Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
Nearly one-quarter of waterways can’t support aquatic life, study says
Canada’s air quality is getting worse, and many of its waterways are so polluted they don’t meet minimum standards for supporting aquatic life, a new report released yesterday by Statistics Canada says.
The survey, which reviewed key environmental indicators from 1990 to 2005, showed a 12-per-cent increase in ground-level ozone, a key component of smog, over the 15-year period.
Freshwater quality was rated as “marginal” or “poor” in 23 per cent of the 359 monitored sites in southern Canada and 14 per cent of the 36 sites tested in northern Canada. No trends were noted over time, as the water data were only collected over a two-year period.
“Manufacturing and service industries, institutions and households discharge hundreds of different substances, directly or indirectly, into rivers and lakes,” the report says. “At least 115,000 tonnes of pollutants were directly discharged to Canada’s surface waters (freshwater and coastal) in 2005.”
Phosphorus, which usually gets into water as a result of human activity, was one of the major sources of the pollution, according to the report, the third annual assessment of environmental indicators in Canada.
“This is the first time that we’ve looked at phosphorus in detail, and it seems to be a major contributor to the water-quality indicator,” said Michael Bordt, an assistant director in the environment accounts and statistics division of the agency.
Environmentalists say the new figures, based on ratings and analysis from the federal environment and health departments, demonstrates the need for mandatory and binding caps on pollution.
“The findings are disturbing,” said Pierre Sadik, a senior policy adviser for the David Suzuki Foundation’s Sustainability Program. “They show that one-quarter of our fresh water is too polluted to sustain aquatic life.”
The report also suggested that the increase in ground-level ozone was due to human activities—mainly the burning of fossil fuels in electricity generation as well as in transportation and large industries. The production of chemical substances such as paint can also contribute to smog or air-quality problems.
While many monitoring stations in Alberta recorded high concentrations of ground-level ozone, the biggest increases were in southern Quebec and southern Ontario, where the concentrations rose by 15 and 17 per cent respectively, according to the report.
But there were also signs that some pollution was coming from south of the border.
“In addition to the presence of local pollutant emissions, ozone concentrations are also affected by the long-range transport of pollutants from other regions and countries, and by weather conditions, such as temperature and wind direction,” the StatsCan report said.
Mr. Sadik said a cross-border treaty with the U.S. could be part of the solution. But he also said the government should beef up its plan to crack down on pollution from industry by placing caps on pollution from sources such as cars and homes.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2007