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E-lert Archives
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2005 and previous E-lertsToxic Sludge E-lertLandspreading of Industrial Waste in BC, Nov 27 2005They are at it again! The BC government is proposing, after only 30 days internet based consultation, to allow the almost uncontrolled landspreading of pulp mill sludge, lime dregs, and fly ash (that’s the stuff out of the pollution control devices at the top of the stack – they catch the pollution that now BC Environment wants to spread on farmland.) The Code of Practice requires testing for only 11 metals – worse than the last time out in 2000, when at least the sludge was required to be tested for all the compounds listed in the Contaminated Sites Act! Even then we protested that this was inadequate because of the mix of compounds in pulp mill sludge: No one knows all of the contaminants in pulp mill sludge. We do know that it contains a variety of heavy metals, and chlorinated and non-chlorinated benzenes and phenolics (PAH) and that the amount appears to vary from sample to sample. Nor does anyone know what the actual environmental impacts of landspreading sludge are, because for almost 25 years, industry across North America has been denying environmentalists’ efforts to get some honest testing done. The new Code of Practice has no recourse for neighbours of the sludge site, does not require records to be publicly available, and throws the burden on to the medical health officers to object if the application is to agricultural land or within a drinking watershed. Even then, all the medical health officer could do is request that the Regional Environment Director add additional management standards.
Looking at the few criteria the regulation does establish, the presentation may be called at best, disingenuous. The BC Statement Of Intentions For The Code Of Practice says: “Most of these numbers are consistent with the standards for metals in fertilizers and supplements established by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and adopted by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Guidelines for Compost Quality.” However closer examination reveals that NONE of the metals levels meet the CCME standard for unrestricted or agricultural use, and in the case of mercury the BC reg even exceeds by three times the CCME maximum acceptable level for restricted use! The regulation proposes that sludge should be handled in compliance with the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation, primarily intended for sewage sludge not industrial waste, but a ministry audit of 10 Vancouver island sewage sludge operations in 2003-04 found that “Overall, none of the sites met all significant requirements of the OMRR.” Organic Matter Recycling Regulation Audit Report 2003-2004, http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/vir/pp/mun/omrr_audit_03_04.pdf When the Code of Practice is not working for sewage sludge, why expand the same failures to industrial waste like pulp mill sludge? This regulation gives industry cheap disposal of its (often toxic) industrial waste by spreading it on farm and forest. The main problems with this regulation are:
For more information about sludge and what we know about it, as well as the historical background to this issue in BC, see the Reach for Unbleached website at http://www.rfu.org/cacw/pollutionSludge1.htm For the Government notice see: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epdiv/ema_codes_of_practice/soil_enhance.html WHAT TO DO Please email: and your local MLA. Contact information is available at: http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/mla/3-1-7.htm If you can, please write to your local newspaper or any media you have access to. You can’t easily post your response on the government “consultation” page but you can email it to cindybertram@shaw.ca Fax: (250) 562-0628 BC Minister of Environment Barry Penner
Sablefish E-lertSablefish Farms – Neither Wise nor Wanted, October 24 2005The BC government and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans are about to approve a sablefish fish farm at “Brew Bay” just north of Robertson Creek and Ha’thayim (von Donop) Park off the coast of Cortes. A similar application is in place for Clayoquot Sound and 35 salmon farms have already had sablefish added to their provincial licenses. Sablefish are also called black cod or butterfish, although they are not. There are many problems with this. * Sablefish eat fish – so once again, like salmon, DFO is approving the inherently ludicrous and unsustainable farming of fish which require many pounds of wild fish in order to produce one pound of farmed fish for the table. * This is an experimental species for fish farming, and there are no models for the amount of waste to be deposited off the Cortes shore, or the disease rate of this species of fish, although the Environmental Assessment seems to expect it to be between 10 and 30% (!) Similarly, no one knows what the antibiotic requirements of these fish will be. * The waters off Cortes appear to be warmer and not as deep as required for this deep bottom fish, which will lead to more disease and mortality. The water quality assessment is 13 years old. * The Klahoose First Nation opposes the Cortes site, and the smelt are being raised in a hatchery on Saltspring built on a First Nations archeological site (Walker Hook). * Friends of Cortes Island asked for a public information process on Cortes almost a year ago. * In the Canadian Environmental Assessment files, DFO staff raise repeated concerns about habitat destruction, proximity to a rockfish sanctuary and a lack of accountability to make sure wild sablefish are not “laundered” through the fish farms. * The wild sablefish fishery opposes this farming because they fear disease transmission and that the farmed fish will lower the price for wild black cod. Your letters to your local paper, and the Vancouver Sun sunletters@png.canwest.com will help raise the issue. Hon. Paul Martin, Prime Minister pm@pm.gc.ca Office of the Prime Minister Hon. Gordon Campbell, Premier premier@gov.bc.ca Room 156, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 Phone: 250 387-1715 Fax: 250 387-0087 Hon. Geoff Regan, MP, PC, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Regan.G@parl.gc.ca Hon. Claire Trevena, MLA claire.trevena.mla@leg.bc.ca Carolyn Deering, Public Registry Officer, Fisheries and Oceans Canada DeeringC@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca Major Projects Review Unit, DFO, 200-401 Burrard St. Vancouver BC V6B 5G3 John Cummins, Cummins.J@parl.gc.ca The Canadian Sablefish Association has a site which will automatically send a fax/email for you: http://www.canadiansablefish.com/action.htm http://www.georgiastrait.org/Articles2005/GSA-submission-re-Brew-Bay-Sablefish-Farm.pdf
Food E-lertThe Canadian Food System April 6th 2005
Protect Canada’s food system – tell your Member of Parliament to vote against Bill C-27!
Pollution E-lert:
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