Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Releasing treated oilsands tailings into the environment isn't the only solution being considered to clean up the massive toxic ponds in northern Alberta, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Guilbeault said Wednesday that even though his government is developing regulations on how the tailings could be drained into the Athabasca River, other solutions are under review.
“We've never said that this is the only solution we're contemplating,” he said. “We haven't ruled out the possibility of finding technical solutions to tailings ponds issues.”
Guilbeault's comments came as investigators from UNESCO arrived in Alberta to consider threats to Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada's largest. The investigators are to assess whether federal and provincial efforts to stop the park's environmental slide are enough to prevent the UN agency from placing the park on its list of World Heritage Sites In Danger - a move the body has already called “likely.”
One of those threats is the tailings ponds, adjacent to the Athabasca River that flows into the park and the vast freshwater delta it protects.
First Nations and environmental groups worry that the Alberta and federal governments have already decided that treating and releasing the water into that river is the way to go. Not so, Guilbeault said.
“We are being told by some that the only solution is to decontaminate the water and discharge it into the river. We're certainly not taking that for cash,” he said.
“This is one of the options, but not the only option.”
The government is developing regulations in case releasing treating water is found to be the best answer. Regulations take time to develop, and Guilbeault said something has to be ready by 2025 when the current ponds will run out of capacity.
Any releases would have to be of drinking-water quality, he said. They would also have to be approved in Ottawa.
“That can't happen unless the federal government authorizes it.”
He said other solutions, such as decontaminating the water and recycling all of it back into operations, are being looked at. Other proposed solutions involve injecting the water underground.
“Something must be done,” Guilbeault said. “This has gone unaddressed long enough.”
Guilbeault said evidence is mounting that the tailings are beginning to contaminate nearby ground and surface water.
Whatever solution is found will have to work on a massive scale. The ponds currently hold about 1.4 trillion litres of contaminated water and continue to grow, impeding efforts to reclaim the mines.
Guilbeault said Environment Canada is consulting with industry and First Nations.
“The solution will not be decided by industry,” he said.
In a series of tweets, Alberta Environment Minister Whitney Issik said the province has the situation in hand.
“Albertans and Canadians need to know that the Lower Athabasca Oil Sands area is one of the most monitored and studied regions on the planet,” she wrote.
Documents leaked earlier this year to The Canadian Press detailing results of a survey done on provincial environmental monitoring scientists suggest they still don't believe Alberta has a good grasp of the overall impacts of the oilsands.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2022.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
It was evident to the federal government as early as last fall that Loblaw and Walmart might be holdouts to the grocery code of conduct, jeopardizing the project's success.
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
A recent decision to restrict consular services for fighting-aged Ukrainian men has made a Ukrainian man in Canada feel less certain of his next steps — and worried he could be pulled back to the war.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
The practice of giving sedatives to people detained by police has spread quietly across the U.S. over the last 15 years, built on questionable science and backed by police-aligned experts, an investigation led by The Associated Press has found.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.