"The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) has grave concerns about the Kyoto agreement," says CAPP President David Manning.

"In Kyoto, the federal government committed to such an aggressive target that consumers and businesses in every province will be scrambling to find ways to cope with this deal," says Manning. "The federal government will have to fully determine and explain to all Canadians, industry and provincial governments, what the costs will be before signing and ratifying the Kyoto deal, an agreement that commits Canada to a reduction of almost 30 percent by 2012."

"Let's be clear. This is not an Alberta issue or an industry issue ­ this deal will affect the lives of every Canadian. The real issue is how the government will reconcile the targets agreed to at Kyoto and its commitment to no punitive taxes, more jobs and continued economic growth for Canada."

Manning also expressed disappointment at the lack of commitment by developing countries.

A new report by Environment Canada examines how well Ontario's environment, people and economy have adapted to climate change and project what might happen in the region if greenhouse gases in the atmosphere double over the next 50 to 100 years.

The potential impact of future climate change in Ontario, as outlined in the summaries, could include the following:

• the water levels in the Great Lakes could fall, which would reduce the supply of water to municipalities and industries as well as to hydro-electric generating plants;
• the lower lake levels could reduce the capacity of cargo ships in the St. Lawrence Seaway. However, a longer, ice-free shipping season could partially offset the increased costs;
• anticipated higher temperatures of 2° to 5°C would reduce demand for energy for heating in the winter but increase demand for air conditioning in the summer;
• human health would be affected by an anticipated increase in heat stress and a possible increase in the number of episodes when air quality would be poor; and
• the boreal forest is expected to shift north and suffer more forest fires, insects and disease.

Technical reports on Quebec, the Arctic, the Prairies, the Atlantic Region and British Columbia and the Yukon have been released.

Executive summaries of all the reports can be viewed on the Canada Country Study web site at http://www.ec.gc.ca. The full technical report for Ontario will be released early in the new year.

Copies of the Ontario Plain Language Summary and the Executive Summary may be obtained from Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Communications Branch at (416) 739-4809 or from Environment Canada's Enquiry Centre at 1-800-668-6767.

Significant reductions in dioxin and furan emissions from Ontario kraft pulp and paper mills into Lake Superior are one of many indicators that progress is being made in improving water quality in the Great Lakes. Discharges have been dramatically reduced as a result of enforcement of Ontario's regulation under the province's Municipal/Industrial Strategy for Abatement, says the Ontario Ministry of Environment.

"Ontario is doing its part to get rid of persistent toxic substances in Lake Superior and throughout the Great Lakes basin," Environment Minister Norm Sterling said. "Ontario has an important role to play in helping Canada fulfill its commitments under the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy."

An example of the province's commitment is a $9.3-million project to remove contaminated sediment from Thunder Bay harbour, a priority site under a federal provincial agreement. The province, Environment Canada and three companies, Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., Canadian National Railway Company and Northern Wood, are contributing to the cleanup.

Canada's Supreme Court has upheld the Federal Government's right to control toxic substances in Canada.

The Supreme Court ruled that using the criminal law power to prohibit toxic substances is a legitimate way of protecting the environment. The Court said that protection of the environment requires action by governments at all levels both nationally and internationally.

In 1990, Hydro-Québec was charged with an illegal release of PCB-contaminated oil under the Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Interim Order made under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). The Interim Order has since been replaced by regulations. As a defence against the charges, Hydro-Québec challenged Federal jurisdiction to enact the Interim Order.

The Québec Court of Appeal and two lower courts in Québec ruled that portions of the Interim Order were beyond Federal jurisdiction. The Federal Government appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, which heard legal arguments on February 10, 1997.

In giving its judgment, the Supreme Court also acknowledged that the Federal Government's use of the Criminal Law to protect the environment does not prevent provinces from using their powers to protect the environment as well. The use of the Criminal Law power does not affect provincial authority to regulate pollution.

ES&E President, Steve Davey (right) has begun serving a three year term as a Director of the Washington based Water Environment Federation (WEF). Steve, a Past President of the Water Environment Association of Ontario, accepted an award from WEF President Philip Gerwert on behalf of WEAO. He has won two awards for his environmental journalism.

Impure drinking water has slain more soldiers than weapons of war. Lt. Colonel Nasmith ­ later one of the founders of what is now CH2M Gore & Storrie Ltd. ­ devised methods of purifying water on the battlefields. He held an M.A., Ph.D., D.P.M., and D.Sc., all from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Nasmith also played a major role in understanding that the first use of gas warfare by the enemy at Ypres in April 1915, was a combination of chlorine and bromine. His actions in the field and technical and practical discussions are recorded in the July 16, 1919 edition of the Medical Record.

He was officer commanding No. 5 Mobile Laboratory in France, which had full supervision of all water purification for the First Canadian Army and latterly, the Second British Army in the field.

A study released by the national conservation group American Forests found that a 20 percent loss of trees and other vegetation in the Atlanta metropolitan region produced a one billion-cubic foot increase in stormwater runoff. It estimated that it would cost at least $2 billion to build containment facilities capable of storing the excess water.

Between 1986 and 1993, the displacement of trees by development caused stormwater runoff to increase on a net total of approximately 500,000 acres. That number would have been higher had it not been for improved tree cover that decreased runoff on approximately 300,000 acres. Natural elements of the landscape, such as trees and vegetation, slow the movement of stormwater, lower the total runoff volume, and reduce costly flooding.

"We found that removing natural vegetation and replacing it with manmade structures has a high cost. That makes a strong argument for incorporating natural systems into the decision-making process and finding new ways to build cities," said Gary Moll, vice president for urban forestry at American Forests and study coordinator.

The study used engineering formulas developed by the Natural Resource Conservation Service to calculate the stormwater volume for a two-year, 24-hour storm event. The cost of building stormwater retention ponds ranges from $0.17 to $17.00 per cubic foot. American Forests researchers based their calculations on a conservative figure of $2.00.

The federal government recently amended the Migratory Birds Regulations to ban the use of lead shot for hunting most migratory game birds in wetland areas. Effective September 1, 1997, hunters are required to use only non-toxic shot for hunting waterfowl and most other migratory game birds in areas within 200 metres of any water course or water body.

Existing non-toxic shot zones remain in effect. Currently, approved alternatives to lead shot are steel, bismuth, tungsten-iron and tungsten-polymer. Starting on September 1, 1999, the ban will apply in all areas of the country.

A startlingly large number of viruses have been found in prairie wetlands and ponds. For example, in a drinking water dugout in Saskatchewan, there are more than 2.5 billion viruses per millilitre of water. These numbers are among the highest ever recorded in aquatic ecosystems, anywhere in the world.

Dr. Richard Robarts of Environment Canada and Professor David Bird of the University of Quebec, sampled approximately 300 lakes and wetlands in western North America in 1995. Their preliminary analysis of water samples revealed large numbers of viruses; many may be mammalian or avian. Now many questions need answering: Are these new viruses? Do they pose any threat to human or wildlife health?