permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

[Unbelievable. - LL]

As dismantling begins, shuttering of research station called a 'travesty' -
The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/closing-of-freshwater-research-station-called-a-travesty-as-feds-move-to-dismantle-buildings/article9846568/
As dismantling begins, shuttering of research station called a 'travesty'
Gloria Galloway
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Saturday, Mar. 16 2013, 8:00 AM EDT
Last updated Saturday, Mar. 16 2013, 2:41 PM EDT
743 comments
The federal government says it is still trying to find a buyer for the
world-renowned freshwater research station in Northern Ontario that it is
closing at the end of this month, but it has already sent in a crew to
start taking down buildings.
The doors of the old sleeping cabins at the 45-year-old Experimental Lakes
Area (ELA) are being ripped off, the appliances are being taken away, and
the personal belongings of researchers are being removed.
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The news of the work came as a shock to scientists who rely on the decades
of data that have been obtained at the ELA, the one-of-a-kind outdoor
laboratory that has informed the world about the effects of contaminants
such as mercury, acid rain and phosphorus.
Roberto Quinlan, a biology professor at York University in Toronto, said he
was even more surprised to learn that the scrapping of ELA buildings was
being done without the knowledge of the International Institute for
Sustainable Development (IISD), the Winnipeg-based United Nations think
tank that is the only group known to be discussing the possible takeover of
the facility.
“I have confirmed that IISD knew nothing about the work that is being done
on these cabins,” said Dr. Quinlan, who is on the executive of the Society
of Canadian Limnologists – Canada’s aquatic research community. “If the
IISD doesn’t know that this is going on, then this brings into serious
doubt the government’s sincerity to actually transfer the facility over to
another operator.”
The IISD, which has kept its negotiations with the government behind closed
doors, did not respond Friday to requests for comment. There have been many
questions about whether that group, or any other, is willing to assume what
could be tens of millions of dollars in liability for the eventual
remediation of the area.
A spokeswoman for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans said
Friday that no demolition was being done that day. “Minor work is, however,
being carried out on some cabins as they near the end of their life cycle
and are prepared for eventual removal,” she said.
The cabins are the only accommodation for scientists and their families –
some choose to bring spouses and children if they are going to be there for
long periods during the summer – and were being lived in until just a
couple of months ago.
The Fisheries Department says it wants nothing more to do with the ELA,
arguing that the research does not fit with its core mandate. By ending its
funding of the station, the government will save $2-million a year.
But the scientists say the decision to shut down the ELA has more to do
with ideology than economics and that it will do incalculable damage to
their ability to preserve the quality of this country’s most valuable asset
– its water.
Since the closure of the research station was announced last May, the
government has rejected most requests by reporters to visit the ELA. But
The Globe and Mail toured the facility late last fall without official
sanction.
The laboratories were still functioning with a skeleton staff, and
equipment – boats and docks and motors – was being stored in the
expectation that it would be put back into service this year. But there was
a distinct aura of gloom.
Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield will not discuss the Experimental Lakes
Area. When The Globe asked for an interview this week, his department
replied: “We are respectfully declining your request.”
Greg Rickford, the local Conservative MP, also refused to talk about it but
sent a statement saying: “Our government is currently in the process of
negotiations for the transfer of the Experimental Lakes Area to an
appropriate third-party stakeholder. The negotiations are confidential,
however, we are optimistic there will be positive results.”
Scientists are not convinced. “It’s a complete travesty,” said John Smol, a
biology professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. “The fundamental
work for the understanding of all these problems that affect everyday lives
of Canadians, but also the rest of the world, has come from foundation
science coming from there.”
Maggie Xenopolous, a biology professor at Trent University in Peterborough,
Ont., travelled to the ELA two weeks ago to put boats in a lake and to
prepare for another season of testing for her experiment on silver
nanoparticles – tiny particles of silver being added to clothes that are
ending up in watersheds.
Dr. Xenopolous was well aware that her trip could ultimately be a wasted
effort and that she will be barred from the ELA as of April 1.
“It has been really stressful, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “Since this
[closure] was announced in May it has just been a roller-coaster for all of
us at Trent because we can’t do the whole lake experiment unless we are
able to go out there. There is no other place where we can do it.”
In fact, the research station that has made Canada a world leader in the
science of fresh water for decades could continue for another summer if the
federal government would just cover the cost of basic supplies like
gasoline and food.
The biggest part of the $2-million required to keep it running goes to the
Fisheries Department scientists and technicians who work at the Freshwater
Institute in Winnipeg, where ELA data is analyzed. Under union rules, they
could still be at their jobs and receiving their paycheques more than a
year from now – whether there is work to do or not.
The station will remain under federal control through the summer. But it
will be a shadow of its former self. Instead of bustling with scientists,
it will be patrolled by a security guard – the former station manager –
whose job will be to keep people out.
David Schindler, the environmental scientist who first envisioned the
Experimental Lakes Area and who was its director between 1968 and 1989,
said he first realized the station was in jeopardy when Joe Oliver, the
Natural Resources Minister, began referring to environmentalists as
radicals who were trying to destroy the Canadian economy.
If it is closed, the ELA can never be duplicated, Dr. Schindler said. “We
think there’s a lot of wilderness but, in fact, we’ve got a very crowded
landscape already at temperate latitude,” he said, “so you would never be
able to get it back.”
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