Pesticide Agency Slammed By Federal Environment Commissioner

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        Subject:     Pesticide Agency Slammed By Federal Environment Commissioner
            Date:     Wed, 23 Oct 2002 09:41:50 -0400
           From:     Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

For release after tabling (expected at 10 a.m. on 22 October 2002)

Toxic Substances Revisited

Still a long way to go

Chapter 1

Ottawa, 22 October 2002 - The federal government's management of toxic substances remains inadequate, warns the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Johanne Gélinas, in her Report tabled today in the House of Commons.

The production, use, and release of industrial chemicals, pesticides, and their by products in Canada can pose serious risks to the health of Canadians and to our environment. Some chemicals are associated with health problems such as cancer, decreased fertility, and neurological disorders. "The federal government still has a long way to go to ensure that the risks that toxic substances pose to Canadians are dealt with effectively. It must increase its efforts to act on our past recommendations. The current situation regarding toxic substances is unacceptable," said Johanne Gélinas.

An earlier audit conducted in 1999 found that the federal government was not managing those risks adequately then. Today, Ms. Gélinas concludes in her follow-up audit that although some encouraging progress has been made in some areas, in others a significant number of problems identified in the original audit continue. She notes that the federal government:

Future developments are equally worrisome since the government has yet to determine which of 23,000 other substances used in Canada are toxic under the Canadian Environment Protection Act (1999), and require action to reduce their emissions.

This year's audit also looked at progress in implementing recommendations regarding the federal management of pesticides. The Commissioner noted that of the 405 active ingredients used in pesticides only 17 have been re-evaluated against current health and environmental standards. "Based on our results, I still have some serious concerns about the way the federal government is managing pesticides," said Ms. Gélinas. The Commissioner announced that in light of her findings she will conduct an in-depth audit of pesticides management and report back to Parliament in the fall of 2003.

- 30 -

The chapter Toxic Substances Revisited is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site (www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/environment). It is also featured in a "Observations of the Commissioner" video, which can be obtained by calling our Office Distribution Centre at (613) 952-0213, ext.5000 or by fax at (613) 954-0696. The original audit was reported in the Commissioner's 1999 Report, Chapter 3 Understanding the Risks from Toxic Substances: Cracks in the Foundation of the Federal House and Chapter 4, Managing the Risks of Toxic Substances: Obstacles to Progress. These chapters are also available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site.

Information:

Communications
Tel.: (613) 952-0213, ext. 6292
E-mail: communications@oag-bvg.gc.ca

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/media.nsf/html/c200201pr_e.html

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C B C . C A   N e w s   -   F u l l   S t o r y :
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Environment commissioner slams feds over toxic sites
Last Updated Tue Oct 22 22:11:14 2002

OTTAWA-- The federal government needs to clean up toxic waste at more than 3,600 sites and 17 abandoned mines so that future generations don't get stuck with the fallout, says the federal environment commissioner.

Government is 'failing to deal in a timely manner with contaminated sites in its own backyard' In her annual report to Parliament, Johanne Gelinas slammed the federal government for ignoring what amounts to an environmental time bomb.

"If we fail to act our health our environment, and our economic prosperity will be put at a greater risk," Gelinas said. "Inaction will also raise questions about the government's credibility."

Contaminated sites under federal responsibility were red-flagged as possible environmental problems 13 years ago, and Gelinas says Ottawa still doesn't know how many are contaminated. There's no action plan for cleaning them up, and no money set aside to do the job.

"No one appears to be in charge," she said.

The government doesn't properly screen the more than 25,000 industrial chemicals and 6,000 pesticides being used in Canada, the report says.

And the government isn't monitoring how much of those chemicals are making their way into the blood, breast milk and urine of Canadians.

At the neglected waste sites, chemicals such as arsenic, cyanide and other noxious substances are leaching into the soil and groundwater, the report says.

Near the Giant Mine in Yellowknife, the mining byproduct arsenic trioxide has contaminated water so badly that residents avoid the area.

The government also has no way of ranking how dangerous those sites are.

"By failing to deal in a timely manner with contaminated sites in its own backyard," Gelinas says, the government is leaving a legacy for future generations with a huge health and environmental price tag.

"The government needs to act now to avoid a troubling legacy for our children," Gelinas said.

Ottawa currently spends $100 million to clean up and manage contaminated sites, which is about $3 per Canadian, the report says.

"At the current rate of spending, it will take decades to correct," Gelinas said.

A proper action plan would need billions, Gelinas said.

At Yellowknife's Giant Mine, the government is looking at clean-ups that range in cost anywhere for $55 million to $500 million.

The commissioner has no power to order government action. Environment Canada has already rejected a key recommendation that it require government agencies to clean up or contain toxic sites.

Written by CBC News Online staff
Copyright © 2002 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved

http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/10/22/environment021022

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Tue, October 22, 2002

Government blasted for failing to protect Canadians from toxic chemicals
DENNIS BUECKERT

OTTAWA (CP) - The government isn't protecting Canadians from the hazardous effects of toxic chemicals and should be monitoring toxins in the blood, breast milk and urine, says the federal environment commissioner.

Johanne Gelinas blasted Ottawa on Tuesday for slow progress in screening the estimated 23,000 industrial chemicals and 6,000 pesticides used in Canada.

"The worst of these toxic substances have been linked to lung disease, reproductive problems and birth defects, cancers, developmental disorders, allergic reactions, lowered resistance to diseases and other illnesses."

Despite widespread public concern, there's no national program to monitor levels of toxic contamination in human fat, breast milk, blood urine and hair.

Many parts of Canada have no monitoring stations to measure chemicals or pesticides, nor is there a coherent system to monitor for harmful effects in the environment, the report found.

Canada - almost alone among Western countries - doesn't have data on pesticide sales, a basic requirement for assessing use and safety, Gelinas said.

More than a decade after the government set out to assess 44 especially worrisome chemicals, it still has not reached a final conclusion on the toxicity on 13 of them, she said.

"To us the whole situation is confounding. The processes we observe seem to defy timely, decisive and precautionary action."

One reason for slow progress in screening chemicals is lack of funding, said Gelinas, noting that Environment Canada still hasn't recovered from the deep budget cuts of the 1990s.

In 2000-01 the department's budget was six per cent below what it had been in 1993-94 while the overall federal budget had grown by 17 per cent.

Environment Minister David Anderson said the government is doing the best it can.

"I'm not sure there's a major problem in terms of analyzing those chemicals. There's such a lot of them to do and we had to start from scratch."

He conceded that financial resources are a problem.

"There's no question, the department of environment is not well funded."

Kevin Kavanagh of World Wildlife Fund Canada said he shares Gelinas' frustration at slow progress in assessing chemicals for toxicity and at the lack of data on pesticide sales.

"We're talking about chemicals that are carcinogens, that are highly toxic to animals and people, things that get into our air, food, water.

"It's a very critical issue environmentally, just what we are putting out there."

Gelinas said the decision-making process for assessing toxic chemicals is cumbersome and lacks deadlines.

Of 25 substances declared toxic under the act in 1994, only three have been banned while nine have been subjected to management controls. The others remain unregulated.

Gelinas also castigates the government for not introducing safeguards against invasive species that threaten the Great Lakes, coastal waters and other ecosystems.

She said Transport Canada does not regulate ballast water discharges by ocean-going ships even though this is a notorious pathway for invasive species.

She also noted that Canada relies exclusively on U.S. inspection and enforcement in the Great Lakes region.

Gelinas pointed to inter-departmental squabbling as a major problem.

For example, Fisheries Canada says it's up to Transport Canada to develop criteria for ballast water, but Transport Canada says it is relying on Fisheries to develop criteria.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2002/10/22/2380.html

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Ottawa not dealing with toxic sites

SUE BAILEY
Canadian Press

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

OTTAWA -- Environmental time bombs are being left to tick at more than 3,600 polluted sites and 30 abandoned mines under federal care, warns Canada's environment watchdog.

"In many cases, the most fundamental steps have yet to be taken to deal with these sites," Environment Commissioner Johanne Gelinas said in a report released Tuesday. The government is also failing to monitor toxic chemicals in the blood, breast milk and urine of Canadians, Gelinas said. Nor is it adequately screening the estimated 25,000 industrial chemicals and 6,000 pesticides being used in Canada.

Meanwhile, untallied health and environmental costs are racking up across Canada, she said. Neglected waste and rusting tanks leach arsenic, cyanide, gasoline and other noxious brews into soil and groundwater.

Ottawa is saddling future generations with the fallout, Gelinas concluded.

Thirteen years after the state of federal sites was red-flagged, Ottawa still can't say exactly how many are contaminated. There is also no ranking of the worst cases according to risk; no long-term, stable funds have been earmarked for cleanups; and the government has no action plan.

Twenty years and $66 million later, Ottawa "still needs to finalize its game plan" to help clean up the notoriously toxic Sydney tar ponds in Nova Scotia, Gelinas said.

Ottawa is now spending just $3 per Canadian each year, about $100 million, to clean up and contain such locations, Gelinas said.

"We've got a huge liability here and we're not dealing with it very effectively," said Elizabeth May, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

A pollution inventory that can be searched by province is posted at www.tbs-sct.gc.ca, under the sub-site Federal Contaminated Sites.

The environment commissioner, who has no legal power to order government action, urged Ottawa to take leadership, draft an action plan and commit the funds required. That bill will cost billions, Gelinas said.

That's the main stumbing block, said Environment Minister David Anderson.

The bill to clean lands fouled before environment laws were tightened would top "a minimum" of $2 billion, he said.

Still, the Liberals have vowed to step up efforts.

Another obstacle is the void of legislation aimed directly at toxic sites, said Gelinas.

Government officials counter that 85 per cent of suspected sites have been assessed in the last two years, and at least some work has been done on 70 per cent of the worst cases.

That's not enough, said Gelinas.

The federal government has been slow to assess contaminated sites, and departments have low-balled the cost of cleanups in contravention of government accounting policies, she found.

Arsenic, cyanide and acids seep by the tonne from mines abandoned in the North by bankrupt companies, Gelinas warned.

"And Canadian taxpayers are left to foot the bill to fix this serious threat to the environment and human health."

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada estimates $555 million is needed to clean up the mines, but just $26 million has been earmarked this year to stave off water contamination and other effects.

That's "a Band-Aid approach," Gelinas said.

Land leases - along with vast piles of toxic tailings and other waste - revert back to the federal government when mining companies go under.

In the past, Ottawa did little to protect taxpayers from having to cover costly cleanups, Gelinas noted. That changed in 1993 when laws were changed.

The federal government must continue to make polluters pay by securing cleanup guarantees before projects start, Gelinas said.

Of 30 abandoned mines in the North, Ottawa has flagged 17 as high-priority sites requiring action - as funding permits. They include Giant Mine, Colomac Mine, and the Port Radium and Eldorado Mine, all in the Northwest Territories.

The Faro, Ketza River and Mount Nansen mines are among those cited in the Yukon.

© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press

http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id={B03F43B4-05DC-4ADE-A171-36566EE12575}

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