. Each unit serves specific functions which require specialized management. Described below are the main functions each unit serves.

TRAIL BUFFER

This thickly vegetated woodland, which forms the outer or exterior ring of the preserve, is located between the preserve boundary and the nature trail that encircles the lake. It is designed to screen the nature trail from the distracting sights and sounds of adjacent roads, parking lots, buildings, and other features of the developed zone, and thereby create a peaceful, naturalistic

setting for trail users. (As noted in the Management Plan, this wooded buffer was designed in 1974 by DeShane primarily for the purpose of attaining the first management goal. However, as DeShane pointed out, this unit also contributes to the second goal by furnishing valuable wildlife habitat. The effectiveness of a trail buffer, of course, is determined by the vegetational density of the shrub layer; that is, the layer from the ground to approximately three metres high. The greater the vegetational density in this layer, the less distracting stimuli penetrate to the nature trail, and the greater the therapeutic value of the setting for trail users.)

WILDLIFE SHELTERBELT

This unit, which forms the inner ring of the preserve, is located between the nature trail and the lake or slough. It consists of a mosaic of closed woodlands, riparian shrub thickets and phragmites colonies. The dense vegetation in these plant communities helps to protect wildlife around the shoreline of the lake and slough from human disturbance. (Research has shown that disturbance to aquatic birds such as herons and egrets can be minimized if they are virtually shielded from adjacent human activities. Besides performing this protective “shielding” function, this unit furnishes prime wildlife habitat since it includes the most secluded and ecologically rich sections of the terrestrial-aquatic ecotone bordering the lake and slough.)

OPEN VERGE

This unit, which is located between the nature trail and the slough at the south end of the lake, is designed to provide open vistas where trail users can obtain panoramic views of the lake and its wildlife. (Existing trees and shrubs will remain, but additional ones invading this unit will be periodically removed.)

ISLAND SANCTUARIES

The woodland, shrub, wet meadow and phragmites communities within this unit provide wildlife with protective breeding habitat and loafing sites free from human intrusion. In addition, the Heron Island wet meadow functions as a botanical reserve for wetland herbaceous plants. (Regarding the need to create wildlife sanctuaries free from human encroachment, R. Knight and K. Gutzweller write in Wildlife and Recreationists that: “Perhaps the major way people have influenced wildlife populations is through encroachment into wildlife areas. This has increased dramatically over the past few decades, usually resulting in the elimination of many local populations. Numerous studies document how recreational activities cause waterfowl to avoid prime nesting habitat or abandon their nests once eggs are laid.”)

LAKE

This expanse of open water in a natural setting provides park users with scenic views within a tranquil, restful environment. The lake also supplies food and shelter to a wide variety of birds and other wildlife.

SLOUGH

This deep water channel functions both as a moat to prevent human access to the islands and as habitat for aquatic wildlife. (The human-made channel was dredged around the south and east sides of the lake in the 1970 -75 period to create four islands for a wildlife sanctuary. The creation of such island sanctuaries is a standard procedure used in large urban parks for retaining the diversity of wildlife enjoyed by many park visitors. To perform its primary function as a water barrier, the channel needs to be maintained by periodically removing any large accumulations of sediment which can become land bridges providing human access to the islands during periods of low water levels.)

Jack Fraser April 4, 1996

Map of Lake Chipican (Management Units in Lake Chipican)

A – Lake Chipican Plant Communities

Map

Island Plant Communities – 1996

Heron

Phragmites Colony Wet Meadowland Pioneer Woodland

Shrub Thicket

Swamp Woodland

Map of Lake Chipican Trail

This trail encircles the freshwater pond known as Lake Chipican. To start the one-kilometer walk, proceed from the Children’s Farm parking lot to the Canatara Park sign at the southwest corner of Lake Chipican. The above map shows the location of the 14 interpretative stations along the route. Please leave all plants and animals undisturbed.

1. The island’s you see were created in the early 1970’s when a channel was dredged around the south and east sides of the lake. These islands provide a protective haven for nesting waterfowl and other birds. The first half of this trail was built on former marshland which was filled with sediment dredged from the channel. During the last twenty years a new woodland has developed on much of this reclaimed land.

2. As you proceed along the trail, notice how young trees are replacing the open grassland. This gradual replacement of one group of plants by another is called succession. The most numerous tree in this trail section is white ash whose tough wood is ideal for making baseball bats. Other trees include black willow, Manitoba maple, eastern cottonwood, black walnut, burr oak, white birch, white cedar, white mulberry and eastern

redbud. Conspicuous ground plants include mullein, burdock, chickory, milkweed, jewelweed and Queen Anne’s lace or wild carrot.

3. From the observation tower you can often see many of the bird species which frequent the lake. Among the more common are the great blue heron, green heron, Common tern, belted kingfisher and Canada goose. Many others such as the black-crowned night heron, American egret, double-crested cormorant and osprey are occasionally sighted. The lake is also inhabited by muskrat and painted turtles, which on sunny days can be seen basking on logs.

4. On the island is a shrub thicket containing several dogwood species, such as gray, silky and red osler, aptly named for its bright red branches. Other shrubs found here are highbush cranberry, white elderberry and choke cherry. The dense cover provided by these shrubs, as well as vines like wild grape, Virginia creeper and bittersweet, make this tangled thicket a favourite nesting area for birds such as the gray catbird and yellow warbler.

5. The most prominent tree in this section is eastern cottonwood, named for the white cottony down that is attached to the seeds in late spring. The fact that all of these trees have grown up within the last twenty years shows that this member of the poplar family is our fastest growing native tree. Favouring damp soils in low lying areas near rivers and lakes they may add 1 to 1.5 meters to their height annually.

6. After passing through the cottonwood grove the trail enters an open area adjacent to the park road. Notice the ridge on which the houses are located. This ridge was once the eastern bank of a two kilometer wide channel at the head of the St. Clair River. Lake Chipican was formed when a spit of land grew out from this eastern bank and curved around the present day north and west sides of the lake, enclosing a small portion of the river channel.

7. From the branch a good view can be obtained of the wet meadow on the island. Typical “wet loving” plants found here include pink giardia, mermaid weed, marsh bellflower, and Joe Pye weed as well as sedges such as hard stream bulrush and twig rush. This wet meadow is gradually being replaced by a shrub wetland, which represents the next stage in plant succession. Eventually, the shrubs will in turn be replaced by trees, as is already occurring in other sections of the island.

8. Here the trail bends around a thicket of buttonbush. This aquatic shrub has flowers with creamy ball-like heads. The name derives from the round seed heads that hang from the barren branches all winter, looking like dangling buttons. In and around this thicket is another shrub – silky dogwood – whose blueberries are a favourite food for wildlife in late summer.

9. The northern section of the island is a man-made embankment composed of material dredged from the channel. This reclaimed land has been colonized by giant reed, the tallest grass species in Ontario. As can be seen, the 2.5 metre stocks grow in such dense thickets that they choke out most other plants. In Europe this grass is commonly used for roof thatching. When you reach the north end of the lake, cross the road and walk up the hill to the beach.

10. This hill is part of a back dune ridge that was formed by sand blowing inland from the beach and becoming trapped by the vegetation. At one time much larger backdunes existed in the parking lot area. These high sand hills were removed prior to 1931 when the railway had a sand mining operation here. The beach ridge which forms the western side of Lake Chipican was originally created by waves bending around this location and depositing sand and gravel in the old river channel. A submerged trench two to three meters deep which runs down the west side of the lake is a small remnant of this channel.

11. From a historical perspective, this is one of the most interesting spots in the park. From approximately 1840 to 1855 a fisherman named Henry Seward lived in a house on this site and consequently Lake Chipican was then known as Seward’s Pond. In 1879 the International Park Hotel was built just to the west of here, where the grove of white pine is located today. During the 1880’s a cattle quarantine station was located in this area. In fact, the lilac bush near the bench was located just outside the front porch of the caretaker’s residence; a large two-storey frame building known as the quarantine house. A summer cottage was also located here from 1926 – 1936.

12. These large mature oaks on the relict beach ridge are in marked contrast to the young trees seen in the recently reclaimed land. Ten meters behind the bench is a large white oak with its distinctive ash-grey bark. This slow growing tree with a truck diameter of one meter could be well over 400 years old. Of all acorns, those of the white oak are the sweetest and most sought after by wildlife, notably the squirrels and chipmunks which are plentiful in this oak woodland. Just south of the bench is a large double burr oak with a crown over 30 metres across.

13. For hundreds of years native Americans were attracted to the fishing grounds at the head of the St. Clair River. During this period , medicine men often gathered plants and roots from Lake Chipican for medicinal purposes. Around 1750 a historic battle between the Mohawk and Ojibway took place in the vicinity of Lake Chipican which resulted in the Ojibway gaining control of the area now known as Lambton County. According to one source, the lake was named around 1800 after an Ojibway maiden called “Chip-Kan”, which means “root” in English.

14. At several times in the past, various schemes were suggested to drastically alter the lake’s natural character. For example, in 1915 a proposal was made to dredge the entire lake and

convert it into a reservoir for the city’s water supply. In the early 1920’s , in an effort to preserve the lake and it’s natural surroundings, a group of Sarnians led by then mayor George Crawford had the area designated a crown game reserve and bird sanctuary. When Canatara Park opened in 1933 the Lake Chipican reserve was incorporated into the new park. Today it continues to serve as a living memorial to those far-sighted citizens who years ago understood the importance of preserving this prized piece of Sarnia’s early natural heritage for future generations to enjoy.

We hope you have enjoyed this short walk. If you want more information on Lake Chipican, see the displays and books in the information centre.

Prepared by the Canatara Park Preservation Volunteers

Woodland Communities in the Lake Chipican Nature Preserve

The distribution of tree species around Lake Chipican is influenced by several interrelated factors including soil type, moisture regime, landform structure, and the amount of human intervention. The factors have produced the following three woodland communities:

1. OAK WOODLAND: This old-growth community is located on the dry sandy soils of the drought-prone beach ridges to the west of the lake. The dominant trees are the drought –tolerant black, white, and burr oaks, most of which are over a century old.

2. SWAMP WOODLAND: This old-growth community is located on the moist organic soils of the flood-prone backshore along the western fringe of the lake and the southern portion of the large island. Water-loving trees such as black and weeping willow, silver maple and tamarack are the most prevalent.

3. PIONEER WOODLAND: This new-growth community, as described above, is located on the reclaimed land around the south and east sides of the lake as well as the ridge that forms the northern section of the large island.

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Lake Chipican Map: 1993

The trees and shrubs planted in the 1974 – 75 period on the reclaimed land now form a pioneer woodland that shields the nature trail from the adjacent roads.

A phragmites thicket has colonized the ridge of dredged material that forms the northern portion of the large island (“Heron Island”).

The huge number of carp in the lake have uprooted most of the cattails and bulrushes in the marsh. Only a tiny patch of cattails remains at the northwest corner (see sub-unit “t” on Map A of the Management Plan).

The marsh now consists of wet meadow-type plants. The largest of these areas is on the central section of the large island (marked W) as shown in a photo below.

The observation tower built in 1977 is located along the nature trail at the south end of the lake. (It was demolished in 1995 due to its dilapidated condition).

NOTE: In the winter of 2000-01 there was a large die-off of the carp in the lake. Also, since 2000 the phragmites has invaded and choked out the wet meadow communities around the lake.

Sketch of Lake Chipican – 1993

HERON ISLAND WET MEADOW: This meadow contains many water-loving wildflowers such as Joe Pyne Weed (in foreground), Boneset, Jewelweed, and Blue Vervain.

This August 1997 photo looks west across the wet meadow on the large island.

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Capturing The Beauty

Marjorie Ashcroft captures the picturesque and reflective scene from Lake Chipican with her watercolor paints. Tuesday, the Sarnia Artist’s Workshop member is preparing for the groups Art by The bay showing Nov. 6,7 & 8 at the McLean Centre in Centennial Park.

This is one of the numerous photos that have appeared in the local newspapers over the years that show people engaged in various activities such as walking, birdwatching, photographing, reading, and in the winter, skating and playing hockey in the Lake Chipican Nature Preserve. This view looks east down the channel at the south end of the lake.

1990’s Photos

1. Shows the view looking north along the trail through the Oak Woodland on the west side of the lake in October 1994.

2. This August 1995 photo looks east along the south end of the lake with the small islands on the right. The large willow tree in the foreground, which is now gone, was near the southwest corner of the lake.

3. This June 1997 photo looks west along the trail through the Pioneer Woodland on the reclaimed land at the south end of the lake.

4. This April 1995 photo looks north along the trail through the Pioneer Woodland on the reclaimed land on the east side of the lake.

5. This October 1997 photo looks north down the channel at the east side of the lake. On the left is the northern section of the Wet Meadow on the large island.

6. This north-looking photo was taken in the phragmites thicket on the large island in August 1995. A strip of these tall reeds was cut down to allow the adjacent trees in the Pioneer Woodland to grow.

7. This March 1997 photo looks south down the northern section of the channel on the east side of the lake. On the right is the phragmites thicket at the north end of the large island. Another phragmites colony is on the left.

8. Shows the view looking southeast from the north end of the lake in July 1995.

9. This October 1999 photo looks north from the south end of the lake. Notice the exposed mud flats between the channel and the lake . These mud flats appear whenever the lake is at a low water stage.

10. This photo was taken at the same time as photo (9) and shows the eastern side of the lake during this low water stage in the autumn of 1999.

11. This photo was also taken in October 1999 and shows the view looking west across the channel near the south end of the large island. The sign was placed at this location when a boy fell into the deep mud in this section of the channel in September 1999. (See Observer photo below). The mud layer in the channel around the south and east sides of the lake is up to five feet deep in places.

12. This December 1994 photo looks northeast past the small islands from the south side of the lake.

Boy sucked into mud at Lake Chipican

Sarnia Observer – September 15, 1999 JARRETT CHURCHILL

is covered in mud after sinking

last weekend.

The ground opened up and a Sarnia boy nearly swallowed by the mud floor of Lake Chipican last weekend.

Michael Fairbairn was walking on a part of the lake’s bed where the water has receded, and a dry layer of earth makes it appear perfectly safe to walk over.

Fairbairn took a few steps out before the ground gave way.

“I sunk to my waist and then I just sank slowly from there,” said the 10-year-old.

His friend Evan Tilley ran for help. A father and son with the family name Reckman quickly came to the rescue.

Fairbairn was now up to his armpits in mud and still sinking. The Reckmans quickly plucked him from the muck.

Fire crews arrived soon afterwards but Fairbairn required no medical attention.

“Until a months ago there was water, but as the summer progressed the water level went down, down, down,” said the local birdwatcher Carol Churchman.

She was out looking for herons and Canadian geese when she heard emergency sirens on Saturday,

By the time she arrived, the boy was safe but covered in mud, she remembers.

Jack Fraser, a Lake Chipican Drive resident since 1952, said kids need to be careful because the surface doesn’t look dangerous.

“Once you get into it, it’s like quicksand, you can’t get out of it.”

Michael Fairbairn

into a mud floor of Lake Chipican, in this photo taken by Carol Churchman

The danger is that the top of the mud appears like dry dirt, with the exception of a few patches of moisture. It leaves the appearance of dry land that can easily be crossed.

But a few inches beneath the surface, is wet, moist mud.

“You’re walking along and as you step forward you go right into it,” said Fraser.

The channel, between the edge and the islands, where Fairbairn fell in, was dredged in the 1970’s and Fraser said the depth could be anywhere up to five feet in some places.

He is worried there will be more injuries and noted he has seen footprints on top of the muck.

Terry McCallum, the city’s director of community services, said a foreman and park preservation volunteers have been looking into the matter.

In all likelihood, a sign will be going up to warn people of the dangers.

“Once I know the exact area, we are going to meet up there and have the sign installed”.

The sign will probably tell people to stay out due to soft bottom. 148

Looking east over Lake Chipican, April 1996.

150

“Looking North over Lake Chipican, August 1996”

“Looking Southwest over Lake Chipican & Canatara Park, Jan. 1997”

Looking Northwest over Lake Chipican & Canatara Park, Jan. 1997

Leaking Landfill Potential Problem

Sarnia Observer – December 4, 1997 P1

By GEORGE MATHEWSON

An oil sheen that appeared on Lake Chipican this summer could be the tip of a leaky environmental mess buried in Canatara Park.

Materials dumped long ago in a former landfill site on the south end of Sarnia’s most beloved park , including oil, coal tar and other contaminants, seem to be escaping into the surrounding environment, officials confirmed Monday.

The problem is severe enough that Sarnia’s new council approved a $73,000 study to probe the damage at its first formal meeting Monday.

If pollutants are found to be migrating underground, it could cost up to $1 million to fix the problem, said mayor Mike Bradley.

“we’re inheriting a problem from the 1930’s and ‘40’s when people didn’t care what went into landfills,” he said.” “It’s a problem from the past, but it has to be dealt with.”

It’s not clear exactly what’s buried in the former dump, which was once used for both municipal and industrial waste.

Tar patches have been found on the surface of the site, which lies north of Michigan Avenue, near the foot of Front Street. And a boom was needed to protect wildlife from a mysterious oily sheen that appeared for the first time on nearby Lake Chipican this summer.

Other evidence of a problem includes oily by-products and methane gas, a common byproduct of landfill waste, said city engineer Reg McMichael.

The study, to be conducted by Golder and Associates, involves drilling test holes to study underground migration. It will build on exploratory work done by the city in 1993 at a cost of $93,000.

If contaminants are found to be leaking into the environment, a containment plan could involve sinking clay barriers beneath ground level and placing a clay cap over the landfill, McMichael added.

The Canada Lands Corporation owns a 10-acre parcel of the former CN Rail right-of-way immediately west of the former landfill. The corporation wants to develop the site but can’t until the environmental question is resolved, Bradley said.

Neighbouring Point Edward, which met with the city on July 31 to discuss the situation, supports any remedial action that might be needed, Mayor Barb Horner said Monday.

CITY HALL: More than $1 million spent to handle leachate spreading in Canatara Park Migrating oil causing headache for city

Sarnia Observer – March 2014

BARBARA SIMPSON

City officials are ramping up efforts to handle the spread of a thick layer of oil in Canatara Park.

More than $1 million has already been spent to date to install sheet piling, along with recovery and monitoring wells, to combat the spread of leachate from former landfills in the park.

But despite these efforts, oil continues to spread in the former area between Lake Chipican and the Children’s Animal Farm.

Oil is being extracted from the wells there three times a week compared to once a month.

“We can’t have any pollution in Lake Chipican that would influence Lake Huron,” Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said of city’s efforts at a recent press conference.

Council recently approved a request for $55,000 to install oil recovery pumping systems in two extraction wells. Consultant Golder and Associates, who has been providing design, operation and maintenance services on this project, will be tasked with the installation of the pumping systems.

City staff are developing a long-term oil mitigation strategy to be presented to council this spring. That includes training staff to take over duties being done by consultants.

“I’ve been really pressing here why do we have to go to consultants,” Bradley said. “For the long term plan, we.re going to train city staff instead of going to outside companies to do this.”

Like the discovery of asbestos and lead in Centennial Park, Bradley said the city cannot go back on companies who dumped materials at the former Michigan Avenue landfill.

“We tried to do this,” he said. “there were two major companies that put materials into this dump in the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and into the early ‘60s and we approached them with no success and with no real success in proving it.”

The city has now been left to dig into reserves to cover the additional costs of oil recovery efforts. Council recently approved a request to pull $54,000 from the capital reserve fund to cover last years funding shortfall.

“My biggest concerns as we keep on going in to the reserves, even though we do put some money into them, as you get into 2015, that council will have no place to turn” Bradley added.

This composite map shows the location of oily waste buried in a former landfill that’s now part of Canatara Park. The cost of preventing the oil from seeping into Lake Chipican is mounting.

Tanker truck load of oil pulled from Canatara Park

The Sarnia Journal – March 6, 2014 P7

GEORGE MATHEWSON

So much oil is trying to enter Lake Chipican from a leaking landfill site that city hall wants to train staff for a new job description – oil field roustabout.

Containing the oil migrating beneath Canatara Park is a major headache for Sarnia, which had to extend an underground steel wall and dig more monitoring and recovering wells.

But with bills mounting – another $109,000 was approved in February – city hall is eyeing training its own in-house environmental team to deal with hot spots and take on the oil recovery now done by consultant Golder Associates.

The former Michigan Avenue Landfill was a dumping ground for industrial and municipal waste from the 1920s to the 1960s. The 69-acre site was capped with a metre of soil in 2001 after walls of sheet piling were hammered underground to stop contaminants threatening Lake Chipican.

But the mix of oil and diesel fuel is spreading.

A recovery system built on the lake’s southwest shore in 2011 has five in-ground pumps that remove oil collecting behind the retaining wall. But new oil was found the following year in a wooded area between the lake and Children’s Animal Farm. More extraction wells were dug and the wall extended.

The task of cleaning out the wells was a once-a-month job. Now it’s done three times a week.

“It’s really ramped up over the past three years,” said city engineer Andre Morin. “We’ve had hits in additional wells and it means more work.

In December alone about 5,000 litres of oil was sucked from the ground, enough to fill about 25 bathtubs. Over a year, that’s enough to fill a gasoline tanker truck, and then some.

City council has pulled $54,000 from reserves to pay the extra work done by Golder Associates, caretakers since the landfill closed. Councillors also approved a new pumping system and transfer line at two collection wells, at a cost of $55,000.

The recovered oil is sent for disposal. If an environmental team was approved it could explore ways to reprocess it, possibly as a source of revenue.

“Canatara isn’t the only site we have to keep an eye on,” Morin said. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s the nature of the city we live in.

“Aftereffects” of the Sludge Dump

During the high water period in the spring of 1997 oil from the sludge dump started to seep into the channel at the south end of Lake Chipican. To prevent this, in 2001 a retaining wall of steel sheet piling was constructed just inland of this channel and recovery wells were located along the wall to collect and remove the oil. In 2012 the wall had to be extended westward towards the Children’s Farm when oil began seeping into the short channel between the Farm pond and Lake Chipican. The two March 2014 newspaper articles included above, describe this issue in more detail. The area on the Map in the March 6 article marked “Oily Waste” is the location of the Imperial Oil sludge dump from 1930 – 1944. The following is a brief history of this industrial dump that is still causing problems in Canatara.

As noted in Volume 4, in Sept. 1930, Sarnia obtained a lease from the CNR on the 45acre “landfill site” for use as a city dump. At that time most of this site consisted of a wetland marsh filled with cattails (157) and bulrushes. Clause 24D of this lease permitted Imperial Oil to use a section of this site for dumping purposes.

During the 1930’s & 40’s Imperial employed a special treating clay as a catalyst in one of its refining units. When the clay became “spent”; that is, saturated with oil, it was loaded onto rail cars and transported by CN out to a spur line known as the “dump

siding”. This siding entered the landfill site, or the “marsh dump” as it was then called, from the rail line into Point Edward at a point just north of Michigan Aveniue. (See landfill map and Observer item below)

In 1930, when the Imperial Oil dumping operation began, the siding through the marsh dump ran along the railway “Y” embankment that had been built in 1882. Periodically a work gang from Imperial was sent out to the “sludge dumps”, as the section of the marsh dump used by Imperial was called. Here they emptied the oil-saturated clay, or “sludge” from the railcars and dumped (158) it into the marsh on the east side of the embankment. They also burned as much of the oil as possible before it spread into the surrounding marsh.

Over the years, as more and more sludge was dumped into the marsh, the rail tracks were moved in stages further eastward. The position of the tracks at various stages of this dumping process appears in the 1953 aerial photo as sub-parallel lines in the former sludge dump. (See landfill map below and 1953 aerial photo near beginning of this volume)

In the late 1930’s, as the sludge dump expanded eastward into the marsh, the oil began seeping both into the Tarzanland woodlot and through the old GTR mainline embankment into Lake Chipican. To prevent this the city:

1. Built a barrier of ashes from the city incinerator between the sludge dump and Tarzanland. (this barrier is marked on the Landfill Map below and is visible on the 1953 Aerial Photo)

2. Dug a ditch and catch basin as noted above, to trap the oil before it (157) reached Lake Chipican. (The ditch and catch basin are also visible on the 1953 Aerial Photo.)

In 1944, after the Parks Board complained about the adverse effects the sludge dump was having on the Canatara environment, Imperial moved this operation to another location – across Michigan Avenue to the marsh where Kendal Street is now. (See items provided in Volume 6). However, as the two 2014 newspaper articles indicate, the City is still dealing with the sludge dump “aftereffects.”

NOTE: In 1953 the Landfill site was a completely level field with no hills. The vegetation consisted of “early successional plants”, otherwise known as “weeds”, and a few low-growing shrubs. Therefore one could stand on the dump road (now the road leading to the Children’s Farm) and look across the landfill to see the cars on Michigan Avenue.

OIL FIRE WRAPS NORTH SECTION IN BLACK SMOKE

Outbreak is Caused When Match is Thrown in The Sludge Dump

Sarnia Observer – March 6, 1931 P8

The north end of the city was enveloped in a cloud of thick black smoke shortly after 11 o’clock this morning when two men who were passing the intersection of the Canadian National railway track and Michigan Avenue Point Edward, dropped a match into some oil sludge dumped by Imperial Oil Limited. Flames broke out immediately, followed by dense clouds of oil smoke. In the city a report that an aeroplane had come down in flames quickly gained credence.

Employees of the Imperial Oil Refineries Limited who were working in the vicinity, sent a hurried call to the Canadian National roundhouse for an engine to move a number of loaded sludge cars which were about to be emptied. The men who had started the fire were observed running into the brush and quickly disappeared.

Chief Batty of the city fire department, tried chemical applications on the fire but it was found that they were practically useless.

By noon the fire had burned over an area of five acres but was subsequently extinguished. No serious damage was done.

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Oil Fires on City Dump are Spectacular but Innocent Affairs

One of the regular sources of phone calls to the Canadian Observer are the oil fires at the Sarnia dump on the Point Edward road. Towers of billowing black smoke give the appearance of a fire of major proportions whenever the

workmen put the torch to oil-saturated waste. This photo was taken by Jim Arnold, staff photographer, the last time the dump refuse was burned.

Sketch – Landfill Map, 1953 (Based on 1953 aerial photo)