Sarnia

Sarnia is a city in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, Canada (2011 population 72,366; Urban Area population 79,526; Census Agglomeration population 89,555). It is the largest city on Lake Huron and in Lambton County. It is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River, across the border east of Port Huron, Michigan.

The city's natural harbour first attracted the French explorer La Salle, who named the site "The Rapids" when he had horses and men pull his 45-ton Barque "Le Griffon" up the almost four knot current of the St. Clair River on 24 August 1679. This was the first time anything other than a canoe or other oar-powered vessel sailed into Lake Huron. La Salle's voyage led the way for commercial shipping on the Great Lakes. The Archaeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario considers this voyage worthy of note, as shown by the photo.

The Sarnia port remains an important centre for lake freighters and oceangoing ships (known as "salties") carrying cargoes of grain and petroleum products.

The natural port and the salt caverns that exist in the surrounding areas, coupled with the oil discovered in nearby Oil Springs in 1858 led to the massive growth of the petroleum industry in this area. Since Oil Springs was the first place in Canada and North America to commercially drill for oil, the knowledge that was acquired there and strengthened in Sarnia led to Sarnians traveling the world teaching other nations how to drill for oil. The complex of refining and chemical companies, called Chemical Valley and located south of downtown Sarnia, once adorned the back of the Canadian ten-dollar bill. Sarnia has the highest level of particulates air pollution of any Canadian city. Forty-five percent of this comes from Chemical Valley, and the rest comes from the neighbouring United States. The Canada Wide Daily Standard for MP2.5 is 30 micrograms per cubic meter. This standard was exceeded on one day during 2011.

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