KATHERINE BROWN: The construction of a landfill at Site 41 has been put to a halt. The County of Simcoe voted 86 percent in favour of placing a one-year moratorium on the building of the landfill site this past Tuesday. Site 41 is located in Tiny Township, north of Barrie in Ontario. The landfill has become a point of contentious debate because people fear that it could contaminate the massive aquifer below the site. The moratorium is a significant victory for the environmental activists, farmers, and the Indigenous Peoples who have banned together to protest the construction of the site. In the last few months a protest camp with more than a dozen tents was built on the site—and 18 protestors were arrested. But the conflict over Site 41 has been raging for 25 years– the site was originally selected in the mid 1980s. The county only approved the construction of the landfill in 2007, by a one-vote margin. The moratorium passed Tuesday means that no construction can take place before 2011. And it seems that the battle over Site 41 may be nearing an end. The moratorium sets the stage for another vote to come next month that will determine the future fate of the site. Based on Tuesday’s broad council support, opponents of the site expect another victory. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: A battle is heating up between the City of Toronto and the Toronto Star Newspaper over Toronto’s green bin program. This week a libel notice was issued to the Toronto Star Newspaper on behalf of Toronto’s top waste official Geoff Rathbone, over stories it ran criticizing Toronto’s green bin program. Over the past several weeks the Toronto Star has reported several problems with the green bin program including the organic waste, which is supposedly composted and recycled, being disposed of in ditches and routinely being mixed in with regular garbage and shipped to landfill including some anonymous statements supposedly from current and former city waste officials. The libel notice accused the newspaper of accusing Mr. Rathbone of intentionally misleading the public in its frequent reference to a 30% statistic that is commonly used by city officials when referring to the green bin program. The actual 30% figure refers to the amount of waste that is possible to be a diverted by the green bin program, and not the closer to 16% that is actually being diverted by residents. Some City Councillors, including Denzil Minnan-Wong said that they were surprised to learn of the actual, lower figures and had some councillors asking why the city was not doing more to encourage or enforce participation to assist with Mr. Millers 70% waste diversion target. In response to the libel suit issued on behalf of Mr. Rathbone, the Star sent a letter to the city asking for clarification of its repeatedly documented use of the 30% figure in reference to its green bin program. Whatever courts decide over the libel accusation, the green bin program is becoming a focal point for questions into the cities transparency over its programs, particularly where waste management is concerned. We will continue to follow the issue as it develops. [ index ]

KATHERINE BROWN: The ‘green majority’ has spoken: an economic recession is no excuse for the government to ease up on environmental efforts. These results came from a new opinion poll that was conducted by The Canadian Press Harris-Decima. It found that while voters are worried about the economy they still want the government to take action to protect the environment. The survey found that 67 percent of voters said the environment should be just as much a priority as the economy. Only 26 percent of voters thought the environment to be of secondary concern. Interestingly, this advocacy for the environment was pretty widespread across Canada. It was mainly unaffected by gender, salary, or political affiliation. However, males, Conservative supporters, and those in the West were slightly more likely to support the economy over the environment. The poll also revealed that 74 percent of respondents don’t feel the current governments are doing enough for the environment. These findings are seen as being somewhat surprising because usually when hard economic times hit, other issues are moved to the back burner. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Natural Gas prices crash, taking budget predictions with them. The price of natural gas has dropped by more than half this year from last, making a major dent in the royalties that provinces collect, especially in Alberta and British Colombia. Alberta is reporting this week that it will shortfall its budget by nearly $7 billion dollars for the 2009/10 period taking a huge chuck out its $17 billion dollar “rainy day” sustainability fund. Alberta finance minister Iris Evans announced that the shortfall would be $2.2 billion worse that the previously predicted shortfall calling it a “real kick in the head” for Alberta. The B.C. government is also expecting a shortfall of only $3 billion, but is a figure nearly 6 times greater than predicted in its previous budget. While Alberta is primarily thought of with respect to its growing tar sands industries, it is actually still primarily a natural gas producer and is responsible of about 75% of Canada’s natural gas production. Due to this, a $1 drop in natural gas prices will hit the provincial pockets for a $1.3 billion dollars in annual royalties, and in B.C. it knocks off $300 million. Alberta, aware that natural gas was diving, has moved to pass even more favourable policies and incentives for drilling, which was soon copied by B.C. as well. While Alberta and B.C. can expect big cuts in public spending on the next budget, Alberta has promised that its controversial $2 billion carbon capture and storage research and development plan would not be cut, citing its commitment to work towards cleaning up the world’s dirties oil from its northern tar sands. [ index ]

KATHERINE BROWN: After a hot summer, bike thefts in Vancouver are on the rise. In a three-week period in August, a total of 257 bikes were reported as stolen to police. This is up considerably from last year’s 167 bikes stolen in the same period. This year, at least 1,417 bikes have already been stolen. A total of 1,596 bikes were stolen in Vancouver last year. There are still four months left in this year- so police expect that the number of bike thefts will exceed last year’s. Constable McGuinness is the Vancouver Police spokeswoman. She’s said that the extended warm weather has probably made bikes an easier target for thieves because more people are out riding around the city. To deter thieves, police suggest that owners record their bike’s serial numbers and take note of any additions made to the bike after it was first purchased. Strong locks are also a must. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: A tunnel has been proposed in Toronto linking the mainland with a private airport on the Toronto Island. The proposal was submitted by the Toronto Port Authority to Transportation Minister John Baird for federal stimulus support which would cover half of the $38 million dollar price tag. The other $19 million would be left to the Toronto Port Authority and the Province to fund. While the premier of Ontario refused to make any conclusive statements about the projects chances, he did say that the project was “worthy of consideration”, and unnamed federal officials told Global news that the application for federal stimulus funding would “meet a favourable response”. The proposed tunnel would stretch from the bottom of Bathurst St. to the airport on the island through a 120 meter long, 8 meter wide and 4 meter high pedestrian only corridor under the Lake Ontario. The tunnel is also proposed to be fitted with moving sidewalks, all of which would service exclusively Porter Airlines customers. The Island airport has already been the source of many disputes over several years starting with some protest over allowing the airport to be built and then expanded in the first place. Much of the criticism over the current proposal lies with the fact that almost all of the $38 million dollars for the project would come from various sources of public money, and would benefit only a private company and its customers. In additions to the funding concerns, environmental concerns have also been raised over the continued support and expansion of an airport less than 200 meters from the densely populated Toronto city core. Toronto Mayor David Miller has vocally opposed the project and others like it since taking office including being elected partially on his strong opposition to a similar bridge proposal to the airport in 2003. The Toronto Port Authority however said this week that because the plan involves constructing the tunnel on TPA land, that “There’s no legal basis for them to oppose it. Period”. [ index ]

KATHERINE BROWN: A town in Quebec has passed a bylaw to limit noise pollution. Residents will be fined if they are too loud when conducting home repairs or auto-body work on Sundays. The bylaw has been passed in the 60,000 person city of Granby. The law would impose a fine ranging from $150 to $1,000. It is set to take effect at the end of the month. The bid for a silent Sunday has also become a point of heated debate in Granby. Construction entrepreneurs, for one, feel that they bylaw interferes with their business. Other opponents of the law argue that it violates citizens’ rights– they are prepared to fight the Sunday noise ban in court. Eric Greenspoon is the head of an Ontario-based group dedicated to lowering noise pollution named NoiseWatch. Although some opponents of the law feel it is far too harsh, Greenspoon feels it’s an appropriate target. After all, as cities get louder and louder, it becomes often too difficult to find a peaceful moment of quiet in your own backyard. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Penobsquis, New Brunswick residents are fighting a potentially unlawful drinking water contract. In 2004, wells for nearly a hundred households in a particular area of town mysteriously went dry. Residents of the small New Brunswick community were finally able to gain access to a permanent source of water, but many are balking at the price. Although the exact cause of the dry wells was never conclusively determined, many locals blamed a nearby potash mine operated by Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. Though the company did not accept responsibility, it did partner with the provincial government to deliver water to the households until a permanent solution could be found. That solution came this month, when work on a new water delivery system from the nearby village of Sussex Corner was completed. Residents can get hooked up to the system for free until October 16. However, the village is charging an annual fee of $400 per household to operate the system, and at least 16 families have refused to sign the contract. Among other things, they want assurances that the fee will not increase, and the contract altered to allow water to be used for livestock. They have retained an environmental lawyer to argue their case with the village, but municipal officials have refused to meet with them. Meanwhile, time is running out. Recently the provincial government send a registered letter to those families, stating that water delivery will stop on Sept. 22. Residents however have indicated that the mood of the situation is souring, saying that they feel bullied into signing the contracts. [ index ]