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Riverkeeper Doug Chapman

Proposed Organic Aquaculture Opposition

Click here for the CGSB Organics Release, August 31, 2010.

VANCOUVER, BC – Over 40 organizations from across Canada and the U.S. submitted a joint letter opposing the Canada General Standards Board (CGSB) proposed organic standards that allow antibiotic and chemical treatments of farmed fish. The signatories reflect a broad cross section of the scientific, conservation, consumer, and organic communities, and represent a  collective membership of over one million people.

The joint letter outlines concerns that the draft standard is contrary to the basic principles of organics as it would allow certification of net pen farmed salmon – a practice that has been shown through published scientific research to negatively impact wild salmon and marine ecosystems. The proposed standards cover seaweed, shellfish, closed containment and net pens. However, the weakest sections of the standards relate to the production of fish, which grant organic certification to net pens with minimal changes to current, conventional practices. The use of antibiotics and  chemical sea lice treatments are allowed in the standards and key environmental impacts of net pens are unaddressed.

Canadian Waterkeepers: Wastewater Regs Comments

Click here to see comments from Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Ottawa Riverkeeper, and Fraser Riverkeeper on the proposed Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations under the Fisheries Act.

CEC Submission PDF

Please click here for Fraser Riverkeeper’s actual submission to the CEC on May 4.

FRK Calls for CEC Investigation

ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHARGE CANADA WITH FAILURE TO PROTECT ONE OF THE WORLD’S RICHEST SALMON FISHERIES

Fraser Riverkeeper Calls for Investigation into Government’s Failure to Enforce Canada’s Environmental Laws Regulating Toxic Sewage Discharges

Vancouver, BC May 4th, 2010 — Fraser Riverkeeper, together with a coalition of Canadian and American environmental groups, submitted a complaint today demanding an investigation into the Canadian government’s failure to enforce its environmental laws to stop pollution, impacting one of Canada’s, and the world’s, most productive salmon fisheries.  The announcement follows the submission of a petition to enforce environmental law to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Commission for Environmental Cooperation.

The groups claim that the Canadian government has failed to prevent ongoing and continuous discharges of toxic sewage from its Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant at the mouth of the Fraser River.  The discharge is entering directly into the Georgia Strait, through which millions of migrating salmon pass on their way to and from the Fraser River.  The Fraser is one of the world’s largest salmon rivers, and the Strait of Georgia is a renowned and economically important commercial and sport fishery.

“One of the greatest threats to North America’s waterways and fisheries is the lack of enforcement of our environmental laws,” said Douglas Chapman, Fraser Riverkeeper.  “Non-enforcement is essentially the removal of laws that protect the public and our common resources.  We have been told in the past that cleaning up the Fraser is not in the public interest; surely, it is a sad day when a clean and healthy environment is not in the public’s interest!”

The coalition includes petitioner Fraser Riverkeeper and co-petitioners Waterkeeper Alliance, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Ottawa Riverkeeper, Peiticodiac Riverkeeper, Fundy Baykeeper, Grand Riverkeeper, Georgian Baykeeper, the David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance and T Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation.  These groups allege that Canada’s failure to enforce provisions of the Fisheries Act has led to degradation of these water bodies, and that the Iona Island Waste Water Treatment Plan is violating the Act through systemic, ongoing contamination, causing harm to the watershed.

“The efforts to get sewage treatment plants to comply with Fisheries Act laws is a well-known problem that is long overdue for action — and our CEC submission is a last-ditch effort to get Canada’s government to take our environmental laws seriously,” said Lauren Hornor of Fraser Riverkeeper. “In appealing to the CEC, our groups are confident that a factual record of past legal proceedings and the pattern of government inaction will help educate the public and initiate change in Canada.”

The Canadian government has a history of deliberate inaction in its responsibilities regarding enforcement of the Fisheries Act.  In 1998, the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development’s report, “Enforcing Canada’s Pollution Laws: The Public Interest Must Come First!”, laid out the weakness and ineffectiveness of Canada’s commitment to enforce environmental laws and to protect Canada’s water.

Here, the pattern of lax enforcement continues. In 2006, the Canadian justice system accepted charges laid by Douglas Chapman, represented by Ecojustice Canada, regarding the Iona Plant’s discharges, and a judge found that there was sufficient evidence to establish a case. Chapman states, “The toxic effects on fish in the Burrard Inlet, Fraser River estuary, and Georgia Strait cause harm to the people who rely on those fish for recreation, income, and sustenance. These effects include population effects and the safety of consuming fish from the area.”

Nonetheless, the Attorney General of Canada intervened, obtaining a stay of the charges that same day, alleging it was not in the public’s interest to proceed.

Meanwhile, the treatment plant continues to repeatedly fail the toxicity tests required by its provincial permit. Documents obtained by Fraser Riverkeeper show that since the federal government intervened in the case to allow the polluting to continue, acutely toxic sewage has been discharged from the Iona WWTP on at least eleven additional occasions between May 7, 2007 and October 6, 2009.

“The crimes continue at Iona, and the refusal to install secondary treatment, which would dramatically reduce the toxicity of the discharges, is made worse by the federal government’s improper interference in the prosecution” Chapman continued.

The CEC was formed under a side agreement to NAFTA and acts as a watchdog to ensure that each of the member countries enforces its environmental laws. The CEC Secretariat will have an opportunity to formally recommend that an investigation be launched into the allegations that the Canadian government is failing to uphold provisions of the Fisheries Act, with respect to toxic discharges at sewage treatment plants.

Canadian Waterkeepers Express Concerns on Bill C-9

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Fraser Riverkeeper, Ottawa Riverkeeper, Sentinelles Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, and Georgian Baykeeper sent a submission to the Committee on Finance regarding the proposed changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act contained within Bill C-9, strongly urging committee members to vote against the clauses in Part 20. Please see our submission for more about the reasons as well as the combined qualifications and experience the Waterkeepers offer to back up this submission.

Read full submission.

“Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality” – Comment

On behalf of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Fraser Riverkeeper, and Ottawa Riverkeeper, please see our comment regarding Health Canada’s draft Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality, Third Edition, prepared by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Working Group on Recreational Water Quality of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Health and the Environment, dated September 2009.

These three Canadian Waterkeepers are independent, federally registered charitable organizations working to restore and protect swimmable, drinkable, fishable water for every community in our watersheds. Over the years, we have had many opportunities to observe, monitor, and offer advice regarding water quality and beach postings in our communities. We have also reviewed the document for public comment in its entirety. Our comments and recommendations are based on this experience.

Fraser Riverkeeper Granted Standing to Participate in Judicial Inquiry into Decline of Sockeye Salmon

Fraser Riverkeeper has been granted formal standing to participate in the federal judicial inquiry into the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River.

The Cohen Commission granted standing to 20 groups and individuals on April 16th, inviting them to provide evidence to the commission, giving the organizations the ability to propose witnesses, cross-examine witnesses, and make oral submissions to the commission.

Fraser Riverkeeper was granted standing as part of the Conservation Coalition, which also includes the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, Georgia Strait Alliance, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Mr. Otto Langer, and the David Suzuki Foundation. This group will be represented by Ecojustice.

The Cohen Commission was established on November 5, 2009 with the appointment of the Honourable Bruce Cohen as Commissioner. Under its Terms of Reference, the commission will hold hearings to investigate and report on the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River. Based on its findings, the commission will make recommendations for improving the sustainability of the sockeye salmon fishery in the Fraser River, including, as required, any changes to the policies, practices and procedures of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in relation to the management of the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery.

Environmental Law and Tools

In the summer of 2009, in Nova Scotia and P.E. I., Doug Chapman gave a speaker series on private prosecutions. Click here to download the summarized PowerPoint used in his talks on private prosecutions.


An Introduction to Canadian Environmental Law and Tools

This primer was prepared specifically for use in Waterkeeper’s Clean Water Workshop. It provides a brief introduction to environmental laws, such as the Fisheries Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, and tools such as judicial review. The primer provides a handy reference for anyone working on a number of environmental issues in Canada. Note: An updated version was released in October 2007.

Credits: written by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, researched by Kent Elson, and edited by Krystyn Tully.

Privacy Policy

Fraser Riverkeeper values the support of our members, donors, customers, supporters, and others who share our common goal of protecting the Fraser River. We are committed to maintaining the privacy of those who visit our web site. Any personal information collected by forms is stored in a secure location and is accessible only by designated staff or contractors of Fraser Riverkeeper. When reporting pollution and filling out our online forms, your identity will be kept anonymous if you choose.

Your personal information is collected for several reasons, including the following:

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