CHRIS HANNAY: A year after nearly vanishing, British Columbia’s sockeye salmon are back.
Twenty-five million sockeye are surging up the Fraser River this week, as fishermen scramble to make up for lean years during a 32-hour window.
Some are saying this may be the Fraser River’s best salmon run in nearly 100 years.
As we’ve previously reported, last year less than 1.5 million sockeye swam through the river – that being about one-tenth of the expected 11 million sockeye.
This was also the first time in four years that commercial fishing has been permitted.
Of course, this abundance of sockeye was much more than fishery scientists expected.
Most had predicted a salmon run of closer to 10 million, but there was less than a 1-in-5 chance that 25 million fish would return.
Experts are saying that this was an unusually good year for the salmon, but that it is unlikely this many will return next year. [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON: NASA is reporting a chunk of ice roughly the size of Bermuda broke off the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf located on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. Using satellite imaging, NASA believes the fractured ice to have fallen off around August 18th.

The Arctic waters have already seen two other chunks of notable size fall of their respective ice shelves this summer, one off the Petermann glacier and another off the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier, both located on the coasts of Greenland.

The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf has been eroding for years with very notable cracks arising in 2002. It is also just one of the multiple ice shelfs along the island coast that have been consistently eroding over the past few decades. Large cracks run directly down the centre of the glacier, indicating that even the strongest and densest portion of the ice shelf are subject to this erosion.

The season for ice loss is not over for one more month and in this time further erosion of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf may occur, specifically on eastern side of the glacier. [ index ]

CHRIS HANNAY: British Columbia has a clear vision for protecting its ecology, but lacks the proper plans and policies to carry through on that vision, according to B.C.’s Auditor-General.
Auditor-General John Doyle released a report this week saying BC Parks has claimed more and more land for conservation, but remains underfunded and disorganized.
BC Parks runs the province’s conservation areas and provincial parks and is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.
The Auditor-General points out that many North American animals have lost habitat across the continent, and that British Columbia is one of their last refuges.
For example, 17,000 grizzly bears live in B.C., making it the second-biggest home for the beasts aside from Alaska, while California has lost all of its 10,000 grizzlies.
The Auditor-General does have some praise for the province.
Amongst other things, he says that 14 per cent of the province’s land is under the purview of BC Parks – the highest percentage of any province in Canada.
B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner has defended BC Parks. Penner has said B.C. is one of the best provinces at preserving natural habitats and that the Auditor-General’s plans would cost too much money at a time when the province is strapped for cash. [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON: The International Joint Commission has warned provincial and state governments that the vast network of oil and mineral pipelines surrounding the Great Lakes is vulnerable to spills. The commission blames substandard monitoring of the pipelines, poor spill detection, and poor cross-border communication for the vulnerability.

In 2006 the commission released a report on spills in the Great Lakes and gave recommendations to the governments on how to avoid such catastrophes. The commission’s Canadian Chair Joe Comuzzi and his U.S. counterpart have recently urged their governments to act on these proposals.

The commission has sprung to life again after the Enbridge spill in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River earlier this summer. The spill was the result of corrosion on the pipelines, something the 2006 report warned against. Since 2006, the Canadian and U.S. government have shown little initiative on solving the problems highlighted in the report.

The Great Lakes provide water to countless homes and industry in both the U.S. and Canada, along with providing irrigation for 25% of Canada’s agriculture production. [ index ]

CHRIS HANNAY: Sustained budget cuts have slashed away at the effectiveness of Environment Canada’s weather services, according to an internal government report.
The report was released through an Access to Information Request filed by the Pembina Institute, an environmental group based out of Alberta.
Among the problems faced by Environment Canada are inaccurate automatic sensors for measuring precipitation, lack of quality control and climate data just not being gathered because of lack of resources and personnel.
Accurate weather data is useful for most people’s day-to-day life, but is also crucial to understanding how climates may change, how and where to build sewer systems and how farmers should plan their crops, among other uses.
The government report places the blame squarely on a lack of money.
It says: “It is clear that the Meteorological Service of Canada no longer has the ability to be all things to all people. Over a decade of sustained funding cuts has seen to that.” [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON: The British Columbian Environment Minister, Barry Penner, has approved Greater Victoria’s plans to overhaul its sewage treatment system, including the construction of a new treatment plant in Esquimalt. The revamp will cost upwards of $750 million and is expected to handle all sewage treatment needs through 2030. Until the construction of this treatment plant is completed, Victoria will continue to pump raw sewage directly into the Pacific Ocean, a practice that has been criticized for years.

The overhaul will also feature large overflow tanks to prevent overflow from being directly pumped into the ocean as before, updating of sedimentation tanks, and an 18-kilometer transportation pipeline designed to remove and transport solid waste direct to a landfill.

Two thirds of the project will be funded by the federal and BC governments leaving one third left to be handled by tax paying property owners, who should expect an extra $500 dollars a year. The plant is expected to prevent the release of over 18 000 tonnes of Carbon and heat into the atmosphere. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE: A U.S. investigation into the cause of the Deepwater Horizon explosion held hearings this week to determine the course of events that led to the worst maritime oil spill in U.S. history. The panel has been trying to determine the cause of the mechanical failure and, importantly, who was in charge.

The question of who was in charge is a costly one, because the companies involved – British Petroleum, which leased the oil rig, Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig, and Halliburton, which poured the cement around the well – are all too aware that whoever is found responsible will be liable for damages in the billions of dollars.

This has led finger-pointing among lawyers for the three companies. With so much conflicting testimony, the chairman of the panel admitted this week that they still have no clear idea who was in charge on the oil rig at the time of the disaster.

British Petroleum, which publicly accepted that the cleanup of the Gulf oil spill was its responsibility, maintains that the responsibility for the explosion which led to the disaster rests with Transocean and Halliburton for not properly installing safety and failsafe mechanisms. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE: A tiger cub was found in the check-in luggage of a Thai woman who was apparently trying to smuggle the animal out of the country. The woman was trying to check her bag for a flight from Bangkok to Iran on Sunday, when an X-ray of the luggage revealed what appeared to be a cat inside.

When authorities opened the bag, they found a sedated tiger cub among a number of toy stuffed-tigers. The cub is now being cared for by the Thai Department on National Parks, who are trying to determine if the animal was stolen from a zoo or caught in the wild.

South Asian tigers are an endangered species, whose body parts are sought after on the black market for traditional medicine and exotic meat. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE: Authorities in Kenya have seized over two tonnes of illegal ivory at the international airport in the capital, Nairobi. The ivory was packed in boxes labelled as avocados and included both elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns.

It is one of the largest illegal ivory seizures in the country in a number of years. Kenyan authorities believe the tusks were from elephants that had died of natural causes, though trade in such ivory is still illegal.

The African elephant is an endangered species threatened by poachers who can make a tidy profit selling their ivory on the black market. Kenya has amassed a sizeable stockpile of seized ivory over the years and sought permission earlier this year to sell it. That scheme, however, was scrapped when it was determined that the sale would likely serve to legitimize demand for the illegal product. [ index ]

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 ]

JESSE ROGERSON:  Vancouver issued its first air quality warning of the year on Wednesday August 5th as smoke from forest fires swept through the city. The quality of the air reached a ranking of 6 out of 10, or ‘moderate’ on the Air Quality Health Index, where it remained until it rained.

The soot from the fires is especially hazardous to infants and elderly individuals with pre-existing lung conditions. During times of poor air quality, Vancouver recommends that at risk groups remain in well ventilated areas or air conditioned buildings with shut windows. Those experiencing discomfort in breathing are encouraged to see their doctor.

The 2010 fiscal year has been particularly destructive in terms of gross area burned by the province’s fires. Compared to last year, 2010 has seen an increase in almost 10 times more hectares burned by man-made and natural forest fires. The carbon emission from forest fires in Canada are known to reach levels equal to those emitted by the industrial sector. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  An ad released by Corporate Ethics International is having a major impact on Alberta’s tourism potential according to a new poll. The ad claims to show the reality of the tar sands in Alberta and encourages potential tourists to stay away. The effect of viewing the ad reduces the likelihood someone will visit Alberta as a tourist by a devastating 50% according to the poll. The Angus Reid poll of 4000 Canadian, American and British citizens showed that American and British interest in visiting Alberta dropped from approximately 50% to 25% after viewing the ad. The video has been edited since its creation after claims of factual inaccuracies however. The original video claimed that the extend of the tar sands ecological footprint was the size of Britain, while the globe and mail newspaper reports that it is only 600 square kilometres, less that 1% of Britain. Nonstandard definitions for ecological footprint from various sources have complicated a standard measurement for the extent of the tar sands which continues to be a point of debate. Alberta tourism has played down the poll, and continues to promote its $5.8 billion dollar a year tourism industry.  [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON:  A study commissioned by Environment Canada has found that assessing the environmental impact of biofuels — such as ethanol and biodiesel — is more difficult than previously thought. The report blames this difficulty on the varying ways in which different biofuel generating facilities measure and report their carbon footprints.

To gather data, the study issued a survey to biofuel companies. Unfortunately, many provided incomplete data when reporting water usage and quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.

Because of this incomplete dataset, the report recommends more research and analysis to take place before Environment Canada starts assessing the polluting side effects of biofuels. With little federal baseline from which to measure, the report recommends an industry-wide annual report along with a more rigorous smoke stack testing program is implemented at all biofuel plants.

As of this year, the Federal government has required gasoline to contain at minimum five percent ethanol, a plan designed to lower fuel costs and decrease green house gas emissions. With the usage of these energy sources on the rise, Environment Canada will look towards increasing the availability of the required information, and attempt to mitigate the environmental impact of these facilities.
 [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  Commercial sockeye salmon fisheries are open for business once again on the Fraser River. This is the first time in four years that commercial fishing has been permitted and only one year after the worst salmon survival season on record. Last year was expected to bring about 11 million fish, and tensions were high over the future of the industry when less than 1.5 million fish returned. The catastrophic turn out last year prompted a federal investigation called the Cohen Commission which is due to begin holding public forums at the end of August. Estimates for this year’s population are expected to exceed earlier estimations according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in BC, with anywhere from seven to 11 million fish expected to return mostly in late August and September. Some conservationists and First Nations groups however, are worried that the government may be acting too soon in allowing full commercial access, at least until the reasons for last year’s catastrophic collapse can be more fully understood.
 [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON:  The Hamilton Spectator is reporting that Siemens Canada will begin construction on a new wind turbine factory in southern Ontario. This project will supply turbines to Samsung C&T and Pattern Energy, two of the world’s largest renewable energy developers.

All three companies have recently struck a deal to provide Ontario with upwards of 2000 megawatts of renewable power over the next six years. This is enough electricity to power over 240 000 homes yearly. Under Ontario’s Green Energy and Economy Act, the deal will take advantage of the Feed-in-Tariff program, designed to encourage the development of a green energy economy.

While Siemens Canada operates a plant in Burlington, the location of the new factory is yet to be determined, but its construction and general operations will provide countless green jobs.

Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Brad Duguid heralds the new factory as a major milestone in the province’s plan to create jobs and become a North American leader in renewable energy.

This deal will more than double Siemen’s current wind operations in southern Ontario. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  Scientific tests have confirmed that the Asian Carp has evaded barriers and is in Great Lakes waters. A bighead carp was caught in June near Lake Michigan, and from the results of tests that analyze chemical absorption in the inner ear of the fish, was able to confirm that it had spent most of its life in the Great Lakes. Electric barriers have been in places since the invasive species had been tracked moving up the Mississippi, where it was accidentally released in the 90’s. The danger of the Bighead and Silver Asian carp is that they are voracious eaters and breed in great numbers. The concern is that they would likely out-compete native species and wipe out the Great Lakes ecosystems as well as the $7 billion dollar fishing industry on both sides of the border that depends on it. The detection does not mean that a breeding population is already present in the Great Lakes, and at this point only time will tell what the ultimate repercussions of the invasive species in the Great Lakes will be. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  Wildfires continue to burn across Western Russia, as firefighting efforts have managed to reduce the total area of the fires by half from last week to around 920 square kilometers. Over 500 fires continue to burn across the country, with a number in proximity to Moscow, which has been besieged by sweltering heat and deadly smog.
Thick smoke and carbon monoxide from the fires has choked the capital. This smog, combined with an unprecedented heat wave, is believed to be responsible for a dramatic number of deaths in recent weeks, with one estimate as high as 700 people a day.
Of new concern is the fact that fires are now burning in and around the city of Bryansk, an area that absorbed radioactive fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The worry is that the fires may release radioactive isotopes that have accumulated there into the air, allowing them to be spread across the region with the smoke.
Though it is not yet certain what danger this poses to the surrounding regions, it is of concern to firefighters who risk breathing in radioactive particles. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  With the top of its leaking well plugged, and the relief well designed to permanently seal the leak days from completion, British Petroleum is now turning its attention to paying compensation and liabilities from the disaster.
BP says it has already spent $6.1 billion to clean up and contain the leak. What remains now is the punitive costs for the disaster as well as compensation to be paid for lost revenue in the tourism, fishing, and offshore support industries that were adversely affected.
There also remains the cost of the continuing cleanup of oil which has soaked in to beaches and wetlands along the gulf coast.
This week, BP made its first deposit of $3 billion into a compensation fund which will eventually reach $20 billion. The establishment of the fund was a concession to the US government to ensure that BP could settle all liabilities and compensate all victims of the disaster.
All in all, the incident released approximately 4.9 billion barrels of oil into the ocean, according to government estimates, making it the worst maritime oil spill in US history.
 [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  A large piece of the Petermann Glacier in Greenland broke off into the Arctic Ocean last week. The fragment measures 250 square kilometers and is the largest fragment to break off from Greenland since 1962.
Ice loss from Arctic glaciers is monitored closely by climate scientists as a readout of climate change, though scientists caution that is too early to determine the exact cause of this ice fracture.
A video of the fracture, taken by the Envisat satellite, can be seen at the European Space Agency website at www.esa.int. [ index ]

CHRIS HANNAY:  The cleanup continues at the oil spill from the burst Enbridge pipeline in Michigan.
The pipeline was turned off shortly after the leak was detected on July 26th, but the Canadian energy company is still cleaning up the estimated 3.7 million litres of crude oil that leaked.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has now approved most parts of Enbridge’s cleanup plan, after dismissing the initial plan last week for lack of detail.
Meanwhile, the U.S. representative for the area, Democrat Mark Schauer, has come out swinging against Enbridge.
As it happens, Schauer is a member of the federal Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
He’s announced they will conduct a formal investigation into the spill.
Schauer has also said he disputes Enbridge’s timeline of events, saying they were slow to respond and alert authorities, and that the spill may have started more than 12 hours earlier than announced.
Enbridge has also opened claims centres in affected communities in Michigan, and this week announced it would buy homes from residents who wanted to leave the area as a result of the spill.
CEO Patrick Daniel told a news conference on Tuesday that: “Enbridge does not want people in that directly affected area to be financially disadvantaged by the spill.”
 [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  Prince Edward Island’s largest power company is scaling back its proposals for green energy
development, citing a lack of market interest. Maritime Electric had sought to develop new green energy projects amounting to 130 megawatts of power. After reviewing proposals from developers, it deemed the majority of the projects too costly and believed the current energy market did not justify all 130MW. In the end, the company approved two projects, which will develop 30MW of power from wind energy.
Pending approval, the wind farms should be completed by the end of 2012. [ index ]

CHRIS HANNAY:  Fires are consuming British Columbia forests parched from one of the hottest and driest summers on record.
After a relatively docile season for forest fires, the province currently faces about 400 actively burning wildfires, forcing people – and animals – from their homes.
The three largest fires alone cover a combined area of about 500 square kilometres.
On Thursday, the CBC reported that some fishermen along the Bridge River in the B.C. Interior are noticing their water turning black.
The fishermen believe it’s from flame retardant used on the fires, but the government says its from a mudslide upriver.
The B.C. government has already spent more than $56-million dousing forest fires in the province, which is more than its more than its fire-fighting budget for the year.
Most of these wildfires were caused by lightning strikes, but the weather may finally lend a helping hand this weekend.
Rain and cooler, cloudier conditions are expected to move into the province this weekend.
 [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  A Greenpeace protest struck the Calgary Tower Tuesday, when activists rapelled from the top of the tower with climbing rope to unfurl a giant banner reading “Separate Oil and State.” The banner was visible to downtown Calgary for 30 minutes before being taken down. The message was in protest of what Greenpeace believes to be the cozy relationship between oil companies and the provincial and federal governments. Greenpeace argues that there has not been a proper assessment of the damage done to health and the environment from the development of the oil sands, and that government is catering to the industry. Eight protesters were arrested in the incident, including three people who rapelled from the tower, and five others who provided help in the protest. [ index ]

CHRIS HANNAY:  The City of Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan has been slapped with a $55,000 fine from Environment Canada for dumping untreated sewage.
The city pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one offence under the federal Fisheries Act.
The fine stems from an incident in the summer of 2007, when a power failure caused about 431,000 litres of untreated sewage to be dumped into the Moose Jaw River.
According to Environment Canada, the sewage spill wasn’t detected “for an extended period of time.”
$50,000 of the fine will go to the Environmental Damages Fund, which will then be routed into programs to support conservation in the area around the Moose Jaw River.
 [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  A proposed cull of some of the many rabbits that inhabit the University of Victoria campus has been blocked by the B.C. Supreme Court. The University of Victoria campus is home to hundreds of feral rabbits. Though cute, the animals are somewhat of a pest as they cover grounds with feces and dig holes in sports fields, posing an injury threat to athletes. The University had begun a program to capture and euthanize rabbits to reduce their numbers, but this program was blocked this week by court injuction. The injuction is in response to a petition to find homes for the rabbits by distributing them to animal sanctuaries. The cull will be suspended while petition is heard.
 [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON:  Over 650 square miles of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador is now protected indefinitely due to a new trust fund brokered by the Government of Ecuador and the United Nations. The area, known as Yasuni National Park, is home to some of the worlds highest biodiversity and an estimated 20% of the country’s crude oil deposits. In exchange for not mining the one billion barrels of crude oil and not logging the timber in the region, Ecuador has asked the world for $3.6 billion in trust. This is considered a steal on the oil market as the estimated amount of crude oil alone in the region would surpass $5 billion at current prices. Any money donated to the trust fund will be administered by the UN for green initiatives throughout the country. The protection also envelops many indigenous tribes in the area, preventing destruction of their livelihoods.
Skeptics are quick to point out, however, that this deal, while ground breaking, only protects a portion of the park. Some worry that the deal is simply smoke and mirrors to distract from larger projects happening elsewhere in the country. [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON:  The International Energy Agency is reporting that China has officially surpassed the United States as the leading energy consumer in the world. The rise to the top is not surprising since China’s energy consumption has doubled over the last decade. The energy use per capita, however, is only one quarter of the US. Currently, China’s primary source of energy is burning coal, much of which is imported from Australia. As a result, China is currently the largest green house gas emitter in the world.

With forecasts showing the energy consumption continuing to rise, the Chinese government will be building many new power plants in the next decade, with emphasis on creating more nuclear and natural gas plants. China has also recognized the need for renewable resources and is now one of the world leaders in development, design, and implementation of renewable energy systems such as wind, solar power, and geo-thermal energy.

The world wide effects of the growth of China’s energy consumption will be a topic of the IEA’s yearly World Energy Outlook, set to be released in November of this year. [ index ]

JESSE ROGERSON:  According to a panel of US government scientists, 74% of all leaked oil in the Gulf of Mexico has been either captured, burned, dispersed with chemicals, evaporated, or otherwise contained. This research was released soon after the ‘static kill’ operation had finally capped the well on July 15, which had continuously leaked since April 20. The remaining 26% of oil not captured is measured at approximately 1.3 million barrels, still topping the Exxon Valdez spill of over 20 years ago.

The ‘static kill’ uses mud as a plug, forcing it down the gushing well until the flow of oil slows down at which point heavier cement is used to cap off the plug. A similar tactic was used in May but was unsuccessful. While leaking has stopped, the US government will not consider it blocked until a ‘bottom kill’ procedure is successful. This is where mud and cement is pumped into the well 2 miles below the sea floor.

The long awaited relief wells are the pivotal step in confirming a permanently blocked well, as they will relieve the rising pressure on the ‘static kill’ mud and cement. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Ontario’s Environment Commissioner Gord Miller is “very concerned” that media controversy and public confusion over the so-called eco-fees could jeopardize the future of waste diversion in Ontario.

In a special report released Tuesday, the commissioner emphasized that the idea of making producers responsible for the environmental costs of their products is “a good plan that should not be scrapped.” However, he criticized the rollout of the program, particularly the decision of some retailers to pass these costs on to consumers as a separate line item. Charging in this way, he said, gave the impression that the fee was a tax on recycling, which was not the case. He also said that the fees should be adjusted to more accurately reflect the environmental cost of individual products.

Premier Dalton McGuinty admitted there were problems with implementation of the program, and welcomed the recommendations of the report. Currently, eco-fees are suspended while the government and Stewardship Ontario carry out a 90-day retooling of the Municipal Hazardous and Special Waste Program. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Ontario, Quebec, and British Colombia moved a bit closer to a regional cap-and-trade program this week, by releasing a draft plan on what such a program might look like.

The plan was released under the auspices of the Western Climate Initiative, an 11-member group of provinces and U.S. states committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions within their borders. However, only 5 of these members, including the aforementioned provinces, are currently committed to implementing the plan by their self-imposed 2012 deadline.

The plan builds on a similar document released two years ago. While it provides some new details, it is vague on specifics, such as the price per tonne of carbon emitted. Part of this is due to the inherent flexibility the agreement is designed to have; although all jurisdictions will be working from the same blueprint, they will draft their own individual regulations. However, there is also some doubt as to whether or not the coalition will hold together; several state legislatures are pressuring their governors to withdraw from the agreement. The draft plan comes less than a week after the U.S. senate set aside a climate change bill to focus on legislation aimed at cleaning up the Gulf oil spill. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Canadian company Enbridge is working frantically to contain an oil leak from one of its pipelines.

The pipeline runs from Griffith, Indiana to Sarnia, ON, carrying 30 million litres of crude per day. The leak occurred on Monday near Battle Creek, Michigan, and is estimated to have released 3.7 million litres of crude into a tributary of the Kalamazoo river. The oil quickly coated Canada geese and other birds in the area, while dead fish floated to the top of the creek. Two homes near the source of the leak were evacuated.

Enbridge has closed off the pipeline and deployed over 400 workers to contain and clean up the oil using booms, oil skimmers, and vacuum trucks. Local conservation groups and government officials involved as well, and Michigan has enacted its emergency operations centre. However, the oil is still advancing down the river, and environmentalists warn of a disaster if it hits Lake Michigan. Workers have also begun digging up the pipe to determine the cause of the leak, which is as yet unknown.  [ index ]

CHRIS HANNAY: Microscopic marine plants are steadily disappearing from the world’s oceans, according to a new study by researchers from Dalhousie University. These phytoplankton’s population has been declining about 1 per cent a year, or about 40 per cent have disappeared since 1950. The phytoplankton form the basis of the ocean’s food chains, and are the main diet of tiny animals called zooplankton, which are then eaten by small fish and other sea creatures. Like all food chains, stress on one link can have an effect on all the other animals – even up to large marine creatures, such as whales. Phytoplankton also supply about half of the world’s atmospheric oxygen.

So what’s making the phytoplankton steadily vanish? According to the researchers, it’s probably warmer oceans. Phytoplankton live higher up in the oceans closer to the surface, where they can get sunlight needed for photosynthesis. But phytoplankton also need nutrients, which tend to settle in the colder, deeper layers. As the climate changes and oceans get warmer, the layers of water of different temperatures become stratified, and the layers don’t mix as much – meaning fewer nutrients from the bottom get up to the top, where the phytoplankton need them.

The research was published in two studies in this week’s edition of Nature. [ index ]

CHRIS HANNAY: State of the Climate report indicate 2000s were the hottest decade on record. Our oceans – and the rest of Earth – are indeed getting warmer, according to this year’s State of the Climate report, from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The annual report is compiled from data collected by 300 scientists across 48 countries. The scientists measured various indicators, from temperature, sea ice and precipitation, to humidity and cloud cover.
The report concludes that the 2000s were the hottest decade on record – the third decade in a row to top the previous decade’s temperature.

It appears that more than 90 per cent of this warming is going to the oceans, which retain the heat longer than air. As the oceans warm, they also expand – contributing to higher sea levels, along with melting glaciers. The report also highlights many instances of extreme weather in 2009, such as unusual rainfall, more tropical cyclones in the central Pacific and multiple intense heat waves in Australia. The report does not speculate on what could be causing the warming climate. [ index ]