VANESSA PURDY: Four Hamilton companies have landed huge contracts in a $1.5-billion wind-energy project. The project–offshore on the Wolfe Island Shoals near Kingston—is set to produce 300-megawatts, says Windstream Energy. It is expected that most of the 1,900 manufacturing jobs associated with it will end up in Hamilton.

The companies involved are Walters Group, McKeil Marine, the Hamilton Port authority, and Bermingham Foundation Solutions. They also form a manufacturing consortium known as the Lake Ontario Offshore Network, and lobby governments about the economic benefits of wind energy. A figure for the dollar value of the local contracts has yet to be released. As well, the project does not currently have a timeline given the Ontario government’s decision about a year ago to place a moratorium on new wind energy projects.

So far, feedback from the city seems largely positive, with councilors citing the project as revitalizing the manufacturing sector, and perhaps marking Hamilton as a future hub for offshore wind farms– the market for which is growing considerably in the United States. An economic impact study done by Windstream, which is a privately-owned Ontario-based company backed by American investors, says approximately $700 million of the total investment in the project would remain in Ontario. Windstream holds the only approved offshore wind energy generation feed-in tariff contract in Ontario, but the province has not yet given the okay to start construction. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY: In a new, national ad campaign launched last week, Environmental Defence Canada aims to inform Canadians of the potentially harmful substances in personal care products, used every day by many Canadians.

The 60-second ad, entitled “How To Look Pretty Without Poisoning Yourself,” calls on the federal government to ban harmful ingredients, often undisclosed, that are found in cosmetics. Environmental Defense hopes the campaign will spur Canada into following Europe’s lead in improving labeling and restricting toxic substances. Whether or not the government will give its cosmetic industry a legislation-based makeover remains to be seen. For more information on the chemicals and cosmetics in question, you can visit the campaign’s site www.justbeautiful.ca. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY: The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, CAPP, is facing controversy after hiring Angie Leonard. Leonard is the sister of Energy Minister Craig Leonard and, until recently, a member of the New Brunswick government’s shale gas working group of civil servants focused on creating regulatory framework for the shale gas industry. Now, she is a senior natural as advisor for the CAPP, one of the oil-and-gas industry’s biggest lobby groups.

Of more concern than the familial connection is the fact that Leonard is now working on the behalf of an industry that she was regulating a week ago. However, there is no law that prevents this sort of association. Last year, the PC government tried to pass a lobbyist registry law that would have made lobbyists accountable to the public and identify their clients, had it passed.

A representative of the Department of Natural resources, Steve Benteau, has clarified that Leonard will not have access to ministers or other senior officials who deal with the shale gas issue, due to the perceived conflict of interest. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY: A community well in Keno City, Yukon, is undergoing closer monitoring after it was recently found to contain high levels of zinc and cadmium. The results were found during mine reclamation work, and one of the five, newly-installed monitoring wells showed levels well above those acceptable for drinking water by national standards. The well in question is not currently being used by citizens, said a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services. However, owners of four neighboring private wells are being asked not to use their water.

Government officials will increase monitoring to once a month for the next six months, and quarter-annually thereafter. The government is also offering to cover water testing coast for any private wells in close proximity. The test were done and high levels of the potentially kidney-damaging metals were confirmed back in October, but the data is only becoming public now. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY: This Thursday, a study published in the journal Environmental reviews, draws attention to the growing problem of invasive species in Canada—a problem exacerbated by climate change. Andrea Smith, a York University biologist, studied the academically- neglected correlation between global warming and the spread and increase of invasive species. Her results illuminate a veritable threat posed by non-native species such as the mountain pine beetle, and deer ticks.

Smith could find only a few dozen studies specifically addressing how invasive species are taking advantage of Canada’s environmental change. One of these estimated that at least 1,500 non-native species are already in Canada; although their arrivals cannot all be attributed to climate change. This study also noted the cost to the Canadian economy of a mere 16 of the aforementioned species could be upwards of 13.3 billion, annually.

As it stands, there is little in terms of policy work being done on the subject. Regulation in this area is divvied up between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Natural Resources Canada; the latter of which opened a research centre on invasive species in 2009.

Smith’s study calls for the study of common characteristics in the species and climate predictions in order to create a list of high-risk invasive species, and then direct policy accordingly. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW (read by Ariel Rabinovitch): A South Korean cargo ship carrying 120 tons of fuel has exploded earlier this week, leaving it half submerged off the country’s west coast. The ship, which usually carries refined petroleum products and chemicals, was carrying 80 tons of bunker-C oil and 40 tons of diesel fuel when it exploded.

The ship’s captain believes the explosion was caused by static electricity which ignited gasoline vapors from an onboard tank. There have been no reports of a fuel leak. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW (read by Ariel Rabinovitch): Following large street protests by environmentalists, Bulgaria has become the second European country after France to ban exploratory shale gas drilling also known as fracking. On Wednesday MP’s voted overwhelmingly for a ban and revoked a shale gas permit to U.S. based oil giant Chevron.

Critics opposed to fracking says the process of pumping water, sand, and chemicals at a high pressure to release pockets of gas from rocks contaminates ground water and causes earth tremors. Industry professionals claims correct drilling is safe. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW (read by Ariel Rabinovitch): The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service warns of a possible extinction as 5.5 million bats are estimated to have died in North America from a fungus. The fungus called the white-nose syndrome was first documented in bats hibernating in a cave in Albany in 2006. Biologists are reporting a mortality rate of 90-100% and fear the fungus will continue to spread through several species, including some that are endangered.

Although the cause remains a mystery, one theory is that humans may have introduced the fungus while exploring caves. In 2009, thousands of caves and former mines in national forests were closed up for a year as an attempt to control the spread of the fungus. [ index ]