An old golf cart is out of Lake Ontario on Tuesday near Toronto Islands.Ports Toronto
An old golf cart, rusted and riddled with zebra mussels, was lifted from Lake Ontario near the Toronto Islands on Tuesday, leaving a sheen of its remaining gasoline flickering on the surface.
Efforts to haul the cart out of the lake stretched on for an hour and a half, longer than expected, as curious onlookers gathered. When the cart finally breached the surface, it was impossible to identify, since no logos or branding could be discerned beneath a five-to-ten-year-old crust of mussels. Island residents simply said the cart appeared to be a very old model.
“When we pulled it out, we were actually surprised it stayed in one piece,” said Nancy Gaffney, a waterfront specialist with the Toronto and Region Conservation authority. Ms. Gaffney, along with colleagues and volunteers from organizations across the city, had congregated on the shores of the Toronto Islands for a targeted cleanup effort, focusing on large, heavy items that washed ashore during the “unprecedented high” in Lake Ontario water levels last year.
This was the first organized cleanup of such a scale on the islands, according to Ms. Gaffney. Several groups from around the city donated time or vessels to the efforts, after a similar event held by the conservation authority earlier this year near Scarborough Bluffs fished out barbeques and old cars from the water near East Point. That used to be a popular spot for folks to drive their old unwanted vehicles into the lake, Ms. Gaffney said.
Near the islands, lawn chairs, old boats and lawnmowers littered the lake bottom. “It looked like a bomb went off, quite literally,” Ms. Gaffney said. City staff had spent time before the cleanup identifying areas that could be reached by their equipment to make the maximum impact. They had also mapped out the general location of large items.
Volunteers from the Toronto police marine unit dove into the water Tuesday, found the items of interest and used their hands to dig through the surrounding silt and build-up. They wrapped straps around the discarded items and affixed a crane hook that was attached to a PortsToronto tugboat called the Iron Guppy. After the cart was hauled to the surface, a buoyant collective material was used to surround the gasoline residue and remove it.
“Pretty much everybody that was involved participated in some aspect to remove that golf cart,” said Chris Sawicki, PortsToronto’s vice-president of infrastructure, planning and environment.
“I think people are more aware of the impact those things have on the lake and the natural environment,” Ms. Gaffney said, noting that the issue extended well beyond Toronto. The general public could never hold a cleanup like this though, she said, primarily for safety reasons. For this effort, several agencies were required to come together with proper safety precautions and equipment.
“It’s just a golf cart, how exciting can that be?” Ms. Gaffney asked, before answering that she saw the cart removal as much more than a singular item. Hauling it out took substantial volunteer time, energy and effort that would otherwise have come at a “big expense" to the city or other agencies.
“Everyone was just excited to do something that can’t normally be done,” she said. And she hopes that the image of a mussel-covered cart being pulled from the water is eye-catching enough to make people pay attention to the cleanup efforts.
“It was a nice, iconic thing that we needed.”