Pollution and Air Quality

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

 

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

 

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

 

(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
Yellow salmon paintings will be seen in front of every roadside drain throughout the City of Surrey this summer. (Contributed photo)

Surrey’s Salmon-painting challenge aims to teach public about water pollution

Competition encourages everyone to get involved in spreading the word about pollution affecting fish

Yellow salmon paintings will be seen in front of every roadside drain throughout the City of Surrey this summer. (Contributed 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)
Air quality advisory for Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver ended after three days of smoky skies with high levels of fine particulate matter. (Metro Vancouver)

Air quality advisory cancelled for Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver

Weather shift with onshore winds is helping clear smoke from wildfires

Air quality advisory for Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver ended after three days of smoky skies with high levels of fine particulate matter. (Metro Vancouver)
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
The heat and humidity in the Fraser Valley created air pollution, which in turn prompted air quality alert on Aug. 17, 2020. (Chilliwack Progress file)

Searing heat and humidity leads to air quality alert

The high concentrations of ozone are expected to continue today, and maybe longer

The heat and humidity in the Fraser Valley created air pollution, which in turn prompted air quality alert on Aug. 17, 2020. (Chilliwack Progress file)
Metro Vancouver district director Ray Robb (standing) distributes binders to appellants including Bill Ridge (left), during Monday’s Environmental Appeal Board hearing. (Tracy Holmes photo)

Air-quality hearing resumes for South Surrey galvanizing plant

Metro Vancouver presenting its case this week in Guildford

Metro Vancouver district director Ray Robb (standing) distributes binders to appellants including Bill Ridge (left), during Monday’s Environmental Appeal Board hearing. (Tracy Holmes photo)