Environment

Fatal Salmon Virus Outbreak in Clayoquot UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

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The Friends of Clayoquot Sound – May 17, 2012

Mainstream Canada, a Norwegian-owned company, has reported an outbreak of Infectious Haematopoietic Necrosis virus (IHN) on one of their open net-cage salmon farms in Clayoquot Sound.

The farm, one of 20 sites in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, is located at the entrance to a provincial park that encompasses a fjord, the Megin River estuary, old-growth Sitka spruce forests and salmon spawning habitat.

Media minders keep tabs on federal scientists

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Margaret Munro – April 23, 2012

Government media minders are being dispatched to an international polar conference in Montreal to monitor and record what Environment Canada scientists say to reporters.

The scientists will present the latest findings on everything from seabirds to Arctic ice and Environment Canada’s media office plans to intervene when the media approaches the researchers, Postmedia News has learned.

Media instructions, which are being described as a heavy-handed attempt to muzzle and intimidate the scientists, have been sent to the Environment Canada researchers attending the International Polar Year conference that started on Sunday and runs all week.

Oil-spill centre moving out of B.C.

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Rob Shaw – April 19, 2012

The federal government is closing B.C.'s command centre for emergency oil spills at a time when the province is facing two possible pipeline projects and a potential spike in tanker traffic in West Coast waterways.

Ottawa has said it will shut down B.C.'s regional office for emergency oil-spill responders, located in Vancouver, and centralize operations in Quebec in the wake of the cost-cutting March 29 federal budget.

BP Covered Up Blow-out Two Years Prior to Deadly Gulf Spill

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Deepwater Horizon

Greg Palast – April 19, 2012

Two years before the Deepwater Horizon blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico, another BP off-shore rig suffered a nearly identical blow-out, but BP concealed the first one from the U.S. regulators and Congress.

This week, EcoWatch.org located an eyewitness with devastating new information about the Caspian Sea oil-rig blow-out which BP had concealed from government and the industry.

Budget signals attack on charities' advocacy work

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Tim Naumetz – March 29, 2012

Opposition MPs say a surprise allegation in the federal budget that Canadian charities are violating federal rules limiting their political advocacy is retribution for widespread opposition from environmental groups to the massive Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline across British Columbia.

The obscure provision in the budget Thursday to beef up the Canada Revenue Agency’s “enforcement tools” to monitor political activities of charities demonstrates the partisan nature of the Conservative government, opposition MPs said.

Pennsylvania doctors gagged on fracking chemicals

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A new provision could forbid the state’s doctors from sharing information with patients exposed to toxic fracking solutions.

Kate Sheppard – March 23, 2012

Under a new law, doctors in Pennsylvania can access information about chemicals used in natural gas extraction—but they won't be able to share it with their patients.

A provision buried in a law passed last month is drawing scrutiny from the public health and environmental community, who argue that it will "gag" doctors who want to raise concerns related to oil and gas extraction with the people they treat and the general public.

Toxic pesticide distribution to halt in U.S.

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Steve Chawkins and Diana Marcum – March 21, 2012

A years-long environmental battle ended abruptly when the company producing a fumigant for strawberries and other crops yanked it from U.S. distribution, bringing relief to activists and raising concern among growers.

Methyl iodide, meant to replace an ozone-depleting fumigant being phased out by an international treaty, was believed to have little effect on air quality. But some scientists say it can cause cancer, brain damage and miscarriages among workers who handle it and can be a threat to ground water.

Canada threatens trade war with EU over tar sands

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Damian Carrington – February 20, 2012

Canada has threatened a trade war with European Union over the bloc's plan to label oil from Alberta's vast tar sands as highly polluting, the Guardian can reveal, before a key vote in Brussels on 23 February.

"Canada will not hesitate to defend its interests, including at the World Trade Organisation," state letters sent to European commissioners by Canada's ambassador to the EU and its oil minister, released under freedom of information laws.

The Sinopec File

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Andrew Nikiforuk – February 18, 2012

Sinopec, Enbridge's Chinese business partner for the Northern Gateway Project, has a long record of corruption, human rights violations, environmental pollution and doing business with terrorist-linked governments.

A Tyee investigation found that the world's seventh largest corporation has been the subject of major bribery scandals at home and has systemically invested in rogue petro states from Angola to Myanmar.

Environmental charity backs up whistleblower's claims of government intimidation

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Marketwire – January 26, 2012

ForestEthics has sent a statement to supporters confirming the veracity of Andrew Frank's claims that the Government of Canada targeted the environmental group.

In an email sent to supporters yesterday afternoon (January 25), ForestEthics co-founder, Valerie Langer confirms the veracity of Andrew Frank's claims: "While a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office denied using this language (An Enemy of the Government of Canada), he refused to comment when asked whether ForestEthics was targeted by the government. ForestEthics was targeted by the government. There's a good reason they wouldn't comment: it's true."

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