The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-02-20
POLLUTION OF LAKES
FURNISHES PROBLEM

Washington, Feb. 20.-All the cities
Of the great lakes situated on inter+
national waters will have an intense
interest in the coming meeting Of the
international Joint commission at De-
troit, March 8. At'this meeting, in ad-
dition to the hearing on the question
Of the level Of Lake Superior. plans
will be made for the next step in the
matter of the pollution OF information
al waters by American n Canadian
cities.
Possibly few people realize that the
sanitary problem presented by the
in the world. It Is asserted by the ex-
perts of the commission that the trea-
ty between the United States and
Great Britain regarding the pollution
of these waters is being violated at
every point Of contact from the Lake
Of the Woods to the st. Lawrence.
May Forbid Sewage.
The situation now has become so
serious that comprehensive plans will
have to be adopted, and probably they
will be expensive. It is not unlikely
hat the use of these waters for the
deposit of sewage will be forbidden.
Chairman Tawney and Sanitary Ex-
pert C. f.. Laughlin of the commission
are now engaged in the preparation Of
twelve or fifteen questions to be sub
mitted to the msot eminent sanitary
engineers in the world. These ques-
tons will state tho conditions found
by the American and Canadian sani-
tary experts to exist along this water
frontier, as the result of a bacteriolog-
ical examination of thousands Of SAM
pies of water taken from the rivers
and lakes forming the International
boundary.
with this information in hand the
sanitary engineers will be asked.
through the medium Of the questions
asked, to indicate the best means of
treating the difficulty.
Plan Series of Hearings.
With these recommendations before
them the members Of the international
Joint commission then will give a SER
les of hearing from n end Of the sys-
tenn of the great lakes to the otherS
Aiding them will be the best sanitary
engineer to be employed in the United
States and the best to be found in
Canada.
The purpose Of the hearings will be
to place the situation before the vari-
GUS municipalities exactly as 1t is and
learn from the different municipal au-
thorities how far the various cities and
towns are able to go in the matter or
a remedy.
This will require some fine judg-
ment, as the final recommendations to
be submitted to the governments of
the United States and Canada will
have to be within the means of the
municipalities affected.
viii Make Recommendations.
When the commission meets in De-
troit the preliminary plans for the
hearings will be considered. Possibly
the date when they will begin will be
settled and the place where they Will
begin decided. In any event it is the
purpose Of the commission to. consult
every municipality concerned and to
secure all possible information before
the final report Is drawn.
When the commission decides what
steps will have to be taken for the
safety. Of the places On the boundary
a recommendation to this effect will be
submitted to the two governments, and
then Canada and the United States
will agree upon means to put the rec
onmendation into force.