|
|
|
|
Dr. Carl E. Brown, ESTD:
Laser Fluorosensor Demonstration Flights in the Coastal Waters of Southern Newfoundland
- The Emergencies Science and Technology Division (ESTD) of the Environmental
Science and Technology Centre (ESTC) is currently conducting demonstration flights
of their oil spill remote sensing technology in the marine environment around
southern Newfoundland. The flights employing the Scanning Laser Environmental
Airborne Fluorosensor (SLEAF) started on March 2nd and will continue until March 15th.
- The flights will concentrate on the shipping lanes south of Cape Race, and around
petroleum handling facilities in Placentia Bay. Additional targets include St. John’s
Harbour, St. Mary’s Bay, Conception Bay and the sites of sunken marine vessels along
the Newfoundland coastline. Regional Environmental Emergencies staff members will
participate on some of the flights.
- A presentation on the results of the flight program will be made at the 30th
Arctic Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) Technical Seminar in Edmonton, June 2007.
Richard Turle, AAQD:
PRONAME Workshop in Cuernavaca , Mexico
- Two participants form AAQD presented papers as part of this workshop, held
in Cuernavaca, February 13th to 16th. The workshop was designed to bring
together experts in the monitoring of POPS within North America as an aid
to Mexico as it develops its monitoring program in support of the
Stockholm Convention.
- Celine Audettee presented a paper on Canadian Environmental Monitoring for
Persistent Organic Pollutants, and Richard Turle presented a paper entitled
Quality Assurance, Control and Accreditation for Environmental Laboratories
in Canada.
Tom Dann, AAQD:
PM Speciation Workshop
- A workshop on Particulate Matter speciation was held in Gatineau , March
5th and 6th. This was led by Tom Dann of Analysis and Air Quality Division,
ESTC and Denis Herod, Air Emission Priorities, SPD. The goal of the workshop
was to assess the adequacy of currently deployed continuous PM 2.5 monitors
used in the National Air Pollution Surveillance Network across Canada.
- The situation is that there are several types of real time monitors in use,
all of which have different characteristics. Also, there is the question of how
do these real-time monitors compare to 24 hour filter based gravimetric sampling
methods. It is critical to understand these differences as the PM data will be
used to assess provincial attainment against the Canada wide Standard for
Particulate Matter. Papers were given by Tom Dann and representatives from
BC, GVRD, Alberta, Ontario Quebec, NB and NS.
- Aiding the discussion were Lewis Weinstock of the USEPA from Research
Triangle Park and George Allen of NESCAUM from Boston. Lewis Weinstock
presented a paper on the EPA Federal Equivalency Requirements and the
Approved Regional Methods. George Allen talked about continuous methods
in the US northeast.
- Part of the discussion focused on the need for visibility measurements
and the benefits of cameras depicting haze in key locations both for an
assessment of air quality and as a means of providing information to the
public.
Richard Turle, AAQD:
Visit from two Mexican scientists
- The Analysis and Air Quality Division (AAQD ) hosted two scientists, Jose Vinicio
Macias-Zamora and Nancy Ramirez-Alvarez from the Universitdad Automna de Baja California
in mid-March. They were at ESTC to learn about the analysis of dioxins and furans.
- Their laboratory in the Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanolgicasis is part of the
Mexican network of laboratories trying to understand the distribution and impacts of
dioxins and furans as part of the North American Regional Action Plans setup under the
Commission of Environmental Cooperation.
- In the future, their work will focus on other persistent organic pollutants (POPs )
for Mexico's contribution to the Stockholm Convention.
Dr. Jacqueline Bélanger, GTD:
2007 HEIST Project Workshop
- On March 20 and 21, 2007, the Highly Energy Efficient Industrial Systems
and Technology (HEIST) committee held its annual workshop in Ottawa. Objectives
of this workshop are to provide the HEIST community (that encompasses projects
funded by the Panel for Energy Research and Development (PERD) and the
Technology and Innovation Climate Change (T&I)) with annual status updates
as well as to promote future collaborations between participating groups.
- Overall, 36 project presentations were made. For Environment Canada, Dr.
Jacqueline Bélanger, Green Technologies (GT) at ESTC is the scientific authority
of a PERD-funded project (2004-2008) on non-conventional thermodynamics and its
potential impact on climate change related activities. She presented an update
of her project on "New Energy Efficient Transformative Technologies Based on the
Use of Microwaves and High Frequency ". EC is also the co-lead of a T&I funded
project (2005-2008) which aims at assessing and facilitating the introduction of
microwave-based processing tools in the industrial sector as highly-efficient,
low GHG-releasing technologies.
- This T&I project is under the leadership of Dr. J. R. Jocelyn Paré, Chief,
GT and Dr. Craig Fairbridge, National Centre for Upgrading Technology (NCUT),
Devon, Alberta. Dr. Fairbridge delivered the update on behalf of this
collaborative group on "Microwaves as GHG Reducing Process Tools".
Dominic Cianciarelli, ERMD:
Development of a Reference Method for VOCs From Stationary Sources
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are produced in many stationary
sources and landfills. A method has been developed to collect the
non-polar fraction of the VOCs from incinerators, boilers, kilns,
smelting furnaces and sources producing bio-gas such as landfills
and sewage treatment plants. VOCs contain many CEPA toxics such as
1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,3-butadiene, benzene,
dichloro-methane, tri and tetachloroethylene and vinyl chloride and
ozone-depleting substances such as Freons.
- The procedure utilizes Summa canisters for the collection of VOCs.
This method was used to develop the limit of quantification (LOQ) for
hexachlorobutadiene.
- A draft version of this Reference Method is expected by the end of 2007.
|
|
|
|
March
