Another major piece is about to fall into place in the battle to contain the Asian Carp from spreading into the Great Lakes. Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources is set to slap a ban on importing the invasive carp. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Transcript
Another major piece is about to fall into place in the battle to contain the Asian Carp from
spreading into the Great Lakes. Ontario’s ministry of natural resources is set to slap a ban on
importing the invasive carp. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Toronto has a large appetite for the Asian carp. They’re imported to fish markets here live, so
they can be cooked fresh. But David Ramsay, Ontario’s minister of natural resources, says that’s
going to stop. He says he doesn’t know when the ban will go into effect. But it could be only
weeks that people will be able to enjoy their fresh carp.
The carp can grow up to eight feet in length, weigh more than one hundred pounds and consume
huge amounts of food….and they have no natural predators. Experts have warned that the Asian
carp could eat its way through the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Ramsay says the previous Ontario government did nothing about this invasive species, but he
says this government won’t wait.
“I’m very concerned about the invasive carp. We found one at the mouth of the Don River in
December. There’s a danger here, or a potential danger if these species of fish that are imported
into this country ever got loose in the Great Lakes, it could really put our Great Lakes ecosystem
in grave danger.”
This isn’t the first Asian carp to surface here. In the past two years one was found in Lake Erie,
and another in a fountain in downtown Toronto.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
As many as eight new nuclear reactors might be built over the next twenty years if recommendations are acted on north of the border. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports… dwindling energy supplies have put Ontario’s new government in a corner, and political leaders say there may be little choice but to build more nuclear plants:
Transcript
As many as eight new nuclear reactors might be built over the next twenty years if
recommendations are acted on north of the border. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan
Karpenchuk reports, dwindling energy supplies have put Ontario’s new government in a corner,
and political leaders say there may be little choice but to build more nuclear plants:
Dwight Duncan is Ontario’s new Energy Minister.
And in a recent speech to business leaders in Toronto, he said his biggest challenge is to rebuild
the province’s capacity to provide power over the next twenty years.
His government has promised to close coal burning generating stations by 2007. In addition, all
of the province’s nuclear plants will reach the end of their natural lives by about 2020 unless
they’re refurbished. Government officials predict a huge energy shortfall unless decisions are
made soon.
And Duncan says that could mean more nuclear plants, despite opposition from
environmentalists.
“Absolutely, there’s a body of opinion in this province that I imagine would oppose any nuclear,
and that will be a debate if we go down that route, we will all have to engage in.”
Atomic Energy of Canada, a federal government corporation, is pushing a 12-billion dollar
proposal to build four pairs of new nuclear reactors in Ontario over the next twenty years. Those
plants would produce energy at a cost cheaper than natural gas fired plants or wind energy. The
problem is that they represent a new generation of reactors that use more enriched uranium than
their predecessors.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
Ontario appears to be ready to take more steps to protect the environment on the north side of the Great Lakes. The new liberal government wants to rid the province of its bad name, especially on issues like recycling and composting. That means diverting 60 percent of the province’s garbage from landfills within the next five years, which could be good news for landfills south of the border. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, the city of Toronto is taking the lead:
Transcript
Ontario appears to be ready to take more steps to protect the environment on the north side of the
Great Lakes. The new liberal government wants to rid the province of its bad name especially on
issues like recycling and composting. That means diverting 60-percent of the provinces’ garbage
from landfills within the next five years, which could be good news for landfills south of the
border. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, the city of Toronto is taking the lead:
Toronto generates more than one million metric tons of garbage every year, and the amounts are
increasing. Now it wants to fall into line with the provincial government’s plan to recycle 60-
percent of its waste.
Geoff Rathbone is Toronto’s director of solid waste management services.
He says the city will reach 32-percent by the end of this year, and could make the 60-percent
mark in five years.
“In order to do that we made a number of initiatives such as making recycling mandatory and
banned grass clippings.”
The biggest change is the Green Bin Organics Program. Organic waste such as diapers, sanitary
products and animal waste is picked up in a covered green bin at curbside. That material is sent
to plants for processing and separation.
Rathbone says another plan is already working. It forces businesses to pay to have their garbage
picked up, encouraging them to recycle. So far they’ve cut waste by 40-percent in just one year.
For The Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
Environmentalists say the new government of Ontario has failed its first green challenge. The liberals under premier Dalton McGuinty could not keep a promise to protect a swath of ecologically sensitive land north of Toronto. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, environmental activists say they’ve been betrayed and are losing faith in the new government:
Transcript
Environmentalists say the new government of Ontario has failed its first green challenge. The
liberals under Premier Dalton McGuinty could not keep a promise to protect a swath of
ecologically sensitive land north of Toronto. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan
Karpenchuk reports, environmental activists say they’ve been betrayed and are losing faith in the
new government:
The Oak Ridges Moraine is a tract of land north of Toronto that includes lakes, forests and
wildlife habitat. When he came to office, Premier McGuinty said he would halt development of
6600 homes in the moraine.
“We’re going to do what we’ve committed to doing, we’re going to protect that space.”
But when McGuinty’s government told developers to stop, they threatened to sue. So the
government cut a deal allowing for about 900 fewer homes than before. Activists like David
Donnelly of Environmental Defense Canada were furious that an election promise was broken.
“We think this was both an environmental and a symbolic promise to try and stop sprawl in the
Oak Ridges Moraine, in some of the most sensitive lands in all of Ontario.”
But the Liberals say 900 fewer homes still means more green space. They could have passed a
law to take back the land, but would likely have faced lawsuits that could cost taxpayers billions
of dollars. Environmentalists are now asking: if the new government was naive about this issue,
what else is in store for the next few years?
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk
A group that promotes green energy says the electricity crisis across North America is going to get worse. And the group says refurbishing old nuclear plants is not the answer. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Transcript
A group that promotes green energy says the electricity crisis across
North America is
going to get worse. And the group says refurbishing old nuclear plants
is not the answer.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Ralph Torrie is one of the authors of a new report by the environmental
group, The
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout. He wants to reduce reliance on nuclear
power. Torrie
says more than half of the working reactors will need serious repairs
in the next decade.
And new sources of energy will have to be found to bridge the gap until
the repairs are
completed.
“Premature aging and poor performance of the reactors is making the
problem that we’re
facing much more urgent than if the plants were operating the way they
were supposed to
be.”
Torrie says the reconstruction money would be better spent in
developing more efficient
energy programs and finding more renewable sources of energy.
Officials for the nuclear industry say reactors are like cars… and
need to be refurbished to
keep them running smoothly.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
At least one city in the region has passed a controversial law that would ban or severely restrict the use of pesticides. Environmental activists are calling the move a great victory. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Transcript
At least one city in the Great Lakes region has passed a
controversial law that would ban or severely restrict the use of pesticides.
Environmental activists are calling the move a great victory. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
For years, environmentalists have warned of the dangers associated with the overuse of
pesticides and herbicides, claiming that those chemicals are poisoning the land and
waters.
Now Toronto’s city council has passed a bylaw aimed at reducing pesticide use.
Katrina Miller of the Toronto Environmental Alliance says it’s an amazing win.
“We have a bylaw that’s going to protect children, it’s going to protect the environment.
We saw a city council that has decided to listen to the citizens of Toronto and the doctors
and nurses instead of falling under pressure from the industry lobby.”
The debate leading up to the vote was bitter and emotionally charged. One
representative of a lawn care company was ejected.
Lorne Hepworth is a spokesman for the pesticide manufacturers. He says the ones to
suffer from the new bylaw will be homeowners.
“At the end of the day what this amounts to is a deterioration in their property values,
you know, score one for bugs and dandelions and zero for the property owner.”
Under the bylaw anyone wanting to use pesticides will have to make a case to an advisory
board. It will be made up of representatives from the city, environmental groups and
lawn care companies.
The new bylaw will not be enforced until 2006.
For The Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
The Attorney General in New York has recently led the fight against any softening of laws on air pollution. He’s even taken on the administration in Washington. Now he’s setting his sights across the border where pollution from Canada is affecting his state. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
Transcript
The Attorney General in New York has recently led the fight against any softening of laws on air
pollution. He’s even taken on the administration in Washington. Now he’s setting his sights
across the border where pollution from Canada is affecting his state. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports:
New York’s Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has taken on the White House and big air polluters in
the U.S. Now he’s filing a complaint with the Environmental Commission set up under NAFTA.
He wants the commission to look into whether coal fired generating plants in Ontario violate any
Canadian laws.
That move is not sitting well with authorities across the border. Canada’s environment minister,
David Anderson, says he welcomes the challenge, but says Spitzer should be cleaning up his own
backyard first.
“His plants in New York aren’t little innocent neighborhood Dairy Queens. These are major
emitters of pollution.”
Ontario’s environment minister, Chris Stockwell, admits that Ontario doesn’t have a perfect
record, but he, too, says Spitzer shouldn’t be doing any finger pointing.
“The Americans have states where 90% of their energy is coal. Now who’s embarrassed,
Americans or Canadians?”
Ontario has pledged to shut down its coal-fired generators by 2015.
But that isn’t soon enough for Spitzer. If he proves his case, the environmental commission could
impose penalties against the province.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
The debate over nuclear energy in the Great Lakes Region will likely heat up again in the coming months. In Canada, three reactors are coming back online after they were closed for years, and as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, a new nuclear power plant might be built:
Transcript
The debate over nuclear energy in the Great Lakes Region will likely heat up again in the coming
months. Ontario is about to bring three reactors back on line after they were closed for years.
And as Dan Karpenchuk reports, the province is also considering building a new nuclear power
plant:
Ontario is facing an energy crunch. Demand during the summer months, last year, had tested the
province’s reserves to the limit, and an especially cold winter has placed even more demands on
the system.
Now Ontario premier, Ernie Eves, says he’s considering new ways of dealing with the energy
shortage and nothing will be left out.
“That includes everything from wind power to large nuclear projects.”
Bruce Power owns two nuclear plants on the shores of Lake Huron. Recently its President,
Duncan Hawthorne, met with Ontario officials and made it clear his company wants to be
involved in any new nuclear projects.
“We’ve got a strong capable workforce, we’ve got every favorable community around us, we’ve
got a formula that we can build on.”
But environmental groups and opposition politicians were quick to denounce the plan, saying the
industry does not have a good record.
They say Ontario has some of the oldest reactors in North America. And history has shown that
every time a nuclear plant has been built in the province, the cost overruns have been enormous,
with taxpayers ending up with the bill.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
A recent study on pollution in North America shows a drop in environmental pollution between 1995 and 2000. The study was conducted by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which was set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, one trend being noted is that smaller industries across the continent are becoming the big polluters:
Transcript
A recent study on pollution in North America shows a drop in environmental pollution between
1995 and 2000. The study was conducted by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation,
which was set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement. But as the Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, one trend being noted is that smaller industries
across the continent are becoming the big polluters:
Officials for the Commission say it’s a good news-bad news picture of what’s going on across the
continent. The environmental watchdog says the biggest polluters such as electrical generating
plants and steel factories are releasing fewer hazardous chemicals. But smaller industries, who
have tended to pollute less are showing a significant increase in their emissions.
Victor Shantora is with the Commission.
“The smaller polluters, probably about 15,000 such facilities across North America, are actually
tracking upwards. And we think that that’s problematic.”
The study shows a seven-percent decline in the amount of toxins released by big industries from
1998 to 2000, while the smaller polluters showed a 32-percent increase over the same period.
Environmental groups like the Sierra Club say negative publicity has shamed the big polluters
into cutting down on emissions. They say that hasn’t worked against the small polluters. So it’s
up to governments to force them to make the reductions.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.
Government leaders are looking at new ways to combat the West Nile virus. A new plan is coming in response to warnings that this year, the West Nile virus will strike harder and earlier than last year, and also that people in the Great Lakes region will have to be prepared to make some lifestyle changes. Some environmentalists and local public health authorities say the plan is too little, too late. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, some victims of the virus are angry that not enough has been done until now:
Transcript
Government leaders are looking at new ways to combat the West Nile virus. A new plan is
coming in response to warnings that this year the West Nile virus will strike harder and earlier
than last year, and also that people in the Great Lakes region will have to be prepared to make
some lifestyle changes. Some environmentalists, and local public health authorities say the plan
is too little, too late. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dan Karpenchuk reports, some
victims of the virus are angry that not enough has been done until now:
(sounds of indoor golf)
About twenty golfers are using this indoor golf driving range to get their game in shape just
weeks before they’ll be able to enjoy playing outdoors.
But along with the nicer golf weather will come this year’s first assault by mosquito populations,
some of which are sure to carry the West Nile virus.
Like the general public most of these golfers have a mixed reaction to the dangers posed by West
Nile.
(montage of golfers)
It was only two years ago that the West Nile Virus had been found in a few dead crows in North
America. Now it’s spread across much of the continent and it’s blamed directly for killing dozens
of people and infecting hundreds of others.
Last fall, Ontario’s medical officer of health, Colin D’Cunha, gave this statement when questioned
about the spread of West Nile.
“I don’t view this as cause for alarm. And I have to remind people that the serious signs and
symptoms are seen in less than one percent of people who come down with West Nile virus
infection. And to put it in context remember that the flu kills about nineteen hundred Canadians
each year.”
Victims says it was that kind of comment from a health official that caused them not to be overly
worried.
Vern Thomson became infected with the virus during his daughter’s wedding rehearsal in the
backyard of his Mississaugua home, just west of Toronto.
His wife Huguette says within days he was paralyzed and almost died. She says there wasn’t
enough warning about what West Nile could do.
“We knew there were a couple of crows that had died and I mean we knew that West Nile virus
was coming. But unfortunately we trusted our elected officials to inform us how near it was. I
mean, just because a couple of crows had died. Of course we didn’t pay that much attention to it.”
Her husband still has not fully recovered from the virus.
Tropical disease experts also raised alarms about the dangers of West Nile. Some say the Ontario
government played down the threat last year and kept crucial information out of the public
domain.
According to official Ontario government data, there were 374 West Nile cases in the province
last year. But some experts say that number was at least one thousand.
Recently Ontario announced a seven-point plan to fight the spread of West Nile virus. It includes
more surveillance, a public education campaign, mosquito controls, and more money for research.
But when the province’s health minister, Tony Clement, and the chief medical officer, Colin
D’Cunha, attended the news conference to unveil the plan, they ran into an angry Huguette
Thompson.
“I want to tell you I was in the hospital sitting next to my husband that was dying of West Nile
virus and I was so appalled by your comments doctor.”
“Well Ma’am, I want to assure you that Dr. D’Cunha…”
“I am telling you exactly that people did not take this seriously because of your comments.”
“Ma’am I want to assure you that whenever we were approached, our actions and our commentary
were to take this seriously, there is no question.”
“You’re too late with your plan.”
But health minister Tony Clement insists there was no attempt to downplay the seriousness of the
virus.
“We made it clear that everyone who does not protect themselves is taking a risk, and it is our
intention this year, as we look ahead, now that we have more information, now that we have the
experience of last year, to move ahead with our seven-point plan, and to make sure that Ontarians
are as protected as anyone else in North America.”
But complaints also came from local medical officers, who say they’re disappointed with the
amount of money the province has put into the plan.
Environmentalists are also disappointed.
Katrina Miller is with the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
“I think that the response to this point has been this kind of immediate, hurry-up crisis
management response instead of a long term plan to deal with a disease that we know is here to
stay. We need permanent measures of control, not toxic measures of control that we have to keep
applying. If we used a larvacide, if we use adulticides, we have to keep putting them out there,
and we don’t know how effective they’re going to be.”
Tropical disease experts are now warning people to brace for this year’s onslaught of West Nile
virus. They say it will come earlier and hit harder this spring.
They say birds dying of the virus in April or early May will greatly increase the risk of it
spreading across the continent, infecting tens of thousands of people.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dan Karpenchuk.