“The ship’s master would swing the boom out over the water and pass Macdonald the word to have the electrician start the conveyor belts. The belts would whir into motion, and the sweepings would pour off the boom into the waters of Lake Erie for half an hour, leaving a trail of iron-ore dust in the ship’s wake—the only visible sign of the environmental degradation.

It was a routine task but, even though he was a seasoned sailor, it never sat right with Macdonald. He is certainly no tree-hugger, but thinks there must be an alternative. “It’s been a bone of contention for me for years,” he says. “They call this spillage. I love the term.”"

[...]

“Canadian and US shipping companies pump an estimated 2,500 tons of cargo residue into the lakes each year during 11,000 ship transits, according to a 1999 report by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Data from a study commissioned by the US Coast Guard in 2003 suggests that 80 percent of the dumping takes place in shipping lanes that pass through sensitive-species habitats. Its numbers imply that 45,000 to 64,000 tons of cargo—the equivalent of 6,000 to 9,000 garbage-truck loads—has been dumped into the lakes since the practice started. And nearly all the discharges qualify as pollutants under guidelines of the Ontario government, according to a 1993 study commissioned by the Canadian Coast Guard.”

Another example of how rules don’t apply to Liberals.
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# posted by Twelve:01 @ 10:26 a.m.