Latest news with #reclamation
E&E News
3 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Longtime Interior staffer tapped to lead OSMRE
A career staffer who worked at the departments of the Interior and Energy has been tapped to lead the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a June 5 memo announced that Thomas Shope will now lead OSMRE in an acting capacity, an agency tasked with cleaning up aging and toxic coal mines and safeguarding miners. Shope has had a lengthy federal career, most recently working as a regional director at OSMRE and overseeing active coal mining operations and reclamation in Appalachia. Advertisement According to his online biography, Shope previously served as the principal deputy assistant secretary at the DOE's Office of Fossil Energy, where he oversaw the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the National Energy Technology Laboratory and various carbon sequestration efforts.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Alberta Energy Regulator fines company $456K for providing misleading, false information
The Alberta Energy Regulator has fined a company $456,000 for submitting false or misleading information in its applications for reclamation approval. In a decision published Friday, the regulator says CEPro Energy and Environmental Services submitted five certificate applications in 2023 that were incomplete, while two contained false or misleading information. The decision doesn't specify what information was falsified but says providing misleading information is a major contravention of provincial law. "Such actions compromise regulatory oversight and prevent the protection of the environment by obstructing the AER's ability to ensure, in this case, that land reclamation is conducted properly and restored to equivalent land use," the decision says. The regulator is responsible for signing off on the work companies undertake to return land to its original state. If the regulator considers the work complete, it issues reclamation certificates. "By providing false or misleading information, the AER cannot verify whether a site has been properly reclaimed, increasing the risk that contaminated soil, residual pollutants or improperly restored land may go undetected," the decision reads. "This can lead to long-term environmental degradation, such as soil erosion, water contamination and habitat destruction, which may negatively impact local ecosystems, wildlife and future land use." The decision says the fine against CEPro is for 150 separate issues. However, each contravention was not individually assessed for potential harm. "While potential adverse effects are possible and could be of significance, in this specific case the potential adverse effects are unknown," the decision says. "Given the type of information provided in the reclamation applications, the potential for adverse effect is classified as 'minor to none."' The fine includes $75,000 because CEPro didn't previously provide required information on reclamation certificate applications in 2020. The regulator also says it hasn't been able to contact CEPro officials in nearly two years. The company's known phone number was disconnected and mail sent to one of two addresses was returned as undeliverable. The regulator said in a statement Friday that CEPro submitted the applications "on behalf of" Everest Canadian Resources Corp. Everest, a Calgary-based oil and gas company, was ordered to halt operations one month after CEPro submitted the 2023 applications. It was also ordered to give up its assets for failing to operate in an acceptable manner.
CBC
18-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Revitalization and reclamation at heart of Kwanlin traditional tattoo gathering
Gathering in Whitehorse last week was about taking back traditional practices and revisiting shared history Image | Whitehorse tattooing gathering Caption: Tattoo apprentice Bowie Whalen, from Alaska, giving a tattoo at the Kwanlin Traditional Tattoo Gathering in Whitehorse earlier this month. (Isabel Ruitenbeek/CBC) Ashley Cummings is smiling as her chin gets poked over and over with a needle. "Hurts a little bit, but not too bad," she says after the work is done. "It's worth it." Cummings is being tattooed at the Kwanlin Traditional Tattoo Gathering in Whitehorse. The first of its kind, the gathering brought four Indigenous tattoo artists, plus apprentices, to the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre over three days, from May 9 to 12. Cummings is from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, and now lives in Whitehorse. She calls the tattooing an act of reclamation. "Inuit almost lost our tattoos entirely," she said. "Now, there's some really stellar women that are being matriarchs and bringing it back to us." For Cummings and other participants, that's what this event is all about — taking back traditional tattoo practices. It's a way to reclaim identity, and find others with a shared past. That's how Holly Nordlum sees it. Nordlum, on the other end of the needle, is a tattoo artist and has been for over a decade. Nordlum, an Inuk from Kotzebue, Alaska, who now lives in Anchorage, says there's something powerful about poking the skin and talking about "hard stuff." The key, she said, is "finding joy in hard stuff." "It really does make you who you are." Lost history To Nordlum, hard stuff means shared trauma — substance abuse, sexual abuse, "all those big issues that have affected us for generations," she says. That's what comes up most often between her and her clients, she says. She's travelled to other places with their own tattooing traditions, like New Zealand and Hawaii. In both places, traditional practices were also harmed by colonization and missionaries. "We're all people of colour who have been colonized and are struggling," she said. Anne Spice, a Kwanlin Dün citizen and tattoo artist, says that each nation has its own tattoo tradition and style, but that there are gaps in that knowledge because of the generations where tattooing was outlawed. To fill that gap, Spice looks to other forms of art to take inspiration for tattooing. But now, she says, there's a push to revive Indigenous tattoo practices. "[In the Yukon] we're at the very beginning stages of this resurgence," she said. Learning together Bobby Rose Koe has a fresh caribou antler tattoo on her shoulder, hand-poked. "I come from caribou," she said. Koe is Teetl'it Gwich'in from Fort McPherson, N.W.T. The new caribou antler is one of many tattoos on her body, each one a reminder of what she's been through and who she is. Koe says the biggest conversation at last week's gathering was on the responsibility around tattoos. People learned the history of tattoos, and what is or isn't appropriate. "I think that it's so beautiful that we're all learning here together," she said. Koe's participated in plenty of gatherings and meetings in the cultural centre's multi-purpose room. Often, those are centred on important conversations but she says the tattoo gathering is something special.
South China Morning Post
10-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Reclamation changes must not become the thin edge of the wedge in Hong Kong
Hong Kong without its harbour would be difficult to imagine. The famous stretch of water is the city's most precious asset and best known feature around the world. Advertisement But over many years, beginning in the 19th century, reclamation of the harbour caused it to narrow. The distance between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon was cut in half. Public concern led to the passing of the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance in 1997. A landmark court judgment in 2004 strengthened the safeguards. Reclamation works would only be permitted if there was an 'overriding public need' based on cogent and convincing evidence. A high threshold was set. Lawmakers last week passed amendments to the law to make small-scale reclamation much easier. Such work is said to be needed to enhance the harbourside and better connect different parts of it. The new arrangements will apply to works of 0.8 hectares or less and concern specified structures such as piers, boardwalks and moorings for boats. Such projects will require consultation with the government-appointed Harbourfront Commission and district councillors. The financial secretary has the final decision. Advertisement The amendments will provide greater flexibility, allowing work to be done to clear old piers and provide promenades and boardwalks for the enjoyment of harbour views. This is better than having people dodge traffic in busy roads to see the sunset. Making it easier to provide moorings will also benefit the city's bid to become a centre for yacht tourism.
South China Morning Post
10-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Government to ‘be its own judge': Hong Kong harbour fighter weighs challenge
An advocacy group that has fought to protect Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour for 30 years may take the government to court for passing a legal amendment to relax reclamation restrictions, calling it the last-ditch effort before the organisation closes. Advertisement Winston Chu Ka-sun, founder of the Society for Protection of the Harbour, said on Saturday that the society had begun winding up procedures before a 'new turn of events' from legal advisers that might push the group to remain in operation for the time being. 'However, in this new turn of events, we are advised by senior counsel that there may be a remedy through the law courts. The law courts may be able to declare that this law offends the common law,' Chu said. The 85-year-old lawyer, who began campaigning to protect the harbour in 1995, expressed his disappointment with a legal amendment on Wednesday that allows the government to carry out small-scale and temporary reclamation works. The legal amendment also paves the way for large-scale reclamation under a new mechanism. Advertisement The new mechanism allows the chief executive and his advisers to decide if large-scale reclamation projects at Victoria Harbour could go ahead, replacing current rules stating all reclamation at the harbour is forbidden unless proven to have an 'overriding public need' supported by 'cogent and convincing materials' in court.
