BBC
Les algues bleues envahissent les lacs 
North Hatley Mayor Stephan Dore got the call last Friday at 4:30 p.m. after everyone in the office had gone home for the weekend.
The water supply for his town, the entire township of Hatley and the town of Waterville, all provided by Lake Massawippi, was contaminated with blue-green algae and possibly toxic.
Four thousand residents in the affected areas were not to drink the water, wash their dishes with it, shower or bathe in it or use it to water their vegetable gardens.
"Oh yeah, it was bad," Dore said yesterday.
"We have an emergency committee, we organized a group to get water for that day and we called all the firefighters, who are volunteers, to go door to door with a pamphlet to advise all the citizens and bring them water."
Tests done by Quebec's environment ministry, responsible for the water supply, had shown that there was a bloom of blue-green algae or cyanobacteria in the lake that supplies water to the town's water-treatment plant.
Until further tests, being done in Quebec City, can determine whether this bacterium is toxic, the decision was made to err on the side of caution, Dore said.
"We don't know yet if this is a real problem. We should have the results on Thursday at the latest," he said.
Daniel Messier of the Estrie offices of the environment ministry said that the algae, in toxic levels, can cause stomachaches, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, fever and skin and eye irritations in humans and pets. Children and the elderly are at advanced risk.
North Hatley has trucked in a tanker with more than 30,000 litres of clean water now parked behind the town hall. They have ordered truckloads of four-litre bottles of water for distribution to elderly residents.
Those wanting to take a shower can drive about 20 kilometres to Bishop's University in Lennox-ville to use the athletic facilities.
The price of all of this is the last thing on Dore's mind.
"The cost doesn't matter, it's a public health issue, we have to make sure the people are safe."
It couldn't come at a worse time for the tiny tourist town. The prestigious Auberge Hatley burned to the ground in March, putting many out of work.
The loss of tourist revenue, coupled with infrastructure work that reduced the downtown to a construction zone for most of July and August also hurt the local economy.
"The summer of 2006 was very bleak for us, and now this," said North Hatley merchants association president Rene Doucet, who runs the Villa Massawippi B&B.
"The feeling in town is frustration to open rage," Doucet said.
The fall colours are just starting to turn and North Hatley and the surrounding areas are favourites with nature lovers who fill the inns and bed and breakfast facilities surrounding the lake. But maybe not, if they can't take a bath or a shower.
"It's gonna hurt, for sure," Dore said of the water restrictions.
"We told all our customers about the notice last weekend, advised them not to shower and they left. Why would you come here if you can't shower or swim?" Doucet asked.
Manoir Hovey, the area's most expensive hotel, has its own ozone machine and an ultraviolet filter in the water supply that kills bacteria. Guests there are allowed to bathe in the tap water, but for cooking and drinking, the hotel is relying on bottled water.
"In nine years as a mayor, I've never seen this before," Dore said.
asutherland@thegazette.canwest.com
Saturday 26 August 2006 VANCOUVER: ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY POLLUTION LETHAL
A Canadian study says thousands of deaths could be prevented each year if Canada adopted stricter air quality standards similar to those in other industrialized countries. The report from the David Suzuki Foundation says Canada is well behind the United States, Australia and the European Union in protecting its citizens from air pollution. The report calls for targets for reducing pollution and a national tax on polluters. The report concludes that new standards would lead to enormous health benefits for Canadians because they would force municipalities, provinces and industry to reduce air pollution.
Tuesday 01 August 2006 rci TORONTO: POLLUTION COULD DEVASTATE THE ELDERLY
A study by the Ontario Medical Association says that air pollution could have a devastating effect on Canada's aging population over the next 20 years, causing as many as 4,000 premature deaths a year. The document says that the elderly are particularly susceptible to air pollution. Recently studies have shown that they are apt to develop not only respiratory diseases but cardio-vascular problems as well. The author of the latest research, Dr. Ted Boadway, says that certain environmental measures announced by the Ontario government, including the phasing out of coal-fired energy plants, could help purify the air and reduce the impact of pollution on people's health. However, other experts claim that most of Ontario's air contamination originates in the U.S.
26/07/2006 OTTAWA: CANADA TRAILS U.S. IN EMISSIONS REDUCTION
A report by a commission of the North America Free Trade Area has found that Americans are having more success than Canadians in reducing toxic industrial emissions. The report by NAFTA's Commission for Environmental Co-operation says that U.S. manufacturing facilities reduced toxic emissions by 21 per cent between 1998 and 2003, while the figure for Canada was only 10 per cent. The Commission's executive director, William Kennedy, attributes the situation to the greater prevalence of regulation in the U.S., whereas Canada relies more on voluntary action on the part of manufacturers. The document also finds that 11 per cent of the emissions produced in 2003 were known or suspected carcinogens, while eight per cent cause birth defects and developmental or reproductive harm.
Jack Layton leads bloody campaign
Health research: Volunteers for toxic chemical study of MPs"I think our bodies are filling up with toxic chemicals," he said.
"We're animals ... and we are accumulating some pretty toxic compounds that we've been using for our own convenience."
The NDP has called for a ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides and demanded more accountability from companies making products that can lead to health problems.
"Corporate operations globally need to be told by government what they should and should not be doing," Mr. Layton said before chugging half a bottle of orange juice to replenish his blood sugar.
As part of its ongoing research into toxic chemicals in Canadians, Environmental Defence tested Mr. Layton's blood for 102 compounds.
He is the first federal politician to be tested since Environmental Defence, a national charity that tracks pollution, endangered species and advocates for green space, put a call out to MPs in June.
The call followed the organization's well-publicized report, Polluted Children, Toxic Nation. The report included results from 13 Canadians tested for 68 chemicals. Parents averaged 32 chemicals, children 23.
Of particular concern are stain repellents and non-stick chemicals, pesticides, insecticides, heavy metals and flame retardants. The chemicals have been associated with cancer, developmental problems, reproductive disorders, respiratory illnesses and damage to the nervous system.
"We expect that our tests of MPs will turn up similar levels of contamination as all other Canadians," said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence. "But it remains to be seen which MP will be the most toxic."
Health Minister Tony Clement, Environment Minister Rona Ambrose and Liberal environment critic John Godfrey have all signed on. They will be tested in the next two weeks.
Publicity stunts are not new for Mr. Layton, who called the media when he installed solar panels in his Toronto home last week.
In 2004, Mr. Layton brought caulking and a solar panel to gusty Sussex Drive as a housewarming gift for former prime minister Paul Martin.
Mr. Layton's blood test results will be available in eight weeks.
zbielski@nationalpost.com
BEWARE
Toxic chemicals in everyday life:
FLAME RETARDANTS PBDEs (polybrominated dephenyl ethers) are used in computers, televisions, mattresses and children's clothing.
STAIN REPELLENTS AND NON-STICK CHEMICALS Known as PFCs (perfluorinated chemicals), they're used in carpets, furniture and non-stick pans; grease repellents prevent grease from leaking through microwave popcorn bags and fast-food packaging.
MERCURY It is found in contaminated fish and in air polluted by coal power plants.
LEAD It is found in dust in older homes with lead paint, some candle wicks and industrial air pollution.
Sunday Jun 4, 2006 .maisonneuve. YOU’LL NEVER LOOK AT YOUR BLACKBERRY THE SAME WAY AGAIN
CTV News and The National (not available online) lead while the Globe, the Citizen, La Presse and the Star go inside with the release of the disturbing findings of Polluted Children, Toxic Nation: A Report on Pollution in Canadian Families. Environmental Defence Executive Director Rick Smith presented the report yesterday in Ottawa, flanked by a number of children who took part in the study. Reporting an average of thirty-two chemicals in the six adults tested and twenty-three in the seven children screened across Canada, Smith told the press conference the dangerous toxins found in the test subjects included flame retardants (such as are found in personal computers and Blackberry devices), mercury, lead and even PCBs.
In some of the families tested, the children turned out to have higher toxin levels than the parents. CTV News noted that even chemicals from such ubiquitous household items as non-stick frying pans are carcinogenic and can cause hormonal disruption. La Presse quotes Smith as saying that “the principal cause of this situation is the negligence and inaction of our federal government, which renounced its role as the leader of pollution reduction in this country.” Responding to a challenge put forth by Smith, Environment Minister Rona Ambrose and Health Minister Tony Clement will each undergo the toxicity test. Although Health Canada claims that the chemicals found in people are not at high enough levels of concentration to cause harm, Environment Canada will soon conduct its own test of 5,000 Canadians, screening for a hundred different toxins.
Sunday Jun 4, 2006 Want a full-time job? Live chemical-free
From Thursday's Globe and Mail — In Barbara Harris's home, you won't find air fresheners, non-stick pans or mattresses containing harsh flame retardants. That's by design: Ms. Harris tries to create a lifestyle that minimizes the chances she'll come into contact with harmful chemicals found in everyday products.
“I have a very simple, very scent-free, and very low-chemical household,” she declares.
Sunday Jun 4, 2006
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Montrealer Viviane Maraghi has always considered herself pretty good when it comes to avoiding pollution.
Study points finger at household items
ELIZABETH THOMPSON, The Gazette
Published: Friday, June 02, 2006Montrealer Viviane Maraghi has always considered herself pretty good when it comes to avoiding pollution.
She works with an environmental group and makes an effort to buy organic and biological food whenever possible. Her son Aladin Bonin, 10, has been raised on organic food since he was a baby.
So it came as a shock to Maraghi, 34, to learn that not only did she and her son test positive for dozens of toxic chemicals in their blood, but in the case of several chemicals Aladin's level was even higher than hers. In fact, Maraghi's and her son's results were the highest among a half-dozen families tested across the country. "I was staggered," the Plateau Mont Royal resident said yesterday.
Her comments came after the group Environmental Defence issued a new study revealing that children as young as 10 are showing signs of contamination by toxic chemicals.
While some of the chemicals, like insecticides, are in the environment, others are found in innocuous everyday items.
Among them are non-stick cooking pans, computers, mattresses or furniture with stain-repellent treatments.
Among the five families surveyed, parents tested positive, on average, for 32 of the 68 chemicals, while children showed an average of 23 chemicals.
While the levels in many cases were low, Environmental Defence says some of the chemicals found can cause reproductive disorders, harm the development of children or are suspected of causing cancer or neurological problems.
"In total, 38 carcinogens, 23 hormone disruptors, 12 respiratory toxins, 38 reproductive/
developmental toxins and 19 neurotoxins were detected in the study volunteers," the study says.
Chemicals like DDT that have been banned in Canada for years tended to be higher in the parents but were also found in children born after the products were removed from the shelves. Children, in many cases, tested higher than their parents for chemicals associated with stain repellents, flame retardants, heavy metals, organophosphates, insecticide metabolites and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, said the study reveals for the first time the extent to which children are being affected by toxic pollutants.
"Pollution is now so bad in our country that the bodies of our children have higher levels of pollution than their parents," he said. "Our children are being poisoned every day by toxic products in their home, in their schools and when they are at play."
The tests were conducted to underline the group's call for the Canadian government to follow the lead of several other countries and ban some of the chemicals. Following court action, the federal government in the United States has reached an agreement to phase out perfluorinated chemicals found in stain repellents and non-stick surfaces.
If U.S. President George W. Bush's government can ban them, so can Canada, Smith said. Otherwise, products containing the chemicals risk being dumped in Canada.
Smith said his group plans to ask Environment Minister Rona Ambrose and the environment critics from various parties to undergo testing as well, to make them more aware of the problem.
Asked about the study, Ambrose said the issue is one she is taking seriously. Both she and Health Minister Tony Clement will undergo the testing, Ambrose announced.
Maraghi, who tested positive for 36 chemicals while her son tested positive for 25, said neither has experienced any health problems believed linked to the contamination. However, that's not going to stop her from making significant changes in her household and from trying to determine where the chemicals have been coming from.
"I have a single Teflon frying pan," she said. "I'm going to throw it out and I'm going to use something else."
She said she has made the effort to buy organic food but there are some sources of contamination that had never occurred to her. "The next time that I buy a mattress for my children, I'm going to find mattresses that don't have flame-retardant products. The same thing for sofas and chairs. When I bought those things, I wasn't aware of the situation."
She also plans to let her son's school know about the results and see if something can be done to address chemicals he might be exposed to there.
Maraghi endorses Environmental Defence's call to ban the use of many of the chemicals found in her body. At a minimum, Maraghi would like to see the government require companies to include the presence of the chemicals in the labelling of their products.
As for Aladin: "It's not fair for children to have so many chemical products in our bodies," he said. "The worst thing is that children don't even realize that they have that in their bodies."
ethompson@thegazette.canwest.com
Online Extra: To meet growing demand from increasingly health-conscious consumers and supermarket chains, organic farmers and ranchers are scaling up production.
montrealgazette.com
Forces base has dioxin residue from '60s
CHRIS MORRIS, CP
Published: Friday, June 02, 2006Although traces of chemical poisons still can be found in the landscape of Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, experts on herbicide sprays say most of the products applied at the base were commonly used across Canada and met all government regulations.
Two reports prepared by the environmental consulting firm Jacques Whitford Ltd. for the Department of National Defence say many different herbicides were sprayed on the heavily forested New Brunswick base between 1956 and 2004, some repeatedly and some only once.
The reports, made public yesterday, found lingering dioxins from U.S. military tests in the 1960s remain in higher-than-acceptable levels in the soil in three small areas of the training base, which have been cordoned off for several months.
Six other small areas of the base have been found to have levels of dioxin close to or above allowable Canadian limits. These areas have not been restricted because the dioxin levels are relatively low or the areas are not used to any great extent.
The reports say that herbicides have been sprayed at the base almost every year to reduce brush in training areas, but those products were widely used across North America and were regulated by the provincial and federal governments.
The defoliants of greatest concern are Agents Orange, Purple and White, which were tested at the base over several days in 1966 and 1967 by the U.S. military.
The powerful defoliants were used to clear jungle during the Vietnam War and thousands of U.S. veterans have been compensated because of health problems associated with exposure.
Dioxin, a contaminant found in early herbicides, has been associated with a number of human health problems, including cancer.
Experts with Jacques Whitford could not say whether the dioxin found in the six areas where it was close to or above
allowable Canadian limits was caused by chemical sprays
or was the result of forest fires, industrial pollution or leaded gas.
"There are certain areas of the base where we feel comfortable in saying that we do believe the levels of dioxin were likely from herbicide application," said Chris Olson of Jacques Whitford, referring to the U.S. military test sites.
"In other areas, we believe dioxin concentrations in the soil and groundwater are natural background that you would find anywhere else in the area surrounding the base."
Most of the information in the reports was already public knowledge.
The only new information was that Dow Chemical of Canada was allowed to test several commercial products at the base in 1990.
Karen Ellis, assistant deputy minister in the Defence Department, said no one could explain what happened or what the relationship was between the chemical manufacturer and the Canadian military.
"It's new and we need to look at it," she said.
Reaction to the report was muted since it did not hold any major revelations for veterans or civilians living near the base who feel their health was damaged either by the Agent Orange tests or the continuing herbicide spray programs.
"I would have loved just a little bit of something for the veterans, to encourage them," said Gloria Sellar, widow of Gordon Sellar, the first Canadian military officer to receive a disability pension because of exposure to Agent Orange at Gagetown.
"They are all being told to be patient. But this has been going on rather a long time."
Federal officials estimate it will be at least another year before all the issues are resolved.
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006Vehicle tests under way
But the emissions program in Quebec has a long a way to go, critics say
MICHELLE LALONDE, The Gazette
Published: Friday, June 02, 2006
Environmental groups hailed yesterday's launch of Quebec's long-awaited emissions testing program for commercial trucks and buses, a move that is expected to improve air quality significantly across the province.
But at the same time, the groups accused Quebec of lagging behind other North American jurisdictions that have introduced mandatory emissions tests for privately owned vehicles.
"All our neighbours have such a program," said Andre Belisle, of the Association Quebecoise de lutte contre la pollution atmos- pherique.
"One of the major problems is that hundreds, if not thousands, of old jalopies rejected in Ontario, for example, are finding their way on to Quebec roads, adding to the existing Quebec fleet of cars that are old and poorly maintained."
Poorly maintained vehicles burn more fuel and emit more greenhouse gases and smog-causing pollutants. Quebec's Environment Department claims the new program will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 82,000 tonnes a year and reduce fine particulates, which cause respiratory problems, by 450 tonnes per year.
"We are starting with heavy vehicles and we are still studying what we can do about light vehicles that will meet both our social and our environmental goals," said Michel Goulet, an Environment Department spokesperson. He made the announcement yesterday at Montreal's Old Port during the Salon national de l'environnement.
Belisle's group and others have been lobbying for more than a decade for a universal and mandatory inspection program for all vehicles. In 2000, the Parti Quebecois government announced a program in which privately owned vehicles would have to pass inspection every two years to be licensed, but in 2002, then-Environment Minister Andre Boisclair backed out of the program.
The new program is not universal. Only about 4,000 of the 130,000 heavy commercial vehicles that use Quebec roads will be spot-checked each year. About half the vehicles tested are expected to fail, department officials said.
Quebec's commercial vehicle enforcement officers, who have been responsible for checking the roadworthiness and loads of commercial vehicles, have been trained to do roadside emissions testing.
The officers will target vehicles that emit smoke from their tailpipes. They will use a device that measures carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate emissions. The owner of a vehicle that fails the test is liable for a fine ranging from $100 to $400.
The Environment Department will then notify the vehicle owner of the need to repair the vehicle and have it tested again within 30 days. If the repairs are not done, the owner is liable for a fine of up to $1,500.
While the testing program began yesterday, the Environment Department will begin issuing fines only in September.
About 38 per cent of Quebec's greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector. Although heavy vehicles represent only about three per cent of the vehicles on the province's roads, they emit about half of the transportation sector's greenhouse gas total.
Belisle said the program will improve air quality in Montreal, but more can be done. "Quebec is one of the last major North American jurisdictions not to have a vehicle maintenance and inspection program," he said.
Such a program for all vehicles could reduce emissions that cause smog by 25 per cent a year and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by a million tonnes, he said.
"This is the principle measure permitting the reduction of pollution emissions at all levels - smog, acid rain, destruction of the ozone layer and global warming."
mlalonde@thegazette.canwest.com