Pollution and Air Quality

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

 

A new administrative procedure for Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools-owned vehicle idling on school sites was detailed June 14. Electric buses, like the one pictured here, are exempt. (News Bulletin file photo)

Nanaimo-Ladysmith school bus drivers being directed to cut down on idling

School board advised that new regulations are now in place

 

A special air quality statement has been issued by Environment Canada for eastern Vancouver Island, including Nanaimo, due to smoke in the air. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Smoky air forecast to affect Vancouver Island’s east coast until tomorrow

Environment Canada issues special air quality statement

 

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 POV view from the ROV underwater, finding a piece of discarded ghost gear. (Courtesy of Malahat Nation)

Malahat Nation surveying discovers ‘huge amount’ of ghost gear polluting local waters

Surveys will continue using a remotely operated vehicle and sonar in the nation’s territorial waters

A POV view from the ROV underwater, finding a piece of discarded ghost gear. (Courtesy of Malahat Nation)
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)
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)
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)
Ducks gather in and around Gorge Creek in Esquimalt Gorge Park in mid-winter. The Township of Esquimalt announced it was responding to report of an oily sheen in the waterway on March 22. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)

Esquimalt seeks source of oil sheen reported on Gorge Creek

Staff lay booms to contain contamination

Ducks gather in and around Gorge Creek in Esquimalt Gorge Park in mid-winter. The Township of Esquimalt announced it was responding to report of an oily sheen in the waterway on March 22. (Don Descoteau/News Staff)
The community of Falkland is located between Kamloops and Vernon, two cities among 10 from B.C.’s Southern Interior region that have the 10 worst air quality indexes in Canada thanks to wildfire smoke. (Brenda Giesbrecht photo)

Southern B.C. Interior cities have worst air quality in Canada

Ten cities from the Okanagan, Columbia and central Kootenays ranked one through 10

The community of Falkland is located between Kamloops and Vernon, two cities among 10 from B.C.’s Southern Interior region that have the 10 worst air quality indexes in Canada thanks to wildfire smoke. (Brenda Giesbrecht photo)
A helicopter with a water bucket flies past the Tremont Creek wildfire burning on the mountains above Ashcroft, B.C., on Friday, July 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Doctors, air pollution experts forecast worsening health effects of wildfire smoke

Advice for a five-day episode doesn’t work when you’re talking about an entire potential season

A helicopter with a water bucket flies past the Tremont Creek wildfire burning on the mountains above Ashcroft, B.C., on Friday, July 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Between 4,680 and 6,240 metric tonnes of face masks will pollute the world’s oceans this year, according to a new report from Oceans Asia. (Gary Stokes/OceansAsia)

1.56 billion face masks will pollute oceans this year, says Victoria researcher

Each mask takes up to 450 years to break down, according to the OceansAsia report

Between 4,680 and 6,240 metric tonnes of face masks will pollute the world’s oceans this year, according to a new report from Oceans Asia. (Gary Stokes/OceansAsia)
Styrofoam blocks and buoys washed up on the beach. (Ashley Tapp)

Heli-clean that North Vancouver Island beach

Volunteers got 17 cubic metres of ghost gear off a remote west coast beach last weekend

Styrofoam blocks and buoys washed up on the beach. (Ashley Tapp)