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Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'What is it doing to our bodies?': Norfolk residents urge fast action on toxic gas leaks in Ontario county
Paula Jongerden says she and her neighbours have been living a nightmare for the last decade. On days when the wind doesn't co-operate, a thick rotten egg-like stench wafts up the valley bordering their Norfolk County properties — a putrid reminder of the inactive and unfiltered wells that have been pumping massive amounts of hydrogen sulfide and methane into the air and water since 2015. "It's nauseating. Burning eyes, sore throat, like rotten eggs but with a burn to it," Jongerden said. If it's not the smell that reminds her, it's the otherwise peaceful days that are interrupted by the staccato of distant alarms from a monitoring station that detects high concentrations of toxic gas. It's a problem locals call the Big Stink and an expert says is the worst of its kind in the province — one Jongerden says needs to be rectified now. Big Creek, a watercourse that runs through Norfolk County and empties into Lake Erie, has been locked in a struggle with natural gas dating back to 1968. A well that had been open since 1910 was plugged, causing pressure to build and five new wells to erupt before a relief well was drilled to ease the pressure. In 2015, the Ministry of the Environment ordered that the relief well be plugged, which caused a half-dozen new wells to open up. In 2017, the pressure and higher water levels caused gas to push its way through a layer of clay in the ground, causing it to bubble up through area waterways from newly formed gas springs. The county used provincial money in 2024 to commission a study from environmental consulting firm Montrose Environmental. The report was presented to council on July 22 by Montrose geochemist Stewart Hamilton, who said the situation unfolding along Big Creek, especially near Forestry Farm Road where the neighbours live, is "by far the largest problem in Ontario" of its kind. He said the amount of hydrogen sulfide leaking into the environment from the wells on county-owned land is tens of thousands of times higher than what's legally allowed. Jongerden said she knew it all along. "I have metal objects on my property that have turned black because of the corrosion," Jongerden said. "If it's doing that to metal, what is it doing to our bodies?" She's not the only one affected. One of the springs that opened in 2017 is a stone's throw away from John Spanjers's home. Water near the creek behind his home is covered in a black film. Sometimes, he said, it can be seen bubbling up to the surface. It smells strongly of rotten eggs, but the smell isn't the main concern. The longtime resident of the property believes high concentrations of the chemical killed dozens of trees that once stood tall in the marsh behind his home. He also believes it's affected his health directly. "I've never had headaches. Now I wake up with them frequently. I have been very patient, but my patience is getting very thin," said Spanjers. But getting politicians to act, especially quickly, has been an uphill battle, the neighbours said. "The people in our local administration, they will disagree, but I don't think they really care. If they did, something would have happened before now," Spanjers said. During the last meeting of county council, municipal politicians resolved to urge the provincial government to take the lead in dealing with the issue and paying for the solution. Among the recommendations in the Montrose report are measures like installing a temporary relief well at a cost near $500,000, and installing filters to improve air quality and to treat water, at a price near $1 million. While municipal politicians seek provincial support for the plan, Spanjers and Jongerden said they believe more urgent action is needed. "I love Norfolk County. I don't want to be a complainer, but this isn't right," Jongerden said. "Norfolk can afford the $1.5 million to make this right." Independent MPP and council at odds Haldimand-Norfolk Independent MPP Bobbi Ann Brady said the wells will be her top priority when provincial politicians return to Queen's Park in October. "If [these wells] were on private property, it wouldn't have taken 10 years." Brady accused councillors of "playing politics with a dangerous situation," saying that for the past decade, multiple studies funded by provincial dollars have been done, but the gas still flows just the same. "Monitoring is good, but it's been ten years. I support this new call to the province, but it's too little, too late," Brady said. Norfolk Mayor Amy Martin said the county has done what it can by securing over $1 million in provincial funding, much of which went to the recent study and the province's Abandoned Works Program. She said gas wells are a provincial responsibility that require a response from multiple ministries and residential taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill. "Meanwhile, the Independent MPP has provided no solutions, no technical support — just theatrics at Queen's Park and criticism of her municipal counterparts," Martin wrote in a statement to CBC News. "That certainly doesn't help the residents of Forestry Farm Road or the taxpayers of Norfolk County but it is an easy position to take when you lack influence." County bureaucrats say meetings are scheduled with the province in August, and Martin said she will advocate for the issue during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting this month.
CBC
6 days ago
- General
- CBC
'What is it doing to our bodies?': Norfolk residents urge fast action on toxic gas leaks in Ontario county
Paula Jongerden says she and her neighbours have been living a nightmare for the last decade. On days when the wind doesn't co-operate, a thick rotten egg-like stench wafts up the valley bordering their Norfolk County properties — a putrid reminder of the inactive and unfiltered wells that have been pumping massive amounts of hydrogen sulfide and methane into the air and water since 2015. "It's nauseating. Burning eyes, sore throat, like rotten eggs but with a burn to it," Jongerden said. If it's not the smell that reminds her, it's the otherwise peaceful days that are interrupted by the staccato of distant alarms from a monitoring station that detects high concentrations of toxic gas. It's a problem locals call the Big Stink and an expert says is the worst of its kind in the province — one Jongerden says needs to be rectified now. Big Creek, a watercourse that runs through Norfolk County and empties into Lake Erie, has been locked in a struggle with natural gas dating back to 1968. A well that had been open since 1910 was plugged, causing pressure to build and five new wells to erupt before a relief well was drilled to ease the pressure. In 2015, the Ministry of the Environment ordered that the relief well be plugged, which caused a half-dozen new wells to open up. In 2017, the pressure and higher water levels caused gas to push its way through a layer of clay in the ground, causing it to bubble up through area waterways from newly formed gas springs. The county used provincial money in 2024 to commission a study from environmental consulting firm Montrose Environmental. The report was presented to council on July 22 by Montrose geochemist Stewart Hamilton, who said the situation unfolding along Big Creek, especially near Forestry Farm Road where the neighbours live, is "by far the largest problem in Ontario" of its kind. He said the amount of hydrogen sulfide leaking into the environment from the wells on county-owned land is tens of thousands of times higher than what's legally allowed. Jongerden said she knew it all along. "I have metal objects on my property that have turned black because of the corrosion," Jongerden said. "If it's doing that to metal, what is it doing to our bodies?" She's not the only one affected. One of the springs that opened in 2017 is a stone's throw away from John Spanjers's home. Water near the creek behind his home is covered in a black film. Sometimes, he said, it can be seen bubbling up to the surface. It smells strongly of rotten eggs, but the smell isn't the main concern. The longtime resident of the property believes high concentrations of the chemical killed dozens of trees that once stood tall in the marsh behind his home. He also believes it's affected his health directly. "I've never had headaches. Now I wake up with them frequently. I have been very patient, but my patience is getting very thin," said Spanjers. But getting politicians to act, especially quickly, has been an uphill battle, the neighbours said. "The people in our local administration, they will disagree, but I don't think they really care. If they did, something would have happened before now," Spanjers said. During the last meeting of county council, municipal politicians resolved to urge the provincial government to take the lead in dealing with the issue and paying for the solution. Among the recommendations in the Montrose report are measures like installing a temporary relief well at a cost near $500,000, and installing filters to improve air quality and to treat water, at a price near $1 million. While municipal politicians seek provincial support for the plan, Spanjers and Jongerden said they believe more urgent action is needed. "I love Norfolk County. I don't want to be a complainer, but this isn't right," Jongerden said. "Norfolk can afford the $1.5 million to make this right." Independent MPP and council at odds Haldimand-Norfolk Independent MPP Bobbi Ann Brady said the wells will be her top priority when provincial politicians return to Queen's Park in October. "If [these wells] were on private property, it wouldn't have taken 10 years." Brady accused councillors of "playing politics with a dangerous situation," saying that for the past decade, multiple studies funded by provincial dollars have been done, but the gas still flows just the same. "Monitoring is good, but it's been ten years. I support this new call to the province, but it's too little, too late," Brady said. Norfolk Mayor Amy Martin said the county has done what it can by securing over $1 million in provincial funding, much of which went to the recent study and the province's Abandoned Works Program. She said gas wells are a provincial responsibility that require a response from multiple ministries and residential taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill. "Meanwhile, the Independent MPP has provided no solutions, no technical support — just theatrics at Queen's Park and criticism of her municipal counterparts," Martin wrote in a statement to CBC News. "That certainly doesn't help the residents of Forestry Farm Road or the taxpayers of Norfolk County but it is an easy position to take when you lack influence." County bureaucrats say meetings are scheduled with the province in August, and Martin said she will advocate for the issue during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting this month.
Japan Times
23-05-2025
- Japan Times
In search of untouched Japan? Meet Hokkaido's newest hiking trail.
For all the endless hordes of tourists coming to Japan, the vast majority will see the same urban sights. Zooming on the shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto will deliver glimpses of Japan's natural beauty, and day trips from Osaka will bring mountains and valleys within arm's reach, but for the average inbound traveler, Japan largely remains an urban playground to explore. However, far be it from the country's further-flung regions to lean on anything but the natural environment, the most bountiful and, in some cases, the only resource at their disposal, to draw tourists from Japan's metropolitan magnets. And in the far north of the country, the Hokkaido East Trail is the latest pastoral lure. First conceived two years ago as a collaboration between the Ministry of the Environment, the east Hokkaido guiding community and Trailblaze Hiking Institute, a Tokyo-based ecotourism consulting firm, the Hokkaido East Trail is a 410-kilometer, roughly north-south route that runs through stretches of three national parks: Kuroshitsugen, Akan-Mashu and Shiretoko. Opened in October, the new route (which connects portions of three previously established regional trails) dwarfs the popular Daisetsuzan Grand Traverse, which crawls along the spine of Hokkaido's largest single national park. Opened from October 2024, hikers can now follow the Hokkaido East Trail from the southern town of Kushiro to the Shiretoko Peninsula in the north. | JUSTIN RANDALL When compared to other famous long-distance trails such as the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail, one statistic might catch eager challengers off guard: 70% of the Hokkaido East Trail follows along roads with cars regularly motoring by. While this might seem like an unabashed drawback, trail officials believe it adds another dimension to hiking through Japan's most northern region. 'This is a very Japanese trail,' says Takahiro Ogino, 29, secretariat for the Hokkaido East Trail. 'On the Hokkaido East Trail, the value of the trail is in its minimalism and how it shows what life in Japan looks like here.' Along with hiking partner Gen Terayama, Ogino became the first to complete the trail after its October 2024 opening, when they traversed the entire route in 21 days. Originally from Osaka, Ogino studied public policy at Oslo University in Norway. After returning to Japan and working as an eco-tourism guide and educator, Ogino became smitten with life in eastern Hokkaido: 'For me, it's the density of nature and the proximity of humans and wildlife that make eastern Hokkaido so special.' Much of the Hokkaido East Trail follows active motorways, which, while not as picturesque, leads hikers to residential areas of the prefecture for a look at life in Japan's north. | DOTO HIKERS Terayama, who runs Buen Camino, a private guiding service, from Utoro Onsen on the Shiretoko Peninsula, moved to the area from Niigata Prefecture almost 20 years ago. Though Hokkaido may be the least densely populated of Japan's five main islands, Terayama says the Hokkaido East Trail is still a great way to get to know the people and places that call it home. 'This trail's mission is for humans to remember the humanity of those we meet along the way,' says Terayama, 58. 'The goal is a trail that locals are proud of.' Beginning (or ending, depending on your direction) in Kushiro, a summerless town on Hokkaido's southeastern coast, the trail starts at the city's Nusamai Bridge. After following the streets north out of the city, you'll come to the Kushiro Shitsugen, the largest marshland in Japan, teeming with eastern Hokkaido's greatest wildlife — red-crowned cranes, Blakiston's fish owls, Ezo red foxes and seasonal Steller's sea eagles — and often covered in the atmospheric fog characteristic of coastal Kushiro. The marsh is one of six distinct natural themes of the trail, alongside prairie, caldera, forest, sea and mountain. After Kushiro, the trail leads up to the towns of Shibecha and Tsurui, which are renowned for the vast grazing fields that support agriculture and dairy production. Next comes Lake Kussharo, Japan's largest water-filled caldera, in the heart of the Akan-Mashu National Park. The trail meanders through the forests surrounding the lake, then rises 947 meters into the clouds above Tsubetsu Pass, where hikers then follow along the rim of the caldera, looking down on the lake's crystal blue surface at Bihoro Pass and Mount Mokoto. Lake Kussharo is known for its unkai (sea of clouds), formed when the cool, foggy weather common in eastern Hokkaido is trapped against the rise of the caldera, resulting in a dense layer of clouds that covers the surface of the lake. Several caldera lakes feature along the Hokkaido East Trail. | DOTO HIKERS This portion of the trail has long been used by local Self-Defence Forces for training, but between 2018 and 2024, over 100 volunteers worked to improve the course christened as the Kussharo Caldera Trail. Asamaki Takikawa, a former member of the Regional Revitalization Corps, helped to clear the dense dwarf bamboo that covers the forest floors that the trail now follows. While the dense foliage proved difficult to tame, the greatest challenge was gaining permission from the government to utilize this public land. 'I hope this trail becomes something I can share with my children in the future,' says Takikawa, 32, who lives in the nearby town of Bihoro. From here, a detour allows hikers to venture further into the Akan-Mashu National Park by way of Lake Akan and Lake Onetto. This tangent involves doubling back to the main trail, where hikers depart the national park with a farewell above the majestic Lake Mashu, a caldera lake reminiscent of the famous Crater Lake in Oregon. Up north through the small town of Shari, the trail finally reaches the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. All roads lead to the Shiretoko Peninsula and Shiretoko National Park, one of Hokkaido's most popular hiking destinations. An expansive peninsula rising along the ring of fire, the mountains tower above steep coastal cliffs, which remain largely wild and filled with brown bears, the island's apex predator. Safe hiking along the Hokkaido East Trail involves awareness of passing traffic as well as wildlife. | DOTO HIKERS The route ends with one final climb 742 meters into the mountains at Shiretoko Pass, the trail's greatest challenge but most rewarding feat: vistas of the Sea of Okhotsk stretching to the horizon both east and west. The trail finally concludes in Rausu, a quiet coastal settlement with views of Kunashir Island, part of the Northern Territories held by Russia but contested by Japan. Hiking safe Due to the rural nature of Eastern Hokkaido, several hazards present themselves to those who walk the trail. In the wilderness sections, the brown bears of Hokkaido roam freely, and hikers should wear bear bells and bring bear spray. In the event of an encounter, slowly back away from the animal while keeping a low tone of voice to alert the bear of your presence. The weather of East Hokkaido is prone to dramatic changes, especially when factoring in altitude; the tops of mountains are subject to sudden drops in temperature and precipitation. The Hokkaido East Trail is a leisurely hike, but it does involve rises of several hundred meters in places. | JUSTIN RANDALL As the trail follows along many public motorways, walkers are expected to remain close to the edges of the road against the flow of traffic to be most visible to drivers. There are a few accommodations and campgrounds along the way, but the distance between them is often dramatic. Hikers should plan their daily progress carefully to arrive at waystations with ample time to set up camp or check in. The trail also borders many fields and farms, which are privately owned, and hikers should avoid entering the fields so as not to bring in pests that might ruin harvests.
