BS: Canada Favors Pollution

Subject: BS: Canada Favors Pollution
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 May 12 - 09:15 AM

Budget cut overkill? Canada axes entire marine pollution program

25 May 2012
By Miguel Llanos, msnbc.com

Canada has been sending letters to government scientists notifying them that their jobs will be eliminated or affected by the closure of the country's marine pollution program -- but at least one isn't going without making some noise.

"It's perplexing that we face the loss of this program, given the 25,000 chemicals on the market and the ever-increasing threats posed by shipping and oil and gas exploration and development in temperate and Arctic waters," Peter Ross told msnbc.com.

Ross is perhaps Canada's best known marine scientist for his work on identifying killer whales as the most contaminated marine mammals on the planet.

"As can be expected when one is told their position is being terminated, one is shocked and saddened," he added. "However, when told that the entire pollution research and monitoring program for Canada's oceans is being eliminated, I was speechless."

The program, which employs 75 staff, is set to be shut down by April 1, 2013, the Victoria Times Colonist reported.

"I cannot think of another industrialized nation that has completely excised marine pollution from its radar," Ross said.

The program is under the Department of Fisheries, which is shedding a total of 400 jobs. More than 600 others will be "affected." Of the some 1,000 jobs impacted, three quarters are with the Canadian Coast Guard.

A Department of Fisheries spokesperson told the Colonist that the cuts would produce $79 million in savings and that an advisory group from academia and the private sector would instead provide advice.
Ross countered that those groups wouldn't be as accountable as government agencies are. "I can't think of any scientist or agency outside of government that is held to account on issues related to public health, the health of marine fish or mammals, or the identification of emerging pollution concerns in the coastal environment," he said.

Ross also published an opinion piece, titled "Silent Summer," on environmentalhealthnews.org. He concludes:

"It is with apprehension that I ponder a Canada without any research or monitoring capacity for pollution in our three oceans, or any ability to manage its impacts on commercial fish stocks, traditional foods for over 300,000 aboriginal people and marine wildlife.

"Canada's silence on these issues will be deafening this summer and beyond."

[end quote]

Given Canada's already existing reputation for their (lack of) concerns about pollution, this may be less important than it appears, but IMO it doesn't appear to help Canada.

When considered on top of the failure to treat any of their wastes - dumping untreated raw sewage into the oceans on their own west coast near the border with the US - it suggests skepticism about their "adequate concern" in a number of areas, not the least of which is their ability to assure safe transit of their "dirty oil" across the breadth of the US in their "magnificent pipeline" solely for Canadian profit when it's all shipped on to Asia.

(Note the "devil's advocate" intent. Perhaps someone can provide informed information on what the real effects might be?)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Canada Favors Pollution
From: gnu
Date: 26 May 12 - 10:41 AM

Harper is truly an ass.

Subject: RE: BS: Canada Favors Pollution
From: GUEST,bankley
Date: 26 May 12 - 11:37 AM

gnu, you're much too polite.

most of the pollution is generated on Parliament Hill, and spreads out across the country like toxic sludge

Subject: RE: BS: Canada Favors Pollution
From: GUEST,999
Date: 26 May 12 - 12:56 PM

This is what happens when a pedigree George-Bush Lapdog controls a country. Every damned time Harper shits on the carpet, he shits on all Canadians. Our national leader is a national disgrace.

Subject: RE: BS: Canada Favors Pollution
From: gnu
Date: 26 May 12 - 02:06 PM

$79M is a drop in the bucket of the shit Harper shovels every day.

Subject: RE: BS: Canada Favors Pollution
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 May 12 - 05:21 PM

New York
400 million gallons of raw sewage is dumped into the Gowanus Canal every year. NY Daily News, Apr. 20, 2012.
Illinois
Every day, 1.2 billion gallons of untreated wastewater is dumped into the Chicago River.
New Jersey
A general permit allows 280 combined (sewage plus stormwater) sewer outfalls to discharge into state waters. Several beach areas are labeled unsafe.
Texas
When New York banned ocean dumping of sewage, concentrated N.Y. sludge was being transported to Sierra Blanca, near the Border. Texas has anti-dumping legislation for its own sewage, but like most states, controlling combined wastewater-rainwater outfall is difficult.
Kansas
Kansas City dumps raw sewage into the Missouri- 7 billion gallons dumped by Kansas City each year.


In Canada, 6 percent of sewage water remains untreated before dumping. The worst offender is the city of Victoria, which dumps its sewage directly into Juan de Fuca. Also noteworthy is Montreal, which allows 3.6 billion liters to enter the St. Lawrence untreated.
Canada has no national enforcement of water polution controls, each province sets its own rules.

Lack of a national program makes much of the work of government laboratories ineffective.

Sewage treatment and disposal is a problem throughout North America, much sewage overflows and is combined with rainwater outfall.
-------------------------

Pipelines for petroleum are a separate problem.
Kansas-Nebraska are laced with petroleum and product pipelines; the Keystone adds one that is modern and less prone to leaks. The Denver-Ponca City-Houston pipelines are the largest currently.
A map of the Ogallala aquifer shows thet the Keystone XL pipeline touches on a few extreme eastern points on the aquifer.
http://www.transcanada.com/docs/Key_Projects/Ogallala-Aquifer_Map.pdf
The TransCanada statement on the aquifer- http://www.transcanada.com/docs/Key_Projects/pipeline-safety-ogallala-aquifer-2012.pdf

Note that 21000 miles of pipeline cross Nebraska, 3000 carrying hazardous materials. Many oil wells have been drilled in sediments overlying the aquifer.

Obama putting Keystone Pipeline on Fast Track. The Star, March 22, 2012, Ken Thomas, Associated Press.

Subject: RE: BS: Canada Favors Pollution
From: gnu
Date: 26 May 12 - 05:37 PM

Sad stuff. And, for $79M, Harper MAY make it worse. Cruise missiles and bullets are dear these days eh?