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New study questions claims of contamination in Canada's largest national park – CTV News

Published

5 years ago

January 19, 2020

New research suggests Canada’s largest national park is not drying out from upstream hydro dams or being contaminated by the oilsands.

Recently published papers from scientists at the University of Waterloo question previous studies done for the federal government and the United Nations as well as long-held conclusions from Indigenous people.

“Our findings counter widespread perceptions,” said Roland Hall, an aquatic ecologist who is one of the co-authors. “There’s been lots of controversy and claims that weren’t necessarily supported by data.”

Others say the jury is still out.

“(The scientists) overstate their position, stretching the applicability of their limited dataset,” said Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. The band has long voiced concerns about its traditional land in northern Alberta’s Peace-Athabasca Delta and Wood Buffalo National Park.

The park is one of the world’s largest freshwater deltas and a World Heritage Site.

But its water levels have been dropping, which the Mikisew blame largely on B.C. Hydro’s Bennett Dam. They also say contaminants have been flowing downstream from the oilsands.

In 2014, the Mikisew voiced concerns to UNESCO, which asked Canada to assess the park’s 45,000 square kilometres of grasslands, wetlands and waterways.

That study found ecological health was declining from climate change, dams and industry. It also noted the proposed Teck Frontier oilsands mine, waiting for federal cabinet approval, is only 20 kilometres south of the park.

UNESCO is considering the park’s status while Parks Canada considers a $27.5-million plan to rescue it.

But after analyzing 150 years worth of lake and delta sediment cores, Hall said dams and industry aren’t the problem.

Parts of the delta are drying out and climate change may play a part, he said. But the biggest factor, Hall said, is the Embarras River, which redirected large volumes of water when it broke its banks in 1982.

“It’s probably the biggest hydrological event of the century and you don’t even find it mentioned,” said Hall.

What’s more, researchers found that the delta didn’t start drying out until the 1980s. The Bennett Dam was built in 1968.

The cores, which were examined for six heavy metals associated with oilsands, revealed changes over time that predate development.

“We see flat lines, no rising trends,” Hall said.

Joshua Kurek, an ecologist at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, was not involved in the study, but called the papers valuable.

“We have a scarcity of observations and their approach provides convincing evidence of fairly stable baselines,” he said.

But Kurek pointed out that industry releases many more chemicals than those considered by the researchers. As well, Kurek noted, the cores were taken from a small area of the delta far from oilsands mines.

“It’s definitely not the final answer.”

Lepine said in an email that the research didn’t test for contaminants other studies have found, including mercury, arsenic and many carcinogenic chemicals. And the paper doesn’t look at the dam’s impact on the Peace River, she added.

Hall, who has been working in the area for 20 years, said conflicting theories speak to how little data is available on the large, complex, remote region and how hard it is to study.

“It’s not an easy place to figure stuff out.”

He suggests others may have let assumptions influence them.

“Almost from Day 1, it was anticipated that (the dam) would cause negative changes,” Hall said. “That idea has been in people’s minds for so long that other possibilities are not being explored.”

He stands by the conclusions in his papers.

“The extent to which industrial developments have altered the delta are not as bad as feared.

“It doesn’t mean industry can’t change things in the future. This system is still very much acting like a natural system, but there is a strong need for continued monitoring.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2020

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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