Thanks to VETAC, Greater Sudbury is one of the few places on Earth where today’s children live in a healthier environment than their parents and grandparents did.

Talk about an extreme makeover! Thirty years ago Greater Sudbury had an international reputation for looking like the moon. Some 80,000 hectares of land were desolated by a century of logging and mining and subsequent fires, soil erosion, enhanced frost action and sulphur dioxide emissions. Today, people come from around the world to study how community spirit and hard work healed the damaged landscape.

“VETAC has been instrumental in the monumental positive changes that have occurred in this community over the past 35 years,” states Mayor John Rodriguez. “The regreening work overseen by this volunteer committee has beautified our city and reduced the ecological footprint created through a century of mining activities. In the process VETAC’s work has breathed hope into this community, attracting new residents and new business investment and helping this community become more sustainable.”

Sudbury’s transformation gave citizens a new positive image of their city. Early progress in regreening the devastated landscape inspired and encouraged citizens to become active in other environment-friendly activities.

Between 1978 and 2007, the “Greening of Sudbury” has seen 3,300 hectares limed and seeded, and more than 8.8 million trees and 43,427 shrubs planted. The majority of the trees planted are jack, red and white pine, the original species that were cut down in the region more than 100 years ago.

This is one of the largest regreening efforts in the world. It has been estimated that a total of 15 million trees have been planted over the past 30 years by VETAC, industry, and the community.

VETAC supplies seedlings, planting equipment and guidance to groups, clubs and schools. It also distributes thousands of pine seedlings every year to citizens for residential planting.

In the late 1960s, the Ontario government passed the Air Pollution Act, which prompted Inco to build the superstack in 1972. This effort to reduce emissions and improve the air quality, encouraged community leaders and people interested in the environment to discover a path to ecological recovery.

VETAC grew out of the Technical Tree Planting Committee established in October 1973, with volunteer representation from Cambrian College, Laurentian University, Inco, Falconbridge, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Nickel District Conservation Authority and regional and municipal governments.

The current chair of VETAC, Peter Beckett, has been an advisory panel member since 1978. Beckett is a previous winner of a Community Builders Award in the Environment category. Vice-chair, Bill Lautenbach, director of planning services with the city, has also served on the advisory panel for many years.

Early members include the late Tom Peters, a pioneer in land reclamation, and the late Keith Winterhalder.

Winderhalder, a botanist professor at Laurentian University, was the chair of VETAC from 1978 to 1999. His research resulted in finding a way to use ground limestone to neutralize the negative effects of elevated soil metal levels on plant growth. He also discovered that sparse grass cover could be grown on hillsides treated with crushed limestone, fertilizer and grass seed. This created a fertile base for birch, willow and poplar seeds, as well as the successful planting of pine seedlings.

“VETAC did not, of course, act alone,” says David Pearson, science director at Science North. “Federal and provincial governments provided funding, along with the two mining companies Inco and Falconbridge...Without the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in new technology by the mining companies that drastically reduced sulphurous emissions, all efforts of VETAC would have come to nothing.”

Other benefits of VETAC’s activities included jobs for more than 4,400 students and unemployed individuals; a partnership between all segments of the community; governmental, educational, industrial and community organizations, as well as private citizens; international, national, and Ontario award recognition; and publication of numerous articles in the media and in scientific journals on the program.

For the past three years, a sub-committee of VETAC, with the help of many community sponsors, has held the Ugliest Schoolyard Contest.

VETAC continues to develop programs to enhance Sudbury’s landscape. Grassed areas, sparse birch woods and lake quality improvements through watershed and erosion control plantings will be given priority. Careful planning and planting of a greater mixture of species will also contribute to developing diverse, self-sustaining forest ecosystems that provide ample opportunities for passive recreation, and contribute to removing “greenhouse” gases from the air.
Members of VETAC have many reasons to celebrate.