TYLER IRVING: If you are listening to this broadcast in Canada, it’s very likely that your body contains low levels of lead, mercury, and the chemical BPA. Those are the findings of a comprehensive health survey released on Monday by Statistics Canada.

The study examined the health of 5000 Canadians from various age groups, using questionnaires, as well as blood and urine samples. Lead was detected in 100 per cent of the population. However, levels were only about one third of what they were 30 years ago. The drop is likely due to the bans on lead in gasoline and other products that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Mercury was found in 88% of the population.

The study also marked the first time that levels of the chemical bis-phenol A or BPA were measured across the Canadian population. BPA is used in many plastics and some research suggests it could affect human health by mimicking the action of estrogen in the body. BPA was found in 91% of the population, but at levels that indicate exposure below the recommended limits set by Health Canada. Nevertheless, environmentalists are concerned at how widespread exposure to BPA appears to be. BPA was banned in products for children in 2008. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE: The Black Rockfish, fished to local extinction East of Vancouver Island in the 1990s, appears to have been successfully re-introduced.

The Black Rockfish was once plentiful in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland and was a popular catch for sport fishing. However, they were fished out of the area completely by the mid-1990s.

In 1996, the Vancouver Aquarium decided to try and re-introduce the species by capturing young Rockfish from the West coast of Vancouver Island, raise them in aquariums to a larger size, and then release them off of Point Atkinson, North of the City.

The effort appears to have worked, as researchers at the aquarium have reported finding new young in the area this week. The presence of new juveniles indicates that the introduced fish were able to re-establish a breeding population.

The aquarium hopes that this will help restore a missing piece to the local marine ecosystem. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: The province of Ontario has reversed an earlier decision to decrease the value of the tariff it will pay to ground-based solar energy producers. The announcement was much to the relief of farmers who had already invested in costly solar systems.

One year ago, as part of the Green Energy Act, the province proposed to buy electricity from small-scale solar producers at a price of 80 cents per kilowatt-hour, much higher than the current market rate. However, it received far more applications for this program than it anticipated. By July 2, with potential costs looming, the decision was made to reduce the value of the tariff to 58.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. As we reported at the time, this angered many small-scale producers who had already applied for funding based on the higher value. After much pressure, the government suspended the program to allow a 30-day public consultation period.

That period ended Friday with a decision to honour the original 80-cent agreement for claims that were submitted before the July 2. Subsequent applications will receive a reduced tariff of 64.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. While farmers are relieved that their investments are safe, taxpayers associations are angry, as the more expensive energy will be reflected in the cost of their power bills. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE: Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion, has been appointed to the United Nation’s panel on Global Sustainability which was created earlier this month.

The Canadian businessman will join parliamentarians and ministers from nations around the globe on the panel, which was convened in order to “formulate a new blueprint” for sustainable growth and economic development.

The panel will issue a report to the UN by the end of 2011. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: In PEI national park, the water in the ocean is fine, but you may want to think twice about stepping in the streams. Several small creeks, known as outflows, that cut across the famous beaches of Cavendish, Stanhope, and North Rustico are closed after health officials found high levels of fecal coliforms in the water.

Fecal coliforms are bacteria that, if ingested, can cause a host of negative symptoms ranging from vomiting to diarrhea. The most likely source of the bacteria is runoff from agricultural land; during heavy rains, water can bypass the natural filtering system of the soil. This type of runoff is also suspected to be the source of several low-oxygen events that have killed fish in PEI’s rivers over the summer. The department of the environment is currently investigating.

Parks officials stress that the water can only harm people if it is ingested, so walking through and around the streams is still safe, provided people wash their hands and feet afterward. The fecal coliforms will not affect the quality of the ocean water, so visitors are being encouraged to continue enjoying PEI’s world-renowned beaches. Parks officials are monitoring the streams and will re-open them when it is again safe. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE: The Sierra Club of Canada announced this week it will go to court seeking to stop construction of the Detroit River International Crossing, a new bridge that will link the city of Windsor in Southern Ontario with Detroit, Michigan.

In its statement, the Sierra Club states it is pursuing legal action to protect the Ojibway Prairie Complex, a series of natural areas near Windsor home to a number of rare plant and reptile species. The Sierra Club believes construction of the bridge would irreparably harm these ecosystems.

Both the Federal government and the government of Ontario completed and approved environmental assessments of the project in 2009 after studying a number of prospective locations for the crossing.

The Detroit-WIndsor crossing is one of the busiest in North America, and governments on both sides of the border claim the new bridge is needed to speed the crossing and alleviate congestion. [ index ]

NAOMI JEHLICKA: The moratorium on deep water drilling in the US may soon be lifted as the White House is on the brink of announcing new guidelines regarding the environmental assessment of oil drilling.

This past Monday, the Obama administration announced they are well on their way to implementing a national regulatory framework that will impose tighter restrictions on both shallow and deep water sea drilling practises.

Of note is that under these new policies, all companies will be required to undergo rigorous environmental assessments when applying for drilling permits. Categorical exclusions, which many claim to be a significant contributor to the BP oil spill, will no longer be granted.

Unsurprisingly, the American Petroleum Institution is upset with the proposed legislation, arguing that the reviews will create unnecessary delays without adding any real environmental protection. [ index ]

NAOMI JEHLICKA: Across the Atlantic in Scotland, energy giant Burntisland Fabrications secured a £ 2 million contract that will allow for the building of what will be the world’s most advanced tidal energy turbine farm.

Developed in 1966, tidal power is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful and renewable energy. While praised for greater predictability than other forms of sustainable energy, high production costs have traditionally prevent tidal from achieving its full potential. However, a Scottish research and development project has redesigned the power converters to allow for lower production costs, which in turn made this project affordable.

This 10MW tidal energy project is expected to take two years to build. If everything goes as planned, the Scottish government will be well on its way of achieving its goal of generating over 20 GW of clean energy within the next 10 years. [ index ]

NAOMI JEHLICKA: A report published by the Wildlife Conservation Society confirms what many marine biologists all across the world have been dreading: that the coral reef off north-western Indonesia is dying at an incredibly fast rate.

A three month expedition was launched after the Wildlife Conservation Society received reports of a bleaching incident in May 2010. Bleaching occurs when algae living in coral tissues are exposed to unnatural conditions, sometimes resulting in death.

Of the samples collected, over 80 percent have died since the initial assessment with more colonies expected to die within the next few months.

Of note is that these plants are normally quite hardy, withstanding natural catastrophes such as the 2004 tsunami. Scientists have identified the sharp increase in water temperature – a side effect of global warming – as the prime culprit.

In a press release issued yesterday, the Marine Program Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Dr. Caleb McClennen, lamented that this a terrible tragedy for some of the world’s most biodiverse coral reefs and for people who depend on the reefs for food. [ index ]