CIELAP REPORT ~ “EMERGING CONTAMINANTS”

WHAT MUST WE DO
TO PRESERVE

OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE???

The following excerpts are taken from a report, “There is No Away: Emerging Contaminants Detected in Water” which was published in the March/April, 2006 edition of Canadian Water Treatment magazine.

A report from the Canadian Institute For Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) released during National Pharmacists Awareness Week emphasizes the need for the Canadian government and industry to invest mores resources to research the effects of “emerging contaminants: in Canada’s waterways”.  The report makes 11 recommendations about ways to reduce the amount of, and their effects on, one of Canada‘s most valuable resources.

Anne Mitchell, executive director of CIELAP, said the release of the report was planned to coincide with the industry’s national convention because there are a number of issues related to increasing environmental contamination by pharmaceuticals and personal care products.  She was also careful to commend pharmacist for their efforts in keeping unused and wasted drugs out of the water.

The report, There is No Away: Emerging Contaminants Detected in Water, was written by Susan Holtz, a policy consultant to CIELAP who  writes on issues related to sustainable development, water and energy.  CIELAP is a not-for-profit research and educational institute dedicated to environmental law, policy analysis and reform.

In writing her  report, Holtz examined the issued of “emerging contaminants” – a term that originated in a U.S. Geological Survey report.  It refers to the  presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (collectively know as PPCPs) and endocrine-disrupting substances (EDSl) in the Canadian water system.  Holtz warns that the contaminants entering surface, ground and drinking water can have serious environmental and health consequences.  One of the biggest concerns is the issue of resistance to antibiotics and hormonal imbalances due to higher concentrations of EDS.  Of major concern, she says, if the increased use of antibiotics for both the human and animal population.  In Canada, there were 326.2 million prescriptions filled from July 2001 to August 2002.

In farming, Holtz notes that antibiotics are no longer being used singularly to treat sick animals; they’re also being used in the form of hormones, growth promoters and for illness prevention.  In her research, she determined the increased use of drugs in veterinary medicine, farming practices and aquaculture has decreased the effectiveness of the use of antibiotics.  The use of hormones in both animals and humans has had a negative effect on reproduction, causing the feminization of fish, wiping out an entire talhead minnow population in Ontario.  EDSs have also contributed to deformities in fish, birds and wildlife…Building on study results conducted in the U.S. and Europe, Holtz says it’s time for Canada to get more involved in the issue of contaminants in water.  She says the Canadian government and Canadian organizations don’t have enough information “even to develop a strategy that can effectively” determine the effects of contaminants in water… 
Here are a few YouTube videos relevant to this article:
~ Pharmaceuticals ~

~ Disposing of your Medications ~

~ Pharmaceutical Products In Our Water PSA ~

In addition to research, Holtz said a focus on human behaviour and providing more information to the public in order to encourage better choices are also important elements of social change.

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO – WATER INSTITUTE’S EXTERNAL PARTNERS PROGRAM

University of Waterloo - The Water Institute
Through collaboration among individuals engaged in water science, technology, management and governance, the Water Institute is an interdisciplinary hub that facilitates innovative research, education and training.  The Institute’s activities focus on the sustainable use and management of water resources to support healthy and prosperous communities and ecosystems at the national and international scale.  Throughout its history, the University of Waterloo has demonstrated a significant and consistent commitment to education and research on water-related topics and has garnered international acclaim for its innovative solutions to society’s water problems.

Launch of the The Water Institute’s External Partners Program

With over 125 faculty members and 400 graduate students, distributed over all six faculties, the University of Waterloo has one of the largest and most diverse water research programs in Canada.  Established in 2009 the Water Institute supports and encourages greater interdisciplinarity among our programs.  An important element in the strategy to achieve our goals is to encourage much closer association between the University and external organizations, including the private sector, government, civil society and other research facilities.

Please join us for this year’s Water Institute’s Research Symposium to be held May 2, 2013 at the University of Waterloo. The 2013 symposium will showcase the breadth of Waterloo’s water research and provide an opportunity for organizations to interact with researchers and students.

Website: water.uwaterloo.ca

WORLD WATER DAY 2013 VIDEO – A MUST SEE!

I came across a remarkable video, ”World Water Day 2013″, posted by Haruna Akashi to YouTube.  Nako Akashi, a young 15 year old student in Japan produced and narrates the video herself.  I’m so impressed with Nako’s work that I feel her insight on water’s impact on our world, should be shared.

Nako is a junior high school student who enjoys music, painting, designing and photography. The devastation of the March 11, 2011 tsunami in Japan had a profound effect on Nako and she says, ” It’s time for us to help the water. The power of just one person may seem very little, but it all counts – one for all – all for one. I believe this is the international rule for everyone.”

My comments to Nako on her video: ‘Congratulations, Nako, on your remarkable video.  I feel your work is award worthy!!! I’m so impressed that I am going to present your video on my blog to celebrate World Water Day 2013.  Best of luck in all your future endeavours.  You are a wonderful ambassador for Japan as a young person with deep-felt compassion and vision.  You will find my blog on WordPress as Rainsoftottawa.’

Nako’s twitter page ~
href=”https://twitter.com/superduperpuper”>https://twitter.com/superduperpuper

Nako’s website where she has posted her photos ~ http://bitterbutter123.deviantart.com/

WORLD WATER DAY ~ CIRQUE DU SOLEIL EXTRAVAGANZA ~ WOW!!!

WORLD WATER DAY
2013

DON’T MISS:
1) the opportunity to watch online Cirque du Soleil’s incredible, “One Night for One Drop” for a donation of $5.00 or more!!!

2) the remarkable video – ‘One Drop – A Poetic Tale’ at the end of this blog.

Coinciding with World Water Day, ONE DROP will host its inaugural ONE NIGHT for ONE DROP in Las Vegas, NV, USA, on March 22, 2013. For one incredible evening, international leaders, neighbours, philanthropists, and global citizens will come together to make a dream a reality – a world where every human being has access to water and can live in dignity and health.

In celebration of World Water Day on March 22, we will present One Night for ONE DROP, sponsored by Lamborghini and MGM Resorts International. This original production will feature more than 230 Cirque du Soleil artists and guest performers. We’ve announced today that the event will be filmed with 12 cameras and a 90-minute special will be created. The broadcast will be available for online viewing at onenight.ONEDROP.org from March 25 to 31 with a donation of $5 or more.

With a donation of  $5.00 or more we can all be a part of this gala performance!!!  The broadcast will be available for online viewing at onenight.ONEDROP.org from March 25 to 31.

LINK TO REGISTER FOR ONLINE VIEWING
http://www.onedrop.org/en/default.aspx

Jackie Evancho, the 12 year-old singer is reaching ever greater heights, it appears. She’s giving a one-night benefit in Las Vegas with Cirque du Soleil and it involves a good deal of high-wire stuff. Watch, if you dare. Yes, this will be part of the finale. She is singing “Hymn For The World” which Cirque has previously recorded, so the music is likely the backing track from the prior use. Jackie will also be performing another piece, but that’s being kept secret as of now. She swims well, so chances are that it will have some involvement with the pool underneath the giant elevating stage of the “O” Theater.

ONE DROP – a non-profit organization established in 2007 by Guy Laliberté, Founder of Cirque du Soleil – supports access to water and raises individual and community awareness of the need to mobilize so that safe water is accessible to all, in sufficient quantity, today and forever. ONE DROP USA, a 501(c)(3) public charitable organization, is its American counterpart.

GAIA—a creative project designed by Guy Laliberté for ONE DROP—is a body of work bearing witness to the beauty of the planet, as well as the fragility of Earth with regards to the universe. In September 2009, Guy Laliberté became the first Canadian private space explorer. During his 11-day stay on board the ISS, Laliberté carried out his Poetic Social Mission (see remarkable video below) and chose to use this unique opportunity to raise individual and community awareness of water-related issues and to help achieve sustainable change in terms of universal water access and protection.

The artistic core of the Poetic social mission event was a poetic tale written especially for the occasion by renowned novelist and Man Booker Prize winner Yann Martel. The tale is gradually revealed by personalities from all walks of life as the program takes us through 14 cities around the world on a journey that begins in Montreal and ends in Moscow.

Let’s all celebrate World Water Day

and enjoy online viewing of Cirque du Soleil’s “One Night for One Drop” extravaganza by donating to One Drop’s cause to use this unique opportunity to raise individual and community awareness of water-related issues and to help achieve sustainable change in terms of universal water access and protection.

DEATH OF CANADIAN FORESTS – MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE

A natural disaster that is
going to occur across all of Canada!

I decided to take the time to Google “pine beetles in Canada” and now realize just how serious a threat the pine beetle is to our environment just from reading headings such as: ‘death of a forest’; ‘the threat of mountain pine beetle‘; ‘pine beetle threatening new B.C. tree species’; ‘pine beetle contributing to forest smog’;  ‘pine beetles contributing to climate change’, etc.

Pine beetle damage extends from forests to drinking water.  The deep green pine trees of British Columbia’s great forests are turning a rusty red, thanks to the mountain pine beetle’s increasing resilience to warming winter temperatures. The grain-sized critter, which lives in the bark of mature trees, kills the trees within months, leaving the wood an ash grey colour once the pine needles fall out years later.  The mountain pine beetle’s devastation has spread over 20 per cent of British Columbia’s total area, costing the province $884 million. By 2014, it is projected that 80 per cent of the province’s pine forests will disappear, an outcome with unprecedented economic, social, and environmental consequences.

Here is a CBC News: The National video from Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, presented by Chris Brown - uploaded on Apr 24, 2008

The mountain pine beetle’s infestation in western Canada is turning forests into a new source of greenhouse gases, according to new research published in the journal Nature

A recent study by the Colorado School of Mines shows that Colorado’s quality of local drinking water is also affected by the beetle.  Driven by climate change, mountain pine beetles are infesting pine wood in Colorado and releasing more carbon into watersheds. This changes how disinfectant chemicals interact with water during treatment, and in turn creates potentially harmful by-products.

What does this mean for Canada’s west coast?  “The vast majority of British Columbia’s population lives far away from the pine beetle crisis,” says Brennan Clarke, media representative at British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, Land and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO). It’s unlikely that pine beetles will interact with drinking water resources, but FLNRO continues studying the beetle’s impact on regional hydrology.

The damage to the ecosystem is already done with over four million devastated acres of forest in Colorado and Wyoming, where studies show changes in water chemistry and nitrate levels in watersheds, which can cause algae growth in downstream drinking water reservoirs. Risk of wildfires is another hazard to drinking water as water-resistant soils prevent water penetration.

Jim Bouldin, a research ecologist writing for RealClimate, says there is a “complex relationship between the beetles, weather, forest conditions, and tree chemistry.” - Erin Pelhivan, WaterCanada Jan/Feb. 3013 magazine ~ “Critters and Carbon“.

Here is a link to an alarming award winning video I found on YouTube that points out the devastating effects this invasive insect will have on our economical and ecological future: Death Of A Forest – Pine Beetles kill millions of trees in US & Canada ~ uploaded by Wild Visions, Inc . on Feb 14, 2011
http://youtu.be/KTHXPJwaLTc

INGENIUS! ~ CREATE DRINKING WATER FROM BILLBOARD!

A billboard in Peru
creates clean drinking water
from the air!!!
No way! ~ YES way!!!

What remarkable ingeniuty!!!

UTEC, the university of engineering and technology in Lima, Peru in collaburation with Mayo DraftDCB has developed the world’s first billboard that can produce potable water from the air as a promotional admissions campaign. In this region rainfall is scarce year-round, but atmospheric humidity reaches almost 98% – the project provides residents with up-to 96 liters clean drinking water in reserve tanks situated in taps at the foot of the sign, instead of having them deal with polluted wells.

Published on Feb 19, 2013 ~ The first billboard that produces potable water from the air.  Mayo DraftFCB for The University of Engineering and Technology

Interestingly, the project wasn’t so much driven by Lima’s need for water as UTEC’s need for more engineering students. Their motto is “We will continue changing the world through engineering.” And if this is what such students could get working on, we’re all for it.

The billboard contains five generators that churn out purified water through a reverse osmosis system. The system sends water to a tank that can store up to 100 liters per day. As you can see in the video above, people are actually using the billboard to get fresh water. In three months of operation, the billboard has produced thousands of liters.

Fortunately, the Peruvian government isn’t counting on UTEC and Mayo DraftCFB. They’ve recently announced a $3.3 billion-dollar upgrade they plan on making to their water and sewage infrastructure to provide better drinking water to their citizens.

OIL SHOWDOWN IN THE AMAZON

Posted: 24 January 2013 by AVAAZ.org

There is one area of the Ecuadorian Amazon that is so pristine that the whole ecosystem has been preserved and even jaguars roam free! But the government is now threatening to go in and drill for oil.

The local indigenous people have been resisting, but they are afraid that oil companies will break up the community with bribes. When they heard that people across the world might stand with them and make a stink to save their land, they were thrilled. The president of Ecuador claims to stand for indigenous rights and the environment, but he has just come up with a new plan to bring oil speculators in to 4 million hectares of jungle. If we can say ‘wait a minute, you’re supposed to be the green president who says no one can buy Ecuador’, we could expose him for turning his back on his commitments just as he is fighting for re-election.

He doesn’t want a PR nightmare right now. If we get a million of us to help the Sani Isla Kichwa community defend their ancestral land and challenge the president openly to keep to his word, we could start a media storm that would make him reconsider the whole plan.

PLEASE sign the petition now and tell everyone (everyone!) ~ let’s help save this beautiful forest.

 http://www.avaaz.org/en/oil_in_the_amazon_8/?clTFScb

WATER AMBASSADORS’ GLOBAL IMPACT

How two members dug deep to bring sanitation to developing nations – by Susannah Maxcy of Renaissance Winter 2012 magazine.

On the impact Water Ambassadors has had on volunteers: “We’ve had big, macho Canadian men tear up.  When some village person shakes your hand and says, ‘thank you’ for saving the lives of our children, it’s pretty humbling.  It becomes a marker in people’s lives and that will change them forever.  I think people realize the blessing that Canada has.  You will never drink a glass of water out of the tap and think about it the same way again,” Barry expresses.

Access to water and proper sanitation are easy to take for granted when you live in a country with the world’s largest fresh water supply.  We will neither know what it is like to walk for kilometres to a well nor will we ever know what it is like not to have access to a clean toilet.  Enter Barry Hart, District 18, Haliburton and John P. Smith, District 13, Hamilton-Wentworth, Haldimand whose twists of fate inspired them to change the world one well and one latrine at a time.

… Barry Hart, founder of Water Ambassadors Canada, discusses the pressing need to bring clean water to third world countries … The interview is conducted by Lorna Dueck, host of Listen Up TV, a weekly television program exploring news and current affairs from a Christian worldview ~uploaded to YouTube on Nov 19, 2009

Barry Hart and his wife, Heather Alloway, first heard about the global water crisis 10 years ago at a conference they attended.  “It went from our heads to our hearts.  Within a year we were in Guatemala building a well in a remote location, a little scary at first, but totally blew us away … we remember sitting in the Houston airport coming home.   By memory we were calling people using a phone card back in Canada to try to tell them what we had seen, heard and experienced.  It was absolutely life-changing.”

Upon returning home, Barry and Heather formed the Water Ambassadors of Canada, a faith-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving and providing access to clean water to impoverished communities throughout the world.  Since its inception, Water Ambassadors has sent approximately 300 Canadians to Central America, the Caribbean and Africa to help build wells, install water filtration systems and teach hygiene.  Empowering the communities they help with the tools and knowledge to maintain these systems, Water Ambassadors provides water security in a time of increasing water instability.

… “Access is a big deal, because many of these places, people walk miles to get water from wells.  We repaired on well in November that had been broken for 14 years, which forced the people to walk by that well to get to the next town to get their drinking water … when you fix wells you’re giving them access to clean water close by, or in some cases access to water period, rather than drinking out of the local mud hole.  People totally appreciate it; they know what’s going on.  It’s a matter of their time and their health that you’re giving them … kids can go to school with healthier tummies and a lot of little girls are not spending hours getting water each day,” says Barry.

Get involved.  Are you interested in becoming a water ambassador?  Water Ambassadors offers travel volunteer opportunities in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.  Learn more about Water Ambassadors of Canada at http://www.waterambassadorscanada.org.

GREAT LAKES ~ COOPERATION ACROSS BORDERS

Great Lakes United’s John Jackson on Ontario’s proposed Great Lakes Protection Act, by Meirav Even-Har of Water Canada November/December 2012 issue ~ excerpts ~

With the amended Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) recently signed between Canada and the United States …Ontario’s proposed Great Lakes Protection Act (Bill 100) comes at a crucial time… The ambitious goal to restore and protect the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin is no easy task. This proposed legislation is meant to enable the revision and implementation of the now expired Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem to execute the Province’s obligations under the GLWQA. It’s also meant to build on current work and existing laws and regulations to create a new set of tools that will be driven, to some extent, by a local, community based approach to protection.
As an enabling act, the GLPA will allow for the creation of regulations and specific actions based on consultation with stakeholders, government bodies, First Nations and Métis, as well as the public. According to the draft Great Lakes Strategy—a guiding document to accompany the Act—the key elements
to the proposed legislation include setting a direction on Great Lakes, establishing a Great Lakes Guardians’ Council, identifying priorities for action in a strategy, building on existing tools by establishing clear targets, and taking phased, targeted action with geographically focused initiatives… Water Canada: Is this the right time for a Great Lakes Protection Act? John Jackson: The value of a piece of legislation is to draw attention to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River as needing broad serious attention,  not just as part of the overall environmental programs. It recognizes the special importance of the Great Lakes and helps draw attention to them. This legislation should not, however, be seen as the answer to all of the problems in the Great Lakes. The government must still focus on making sure it  implements the already existing legislation and Agreements such as the Water Conservation Act and the Great Lakes-St Lawrence River Water Sustainability Agreement with the U.S. Great Lakes states. How will the proposed Act work with current binational management of the Lakes? The Bill commits Ontario to participate in the binational activities and to play a leadership role. This is a very important step forward, since, with the  exception of the Water Sustainability Agreement, the provincial attendees at binational meetings tend to take more of an observer role rather than being active participants. This is a problem that I hope this will help us overcome. What lessons, if any, have we learned? What needs to happen to protect and restore the Great Lakes? We need new long-term  financial commitments by the federal and provincial and state governments to implementing Great Lakes programs and to monitoring and assessing progress. Instead we are confronted by all governments making promises while reducing the amount of staff and scientists working on the issue, et cetera. The new Ontario bill makes no financial commitments. This is a  serious problem. We need commitments by all governments to strengthen legislation and regulations if needed. Unfortunately, all levels of government are now stepping back from strengthening anything that is a non-voluntary program. We need more serious engagement by the government of stakeholders and the public in decision-making on Great Lakes matters. This bill includes components that, if properly implemented, could be important steps forward on this matter.

Meirav Even-Har is a sustainability consultant and writer. She is also 3RCertified program manager at the recycling Council of Ontario.

Link ~ http://watercanada.net/

http://www.ec.gc.ca/stl/default.asp?lang=En&n=F46CF5F8-1

CANADA’S TAR SANDS ~ CATASTROPHIC DESTRUCTION!!!

Right now, Canadian premiers are in Halifax discussing the fate of a mega-pipeline that would traffic Alberta‘s dirty tar oil to the Pacific Coast.  But BC Premier Christy Clark knows that the hugely unpopular deal could cost her party critical election votes.   Her firm opposition could delay the project and even kill it for good. Hold Christy’s feet to the fire by signing Avaaz.org’s petition. 
 

Please click on the link below to see 9 photos taken by Luc Bourgeois of the Alberta tar sands area ~ you’ll be shocked at the unthinkable devastation of our once renowned incredibly picturesque land.  Luc refers to the new barren and toxic desert area as “Alberta’s Boreal Desert”, and refers to the containment lakes where 500 dead ducks were found in the toxic sludge. 
You can listen to George Poitras speaking in Montreal of “Life and Death Downstream ~ audio update March 17, 2011. 

~ http://www.lucbourgeoisphoto.org/tarsands.html

Avaaz is a world renowned non-profit organization dedicated to righting wrongs world wide that affect each and every one of us.  Please read and sign the petition ~ your vote can REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Pressure on Christy Clark is mounting ~ as the head of the province where the pipe will end, she has tremendous power to put the brakes on this reckless deal. Call on her to reject the Northern Gateway pipeline by signing the petition below and forward it to everyone. When we reach 50,000 signatures, it’ll be delivered straight to the meeting in Halifax ~

The meeting is happening now ~ let’s come together to place the spotlight on Clark and demand that she keeps Alberta’s deadly tar oil at bay. Sign here and forward to all your friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/24_hours_to_landlock_the_tar_sands/?blTFScb&v=16574

Sources ~

Gateway pipeline risks exceed rewards, B.C. Premier says (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/gateway-pipeline-risks-exceed-rewards-bc-premier-says/article4435145/

Feds propose $3.7M penalty for Mich. oil spill (Salon.com)
http://www.salon.com/2012/07/02/feds_propose_3_7m_penalty_for_mich_oil_spill/singleton/

The Anatomy of Enbridge’s Once and Future Oil Spills (NWF)
http://nwcoastenergynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/NWF_EnbridgeOilSpill_LoResRevised.pdf

B.C. Premier Sets Conditions for Tar Sands Pipelines (Environment News Service)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2012/2012-07-23-01.html

We thank all of you for your support ~ this is far too important to ignore!