About Junction Creek
Junction Creek, which flows through the City of Greater Sudbury and outlying communities, is not looking like it used to. Junction Creek used to be clear and clean and now, because of mining contamination and sewer dumping, the Creek and its ecosystem has been negatively affected.
This contamination has ruined natural water storage areas such as wetlands and ponds. The water quality is terrible and is filled with many pollutants! The consequence has been a loss of biodiversity in Junction Creek and its surrounding areas.
Years of environmental neglect are difficult to reverse but substantial progress has been made over the last 30 years. Water quality in Junction Creek, along with other lakes and streams in the Sudbury area, has improved as a result of Creek clean-up by the municipality, and Vale INCO mine and Xstrata Falconbridge mine. Thousands of hectares of soil have been treated with lime, and more than 10 million trees have been planted, helping reduce pollutant contamination in the soils and waters of the Creek.
By the year 2000, water quality in the northern area of Junction Creek had significantly improved and brook trout fish were introduced into the Creek. On Earth Day 2000, over 200 families participated in the release of 2000 brook trout. Local and provincial media were involved,as were local politicians. It was, however, the participation of the citizens that made the release a huge success.
In the spring of 2001, another 4000 brook trout were released with help from nearly 700 Sudburians. Among them were several hundred school children who participated as part of the Roots and Shoots environmental conference held at Science North.
In 2002, as part of that year's Roots and Shoots conference, Dr. Jane Goodall visited Sudbury and Junction Creek. Along with a group of school children, she released brook trout into Junction Creek. A few months later, Dr. Goodall used the event as an example in a commentary published in TIME magazine.