Spiel

Protectors say Cameco harming Lake Ontario Waterkeepers ask for Ministry of Environment to investigate effluent discharge into lake Thu Sep 04, 2008 Jeanne Beneteau / www.northumberlandnews.com PORT HOPE - Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (LOW) has joined forces with a group of concerned Port Hope Ward 2 residents to determine whether Cameco Corporation is in violation of provincial environmental law. On Aug. 25, the two groups jointly submitted an application for investigation to the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, alleging Cameco may be breaking provincial environmental laws through the discharge of wastewater into Lake Ontario from its Welcome Waste Management Facility (WWMF). The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) must decide whether or not to investigate the allegation by early-November. The allegations stem from an Aug. 11 statement by Ward 2 residents who insist Cameco must be forced to stop dumping treated water still contaminated with uranium and arsenic from the WWMF into Lake Ontario. Group spokesman Sandford Haskill said water is pouring out of a broken pipe leading from the WWMF onto a public beach where Brand Creek empties into the lake. Mr. Haskill said he reported the break to Cameco and the MOE and asked the agencies to investigate the discharge. In addition, water tests on the discharge paid for by the Ward 2 residents indicate the water is contaminated with uranium and arsenic well above both the Interim Provincial Water Quality Objectives and the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines, "but within the limits allowable by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Committee (CNSC)," stated Mr. Haskill. However, Cameco spokesman Doug Prendergast said the outflow pipe in question is discharging the treated effluent from the WWMF into Lake Ontario exactly as the system was designed to do. Mr. Prendergast added the WWMF is fully compliant with all CNSC licensing limits in place for the facility. "But should the Ontario Ministry of the Environment decide to investigate the matter, we (Cameco) will fully cooperate," he said. LOW, led by president and environmental lawyer Mark Mattson, stated the provincial Environmental Bill of Rights grants every Ontario resident a right to call upon the province to investigate violations of provincial law. "In my experience, dumping uranium, arsenic and radium onto a public beach is about as clear a violation as you can get," said Mr. Mattson. Water samples collected from the pipe show uranium levels nearly 50 times higher the province's interim water quality objectives and arsenic levels nearly five times higher than what Ontario considers safe for human and aquatic life, he explained. LOW is a grassroots, charitable group that draws local, regional and national attention to clean water initiatives for Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes Basin. Waterkeepers patrol local water bodies, address community concerns, identify threats to clean water and make use of the legal and democratic processes designed to protect water quality.

Great Lakes dead zone a mystery Sept. 1, 2008 Ed Brayton / michiganmessenger.com Satellite photo of Lake Erie, showing "whiting" event from calcium carbonate in water (photo: NASA Earth Observatory) In the wake of a report in Science two weeks ago that concluded that the number of dead zones — areas of low oxygen that choke off life — in the ocean are doubling every 10 years, renewed attention may be focused on a major dead zone in one of the Great Lakes that continues to be a mystery. Dead zones do not happen only in the oceans; they happen in freshwater lakes of sufficient depth as well. Lake Erie has had a large dead zone for decades, one that covers almost the entire central basin of the lake (Sandusky, Ohio, divides the western basin from the central; Erie, Penn., divides the eastern basin from the central basin; everything in between is the central basin, the bulk of the lake’s area and volume), but for a time it was getting better. In the 1970s, Lake Erie was called a dead lake, but in fact it was an extremely productive lake due to enormous amounts of agricultural and industrial pollution that put huge volumes of nutrients into the lake. Major steps were taken to reduce the nutrient load in the lake and clean things up, and for a long time it was working. The EPA takes constant readings of the oxygen levels in the water at points all around the lake and for more than a decade and a half the level of anoxia (oxygen depletion) had steadily decreased. The plans put in place were clearly working. In the early 90s, however, that trend began to change; levels of anoxia began to fluctuate significantly season to season and year to year. A new round of scientific studies was started to determine the extent of the problem as well as possible causes and solutions. Those studies continue today. Before we look at what those studies have said, however, we need to understand how dead zones occur. Dr. Jim Lubner, education coordinator for the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, explained to Michigan Messenger how dead zones operate in the Great Lakes: In the summertime, the Great Lakes stratify — two distinct bodies of water, lying one over the top of the other, and a discontinuity layer between them where temperature drops rapidly. In the springtime, the lake is relatively the same temperature from top to bottom due to mixing. As the temperatures warm up, the lake warms up, but it warms from the surface. So what you end up with after a period of time, and it varies from body of water to body of water, is a layer of water that can go 20 or 30 meters deep that is warm and underneath it you have a layer of significantly colder water with a sharp drop in temperature between them called a thermocline. That thermocline layer effectively separates the upper lake from the lower lake. There is little mixing between those two distinct layers. The sunlight and the nutrients in the upper body of water is where all the productivity occurs — algae growing, animals circulating, etc. Eventually, the algae and animals die and they settle down into the lower, colder body of water and get decomposed by the bacteria. That decomposition uses up the oxygen and results in dead zones. This process is particularly bad in Lake Erie because that lake is just barely deep enough for stratification to occur, meaning the bottom layer (scientists call this the hypolimnion; the upper layer is the epilimnion) is much smaller, has less oxygen in it to begin with and is thus more rapidly depleted of that oxygen. For decades, this process was spurred on by those heavy nutrient loads from external pollution; the elevated amount of nutrients encourages tremendous growth in the higher strata, but when that life dies and sinks to the bottom and decomposes, it results in the rapid depletion of oxygen in the lower strata. The problem facing scientists now is figuring out why the dead zone in Lake Erie may be worsening again despite the progress in reducing nutrient inputs into the lake. The input of nutrients into the lake is divided into two sources: point sources and nonpoint sources. Point sources are things like wastewater treatment plants, where the amount of nutrients released into the water can be measured; we know that those levels have been reduced significantly since the 1970s. Nonpoint sources are things like agricultural runoff, which can’t be measured in the same manner because fertilizers are spread on the ground and the amount of runoff produced varies by any number of factors. But it seems almost certain that the amount of nonpoint source nutrient pollution has also decreased significantly due to tighter regulations on fertilizer use on farms. But we also know that anoxia can occur even in the absence of human-induced nutrient loads. Geologists have identified periods of anoxia in the sediments of bodies of water all over the world, periods that took place long before there was anything like agricultural or industrial waste. Clearly, there are natural inputs to this problem as well. Are those natural inputs at work in Lake Erie? If so, are they being worsened by human activities that could be altered to fix the problem? Scientists have proposed at least two credible explanations. The first is the invasive species hypothesis. We all know about the problem of zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, but they’ve now been joined by quagga mussels, a closely related species that can live in more varied environments than the zebra mussels and are therefore spreading more widely than their cousins. Those mussels live on the bottom of the lake and tend to pull nutrients down into the lake floor sediments with them, making the water more anoxic. There is no doubt among scientists that these invasive species have changed the nutrient cycles in the lakes, but how exactly that relates to dead zones is still not entirely known. The second hypothesis is that global warming may be fueling the problem. Warmer water stays warm for longer periods of time, which exacerbates the stratification problem. If you lengthen the period of stratification by increasing the temperatures, you isolate the bottom for a longer period of time, which means more possibility of using up all the oxygen at the bottom. Hunter Carrick, an aquatic ecologist at Penn State University who has collaborated on several studies of the Lake Erie dead zone, cautions against drawing unjustified conclusions at this point. He isn’t even entirely convinced that the dead zone has gotten worse because the data show greater variability rather than a clear trend: I don’t think we have all the data to make an evaluation of whether the dead zone has gotten larger in recent years. The temporal change in hypoxia is not clearly defined yet, so making assumptions about whether it’s worse or better puts the cart before the horse. We need more work to iron out the patterns. The pattern from the 80s to the 90s had a discernible linear pattern in a reduction of anoxic conditions. Since then it has been less clear with more variation from year to year. Carrick also says that it’s entirely possible that nutrient loading is still a problem. “Certainly the loads to Lake Erie have come down markedly,” he told the Michigan Messenger, “but we don’t know if there are new and unaccounted for sources that might be affecting the lake in some way.” He also suggests that both proposed explanations noted above may be valid: “The exotic introduction of invasive species is a reasonable hypothesis. The impact of global warming is a reasonable hypothesis. We need more research to confirm or deny those hypotheses.”

Wake County angler sets sunfish record Sep 04, 2008 / newsobserver.com Another freshwater fish state record has been broken -- this time by Wake County angler Sean Vanderburg, who caught a 1-pound, 14-ounce green sunfish from a private pond in Caswell County on July 27. Vanderburg, 22, caught his fish, which measured 12 1/4 inches in length and 14 inches in girth, using a Berkley Lightning Rod, an Abu Garcia baitcaster and a Culprit plastic worm. Vanderburg, an avid hunter as well as fisherman, says he fishes quite often in the pond, which is located on the same property where he hunts. He thought he had hooked a nice-size largemouth bass and was shocked to find what he thought might be a pumpkinseed -- albeit a giant one -- dangling on the end of the line. "I'd never seen a sunfish that big before, so I had a little freak-out moment," Vanderburg said. He began calling friends to see what the state records were for all the sunfish species found in North Carolina, then contacted Corey Oakley, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. "This fish was so big that both Wayne Starnes, curator of fishes at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, and I thought that it had to be a hybrid with another sunfish, such as a bluegill," Oakley said. "But after reviewing all the identification characteristics for a green sunfish, it was definitely the state record. We could find no evidence of hybridization with another sunfish species." The fish was weighed on certified scales at Paul's Grocery in Raleigh. The previous green sunfish state record weighed a 1 pound, 2 ounces. To qualify for a state record, anglers must have caught the fish on a rod and reel, must have the fish weighed on a certified scale witnessed by one observer, have the fish positively identified by a qualified expert from the commission and submit an application with a full, side-view photo of the fish.

New law bans fish flushing and provide pigs with showers September 3, 2008 Cathy M. Rosenthal / Pet Examiner In Switzerland, it is now considered abuse to flush a live fish down the toilet. Swiss officials announced this week the implementation of new animal protection laws that require a dignified death for a fish and a chance for pigs to get a shower. Fish are to be protected under the Swiss legislation for the first time ever in response to the government’s acceptance of studies showing that, like other animals, fish do suffer. Under the new legislation, aquarium fish can no longer be flushed down the toilet alive, but must be stunned and killed first. Aquariums in Switzerland must no longer be transparent on all sides. And, the legislation also includes the social aspect of fish, saying it will be considered abuse for a sociable fish to be kept alone. The new legislation spells out how domestic animals should be treated, whether family pet, farm animal, or animal used in animal experimentation. Anglers will no longer be able to participate in catch and release fishing and will not be allowed to use live bait. Realizing that animals benefit from being around their own kind, hamsters and parakeets can no longer be kept by themselves as well as a variety of other farm and exotic animals. The legislation also said there would be no more ear or tail docking for dogs. And people will be required to take a class on understanding their dogs so that their friend will be raised with good manners -- and will be less likely to bite. Pigs, who cherish their moments in the mud, will now be entitled to a shower under the new law. But just like kids, they will, no doubt, be wallowing around again in the mud. Related story. . . . Flushing fish down loo banned

HIGHWAY 71 ROAD CHECK FINDS MORE THAN 90 PER CENT OF ANGLERS AND BEAR HUNTERS OBEYING THE RULES August 29, 2008 / www.ocoa.ca Ninety-two per cent of anglers and bear hunters checked during a recent enforcement blitz on Highway 71 southeast of Kenora were obeying Ontario's fishing and hunting regulations. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ontario Provincial Police carried out the blitz on August 22, 2008. Eight Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers from Kenora and Fort Frances and the ministry's canine handler from Dryden checked 295 non-resident and 67 resident anglers and hunters. The officers checked for fish, baitfish and bear violations. They inspected over 20 harvested bears which were being transported by hunters returning from Kenora, Dryden and Red Lake districts. Conservation officers laid nine charges and issued 20 warnings, including: - Six charges and 13 warnings for improper packaging of fish - Three charges and four warnings for having more fish than the possession limit - Two warnings for wasting bear meat - One warning for not having a fishing licence. Four Kenora Ontario Provincial Police officers checked 321 motor vehicles and 17 commercial motor vehicles. They issued five seat belt warnings and took a truck out of service because the truck's load was not secure and the driver had no insurance. To report a natural resource violation, call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contact your ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

ANGLERS HOOKED FOR $1,800 ON LAKE NIPIGON August 28, 2008 / www.ocoa.ca Eight anglers have been fined a total of $1,800 after pleading guilty to angling with barbed hooks and extra hooks on Lake Nipigon. The following anglers were convicted of angling with more than one barbless hook: - Jeffery James Michalski, 40, of Duluth, Minnesota, was fined $250 - Jodi Rae Elstad, 41, of Duluth, Minnesota, was fined $250 - Daniel Dean Williams, 58, and Darlene Kay Williams, 58, both from Cadillac, Michigan, were each fined $200 The following anglers were convicted of angling with a barbed hook: - Louis Paul Miskovich, 55, of Duluth, Minnesota, was fined $250 - Gregory W. May, 51, of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, was fined $250 - Leslie G. Krystolovich, 53, of Brampton, Ontario, was fined $200 - James W. Krystolovich, 46, of Mississauga, Ontario, was fined $200 The men were charged after Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers conducted an enforcement blitz on Lake Nipigon from June 19 to 21, 2008. Justice of the Peace John Guthrie heard the cases in the Ontario Court of Justice, Nipigon, on August 25, 2008. Anglers are reminded that Lake Nipigon is a world class trout and pike fishery. Special size and limit restrictions require anglers to release many fish in order to comply with the regulations, which have been in place since 1997. The use of barbless hooks allows fish to be released easily and quickly. The less a fish is handled and the less it is damaged by hooks, the more likely it is to survive and be available for future harvest. To report a natural resource violation, call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contact your ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Whatever happened to . . . . fish-killing disease in Lake Erie appears not to be spreading beyond Great Lakes watershed September 01, 2008 John Mangels / The Plain Dealer What is the status of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, a fish-killing disease that wiped out thousands of Lake Erie yellow perch, drum and walleye in 2006? The virus is still out there, although for now it appears not to have spread much beyond the Great Lakes watershed. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS, is a contagious illness that kills a variety of fresh- and saltwater fish. As its name implies, the disease causes bleeding - in the eyes, skin, gills and at the base of fins. Fortunately, VHS doesn't sicken people. The virus can't survive in warm-blooded animals. But it poses a big threat to the commercial and sport fishing industries. European countries have struggled with VHS for years, but before 2003, the only North American fish known to be infected were ocean-dwelling fin fish. Then, beginning in 2005, large fish-kills occurred in several areas of the lower Great Lakes, including Lake Erie. Tests showed the culprit was VHS, and that it had been present in Lake St. Clair - which lies between Lake Huron and Lake Erie - as long ago as 2003. How VHS got into the Great Lakes is a mystery. An ocean-going ship could have dumped infected ballast water while traveling one of the lakes. Or it's possible the viral strain that had been killing saltwater fish mutated into a form that is deadly to native freshwater species. Concerned about the possibility that VHS might spread to other parts of the country, federal officials in October 2006 banned the interstate transport of 37 species of live fish caught in the eight states bordering the Great Lakes. The restrictions have since been loosened somewhat, but the order remains in place. State and federal officials recently tested more than 4,200 VHS-susceptible fish collected last fall, and this spring from 22 Ohio lakes, rivers and reservoirs. They found no evidence of the virus in any of the fish, but they aren't ready to celebrate. "I think it's too early to be able to say" what the results mean, said Jill Rolland, assistant director of U.S. agriculture department's aquaculture, swine, equine and poultry programs. "I think we're in the early stages of trying to understand ecologically what's going on with this." One possibility, according to Ohio Sea Grant fisheries biologist Eugene Braig, is that after a few seasons of large die-offs, wild fish populations gradually build up immunity to VHS and the virus "just becomes part of the background." "You want to slow its spread as much as possible," Braig said, "and you especially don't want it to get into culture operations" such as fish farms, where the economic impact could be devastating. But the biologist said he is "skeptical regarding the long-term impact of VHS on large wild fish populations." Rolland cautions, though, that eventual immunity to a virus isn't necessarily assured. "That's the best-case scenario," she said. "There are other cases where, with each successive generation, that immunity isn't passed along to the juveniles and you go through the whole process again of being exposed and becoming infected and experiencing die-offs."

....I've got room for one or two passengers leaving from Hamilton area.

....Praps you'll start acting your age there ole man. Congrats to the whole family.

....Met Gary back in 2002 at the first G2G and I know I'll miss is presence. Always an even keel even during stormy times. God bless you Gary.

....Can't be much to add to this now.

....19th to the 22nd Brook and I will be there. Got a big empty van and boat rolling out early Friday morning.

....You should go back, then place the tag under the wiper (again) before venturing off fishing. That'll have 'em scratching his head.

....No worries Art, SHE sure loves to spend the day with ME in MY boat, God love her.

Waterfront property owners help with Bay of Quinte cleanup August 29,2008 Stephen Petrick / trentonian.ca The man in charge of cleaning up the Bay of Quinte says the majority of shoreline property owners in the area seem willing to participate in environmental protection efforts — a positive sign the water body will one day be delisted as a pollution hot spot. Staff with the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan (RAP) recently completed a survey of shoreline property owners from Carrying Place, west of Trenton, to Point Anne, east of Belleville. Although the results have not yet been processed, RAP implementation manager Jeff Borisko said he is looking forward to crunching the numbers, as almost all owners responded warmly to surveyors who knocked on their doors. “Almost all actually wanted to stay in touch with the program — they wanted to stay in touch with the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan and they wanted a followup,” Borisko said. “I was really surprised at that.” Over two weeks in July, a team of about 12 people — made up of RAP staff, volunteers or workers with other environmental agencies — knocked on doors of property owners along the bay’s north shore. They were asked to complete a roughly 15-minute survey, which would allow staff to find out how much of their shoreline was unnatural — in other words altered by, say, a retaining wall or a dock. The survey also allowed staff to find out how willing people with unnatural shorelines would be to make adjustments to their properties for the sake of improving the environment. Action plan staff have a goal of making the Bay of Quinte shoreline 70 per cent natural in the distant future. A natural shoreline, they say, is more environmentally friendly because it would involve more trees and shrubs that can absorb run off that could potentially leak into the bay. That could lead to more fish and wildlife habitat in the area — something the International Joint Commission will look for when determining whether the Bay of Quinte can be de-listed. The IJC is a watch-dog organizations that monitors conditions in the Great Lakes. It labelled the bay as an area of concern in 1986, triggering the creation of the RAP in 1993. Borisko said he was curious to see how property owners would respond to surveyors. But, as a canvasser himself, he learned that many along the shoreline have a deep affection for the bay from living on the water for several years. Those people want to see the bay cleaned up, he said. “We weren’t negatively received. No one chased us off their property with a gun and no one set their dogs on us,” he joked. Surveyors hit 150 residential properties and about 20 commercial properties, over the two weeks. Out of them, all but a few willingly took part in the survey, Borisko said. The properties were selected randomly. Two more random surveys are expected to take place in the coming months. Staff hope to canvass residents on the south shore of the bay and residents in the Napanee area. Borisko said one of those surveys could begin early next year. The results of the surveys will help RAP staff plan a program to ensure the shoreline can become more natural. Borisko said the fact that many seem eager to participate improves the chances of a government grant program being set up for those who would like to naturalize their shorelines. He said he’s confident the RAP could secure money for such a program, but “we can probably get more having done this survey. “What we’re hoping to find through it is what people want to do, what they’re willing to do, what they’re not willing to do and then to direct funding accordingly.”

ten-ten

....Wow, I think the only thing to say Cliff is, get back to wrk!

....I've been building custom rods for over 30 years and would be happy to answer any questions you have or that may arise via PM's.

....That's absolutely FANASTIC Roger and an incredible milestone to say the least. I'll be starting my 30th year at the neighbouring facility this fall and I know what you mean about the work family. It'll be a bitter sweet day for me when I get there. Congratulations, you've earned a long, happy and healthy retirement and I hope you collect on it.

....I got exactly the same one Joey. Oh man I'm sooooo excited.

I'm glad to hear there were no fatalities. I can tell you that's not a Lake I'd want to be bobbing around hoping for landfall.....brrrrrrrr

....Has it been another year already, she is a tolerant women. Great camp pics yet again bud, next year can't come soon enough.

....HahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahah.... Oh crap I think I injured myself.... hahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahhaha....

....Considering the drive time and the fact you don't need anything I'd say NO! Spend the savings on fuel over at LeBarons since you'll be there .

....It is shame when a post showing off one's catch go so wrong. But it does happen from time to time. My personal apologies to Wallydiver44 for not seeing this one go astray.