Tag Archives: Environment Canada

Environment

Vancouver Island community wants government held liable for ship-breaking pollution

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Vancouver Island community long frustrated by a ship-breaking operation leaching toxic heavy metals into the ocean is pitching a legal argument that the provincial government may be liable for pollution violations. 

Union Bay residents are calling out provincial and federal regulators for failing to shut down Deep Water Recovery, a company dismantling ships for years on the shoreline of Baynes Sound, said Marilynne Manning, vice president of the Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound (CCOBS).

Pollution from the large-vessel dismantling operation is a concern for human health and the environment, on land and in water, Manning said. The sensitive area, she added, is also home to the last commercial herring fishery on the coast and half of B.C.’s shellfish farms. 

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Weather

Sunshine Coast Weathers Atmospheric Rivers

Editor’s note: Cortes Island tends to be a bit drier than the Sunshine Coast. Data from the Cortes Island School weather station shows that 62.4 mm fell between January 26 and February 1. That is 8.5 mm less than what the following article states fell in Sechelt.

According to the Snow Conditions Commentary, on the BC Government website, “Beginning on January 26th, a series of storms impacted the province, primarily impacting Vancouver Island and the South Coast. Many of the storms were classified as atmospheric rivers sourced from tropical regions. The result was very heavy rainfall through much of the coast with temperatures at or near record high temperatures during the period of January 26 to February 1st.”

The closure of Dakota Ridge, due to a unseasonably low snowpack, is troubling. This is not an isolated incident and may lead to low streamflow during the summer. Mount Cain is closed until further notice. A post on their website states, ‘We do not have enough snow to safely operate. We need a big dump to get back up and running, like 50cm at least.” The slopes at Mount Washington have been closed ‘for the last couple of days’ but are scheduled to reopen today.

By Jordan Copp, Coast Reporter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A series of atmospheric rivers had heavy rain and wind battering B.C.’s South Coast region this week. 

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Rivers & Oceans

Death on the Coast: A Stormy Night, a Missing Tugboat

By  Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Troy Pearson had never wanted a job on land. On Feb. 10, 2021, he got up early to make a big breakfast for his wife, Judy Carlick-Pearson,  and their 11-year-old son who had an 8 a.m. hockey practice in Prince  Rupert. 

Pearson worked on tugboats  at Wainwright Marine, a tug and barge company in nearby Kitimat. He had  been on the water since he was a 10-year-old on his dad’s fishing boat,  but Carlick-Pearson said safety problems at work were keeping him up at  night. “He didn’t feel safe,” she said. 

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Weather

Environment Canada links B.C. floods to human-induced climate change

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Human-induced climate change “contributed substantially” to the atmospheric river and ensuing floods that devastated B.C. last year, a new study by Environment Canada scientists confirms, warning Canadians to brace for more of the same.

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Environment

Environment Canada warned port expansion puts shorebirds at risk but feds withheld final comments from review panel

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A damning document from Environment Canada that warned of disastrous environmental impacts was withheld from a key stage of an environmental assessment for a proposed Metro Vancouver shipping terminal.

Scientists who authored the report say the project threatens local wildlife, particularly the western sandpiper — a species of shorebird unique to the West Coast of North America that feeds in the nutrient-rich Fraser Delta during migration.

Continue reading Environment Canada warned port expansion puts shorebirds at risk but feds withheld final comments from review panel →