The British Government is expected to announce its investigation into Britain's worst water-poisoning incident - 13 years after it took place. There will be a new inquiry into how chemicals were dumped into the public water supply in Camelford, north Cornwall, in 1988. Some fear that the poisoning could have contributed to unusually high rates of Alzheimer's disease in the area.
Campaigners have been calling for a public inquiry since 1988, when water supplies to 20,000 homes were polluted by 20 tonnes of aluminum sulphate dumped in the wrong tank at Lowermoor treatment works, run by what was then South West Water Authority.
The water authority was fined $22,000 with $55,000 costs after a 17-day trial at Exeter Crown Court in 1991 at which it was convicted of causing a public nuisance by supplying water which contained amounts of the chemical likely to endanger public health or comfort.
Five years ago, 148 victims accepted out-of-court damages totalling almost $880,000. Settlements ranged from nearly $1,550 to $22,000. Report by Steve Davey
After evidence that the active sonar used by the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates was having an adverse, sometimes fatal effect on whales and dolphins, the British Navy agreed to fund the development of a lower-frequency sonar that could significantly reduce the problem. A contract worth $352 million was awarded to Thomson Marconi Sonar to develop an active/passive sonar system with a lower frequency for six Type 23 frigates. If the system is successful, the plan is to upgrade the sonar systems on all 16 Type 23 frigates, which would cost a total of $660 million. The first sonar 2087s, as they will be called, will enter service in 2006.
The wildlife experts told the Ministry of Defence that an increasing number of dead whales and dolphins had been washing up close to naval waters. They said that the strong sonars used by the Navy were disrupting the lives of mammals that relied on sound not only to communicate and travel, but also to feed and to socialize. Report by Steve Davey
An innovative sludge-treatment process will emerge on the market soon, under an agreement signed recently by Hydro-Québec and Fabgroups Technologies of Montreal. Plasma-assisted sludge oxidation (PASO) is an advanced technology developed by LTEE, Hydro-Québec's electrochemical and electrotechnologies laboratory. Hydro-Québec has licensed Fabgroups Technologies to manufacture and market a rotary kiln equipped with an electric plasma torch. The kiln can be used to process organic sludge from a variety of sources.
The project was launched in 1997 at the request of pulp and paper mills that were having trouble disposing of their solid waste.
The main industries that can benefit from this new technology are pulp and paper (primary and secondary sludge), agribusiness (sludge containing fats, proteins and carbohydrates), wastewater treatment plants, and various other industries that produce organic solid waste. The Québec market for PASO is estimated at 2 million tonnes a year for pulp and paper, 1.9 million tonnes for pig manure, and a little over 650,000 tonnes for municipal wastewater.
This energy-efficient technology, which consumes less than 100 kWh of electricity per wet tonne of sludge, offers an excellent alternative to incineration, landfill disposal, or sludge farming (spreading on land surfaces). Plants that produce large quantities of sludge will be able to reduce their waste volume by 95%.
The PASO process is said to be much more economical than incineration, for example. Purchase and operation costs for the kiln compare favorably with the average cost of sludge farming or landfill disposal.
JWC Environmental received an Innovative Technology Award from the Water Environment Federation on October 16, at WEFTEC 2001. They are the winner in the Solids Handling/Disposal category for their product "Screenings Washer Monster". This is a self-contained hopper-fed system used to effectively handle screenings that have been captured by a bar screen or other screenings removal device. A major benefit of the system is the reduction of odorous content in the screenings and returning organic material to the influent stream.
The Innovative Technology Awards recognize products or services that use new ideas, methods, alterations or unique changes from existing systems in four categories: collection systems, instrumentation, process equipment, and solids handling and disposal.
The Institute for Research in Construction at the National Research Council of Canada, has announced that the Guidelines for Condition Assessment and Rehabilitation of Large Sewers, is now published by the NRC/IRC.
The price of the document is $25. Call Paulette or Ginette at: 1-800-672-7990 to order (Order # NRCC 45130).
USFilter's Zimpro Products has been awarded the contract to supply a Zimpro® wet air oxidation system to Fujian Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a petrochemical refinery in the Fujian Province of the People's Republic of China.
Wet oxidation is a liquid phase reaction in water using dissolved oxygen to oxidize wastewater contaminants. In treating spent caustic, sulfides and other contaminants are either destroyed or reduced to biodegradable components to allow discharge to a conventional wastewater treatment facility.
Fujian Petrochemical is a joint venture between the Fujian Provincial Government and Sinopec. The (US) $3.15 million system will treat refinery spent caustic, a typical application for the technology.
The federal government is not doing enough to protect the environment in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins of Canada, warned the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Johanne Gélinas, in her annual report. "I am alarmed by the lack of progress and loss of momentum in dealing with the immense pressures facing the basin," she said.
Sixteen million Canadians live in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin, which encompasses the lakes and river system and the surrounding land in Ontario and Québec. The basin is under tremendous and growing environmental stress due to increasing population, urbanization, industrial and agricultural activity, and recreational demands. The Commissioner's report looks at environmental matters such as industrial and municipal pollution, contaminated sediments, drinking water, habitat loss, fisheries management, invasive aquatic species, soil erosion, manure management, wetlands, species at risk, federal ecosystem programs, and more.
Experienced individuals in Canada directly involved with geodata or with information technology related to geography and land management (but focusing on geodata) are eligible to apply for designation as a "GIM Professional". On December 27, 1999, Section 23 of the Regulation 509/99 of the Surveyors Act, was set in place to create a two-year window of opportunity for the experienced Geographic Information Manager to join the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors (AOLS) through a "Grandfathering" provision. That window closes on December 27, 2001.
Ontario Regulation 509/99 was required to accommodate Geographic Information Management as a branch of professional land surveying. Geographic Information Managers who meet the requirements of the AOLS, and achieve professional status, will be eligible to use the Ontario Land Surveyor (OLS) and Ontario Land Information Professional (OLIP) designation.
Contact the AOLS now, if you are interested in the Grandfathering option, Tel: 1-800-268-0718.
The 2001 Underground Infrastructure Research Conference was held at the Four Points Sheraton in Kitchener, Ontario. The conference was organized by Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies, the National Research Council of Canada, Trenchless Technology, and the University of Waterloo. Two papers on the Standard Installation design method for concrete pipe were presented:
These two papers were a result of research sponsored by the Ontario Concrete Pipe Association, based on long-term research conducted in the United States by the American Concrete Pipe Association, to demonstrate the Standard Installations design and installation process for concrete pipe. The papers provided preliminary information on the activities to date.
The University of Western Ontario work is based on Type 4 Installations, i.e. no imported granular bedding and little or no compaction of the bedding, in the Toronto area. The National Research Council Canada (NRCC) work is being conducted in Ottawa and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Transportation, City of Ottawa, NRCC and the OCPA.
In addition to this work, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) recently released the CAN/CSA 06-00 Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code - A National Standard of Canada, which includ-ed the Standard Installation design methodology for buried concrete structures.
A new $1.5 million initiative will facilitate the conservation and enhancement of the natural resources used by the agriculture sector and minimize the impact of agricultural practices on the environment in New Brunswick. There are six programs under the initiative, including nutrient management, soil conservation, on-farm stewardship, agro-environmental clubs, integrated pest management and odour reduction.
CWWA Bulletin
The American Concrete Institute - Ontario Chapter, and the Cement Association of Canada, recently awarded Con Cast Pipe the 2001 Ontario Concrete Award in the Precast Concrete Category for Material Development and Innovation. Con Cast Pipe earned this prestigious award for its work on the Gordon Street CON/SPAN Bridge Reconstruction in Guelph.
This Award is shared with Con Cast's project team that included CON/SPAN Canada, Totten Sims Hubicki Engineers Architects & Planners, Chant Construction, City of Guelph, and Gamsby & Mannerow Ltd. The Gordon Street Bridge is the major link between the University of Guelph and the city centre. Totten Sims Hubicki chose the CON/SPAN structure because it combined the best options for aesthetics, economy and speed of installation.
"There are limits to the growth and development we can place on the land in Ontario beyond which there will be serious damage to the ecological processes that we depend on for our quality of life," said Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, in his 2000/2001 annual report.
Several of the environmental issues are essentially land use concerns. For example, the regulations that govern spreading sewage sludge and septage from septic tanks and portable toilets onto agricultural land are not founded on the need to protect groundwater, Miller explained. The ECO has received many complaints during the past year about the Ministry of the Environment's lax enforcement of the regulations for spreading these materials, which contain nutrients that contaminate waterways, live pathogens such as bacteria and viruses, and trace contaminants such as heavy metals.
Also covered in the report is the lack of enforcement of Ontario's 3Rs regulations - to reduce, reuse and recycle - in the province's industrial and commercial sectors. An ECO research project revealed, in fact, that Ontario is lagging behind other provinces in waste diversion and that large quantities of valuable recyclable material such as aluminum are being landfilled.
The growing industry of cage aquaculture - growing fish in net cages in the bays of the Great Lakes - was also examined by the ECO during 2000/2001. Droppings from the fish and surplus food fall into the water below the cages, where their decomposition consumes oxygen and releases damaging nutrients. Commissioner Miller pointed to one cage operation that turned an area of 250 hectares at the bottom of a bay into "a dead zone for higher life".
Edmonton's sewer gas problems occur when the system gets pressurized with air under certain conditions. Shallow sewers drop their sewage into deeper trunk sewers and as they drop and the water falls, it induces air to be pumped into the trunk sewer system. Pressurized air from the trunk sewer system then can't escape back up where the water is coming from so it jets through manhole lids and sidewalk catch basins in certain neighbourhoods, depending on their proximity to trunk sewer lines.
The problem particularly afflicts older areas with combined sewers. After tracking the complaints, the city has launched a pilot project in Kenilworth and Mill Creek. A consultant has suggested venting the bad air with giant fans, depressurizing the sewers. Bio-filters, consisting of raised beds of composted, moist wood chips at ground level, would soak up the smell before the air escapes into the atmosphere. The first filter system is planned for construction in the Fall or early next year. CWWA Bulletin
Weather Dancer 1, Western Canada's tallest wind turbine, was officially opened in October, on the land of the Peigan First Nation. Standing 72 metres high, with a generation capacity of 900 kilowatts, Weather Dancer 1 is a joint business venture between the Peigan Indian Utility Corporation and EPCOR Power Development Corporation.
Weather Dancer 1 will generate approximately 2,960 megawatt hours of electricity each year, which could meet the electrical needs of approximately 450 homes. This low environmental impact generation project will offset CO2 equivalent emissions equal to removing approximately 17,500 cars from the road per year.
The name Weather Dancer refers to a dance performed on the last day of the Sundance (Okaan), a ceremony maintained by traditional Blackfoot, which renews the relationship with the natural world. Contact Jay Shukin, EPCOR, Tel: (780) 412-8877.
The Ontario government has finalized a regulation which strictly limits emissions from fossil-fuel power plants, while also moving to cap air pollution from other major industries.
Ontario's stringent new emissions limits for the electricity sector will reduce smog-causing nitrogen oxides by almost 20,000 tonnes a year - as much as is produced by over one million passenger cars.
The new electricity sector emissions caps will take effect January 1, 2002. When fully implemented in 2007, the limits will help Canada meet its commitments under the Ozone Annex and cut smog and acid-rain causing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) from fossil-fuel plants by 53 percent and sulphur dioxide (SO2) by 25 percent. Contact: www.ene.gov.on.ca.
A 10-year contract to operate and maintain the Lake Huron and Elgin Area Primary Water Supply Systems has been awarded to Azurix North America. These water supply systems serve the municipalities of London, St. Thomas, Lambton Shores, South Huron, Bluewater, North Middlesex Centre, Southwold, Central Elgin, Malahide, Aylmer and Bayham.
The contract was awarded by the Board of Management for each system after a competitive bid process that involved four short-listed companies. Azurix North America's winning bid is priced at $71.2 million over the length of the contract. This represents a savings to the communities served of approximately $1 million per year. The contract has an option for an additional five years.
Azurix will take over operations on January 1, 2002, from the incumbent operator, Ontario Clean Water Agency, a Crown corporation. As operator of the systems, Azurix North America will be responsible for the delivery of safe drinking water to a population of approximately 420,000.
Hamilton, Ontario hopes to improve water quality in the Cootes Paradise marsh and nature sanctuary by building three combined sewer overflow underground storage tanks. Currently, sewage can overflow into creeks and then into the Cootes marsh and nature sanctuary when heavy rain overwhelms the combined storm and sanitary sewer system.
Five such tanks have already been built in various parts of the city. Rainwater and sanitary sewage are held in the tanks until storms end, then the mix is pumped to the Woodward Avenue wastewater plant to be treated. While storm and sanitary sewers are separate in new subdivisions, the combined system with the tanks offers the added benefit of treating the first flush of stormwater, laden with animal waste, oil, pesticides, rubber and other contaminants washed off streets and sidewalks and lawns. CWWA Bulletin
TransAlta Corporation has awarded USFilter a (US) $7 million contract to use its Actiflo® technology in their water treatment program. TransAlta, Canada's largest non-regulated electric generation and marketing company, is upgrading to replenish their historical impact on the water level of Wabamun Lake, west of Edmonton. Two of TransAlta's three power plants located in this area use water from the lake in the power generation process.
The Actiflo technology by USFilter's John Meunier Products, Saint-Laurent, Québec, meets the strict project requirements of 0.06 NTU turbidity and non-living zooplankton. John Meunier Products is also offering the client a stringent process performance warranty, guaranteeing a yearly volume of eight million cubic metres per year of treated water at the appropriate water quality.
The drinking water problems on Canada's native reserves are so acute that they need to be addressed immediately, even before problems in the rest of the country are fixed, a roundtable on the subject concluded. The roundtable, attended by MPs, experts, and representatives from all levels of government, found that while water quality is a serious problem across the country, drinking water on native reserves is in such a poor state that it requires urgent attention.
A 1995 Health Canada report found that one in five reserves had water systems that could "affect the health and safety of the community if the problems are not addressed". Former Assembly of First Nations national chief Ovide Mercredi told the roundtable that conditions have not improved since the report was written.
Although the roundtable recommended the creation of national clean-water standards, Mr. Mercredi said standards alone may not be enough. He said reserves need money to build the kind of water treatment systems that are common in non-native communities of similar size.
United States President George W. Bush says he wants to talk to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien about piping Canadian water to the parched American southwest. "Our nation must develop a comprehensive water strategy, particularly as these western states continue to grow," Mr. Bush recently told a group of reporters. He also said he would be open to "any discussions" about a possible continental water pact, similar to talks now underway between Canada, the United States and Mexico on energy.
Under NAFTA, water is exempted from rules that require an open two-way trade in commodities. However, the agreement states that once Canada starts trading in bulk water, free-trade provisions will kick in, requiring open trade to continue. That could limit the power of federal and provincial governments to restrict water exports.