Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 14, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A4 A 4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012 TOP NEWS winnipegfreepress. com 6 9 7 - 7 0 0 1 HOME DELIVERY 1- 800- 542- 8900 Call Mention this ad and receive $ 500 off a LaserCap T hair treatment system. 204.956.7709 NAUTICA 100% cotton dress shirts Available in up to 14 assorted styles. Shop thebay. com $ 19 99 Reg. $ 60 $ 14 99 NAUTICA boxed silk ties Reg. $ 60 TODAY ONLY T H U R S DAY , J U N E 1 4 FATHER'S DAY IS SUNDAY, J U N E 1 7 Be the first to know about our one- day offers. Sign up at thebay. com No rain checks and no price adjustments. Offer available while quantities last. Cannot be combined with other offers. Selection may vary by store. Savings are off our regular prices unless otherwise specified. No telephone orders. See store for details. T H E B A Y . C O M O TTAWA - Anybody have a dollar? That's the going price for the world- renowned Experimental Lakes Area research facility. The price was noted by Manitoba Conservative MP Joyce Bateman in a June 2 letter to a constituent in which she reiterates her government's plan to transfer ownership of ELA to a university or private business. " This facility will be very attractive to them, especially given recent investments, and the federal government is committed to offering a transfer of ownership for a nominal fee of $ 1," Bateman wrote. The price tag of $ 1 will net the buyer 40,000 square feet of research and living space in 19 buildings. Ottawa has invested $ 3.5 million in the buildings in the last 10 years, including $ 850,000 for three new labs as part of the Economic Action Plan in 2009. NDP MP Pat Martin said it's fiscally reckless for the government to be selling such a valuable asset for a pittance. " They just dumped millions into it and they're willing to hand it over for a buck?" he questioned. The lakes on which research is conducted are owned by the Ontario government. Last month, ELA scientists were told the government is getting out of the project and cancelling its $ 2- million annual budget in 2013 because ELA no longer is aligned with its priorities. " The freshwater research being conducted at a variety of other facilities across the country will meet the research needs of the department." said Erin Filliter, director of communications for Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield. In her letter, Bateman said there is still federal funding available for ecosystem research, including " similar ongoing lakes research being done under the auspices of Environment Canada in the lakes of Saskatchewan." Six former ELA scientists wrote to Bateman saying they were astonished by her letter. " We find much of the information that you have included to be factually incorrect, incomplete and misleading to your constituents," they wrote, on June 11. They took issue with her saying the research done at ELA no longer aligns with the department's priorities of fish populations, climate change and ecosystem management. " The ELA is carrying out research specifically addressing the objectives and goals of DFO that you have listed in your letter," they wrote. They attacked her suggestion the number of projects being conducted is down but costs are up, saying the number of projects has not declined and the operating costs are the same as they were in 1990, " without adjusting for inflation!" Raymond Hesslein, who worked as a senior scientist at ELA for 30 years, said while there is research being done on lakes in Saskatchewan " to compare it to the work going on at ELA is a crazy comparison." Scientists from around the globe have lobbied the Conservatives to reverse the decision on ELA, noting the facility is the only one in the world doing entire ecosystem research on freshwater lakes. Its work has led to global policy changes on issues such as acid rain, hydroelectric dams and mercury. Bateman did not respond to a request for an interview. Hesslein said he doesn't know the government's motivation for selling the ELA, but said at the very least the government should give ELA more than nine months to try to find new funding partners. Filliter said the government is working " diligently" to transfer the facility to a third party. However, sources close to the ELA say none of the stakeholders has been contacted, including the universities that do research at the facility and Friends of ELA, a non- profit group that raises money to support ELA research. Filliter would not say whether the minister would consider extending the ELA's funding if no buyer is found by April 2013. " Recent upgrades to the facility should make this unique location even more attractive to potential third parties," she said. mia. rabson@ freepress. mb. ca SCIENTISTS hope a relatively new crop in Manitoba will be key to reducing the high amount of phosphorous - the main cause of large algae blooms - in Lake Winnipeg. Researchers hope by harvesting cattails and bulrushes in select areas of the 25,000- hectare Netley- Libau Marsh at the south end of Lake Winnipeg, they can make a dent in how much phosphorus gets into the lake, not only from the marsh, but the Red River, too. " These plants are luxury phosphorus users," Hank Venema, of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, said Wednesday. " They suck it up like nobody's business," he said. Taking away older plants permanently removes the phosphorus they contain and eliminates the phosphorus they'll produce when they decay. It also stimulates new growth, which in turn sucks up phosphorous entering the marsh via the Red River and other sources. Harvesting also opens up the marsh so more waterfowl and birds can use it. " We're doing the environment many benefits in so doing, because right now it's choked full of cattails. It's so choked full that the ducks don't want to use it as nesting habitat." This summer, cattails will be harvested on the Libau side of the marsh and in two other locations in the province where cattails grow near agricultural land. " We've done harvests at a research scale in Netley- Libau Marsh in previous years," Venema said. " This year we're going to have commercial- scale equipment out there doing it." Phosphorus is the main culprit in the creation of large algae blooms on the lake. A recent study showed if no action were taken to reduce phosphorus, more toxic green- blue algae blooms could form and create dead zones on the lake. Thick algae sucks oxygen out of the water and threatens the fishery, and sometimes clogs fishing nets in winter. Venema was speaking at a meeting of the South Basin Mayors and Reeves. They released a brochure outlining tips to cut the amount of phosphorus and other contaminants getting into the watershed and Lake Winnipeg. Tips include reducing the amount of vegetable waste disposed through a kitchen garburator, installing a holding tank at the cottage and cleaning up after pets. Rick Gamble, mayor of Dunnottar and chairman of the South Basin Mayors and Reeves, said his community is looking at cultivating algae from small ponds. Gamble said local farmers may be able to use that nutrient- rich algae as a fertilizer on their fields. " It's just an idea we're looking at," he said. " It gives farmers a way to be more open about it." The Manitoba government has looked into harvesting algae to help reduce phosphorus levels in Lake Winnipeg, but concluded it is just not feasible now because of the size if the lake. Commercial algae harvesting, already done in the U. S., Europe and Australia, can also go toward production of food ingredients, fertilizer, bioplastics, dyes and colourants, pharmaceuticals and oil. bruce. owen@ freepress. mb. ca What it's about: CATTAILS grow where there's a marsh. They're tall plants with long slender leaves and produce extraordinary amounts of plant material ( biomass) each summer. They need phosphorus in order to grow. In the Netley- Libau Marsh, they absorb phosphorus from the layers of sediment, fed by the nutrient- rich waters of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg. The phosphorus returns to the sediment or waterways when the plants decompose. Harvesting cattails prevents this release, permanently removing the phosphorus from the aquatic environment and preventing it from entering Lake Winnipeg. Harvested cattails are burned in biomass burners and pellet stoves for heat. The ash, which still contains high levels of phosphorus, can be recycled for use as fertilizer. - source: International Institute for Sustainable Development Pulling cattails latest fix for Lake Winnipeg By Bruce Owen Research facility price tag? $ 1 NDP calls sale fiscally reckless By Mia Rabson ' They just dumped millions into it and they're willing to hand it over for a buck' - NDP MP Pat Martin THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES Tory MP Joyce Bateman says the government wants $ 1 for the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario. A_ 04_ Jun- 14- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A4 6/ 13/ 12 8: 16: 54 PM ;