See the Conservation Coalition’s Submissions on Past Reports, Recommendations, and Responses, on behalf of all of the groups in the Conservation Commission regarding our involvement in the Cohen Commission’s judicial inquiry of the collapse of sockeye salmon returns to the Fraser River in the summer of 2009.
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The Province: Feds to loosen rules for sewage treatment CEC Secretariat receives a submission on alleged harm to fish from sewage discharges Riverkeeper Doug was interviewed on May 5′s CBC’s BC Almanac regarding the CEC submission and the sewage from Iona. If you missed the interview, you can catch him about 1/3rd of the way through on this sound archive. The Dependent: Something Stinks in Metro Vancouver The Globe and Mail: Environmentalists want Investigation of Toxic Waste in Georgia Straight Winnipeg Free Press: Ottawa Failed to Protect BC Salmon Stocks from Toxic Pollution CNW: International Review Sought of Canada’s Failure to Stop Toxic Sewage Discharge Federal government decriminalizes sewage dumping with new permissive regulations for municipal wastewater facilities Vancouver, BC – Environment Canada has proposed the enactment of new wastewater regulations that would allow for continued dumping of untreated sewage into Canadian waterways, says Fraser Riverkeeper. The proposed changes would decriminalize sewage discharges that are currently illegal under the Fisheries Act, and would give many Canadian municipalities up to 30 years to reduce their discharges. In a formal written statement to Environment Canada, Fraser Riverkeeper, Ottawa Riverkeeper, and Lake Ontario Waterkeeper assert that the new regulations are an attempt at decriminalizing sewage dumping by giving municipalities permission to pollute our waterways without consequences. The regulations also fail to adequately address combined sewer overflows (CSOs), one of the largest contributors of source water pollution in Canada. “This regulation lacks enforceable targets for the reduction and elimination of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs)”, says Meredith Brown, Ottawa Riverkeeper. “It gives municipalities permission to discharge untreated sewage into the rivers that we swim, drink, and fish from, and provides no incentive for cities to upgrade their wastewater infrastructure before 2039.” “British Colombia remains in the dark ages with regard to sewage treatment,” says Doug Chapman, Fraser Riverkeeper. Metro Vancouver discharges significant amounts of raw sewage through its combined sewer systems. The City of Vancouver has dumped millions of liters of raw sewage, prompting advisories from public health officials, the closure of beaches, and public backlash about the city’s role as a significant polluter. “Permissive federal regulation is a step backwards,” says Brown. This new regulation would allow sewage dumping to continue at current levels for another three decades, despite the human health risk from pathogenic microorganisms and the threat to aquatic ecosystems. “It is outrageous that the Canadian government is allowing municipalities like Metro Vancouver to continue to violate the federal Fisheries Act with impunity. Annually, Vancouver’s Iona sewage facility dumps tons of chemicals and heavy metals into the fisheries waters, right at the mouth of the Fraser River, and this discharge is regularly toxic to fish. Millions of salmon must live in these contaminated waters. Canada is about to legalize the environmental crimes that have been committed by Metro Vancouver. It must be nice to have friends in high places,” says Chapman. To read the full Canadian Waterkeeper submission, please click here. Consumers Demand Sustainable Fish Choices When Grocery Shopping
Waterkeeper Organizations Stand Up for Pacific Salmon What people don’t know about farmed salmon can hurt them, not to mention salmon, seals, and other marine wildlife. “That innocuous piece of salmon on your plate has a sordid history,” said Lauren Hornor of Fraser Riverkeeper in British Columbia, co-creator of the SUPS campaign. “As citizens of the Pacific coast, we’re concerned about the impact our buying choices have on wild salmon.” The group Fraser Riverkeeper is one of over twenty Waterkeeper organizations from Alaska to California that announced the launch of the Stand Up for Pacific Salmon (SUPS) campaign in their watersheds. Using a cartoon, a documentary film, and informational pamphlets, the groups are educating West Coast consumers about the impact of purchasing net-pen farmed salmon — and calling on the “Big Six” grocery retailers to remove the product from their shelves. “Many people who care about the oceans and their own health have thought choosing farmed salmon was a sustainable and wise choice, but this is definitely not the case,” said Hornor. “Net-pen salmon farms are floating feedlots that have spread sea-lice, pollution, chemicals, and infectious diseases into pristine habitats all around the world, including British Columbia and Washington, and are having a devastating impact on wild salmon stocks.” The SUPS campaign asks customers of Costco, Safeway, Tesco, Kroger, SuperValu, and Trader Joe’s to follow the example of their fellow retailer Target. In January the discount chain, on the advice of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s SeafoodWatch program, dropped net-pen salmon from over 1,700 stores. “Consumers can turn the industry around, promoting major reform by voting with their wallets,” said Hornor. “This would not only help our oceans and wild salmon, it would lessen risks to human health.” “Reforming the industry has been like trying to get tobacco companies to admit that cigarettes cause cancer,” says Tyee Bridge, co-creator of the SUPS program and a member of the BC-based volunteer group Wild Salmon Circle. “At one point the salmon farmers even hired the same PR agency used by Big Tobacco. They seem capable of doing anything to make consumers believe their product is sustainable, except actually becoming more sustainable by moving to closed-tank systems.” Because of the presence of PCBs and other substances, the journal Environmental Research recommends that farmed salmon should be eaten no more than “between 0.4 and 1 meal per month.” This confirmed a similar 2005 study in the Journal of Nutrition, recommending that pregnant women, children, and nursing mothers avoid farmed salmon because of high levels of pollutants. Other concerns for consumers include the industry’s use of antibiotics and artificial coloring. “The truth about net-pen salmon is outrageous, and not all that appetizing,” said Bridge. “Without the orange and pink dyes put into their feed, for instance, farmed salmon flesh would be an unappealing shade of gray.” 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. Doug Chapman’s letter to the editor 2/25/2010 – Vancouver Sun Re: Athletes’ village ‘greenest in North America,’ Feb. 17 I note that one of the factors taken into consideration in awarding the athletes’ village an environmental green certificate was habitat restoration. Surely this does not include marine habitat in southeast False Creek. It is common local knowledge that every heavy rainfall event results in dangerously high E. coli levels in southeast False Creek. The area becomes a cesspool as a result of sewage discharges. Many kayakers have complained about the contamination giving them rashes on their arms. In late December we sampled the marine sediment in the shallow waters of southeast False Creek. Lab analyses revealed dangerously high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals. PCBs are banned chemical compounds that can cause skin lesions and severe liver damage. PAHs are carcinogenic, mutagenic toxins. Should the False Creek Olympic Village community receive an environmental award when its marine habitat is contaminated with dangerous chemicals and feces? Douglas Chapman Fraser Riverkeeper, Vancouver  Mary, Alison, Torch Runner Mark, Lauren, and Eden Fraser Riverkeeper President Mark Mattson ran the Olympic torch for a leg in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay this afternoon. Mark ran with the flame on Wednesday, February 10th in North Vancouver, at 12:38pm. He started along Mountain Highway from house 2032 and ran to 24th Street on Mountain Highway. Mark was proud to take part in this ancient ritual and said:
Over the past ten years, Mark has acted as counsel for environmental and public interest groups in more than 40 hearings and represented clients in both Provincial and Federal courts. He is a founding member and Board President of Fraser Riverkeeper and he is also the founder, President and full-time Waterkeeper with Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in Toronto. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay began on October 30th in Victoria, and the flame’s journey crosses Canada. The entire relay comprises a 106-day over 45,000km, with around 12,000 torchbearers. The torch is lit several months before each Olympics games event in Olympia, Greece — the site of the original games. The torch relay ends during the opening ceremony on Friday, February 12th. Sediment Tests Positive for Highly Elevated Levels of PCBs, PAHs, Heavy Metals
Fraser Riverkeeper calls on Vancouver Authorities to Take Steps to Protect the Public
Vancouver, BC – February 10, 2010 – False Creek, a part of the Fraser River watershed, which runs through the Vancouver Olympic Village, has sediments that contain dangerous chemical contamination – including elevated levels of PCBs, PAHs, copper, lead, and other heavy metals – it was announced today by local and international water conservation groups. The groups, led by the local Fraser Riverkeeper – which commissioned tests near the Olympic Village and notified the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) last month of the toxicity – now call on Vancouver to take immediate steps to educate and protect the public. “Tens of thousands of athletes, workers and spectators will soon be passing through the False Creek Area, on which Olympic Village is housed, daily; we call on VCHA to immediately warn the public to stay out of these waters,” said Fraser Riverkeeper Doug Chapman. “Our members use and recreate in these waters, and Fraser Riverkeeper remains concerned about the well-being and long-term health of our community. We have an obligation to help inform the public, as they have a right to know about the quality of their waters.” On January 11, 2010, Fraser Riverkeeper wrote to Vancouver Coastal Health Authority’s office regarding acutely toxic and contaminated sediment samples obtained from two False Creek locations east of the Cambie Street Bridge in front of the Olympic Village on December 23, 2009. At that time, Fraser Riverkeeper asked what steps would be taken to protect the public from the contamination, and a request was made that the public be warned immediately about the dangers of wading in and using these contaminated areas. The group was informed during a meeting on February 8th by VCHA officers that the agency has known about the contamination for a decade. “We have done our duty by testing for the presence of toxins and informing the authorities; we now urge the VCHA to do theirs by remedying the situation and notifying the public of the dangerous nature of this area,” Chapman continued. “To date we have received no response from VCHA that it intends to take steps to protect the public, nor has any warning been issued.” Laboratory analyses of the samples collected by Fraser Riverkeeper were conducted by CANTest and establish that False Creek sediment is contaminated with elevated levels of PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls), PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – chemical compounds that occur in oil, coal, and tar deposits, and are produced as byproducts of fuel burning), and toxic heavy metals including copper and lead. PCBs are banned compounds that can cause skin lesions, severe liver damage, and acute systemic poisoning that may be immediately fatal. PAHs are of concern as a pollutant because they are known carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic toxins. PCBs and PAHs enter the human body most commonly through contact with the skin. According to John Werring, Salmon Conservation Biologist at the David Suzuki Foundation and Advisory Board Member of Fraser Riverkeeper, the tests show that several chemical parameters exceed British Columbia’s contaminated regulatory limits for the protection of marine and aquatic life. He further noted that some chemicals also exceeded regulated limits for soils for residential areas and parks. “We call on the VCHA to immediately post signage warning the public and to monitor boat traffic, which may need to be controlled to prevent stirring up these highly contaminated sediments,” said Scott Edwards, Director of Advocacy Programs for Waterkeeper Alliance. “The eyes of the world are on Vancouver for the Olympic Games. While we understand the city may not want to draw attention to this problem at this time, ignoring it, and thereby failing to protect the public, would be dangerously irresponsible, a real embarrassment for the city and country.” “The public must be protected,” concluded Lauren Hornor, Executive Director of Fraser Riverkeeper. “Of course, we are concerned about athletes and visitors to our country, but we are also concerned about the long-term health and well-being of the local and provincial communities, which use and enjoy these waters year-round.” MEDIA CONTACTS: Fraser Riverkeeper Douglas Chapman: (604) 646-0477 / (778) 772 -0460 chapman@fraserriverkeeper.ca Lauren Hornor: (604) 786-0888 / lauren@fraserriverkeeper.ca Goodman Media for Waterkeeper Alliance John Bianchi: (917) 693-4290 / jbianchi@goodmanmedia.com Related links: Rock the Water: Web music project aims for cleaner shorelines Metro article about Swim Drink Fish Music Club This video is a short profile of Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby. It is part of an “Environmental Heroes” series created by students at UNC-Chapel Hill. We’d like to welcome Moose Riverkeeper as the newest Canadian Waterkeeper. Moose River is 547 km long, and its headwaters form at the Mattagmi River. The newest Riverkeeper was approved by Waterkeeper Alliance this past June and is responsible for the Moose River, near James Bay, Ontario. Joseph Boyden, who is a Giller Book Prize winning writer and Lake Ontario Waterkeeper member, is the new Moose Riverkeeper. Joseph’s connection to the Moose River spans the past 20 years. An interview with Mr. Boyden is here. Joseph’s book Through Black Spruce integrates with the river as well. President Clinton Speaks at Waterkeeper Alliance Annual Conference Earth Mamas and Water Babies Mark and Krystyn from Lake Ontario Waterkeeper talk about the founding of their organization and the impact of mothers on the environmental movement. Their interviews include a radio podcast of the newest mother in the Waterkeeper movement, Lauren Brown from Fraser Riverkeeper. Office of the Auditor General Canada’s 2009 spring report on Protecting Fish Habitats. Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada cannot demonstrate that fish habitat is being adequately protected as the Fisheries Act requires. This full report notes that Fisheries and Oceans Canada has made progress by focusing on development projects that represent a higher risk to habitat. However, the audit found that the Department does not adequately monitor projects that it has approved with certain conditions attached that are meant to protect fish habitat. From the report:
Some quotes from our Riverkeeper Doug Chapman:
National Province’s article is here. Vancouver Sun Sustainable Living Expo, 2009 On the weekend of May 8-10, 2009 Fraser Riverkeeper joined more than 300 exhibitors at the Vancouver Sun Sustainable Living Expo (EP!C) held in Vancouver’s new convention center on the water. Exhibitions included other community and non-profit organizations, fashion, food and beverage, leisure, home and garden, transport, health and beauty, business and technology, and moms and babies booths. The focus of the convention was “green,” with hundreds of organizations showcasing how their products and services are geared toward being environmentally friendly and safe. Fraser Riverkeeper’s booth gave away brochures, stickers, and newsletters as well as Waterkeeper magazines. Mary, Doug, and Carol attended the booth over the weekend, talking to interested visitors and making sure that they knew what we were about, what Waterkeeper Alliance is about, and what we are currently doing about the Fraser River. Our visitors included a city planner, several “streamkeepers,” anglers, nature lovers, biologists, people who live on the river, and all types of people young and old who were interested in the state of the river and concerned about not only their neighborhood creek or stream, but about all of the Fraser and its tributaries. We also presented a slideshow of our latest event photos: the Pegleg Gravel Bar clean-up in Chilliwack, which elicited awe, as many people had no idea how much waste you could pull off one gravel bar in one afternoon. Others were well aware of the problems of not just private dumping but dangerous agricultural and municipal waste runoff. Everyone who stopped by was very concerned about the Fraser River’s current and future health. We reminded people of our pollution hotline, investigation of complaints, and our resources to build cases if illegal dumping is found. We want to thank everyone for stopping by our booth and being interested in what we do. We encourage you to visit our website often (and watch for new science articles), get involved, and become a member! If you would like to make a donation, please click our “Donate Now” button, which will take you to a secure donation site as well as automatically send you a charitable tax receipt in return. Environmentalist Alumnus Addresses Conservation Issues at Reunions ’08 “Doug Chapman ’58, the Fraser Riverkeeper in Vancouver, Canada, and Bob Boyle, who helped found the Riverkeeper movement, discussed their roles in the environmental movement to a Kennedy Auditorium packed with alumni.” By Holly Foster, Hamilton College Fraser Riverkeeper and Woodtone Hosted Fantastic Turnout at Annual Earth Day Fraser River Cleanup at Pegleg Gravel Bar, Chilliwack Fraser Riverkeeper and Woodtone worked with the city of Chilliwack and Rotz Disposal to organize this year’s Fraser River clean-up at the Pegleg Gravel Bar in Chilliwack on Sunday, April 19th. The mighty Fraser River is the longest river in Canada’s beautiful British Columbia. The river’s watershed is a vast ecological, cultural, and economic treasure chest, which drains more than one-fourth of the province before its egress into the Pacific through Vancouver. This river is where the heart lies for Vancouver’s Fraser Riverkeeper, a registered charitable organization founded in 2005 under the leadership of renowned environmental advocate and seasoned prosecutor, Mr. Doug Chapman. Fraser Riverkeeper has played an active part in community outreach and education, law enforcement, river patrol, and enhancement of the ecological health and integrity of the river and its tributaries. On April 19th 2009, Fraser Riverkeeper continued its river stewardship by taking part in its second annual Earth Day event: helping to organize the cleanup of Fraser River’s Pegleg Bar, one of the numerous gravel bars located on the river between Hope and Mission. These bars provide important riparian zones for aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals. As the river leaves the Fraser Canyon at Hope and enters the vast floodplain extending westward to the Georgia Strait, it loses a significant amount of energy, which allows heavier aggregate material to be deposited. Given the right conditions, gravel bars and islands form over time. For those unfamiliar with the gravel bars in the Fraser Valley, they are absolutely remarkable to see. During the late winter and early spring before the freshet begins, the gravel bars are exposed and their expanse is mind-boggling. Much of the exposed gravel will be submerged underwater once the freshet begins in late spring, becoming one of many sport fishing hotspots in the area. Unfortunately, there are those who are not aware of the importance of these bars and continue to dump along the river. At last year’s Earth Day cleanup, in the span of two hours, about 50 volunteers collected over four tons of waste materials: two and a half tons of garbage and two tons of metal, including bicycles, household appliances, mattress springs, and other recyclables. This year, to celebrate Earth Day in its second annual cleanup, Fraser Riverkeeper worked once again with Woodtone, the city of Chilliwack, Rotz Disposal, and many other friends of the river – with more than double the amount of last year’s volunteers. We also pulled out 11 tons of waste, including the remains of a car and a washing machine. Doug Chapman of the Fraser Riverkeeper thanked everybody for their efforts and spoke of the difference even a small change can make. “The garbage you removed today will not be able to disintegrate and affect the wildlife that inhabits the river. And the plastics pose an even larger threat, as it either gets ingested by fish that are later consumed by people or floating plastics end up in the large plastic ‘island’ in the North Pacific Gyre.” Barry Penner, MLA for Chilliwack-Kent and Minister of Environment, was also out lending his support to the effort. Barry was encouraged by the huge volunteer turnout and by the impact they had on cleaning up such an important part of the river. We’d like to give special thanks to Woodtone, Rotz Disposal, and the city of Chilliwack for all their efforts in joining forces to ensure that the 2009 cleanup went so smoothly. We’d also like to thank Coast Capital Savings, RBC Blue Water Project, and the Young Foundation for donating funds to this event. We’d like to thank the press, especially Hawk FM and Star FM, for keeping the community up-to-date. Also, a great thanks to our in-kind donations from Waste Services Industry, Pro-Fab, Watson Gloves, Norm’s Concrete, Nestlé Waters Canada, Tim Horton’s, Save-on-Foods, and Preserved Seed Cafe. Thanks to all the families for joining us and to those who brought trucks and were able to get heavier metals. Metro beats rap on sewage Environmentalist Alumni Address Conservation Issues at Reunions ’08 Metro sewage plants failing federal tests Fraser Riverkeeper featured on CBC (Windows Media Video) Fraser Riverkeeper and Friends host Earth Day Fraser River Cleanup Canada Urged not to Share Water with Americans US Energy Company to Face Prosecution for Cross-Border Pollution in Canada U.S. Energy Company to Face Prosecution For Cross-Border Pollution in Canada DTE Energy Company accused of environmental offences in Canada |
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