SHAK HAQ: Ontario has plans for a massive boost to its electricity grid, which would place the province among the top green leaders in North America. The province has set aside a sum of $2.3 billion for this three-year project, which will create 20,000 jobs and provide green electricity to residential and business centres. Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman reports that Hydro One will be expanding the power-carrying transmission and distribution lines, which run through aboriginal territories and reach as far north as Kapuskasing and Kenora. With 20 projects scheduled the Minister stated that “Ontario intends to be North America’s leader in renewable energy.” Despite the positive attitude put forth by the Minister, the communities affected by the expansion will need to be consulted. According to Don MacKinnon, president and CEO of the Power Workers Union, the consultation with the communities could make the three-year timeline unrealistic. He cites NIMBYism as a potential problem and gives the example of Hydro One’s $600 million dollar plan to expand a line between Milton and Bruce County, which is on hold because of community and aboriginal resistance. The wind industry is highly in favour of this investment and sees it as a way to make wind and other renewable energy projects more mainstream. Despite the difficult economic times this will be a record year for wind-energy development in Canada. By the end of this year turbines in Canada will be able to generate approximately 3,200 megawatts of power, although the average output lies at about one-third that number. They are expecting 2010 to break this record as the economy is expected to improve and progressive energy policies and investments are springing up in Ontario. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: The British Columbia Supreme Court rejected a bid by a native band to stop the expansion of the Cache Creek landfill, where most of Vancouver’s garbage is dumped. This will allow Vancouver to continue sending garbage to the landfill for at least two more years. The landfill was scheduled to close in 2010 and upon its closure Vancouver would start shipping garbage to the US until a long-term solution was in place. However, in its Throne Speech last month, the BC government stated they refused to allow the export of garbage. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Environment approved a 40-hectare expansion to the landfill that extends its life to 2012 and allows Vancouver more time to find alternative solutions. This expansion is what led to the lawsuit filed earlier this month by the people of the Nlaka’pamux Nation. They argued the province neglected its legal and constitutional duty to consult the first nation group about the expansion. The Supreme Court judge rejected the claim and responded that the province’s Environment Assessment Office had properly consulted the group prior to going forth with expansion plans. There may be further plans for extension beyond 2012, but for the moment the current expansion provides an alternative to incineration. [ index ]

JORDAN POPPENK: In a major victory for Simcoe County residents in Ontario that would have seemed impossible just months ago, Simcoe County Council met this week and voted to permanently terminate the Site 41 dumpsite. The motion to end the project passed with a vote of 29 for and only three opposing, including Bradford Mayor Doug White, Deputy Mayor Dennis Roughley and Severn Township Mayor Phil Sled. While the council had already imposed a one-year moratorium on the project last month, the current motion calls for an permanent end to construction and all future development of Site 41, also known as the North Simcoe Landfill Site. The site was first proposed 25 years ago, and has since been subject to countless studies, meetings, and protests. Residents were concerned that the dumpsite was to be placed atop the Alliston aquifer, which connects with water supplies throughout the Simcoe region. In addition, several years ago, scientist Dr. William Schodyk found water from the aquifer to be exceptionally pure – more so than any natural spring on the planet. While residents are celebrating the victory, the fight to block the dump is not entirely over, as the Ontario Ministry of the Environment still has an environmental certificate of approval outstanding for the site, a document that is transferrable. In other words, if Simcoe county were to sell the land, the buyer would be entitled to operate the property as a waste management facility. Ministry officials have indicated that they would revoke the certificate if asked by Simcoe County, but the matter has not yet come to a vote. In addition, criminal charges of mischief are still outstanding against a number of people who protested the dump site. Local and fist nations protesters have vowed to continue their fight until the remaining charges are dropped and the certificate revoked. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: The City of Toronto is now facing serious charges for discharging partially treated sewage into Ashbridges Bay in Lake Ontario for five days following a heavy rainstorm that occurred in November 2006. As a result of the storm, Ontario’s environment ministry had granted approval for the plant to bypass the full treatment process for two days to prevent flooding, but the discharge continued for three more days, said a spokesperson for the ministry. Partially treated sewage, which refers to waste water that has had solids removed, has already been legally released into Ashbridges Bay 11 times this year. According to environmental group Ecojustice Canada, it is a common problem to 89 Ontario municipalities where untreated sewage and rainwater are collected in a single pipe. The city has tried to implement initiatives such as requiring homeowners to detach gutter downspouts from drains and redirect rainwater onto lawns and gardens, but even this may not be enough. Experts recommend that the 25 per cent of the sewers that are still combined need to be separated in addition to better management of storm water higher up in the watershed. The charges were filed last year in November after a lengthy investigation and since then there have been four court dates and a pretrial hearing is scheduled for October 20. The city has also been charged with failing to record the daily sewage flow rate as required by the ministry. Despite the allegations against the city, it may be the Toronto taxpayers that have to pay the fines that range from $150,000 to $30-million. A spokesperson for Toronto Water stated that “The City will defend itself vigorously against the charges.” [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: A recent study based in Washington and Oregon has declared salmon to be a “keystone species”. A keystone species is defined as a species that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community and whose impact on the community is greater than would be expected based on its relative abundance or total biomass. If a keystone species were removed from an ecosystem it would collapse. The study identified 138 species of terrestrial and aquatic mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians that feed on salmon on the North American west coast. Researchers found nine species to be so dependent on the salmon that their distribution, viability, abundance, and population status were directly related to availability of the salmon. The nine species include: grizzly bear, black bear, killer whale, river otter, bald eagle, Caspian tern, common merganser, osprey and harlequin duck. The report strongly advised wildlife managers to be “aware that salmon can be viewed as the centre of a broad ‘functional web’ of wildlife and…thus [are] a keystone species.” [ index ]

JORDAN POPPENK: Activists from Greenpeace successfully broke into a tar sands operation in Alberta this week and held up production for hours as they chained themselves to equipment and unveiled a banner reading “TAR SANDS: CLIMATE CRIME” on a major access road. More than 20 American, Canadian and French activists broke into Shell Canada’s Albian Muskeg River oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray and successfully halted production at the mine for six hours. The protest lasted for 30 hours and ended with a negotiated settlement between Greenpeace and Shell with the activists leaving peacefully and Shell agreeing not to press charges. The action was timed to coincide with the release of a report by Greenpeace condemning the tar sands as well as a visit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to U.S. President Barrack Obama. The protest leaked into coverage of the U.S. / Canada summit on major U.S. networks. [ index ]

JORDAN POPPENK: Shortly after the tar sands action, recent Alberta energy minister Pat Nelson spoke out about the action denouncing Shell Canada producers, saying they should be embarrassed that protesters were able to sneak into their property. Nelson called for tar sands producers to “wake up” and ramp up big-budget public relations campaigns, and indirectly encouraged industry leaders to use force as a way to stop future protests. Nelson made the comments while addressing business leaders at the Oil Sands Trade Show and Conference in Edmonton. She said, “Wake up, people! It’s no wonder what we are getting the wrong messages. Every other country in the world would have stopped them at the gates, even if it meant using force. What a message to send.” Pat Nelson left her office as Alberta Energy Minister in 2004 to become the vice-chairman of an industry group called the In Situ Oil Sands Alliance. [ index ]