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This article was published 1/4/2014 (2363 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The International Institute for Sustainable Development has an agreement in principle to assume operations of the Experimental Lakes Area.

The Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development has taken over the Experimental Lakes Area and its research.

Three governments signed a deal late Monday on an agreement transfering the world-famous research centre and its 58 small lakes to the IISD.

The agreement is over a year in the making. The transfer required separate deals between Ontario and IISD, between Canada and IISD, and a trilateral Canada-Ontario-IISD agreement.

The three agreements involving IISD were preceded by two bilateral Canada-Ontario pacts.

One of the big hurdles was determining how to share responsibility for liability of past and future experiments. The deadline to reach an agreement was Monday midnight.

The Harper government announced in 2012 it was closing the station to save $2 million per year.

The agreement means ongoing research projects at the ELA can restart this summer.