Pollution and Air Quality

Canada’s latest greenhouse gas emissions report shows progress toward meeting its next target in 2030 but there is still a very long way to go. A man fills up his truck with gas in Toronto, on Monday, April 1, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Canada’s emissions their lowest in 25 years, still have long way to go

Latest national emissions report shows signs of progress toward Canada’s 2030 goal

 

A water well head is pictured at home owner Henk de Haan’s property near Okotoks, Alta., on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Rural wells creating elevated risk of radon exposure: study

Rural communities exposed to 30% higher residential radon levels than those in urban centres

 

Two incidents of acrid odour in less than a week in B.C. has raised questions about corporate responsibility to inform the public when such events cause widespread concern and confusion but fall short of health and safety breaches. A boat travels past the Parkland Burnaby Refinery on Burrard Inlet in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, April 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Critics say 2 unexplained B.C. stinks just days apart don’t pass sniff test

Lower Mainland odour incidents spark questions around corporate ethics and communication

 

Parkland Corp. says it has temporarily shut down fuel processing at its Burnaby, B.C. refinery. A boat travels past the Parkland Burnaby Refinery on Burrard Inlet at sunset in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, April 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. refinery could be shut down for 4 weeks after stinky startup

Parkland has temporarily halted fuel processing in Burnaby after problematic cold snap restart

Parkland Corp. says it has temporarily shut down fuel processing at its Burnaby, B.C. refinery. A boat travels past the Parkland Burnaby Refinery on Burrard Inlet at sunset in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, April 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A boat travels past the Parkland Burnaby Refinery on Burrard Inlet at sunset in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, April 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Burnaby stink was bad, but it didn’t violate air quality standards

Parkland fuel refinery said processing issue was the cause of Sunday’s odour

A boat travels past the Parkland Burnaby Refinery on Burrard Inlet at sunset in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, April 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - This September 2015 photo provided by NOAA Fisheries shows an aerial view of adult female southern resident killer whale (J16) swimming with her calf (J50). A new study in Nature shows contaminants are being found inside the bodies of southern resident and Bigg’s killer whales. (NOAA Fisheries/Vancouver Aquarium via AP, File)

Contaminants from oil spills, wildfires ending up inside B.C. whales: study

UBC researchers tested the livers and skeletons of 14 killer whales for PAHs – a first in Canada

FILE - This September 2015 photo provided by NOAA Fisheries shows an aerial view of adult female southern resident killer whale (J16) swimming with her calf (J50). A new study in Nature shows contaminants are being found inside the bodies of southern resident and Bigg’s killer whales. (NOAA Fisheries/Vancouver Aquarium via AP, File)
The Suncor Energy Centre is pictured in downtown Calgary, Alta., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta Energy Regulator reports spill at Suncor’s Fort Hills oilsands site

‘Unplanned release’ may have gone on for over a year, energy company admits

The Suncor Energy Centre is pictured in downtown Calgary, Alta., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
FILE - Vehicles are caught in a congestion during a rush hour in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. Indonesian authorities are blaming the dry season and and motorized vehicles as the main causes of air pollution in Jakarta, after a Swiss air quality technology company named the city as the most polluted in the world. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)

Jakarta declared the world’s most polluted city

Indonesian authorities blame the dry season and vehicles for gray skies and unwelcome title

FILE - Vehicles are caught in a congestion during a rush hour in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. Indonesian authorities are blaming the dry season and and motorized vehicles as the main causes of air pollution in Jakarta, after a Swiss air quality technology company named the city as the most polluted in the world. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)
An image taken from a visual air quality monitor through Clean Air BC, of what should show a clear view of Mt. Baker in Abbotsford. (Clear Air BC website)

Wildfire smoke stretches from Vancouver to Hope, prompting air quality advisory

Abbotsford seeing the worst of smoke pollution Wednesday afternoon as heat and smoke create bad air

An image taken from a visual air quality monitor through Clean Air BC, of what should show a clear view of Mt. Baker in Abbotsford. (Clear Air BC website)
A view of the scene Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Contaminated waste shipments from Ohio derailment to resume

Officials working to clean up hazardous chemicals spilled during train derailment

A view of the scene Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
An Harbour Air seaplane flies past a container ship anchored on English Bay, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canada confirms protections for some marine areas but shipping pollution isn’t included

Wastewater from ships can include sulphur dioxide, carcinogens and heavy metals

  • Feb 13, 2023
An Harbour Air seaplane flies past a container ship anchored on English Bay, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
(Black Press Media Creative)

Hawaii whale dies with fishing nets, plastic bags in stomach

A whale that washed ashore in Hawaii over the weekend likely died…

(Black Press Media Creative)
A Canadian Coast Guard vessel assesses the extent of damage from an oil spill off a cargo ship near Vancouver’s English Bay on Jan. 21. (Canadian Coast Guard/Twitter)

Container ship spills 60-100 litres of fuel near Vancouver’s English Bay

Coast guard using helicopter, drones to track extent of damage

A Canadian Coast Guard vessel assesses the extent of damage from an oil spill off a cargo ship near Vancouver’s English Bay on Jan. 21. (Canadian Coast Guard/Twitter)
The Giant Mine’s former mill is shown during a site surface tour of the Giant Mine Remediation Project near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski

Priciest territorial contaminated sites include abandoned mine, former town site

More than 2,600 contaminated sites found in Nunavut, Yukon and Northwest Territories

The Giant Mine’s former mill is shown during a site surface tour of the Giant Mine Remediation Project near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
A UBC study examining orca bodies found between 2006 and 2018 has found a number of concerning chemicals inside them, including in endangered southern resident killer whales (pictured). (Credit: Paul Cottrell, DFO)

Toxic chemicals from B.C.’s sewage are making their way inside orcas, UBC study finds

Compound in toilet paper can influence cognitive function, say researchers

A UBC study examining orca bodies found between 2006 and 2018 has found a number of concerning chemicals inside them, including in endangered southern resident killer whales (pictured). (Credit: Paul Cottrell, DFO)
A file photo shows a dead chum salmon in the Delta River after it had returned more than 1,000 miles from the ocean to spawn. In Surrey and Coquitlam, hundreds of fish died after a construction company contaminated creeks with toxins in 2017. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Contractor fined $2.8M for spills that killed hundreds of fish in Coquitlam, Surrey creeks

Alberta-based Michels Canada Co. ordered to pay the sum

  • Dec 14, 2022
A file photo shows a dead chum salmon in the Delta River after it had returned more than 1,000 miles from the ocean to spawn. In Surrey and Coquitlam, hundreds of fish died after a construction company contaminated creeks with toxins in 2017. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Oil from a Keystone pipeline rupture flows into Mill Creek in Washington County, Kansas, on Thursday, Dec 8, 2022. Vacuum trucks, booms and an emergency dam were constructed on the creek to intercept the spill. (Kyle Bauer/KCLY/KFRM Radio via AP)

Oil spill in rural Kansas creek shuts down Keystone pipeline

Estimated 14,000 barrels spilled, causing oil prices to briefly spike

Oil from a Keystone pipeline rupture flows into Mill Creek in Washington County, Kansas, on Thursday, Dec 8, 2022. Vacuum trucks, booms and an emergency dam were constructed on the creek to intercept the spill. (Kyle Bauer/KCLY/KFRM Radio via AP)
A coal mining operation in Sparwood, B.C., is shown on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Indigenous communities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border are trying to build an alliance with Congress and the Biden administration in hopes of pressuring Ottawa into a bipartisan effort to confront toxic transborder mining runoff. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Get tough with Canada over cross-border mining contaminants, First Nations tell U.S.

Coal mining in Elk Valley impacting watersheds

A coal mining operation in Sparwood, B.C., is shown on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Indigenous communities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border are trying to build an alliance with Congress and the Biden administration in hopes of pressuring Ottawa into a bipartisan effort to confront toxic transborder mining runoff. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Surfrider Pacific Rim core crew hold the ‘Dart Board’, a surfboard made with cigarette butts by Ucluelet shaper Jesse Jones. (Submitted photo)

WORLD OCEANS DAY: Canada’s first cigarette surfboard brings awareness to tobacco pollution

Surfrider Pacific Rim would like to see a federal ban on cellulose acetate cigarette filters

Surfrider Pacific Rim core crew hold the ‘Dart Board’, a surfboard made with cigarette butts by Ucluelet shaper Jesse Jones. (Submitted photo)
A pedestrian walks on a bridge above vehicle traffic in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, as the city is enveloped under thick smog. The air quality index exceeded 400, about eight times the recommended maximum. A study released on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, blames pollution of all types for 9 million deaths a year globally, with the death toll attributed to dirty air from cars, trucks and industry rising 55% since 2000. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

Global pollution kills 9 million people a year, study finds

As many deaths as cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke combined

A pedestrian walks on a bridge above vehicle traffic in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, as the city is enveloped under thick smog. The air quality index exceeded 400, about eight times the recommended maximum. A study released on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, blames pollution of all types for 9 million deaths a year globally, with the death toll attributed to dirty air from cars, trucks and industry rising 55% since 2000. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)