Arthur Choquette, a long-time wild blueberry picker in Sudbury, Ontario, has noticed a decline in the blueberry crop over the years due to the city’s successful regreening efforts since the 1970s. The construction of the Superstack in the early ’70s by mining company Inco, aimed at mitigating the environmental impact of mining operations, altered the acidity levels crucial for blueberry growth in the region.
Sudbury was once characterized by black rock and stunted trees from sulphur dioxide emissions at the Copper Cliff smelter before the construction of the Superstack. This towering structure, Canada’s tallest until the CN Tower was erected in 1975, helped disperse emissions over a wider area, reducing their impact on the environment.
In 2020, Vale, which acquired Inco’s Sudbury operations in 2006, decommissioned the Superstack as part of the $1-billion Clean Atmospheric Emission Reduction (AER) project, resulting in an 85% reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions. Combined with a community-driven initiative that planted 10 million trees, Sudbury’s landscape has significantly transformed into a greener environment, albeit at the expense of wild blueberries.
Professor Peter Beckett, a key figure in Sudbury’s regreening project, highlighted that the shift in soil conditions, particularly the addition of limestone to encourage grass and tree growth, has impacted the blueberry shrubs. Blueberries thrive in acidic, nutrient-poor soil, and the changes have led to increased competition from other plants for sunlight.
The city’s advisory panel on regreening is now focusing on finding a balance to protect existing blueberry patches. However, the challenge lies in identifying these areas, as many pickers keep their locations secret. The blueberry-picking season has become unpredictable, with variations in ripening times due to changing weather patterns, affecting both pickers like Choquette and the pollinator population critical for plant fertilization.
As the trend of declining pollinators continues, Beckett emphasized the need for enhanced efforts to safeguard and manage Sudbury’s remaining blueberry shrubs.