November 3, 1998 - Dr. Merv Fingas, ESD:

• On October 30, the Emergencies Science Division flew the Convair 580 aircraft to test systems for a client, Defense Research Establishment – Ottawa, Department of National Defence. The successful mission tested cross-track interferometry systems over specialized targets at Petawawa. The test is in preparation for a larger mission involving the same remote-sensing systems, which will take place in November over the Atlantic Ocean.
  [Dr. Merv Fingas @ 998-9622]

November 3, 1998 - Dr. Merv Fingas, ESD:

• The Emergencies Science Division, ETC, provided advice to the Qu�bec Region on an incident that occurred near Chicoutimi. A shipload of laminated wood caught fire and there were concerns over the aquatic toxicity of fire-fighting waters and the toxicity of fumes to workers, two of whom became ill.
  [Dr. Merv Fingas @ 998-9622]

• The Emergencies Science Division, ETC, presented a hazardous material response course to 12 students. One student was from a private shipping firm, one from the Qu�bec Region, two from Coast Guard Qu�bec, one from the Ontario Region and the remainder were ETC employees. The 2.5-day course focused on safety in first response and included a large amount of hands-on practice. This was followed by an introductory course on analytical methods for on-site assessment, and six of the same students attended this 1.5-day course. Dr. Merv Fingas and Nanci Laroche taught the Hazardous materials course with the assistance of Benjamin Fieldhouse and Patrick Lambert. Mike Goldthorp taught the Analytical course with the assistance of Patrick Lambert.
  [Dr. Merv Fingas @ 998-9622]

• Dr. Merv Fingas, Chief, Emergencies Science Division, ETC, is presenting a paper at the workshop on In situ Burning of Oil in New Orleans. His colleague, Dr. Carl Brown, is presenting a paper on oil spill remote sensing at the SPIE Photonics East Symposium, in Boston.
  [Patrick Lambert @ 991-1110]

• On December 8-9, 1998, in Ottawa, an Industry/Government Workshop on Diesel Fuel is being planned to lay the groundwork for the development of a Canadian R&D strategy, with emphasis on feedstocks from the oil sands. The Emissions Research & Measurement Division, ETC, is supporting the Workshop with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute. Speakers from petroleum companies in Europe, Canada and the USA will join with speakers from government organizations like the Department, NRCan, US-Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and the US-Department of Energy, to provide overviews of R&D programs being conducted or planned on diesel fuels. Some eighty invited experts from engine and vehicle manufacturers, oil producers and refiners, heavy-duty vehicle associations and government will be participating. A summary report from the workshop will form the basis of a PERD multi-year plan for R&D in this area.
  [Fred Hendren @ 990-5859]

November 3, 1998  - Dr. Jocelyn Par�, MAPD:

• Dr. J. R. Jocelyn Par� acted as invited external examiner on a Ph.D. thesis that was defended at the Universit� de Bordeaux 1, Bordeaux, France, on October 26, 1998. A thesis entitled: "Extraction assist�e par micro-ondes de contaminants organiques dans les matrices environnementales" was successfully defended by Muriel Letellier. Dr. Par� also delivered an Invited Lecture entitled: "Les micro-ondes au service de la chimie analytique" to the Laboratoire de physico-toxicochimie des syst�mes naturels, an associate laboratory of France's Centre National de Recherche Scientifique. While in France, business meetings were also organised with two MAP licensees, la Soci�t� PROLABO and SAIREM. Discussions were also held with the Institut National de Recherche Agronomique in Paris with respect to coordinating world-wide approval (through the Association of Official Analytical Chemists) of MAP-derived methods as Standard Reference Methods for the determination of fats in food. The latter methods, developed earlier at ETC, offer significant reductions in solvent (80%) and energy (99%) usage compared to methods currently in use. Dr. Par� was asked to coordinate this inter-laboratory validation process that will involve at least 8 laboratories from around the world over the next 18 months.
  [Dr. J.R. Jocelyn Par� @ 990-9122]

November 10, 1998 - - Mike Bumbaco, SPD:

• An options report was presented to the Health Canada/Environment Canada ADM Board of Directors for Joint Management of Environmental Programs at their meeting on Nov 4. The report summarized ways to formalize compliance monitoring aspects of GLP in Canadian regulatory programs. Following Dr. Thornton's presentation to the Board, there was a general discussion of the various options tabled. Ultimately, the ADMs endorsed the following:

  - that GLP compliance monitoring aspects of the CEPA New Substances Notification Regulations should be developed as official guidance documents that will refer to the existing GLP requirement in the NSNR.

  - that an interdepartmental GLP Committee be established, chaired by Health Canada, as a forum to ensure national consistency in GLP compliance monitoring programs.
  [Mike Bumbaco @ 991-2387]

November 10, 1998 - Paula Jokuty, ESD:

• Dr. Merv Fingas, Dr. Carl Brown, and Pat Lambert, from the Emergencies Science Division, are in Montreal this week attending one of the three Environmental Emergencies Core Capacity Focus Group meetings. This one, the first of three, deals with emergency ‘Response’. Subsequent meetings during the next couple of months will deal with emergency ‘Prevention’ and ‘Preparedness’.
  [Paula Jokuty @ 991-1108]

November 10, 1998 – Dr. David Thornton, ETC:

• Dr. David Thornton participated in the third meeting of the interdepartmental working group that is preparing a paper on the relationship between federal science and technology (S&T) and wealth creation in Canada. The paper will eventually be submitted to the Interdepartmental ADM Committee on S&T. The working group has developed a draft framework for the paper, and is now starting to focus on identifying example federal S&T programs that have helped to create or are creating wealth.
  [Dr. David Thornton @ 991-9550]

November, 1998