Sludge Watch ==> Ontario - Environmental Commissioner Warning: Grave Consequences for Environmental Neglect

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The Environmental Commissioner is right.  The environmental mismanagement 
and'
neglect by the Ontario Government is awful.  The Nutrient Management Act, 
the legislation
intended to make farmers and the public think farming was responsible for 
the deaths
in the Walkerton E coli 0157 outbreak, is being gutted of any meaningful 
enforcement.

Instead the Government is using it to make sewage sludge and paper sludge 
spreading
less regulated and less enforced. They have already pulled off the 
experienced Environment
Ministry enforcement officers and let the farm team look after sludge 
enforcement.
The NMA is terrorizing the little farmers while the big feedlots and 
pigbarns have plenty
of cash to get their lobbyists to delay implementation and enforcement.

And what does 'waste diversion' mean to this government? It means letting 
the paper industry
turn farm fields into stinking 20 meter high mountains of putrescing, 
decomposing, leaching
water polluting nightmares.  To do this they cancelled the part of the 
Walkerton lessons that involved
protecting rural water supplies and rural wells.  Cancelled....why?  So they 
can allow industry to
contaminate rural water supplies and wells with rural disposal of sludges 
with little consequence.
Neighbours have to prove damage or pursue after-the-fact civil solutions.

Ontario is a North American leader in pollution - second only to Texas.

You tell 'em, Commissioner....
....................................................................................................

Grave Consequences for Environmental Neglect, Warns Environmental 
Commissioner

    TORONTO, Oct. 3 , 2006

Ontario's fundamental neglect of the environment
will have grave and long-lasting consequences, warned Gord Miller,
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO). Miller, who monitors compliance
by provincial ministries with the Environmental Bill of Rights, released his
2005/2006 annual report, "Neglecting our Obligations", to the Legislature 
this
morning at the Queen's Park Media Studio.
    "In the past year I have come to the discouraging realization that there
is just too much left undone in too many areas of environmental protection,"
said Miller, "When we neglect our obligations to the natural environment, we
are also forgetting our responsibilities to future generations. They will be
dealing with the consequences of our actions, and especially our inaction, 
for
years into the future."
    Miller pointed to this year's report for examples of government inaction
in almost every area of environmental management - water and air pollution,
waste diversion, landfills, aggregate extraction, and climate change.
Ontario's climate is changing, said Miller, because of the build-up of
greenhouse gases, yet the province has not developed a strategy for adapting
to the changes. Unpredictable weather in the future, including intense rain
storms, heat waves and droughts, will affect not only the built 
environment -
bridges, dams and sewage treatment plants - but will also bring threats to 
the
health or even survival of local plant and animal species. The Environmental
Commissioner also urged the government to develop a strategy to reduce the
major environmental impacts of the transportation sector, impacts that 
include
degraded waterways, fragmented ecosystems, the massive demand for gravel and
sand, and the contribution of almost one-third of the province's greenhouse
gases. The demand for aggregate also means the province is left with 
thousands
of hectares of unrehabilitated pits and quarries, often in areas of
significant natural heritage such as the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak 
Ridges
Moraine.
    Rates for diverting waste away from landfills are still far behind the
60% diversion goal set for 2008 by the Ministry of the Environment, 
especially
for apartment buildings and the commercial, institutional and industrial
sectors. It's also clear that the ministry lacks the monitoring data needed 
to
assess whether existing landfills pose a risk to the environment or to human
health. Moreover, only six years after the Walkerton tragedy, changes to the
Nutrient Management regulation may make key aspects of the regulation
unenforceable.
    The ECO's 2005/2006 report also deals with air issues. While commending
the Ministry of the Environment for reforming air quality rules for 
industry,
the ECO cautions that the effectiveness of the reform will depend on the
capacity of the ministry to enforce compliance with new regulations. Today,
because of reduced resources, the ministry is able to inspect only about 
1-2%
of industrial facilities a year.
    In his report, the Commissioner calls on the government to make the
Ministry of Education subject to the Environmental Bill of Rights, including
the ministry's decisions about curriculum. "Ontario was once a leader in the
field of environmental education, and now we have fallen far behind other
provinces and the U.S.," said Commissioner Miller "Education is the key to
shaping the values that will lead to a world where humans and other species
can survive and flourish."

    Aussi disponible en français


    <<
                                 BACKGROUNDER
                    Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
             2005/2006 Annual Report - Neglecting Our Obligations
    >>

    As an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Gord
Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), monitors and 
reports
on compliance by provincial ministries with the Environmental Bill of Rights
(EBR). The 2005/2006 ECO annual report was submitted to the Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly on October 3, 2006.

    Adapting to a Changing Climate: Neglecting Our Basic Obligations? (p. 
59)

    Ontario has not yet developed a formal strategy to deal with adaptation
to climate change, an approach now considered essential for ensuring that 
the
province's ecosystems and built environments - such as bridges, dams, sewage
treatment plants, or drainage systems - will be able to withstand the 
effects
of climate change. Projections are that the change in climate will bring 
more
unpredictable weather, including intense rain and ice storms, heat waves and
droughts, lower water levels in the Great Lakes and increased costs for
cooling buildings, along with threats to the health or even survival of 
local
plant and animal species.

    Amending the Nutrient Management Regulation (p. 111)

    The government has amended the regulation under the Nutrient Management
Act that sets out how farmers must apply manure and biosolids such as sewage
sludge to their land. Unfortunately, only six years after the Walkerton
tragedy, some of the changes have weakened both accountability and the
assurance that farmers are following the rules that protect human health. 
For
example, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs no longer has 
to
approve the nutrient management strategies of large livestock operations
unless they are expanding or are located within 100 metres of a municipal
well. The changes also mean that farmers are no longer legally required to
keep records of how they comply with their own nutrient management plans,
which may make key aspects of both the regulation and the Nutrient 
Management
Act itself virtually unenforceable.

    Prescribing Education: Critical to Future Sustainability (p. 123)

    Once a leader in the field, Ontario has now fallen far behind other
provinces and the U.S. in environmental education, the key to shaping the
values that will lead to sustainable lifestyles and to a world where humans
and other species can survive and flourish. The ECO agrees with many members
of the public, who believe that making the Ontario Ministry of Education
subject to the Environmental Bill of Rights would have a positive impact on
the decisions the ministry makes about environmental education.

    A Sustainable Transportation System for Ontario: MOE and MTO Remove One
    Roadblock, But Others Remain (p. 44)

    Ontario's transportation sector has major impacts on the environment.
They include a massive demand for aggregate, degraded waterways, fragmented
ecosystems, and almost one-third of the greenhouse gases emitted in the
province. Yet people in Ontario can't use the Environmental Bill of Rights 
to
participate in the critical spending decisions made by the Ministry of 
Finance
to fund the roads and highways that leave such significant ecological
footprints on the landscape. In 1995, the government removed this ministry
from the list of ministries subject to the EBR, and despite many requests 
from
the public, it has not been reinstated. The ECO recommends strongly that the
Ministry of Transportation takes the lead on developing a strategy to reduce
the environmental impact of the transportation sector in Ontario, consult 
the
public on the strategy and post it on the Environmental Registry to ensure
wide public consultation.

    Updating Ontario's Regulatory Framework for Local Air Quality (p. 89)

    The Ministry of the Environment's recent update of air quality rules for
industry has brought in better ways of estimating concentrations of
pollutants, a stronger approach for developing air standards, and more
detailed requirements for industrial facilities to show they are complying
with the standards. The success of the reform, however, will depend on the
capacity of MOE to inspect and enforce compliance with the new regulations; 
at
this point, the ministry's strained resources allow inspections of only 
about
1-2% of the facilities per year. The new regulations also don't deal
adequately with annual loadings of contaminants such as lead or mercury to 
the
environment, which can build up to toxic concentrations over the years in
local plant or animal life. Moreover, updated air standards for certain 
"high
priority" contaminants such as nickel - known to be involved in respiratory
cancers - are not yet finalized, though the ministry had promised to update
standards for these substances as long as 10 years ago.

    Ontario's Industry Emissions Trading System for Nitrogen Oxides and
    Sulphur Dioxide (p. 97)

    A new regulation that caps air emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulphur
dioxides by major industrial sectors will rely on an emissions trading 
system
to reduce these pollutants, which have been implicated in human health 
impacts
ranging from respiratory complications to cardiac disease. Major 
shortcomings
in the new regulation, however, will limit MOE's ability to generate any
significant reduction of NOx and SO(2) emissions. For example, emission caps
for many industry sectors remain close to current levels and in one case, 
will
even increase over time, and industrial sectors that are still "uncapped" 
can
reduce their emissions and sell their credits to capped facilities. Uncapped
industries can also generate new sources of NOx and SO(2) emissions.

    Ontario's Sand and Gravel Extraction Policy: Overdue for Review (p. 38)

    The Aggregate Resources Act: Conservation or Unconstrained Consumption?
(p.141) Ontario consumes a massive amount of aggregate each year - 14 tonnes
per person - which means the province is left with thousands of pits and
quarries, most of them close to southern Ontario's areas of intensive 
growth -
and often in areas of significant natural heritage such as the Niagara
Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine. The current regulatory and policy
framework for pits and quarries does not adequately protect the environment.
Key shortcomings include poor compliance by aggregate operations, now a
largely self-regulating industry; poor enforcement by the province; and a 
low
rate of rehabilitation of pits and quarries. Data available for the 10 years
between 1992 and 2001 indicated that the area disturbed by aggregate
extraction exceeded the area rehabilitated by a 2 to 1 ratio. Moreover, the
ARA does not apply to most pits and quarries on private lands in northern
Ontario, so aggregate operations there have fewer environmental rules.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources, with the responsibility for
stewardship of aggregate resources, has made almost no progress on 
developing
strategies for conserving or recycling aggregate.

    Neglecting Our Water Wells (p. 51)

    Though studies have shown that a high proportion of private drinking
water wells in Ontario are contaminated with bacteria, nitrates or other
dangerous substances, serious limitations in the Wells Regulation make it
difficult for the Ministry of the Environment, now severely lacking trained
staff, to prosecute violations. Revisions to Wells Regulation in 2003 
lowered
chlorination levels for disinfecting new wells to an "inadequate" level,
according to an MOE advisory panel, and uncertainties in the interpretation 
of
the complicated provisions of the regulation also mean that it is extremely
hard to enforce.

    60% Waste Diversion by 2008 - Pipe Dream or Reality? (p. 26)

    In 2004, the Ministry of the Environment announced its goal of diverting
60% of solid waste from landfills or incineration by 2008. However, the
ministry waited more than two years, until 2006, to announce specific plans.
They include the development of sustainable markets for diverted waste,
enforcing the 3Rs regulations, and timely approvals of innovative new
technologies. But the two-year lag between announcing the 60% goal and the
planned changes to waste diversion methods has proved costly. Diversion 
rates
in multi-unit buildings and the commercial and industrial sectors are still
far below this goal. Moreover, the time required to put new waste diversion
regulations into effect and to get approvals for new recycling facilities 
and
innovative new technologies will take years, not months.

    The Environmental Impacts of Ontario's Small and Aging Landfills - Who 
is
    Keeping Track? (p. 33)

    Faced with dwindling provincial landfill capacity and the impending
closure of U.S. borders to Ontario's waste, municipalities have begun to
increase the total capacity and daily fill rates of their aging local
landfills. But the last inventory of Ontario waste disposal sites is 15 
years
old and provides no details about a site's total waste capacity and whether 
it
complies with provincial standards - minimal requirements that may already 
be
outdated. The Ministry of the Environment has indicated it lacks both the
staff and financial resources needed to compile a new inventory of sites, to
develop regulations compelling landfill owners to report updated 
information,
or even to audit that information - a startling admission that makes it 
clear
that MOE lacks the information necessary to regulate Ontario's aging 
landfills
and to monitor whether they are posing a risk to the environment or to human
health.

    Brownfield Development Becomes More Transparent - What's Good for the
    Goose Should be Good for the Gander (p. 58)

    The Ministry of the Environment is taking positive steps to deal with 
the
redevelopment of brownfields - lands not being used because of 
contamination.
But the Ministry of Transportation, rather than taking action to clean up 
its
storage site in Thunder Bay contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and
metals, is instead arguing that since the property now has no value, 
property
tax relief is warranted. The Assessment Review Board ruled in favour of MTO
and reduced the assessed value of the property from $71,000 to $1. Today, 
the
ministry continues to save money both by fighting for lower property
assessments and by taking no action to remediate the site.

    Wildlife in Captivity: The Licensing of Ontario's Zoos (p. 150)

    Two Ontario residents used the Environmental Bill of Rights to ask the
Ministry of Natural Resources to review whether Ontario's zoo licensing
requirements are capable of protecting captive wildlife, the environment and
the public. An audit commissioned by the EBR applicants showed that 
conditions
in more than 75% of Ontario zoos do not meet basic animal welfare standards.
Cages were often dirty, barren and ramshackle and lacked shade and shelter,
and grounds were sometimes too small for animals to move about freely. Other
zoos were without adequate barriers to keep animals from escaping into the
wild or to prevent danger to the public. MNR told the applicants that its
current zoo licensing approach is sufficient, and that in Ontario, unlike
other provinces, "exotic" species are not protected by zoo legislation, only
native fish and wildlife. The ECO recommends very strongly that MNR engage 
in
a formal and open review of its policies for licensing zoos, and that the
ministry post its proposal on this issue on the Environmental Registry so 
the
public can comment on it.




For further information: Liz Guccione, Communications, Office of the
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Tel: (416) 325-3371, Toll-free public
inquiry line: 1-800-701-6454, E-mail: media at eco.on.ca; Visit the ECO Web 
site
www.eco.on.ca to view the 2005/2006 ECO annual report, which contains the 
ECO
Recommendations




http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2006/03/c4191.html