International environmental watchdog wants probe into shipping pollution enforcement
CTV
Investigators with an international environmental watchdog have recommended a probe into whether Canada is violating its own laws by not stopping toxic wastewater from being dumped into the ocean along its Pacific coast.
Investigators with an international environmental watchdog have recommended a probe into whether Canada is violating its own laws by not stopping toxic wastewater from being dumped into the ocean along its Pacific coast.
The investigative arm of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, created by the U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement, has concluded there's evidence Canada is failing to stop the release of millions of tonnes of contaminated water from fuel scrubbers, despite laws that are supposed to prevent it.
"Initiating an investigation into Canada’s non-enforcement of its domestic environmental laws would help to prevent further harm to these sensitive ecosystems, while also addressing unfair competition that favours commercial operators in Canadian waters," the body says in a document released this week.
The concern stems from sea water used to wash scrubbers, devices that remove acids, heavy metals and carcinogens from engine exhaust. Those chemicals end up in the wash water, which is then dumped into the ocean.
"Scrubbers transfer pollution from the air to the water," said Anna Barford, a campaigner with the environmental group Stand.earth, which brought the complaint to the commission.
Environment Canada says scrubbers were rare until new international shipping regulations restricted the use of high-sulphur fuel. Its data shows that between 2019 and 2022, the number of ships using them in Canadian waters increased fourfold.
Environment Canada calculates that in 2022, 88 millions tonnes of wash water went overboard along the British Columbia coast. That contained 26 tonnes of heavy metals and 226 kilograms of carcinogenic hydrocarbons.
