Watchdog wants probe into pollution

Investigators with an international environmental watchdog have recommended a probe into whether Canada is violating its own laws by not stopping toxic wastewater from being dumped into the ocean along its Pacific coast.

- BOB WEBER

The investigative arm of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, created by the U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement, has concluded there's evidence Canada is failing to stop the release of millions of tonnes of contaminated water from fuel scrubbers, despite laws that are supposed to prevent it.

"Initiating an investigation into Canada's nonenforcement of its domestic environmental laws would help to prevent further harm to these sensitive ecosystems, while also addressing unfair competition that favours commercial operators in Canadian waters," the body says in a document released this week.

The concern stems from sea water used to wash scrubbers, devices that remove acids, heavy metals and carcinogens from engine exhaust.

Those chemicals end up in the wash water, which is then dumped into the ocean.