I suspect the court case in Canada will "open a can of worms". Consider the (former) prolonged practice of NYC ocean dumbing of garbage, multiple coastal cities' ocean outfall disposal of partially-treated sewage, international shipping's habit of ocean disposal of bilge water, offshore rigs' discharge of drilling fluids, massive annual ocean discharge of high delta T cooling waters from power plants, etc. An FDEP emergency order to prevent failure of the Piney Pint Phosphate strip-mine tailing pond resulted in this action [DEP03-0431 CASE NO. 03-0839] with GIS ship tracks and Gulf WQ data:
"Ocean Dispersion of Double-Stage Treated Water. On April 9, 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an emergency permit to allow dispersion of treated water from the PPP stack system into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The permit authorizes the dispersion of up to 534.7 million gallons of double-stage lime treated and aerated process water. Dispersion of the treated water via the barge New York started on July 20, 2003. A second vessel, the Captain H. A. Downing, was added as of October 26, 2003 to supplement the barge New York in order to optimize the rate of ocean dispersion under the EPA emergency permit. As of November 17, 2003, a total of 208 million gallons of treated water have been barged and dispersed into waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The EPA emergency permit is scheduled to expire on November 30, 2003. A request to extend the permit (to allow dispersion of the volumes of treated water previously authorized) was recently denied by EPA." From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg Rau Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 12:01 AM To: geoengineering Subject: Re: [geo] Company behind ocean fertilization experiment loses court bid to block charges - CNTVNA >From below: "Environment Canada said there was [a violation of Canadian law], and it applies even if the dumping takes place outside Canadian territorial waters. "(It) appeared to have been undertaken, at least in part, with an eye to profit or financial gain and, in particular, the generation and sale of carbon credits," [B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter] Voith wrote." So we're dumping, via our emissions to air, some 8 GT of CO2 into the ocean/yr for a financial gain (by some estimates) of $2400/tonne (x 8 GT = $19T), with impunity. Where's justice when you need it? Greg ________________________________ From: Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> To: geoengineering <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 7:43 PM Subject: [geo] Company behind ocean fertilization experiment loses court bid to block charges - CNTVNA http://www.cntvna.com/News/2014-02/04/cms133257article.shtml CANADA - The organization behind a controversial ocean fertilization experiment off the coast of British Columbia faces potentially 10 charges for environmental violations after losing a court bid that would have brought an end to the investigation. The Haida Salmon Restoration Corp. caused waves around the world in July 2012 when it dumped more than 100 metric tonnes of iron into the ocean near Haida Gwaii, hoping it would increase salmon returns and produce profits from carbon capture. The practice is unproven. International scientists condemned the unsanctioned experiment at a United Nations meeting and the federal environment minister announced an investigation into what he called "rogue science." According to court documents, last March an Environment Canada investigator obtained three search warrants for the corporation's offices, the offices of F.A.S. Seafood Producers and the vessel "Ocean Pearl," from which the iron was dumped. The corporation, in turn, filed an application with B.C. Supreme Court arguing its activities were not illegal and asked the judge to either set aside the search warrants or declare the alleged offences unenforceable under Canadian law. It also sought an injunction preventing the investigator from taking any further steps on the matter. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Voith dismissed the application, saying the issues in the case are best dealt with all at once at trial. "(Environment Canada) continues to investigate the offences in question and it has yet to submit a report to Crown counsel for charge approval," Voith wrote in a ruling recently posted on the court website. Neither Environment Canada nor Haida Salmon Restoration responded to requests for comment. The experiment involved dumping iron dust, iron sulfate fertilizer and iron oxide over an area of about one square kilometre, 300 kilometres west of Haida Gwaii. Supporters believe the iron causes a phytoplankton bloom, which acts as a natural sponge for carbon from the atmosphere. The proponents also hoped the plankton would feed young salmon, bolstering the number that would return to spawn in B.C.'s freshwater rivers and creeks. The information to obtain the search warrants said there were several exchanges between them and Environment Canada prior to the dumping. "In these exchanges Environment Canada representatives explained their legal position and requirements and were told by the parties identified above that (the Canadian Environmental Protection Act) did not, for various reasons, pertain and that the parties were satisfied, based on their own inquiries, that their activities were legal," the judge wrote. Canada is a signatory to several voluntary and mandatory international moratoriums on ocean dumping and specifically on iron fertilization. A regulatory regime to address exactly the kind of incident that took place off Haida Gwaii is currently being negotiated by UN member nations. Lawyers for the Haida Salmon Restoration argued that despite the intention of any international protocols or negotiations there was no violation of Canadian law. Environment Canada said there was, and it applies even if the dumping takes place outside Canadian territorial waters. "(It) appeared to have been undertaken, at least in part, with an eye to profit or financial gain and, in particular, the generation and sale of carbon credits," Voith wrote.Editor:Cherry | Source: The Canadian Press -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
