New rules for boreholes and other test wells
The Ministry of the Environment is seeking public comment on a draft manual on test holes and dewatering wells. A “test hole” is a type of “well” that is made to obtain information about groundwater, and is not used or intended for use as a source of water for consumption. It includes virtua…
View the post titled New rules for boreholes and other test wellsFederal environmental assessments will be rushed
Now that federal environmental assessments are gone, the federal government will only assess very large, very important projects. But it’s going to do them in a hurry.
View the post titled Federal environmental assessments will be rushedMajor changes proposed for shale gas fracking
Advisors to US Energy Secretary, Stephen Chu, have recommended major changes to improve regulation and environmental performance of shale gas fracturing (fracking) in the US. Public consultation is continuing, and the final report will be released in November. Canadian regulators should be …
View the post titled Major changes proposed for shale gas frackingEarthquakes and climate change
As the news pours in of yet another catastrophic earthquake, this time in Japan, it is worth pondering the evidence that climate change can cause geological changes, including earthquakes and possibly volcanos. See, for example, VOLCANO: Climate forcing of geological and geomorphological haz…
View the post titled Earthquakes and climate changeSyncrude pays $3M for dead ducks
On Friday, Syncrude was ordered to pay $3 million in penalties for the 1,600 ducks killed in its tailings ponds four years ago. This is the highest total penalty ever imposed in Canada for an environmental offence. Syncrude was fined the maximum for a single incident: $300,000 for the feder…
View the post titled Syncrude pays $3M for dead ducksHungarian sludge spill and our tailings ponds
The Hungarian sludge spill disaster is just another reminder of the large scale havoc and devastation that industrial sludge impoundments can create. Every few years we read about another one. On April 25, 1998, a tailings dam failure of the Los Frailes lead-zinc mine at Aznalcóllar near Sev…
View the post titled Hungarian sludge spill and our tailings pondsTar sands polluting the Athabaska River
How do the tar sands operators get away with polluting the great Athabaska River, despite federal and provincial laws that allegedly protect rivers? By insisting that everything is fine, and that all the pollution is “natural”. Now, Professor David Schindler has blown their cover…
View the post titled Tar sands polluting the Athabaska RiverOld coal to improve, slowly….
Canada’s electricity sector is responsible for 17 percent of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most of that -13%- comes from 51 coal-burning electricity plants, along with mercury, particulates, NOx/ SOx and other health hazards. [i], [ii] Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice has …
View the post titled Old coal to improve, slowly….Syncrude found guilty in ducks case
Syncrude has been found guilty of two offences relating to the large duck kill of 2008. That April, 1606 migrating ducks died after landing on the toxic tailings pond of the huge Aurora tar sands mine. A member of the Sierra Club laid the original charges, another vindication for private pro…
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