ONTARIO

IN-DEPTH
Chemicals are forever: a new factory opens near Lake Nipissing, where water is already contaminated

Industrial Plastics Canada's new North Bay factory is set to use fluoropolymers, part of a group of chemicals known as PFAS that Canada has been slow to regulate

By Leah Borts-Kuperman

The Narwhal
July 6, 2023

 

EXCERPT
VERY LONG READ

Imagine driving down a two-lane road on a sunny day in northeastern Ontario, just east of North Bay’s city centre. To your right, dandelions bloom bright yellow, dotting the lawns of red brick apartments. On your left is Circle Lake, one of the many bodies of water nearby, buzzing with birds and dragonflies. About a kilometre south, you reach the new site of Industrial Plastics Canada, a factory opening in July 2023.

Local news coverage of the opening has been sparse, mostly touting that the plant will bring economic benefits, including up to 35 new jobs to a town with an unemployment rate more than double the national average. Less has been said publicly about the company’s plans to manufacture — or perhaps just use, depending which Industrial Plastics employee is speaking — polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a Teflon-like product that falls into a larger group of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

PFAS are commonly known as “forever chemicals” because they can generate hazardous waste which, if not disposed of carefully, contaminates air, water and soil where it can remain for about 1,000 years. That there has been little information published about Industrial Plastics’ plans, including a glaring lack of an environmental assessment, is worrying community members.  

Curtis Avery is environment manager at Nipissing First Nation, on the north shore of Lake Nipissing. “When the manufacturer has byproducts, where do they go?” Avery asked of a new plastics factory set to use PFAS, which is not required to undergo an environmental assessment. 

Photo: Vanessa Tignanelli / The Narwhal

“My concern is, usually these areas that have higher levels of PFAS are not only the factories, but the areas around these factories, and where they end up when the consumers are done with the product,” Curtis Avery, environment manager of Nipissing First Nation, told The Narwhal. “When the manufacturer has byproducts, where do they go?”

“These industrial areas are often surrounded by lower income buildings and peoples and communities,” Avery said. “Had they had some information about what’s going on and what it entails with these forever chemicals, I think they’d be concerned too.”

A company spokesman told The Narwhal the use of polytetrafluoroethylene at the factory will not produce waste and poses “no risk.” The company also says fluoropolymers aren’t as dangerous as other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and are “considered safe, non-bioaccumulative and non-toxic.”

Thousands of substances classified as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are used to make everything from medical equipment to waterproof clothing. Statistics Canada reports almost all Canadians already have PFAS in their bodies, including in remote regions such as the Arctic and subarctic. While Health Canada is in the process of figuring out how to approach a broad range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, it currently only regulates a fraction of those that exist.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency lists potential health risks of exposure including reproductive problems like infertility; developmental effects in children; increased risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers; and weakening of the body’s immune system, including reduced vaccine response. The Canadian government says PFAS can be transferred through the placenta during pregnancy and infants and children can be exposed through ingestion of human milk.

Ecosystems are affected, too. Studies have shown exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances can cause reduced seed germination, stunted growth and reduced photosynthetic activity in plants. The chemicals can then bioaccumulate — build up in the organs of living creatures — in the food chain. In the district of Nipissing, that poses a risk to more than 15 protected areas and the people who live off the land, like Avery’s nation.

“We’re the most vulnerable group of people that utilize our lands — the lands are our grocery stores … if these are being impacted, we need to know,” Avery said.

Especially since the region and its waterways are already coping with forever chemical contamination from decades past.
North Bay is already trying to get forever chemicals out of its drinking water

From the early 1970s to the mid-1990s, the Department of National Defence used a foam containing PFAS to train firefighters across Canada, including near the North Bay Jack Garland Airport. In 2016, after the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit learned PFAS had been identified in waterways around the city, a consulting firm called Stantec assessed the impacts in soil and groundwater.

Indeed, Stantec found PFAS from the foam had contaminated surface water, soil, bedrock and groundwater surrounding the site. Forever chemicals had found their way into the municipal drinking water system and private wells, as well as Trout Lake, Lake Nipissing, Lees, Dorlan, Chippewa and La Vase creeks and surrounding areas. In 2020, CBC reported at least 26 National Defence sites had known or suspected PFAS contamination and as many as 420 airports across the country could be a problem as well.

 

Long-lasting chemicals known as PFAS have contaminated surface water, soil, bedrock and groundwater near the Jack Garland Aiport, including the municipal drinking water system, private wells and waterways around Nipissing District. 

Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

In Nipissing District, Stantec recommended expanding water sampling in the area, a suggestion echoed in a 2017 report by Dr. Jim Chirico, then-medical officer of health and executive officer for the local health unit. Chirico also recommended remediating the site as soon as possible and regular communication with the community about the state of the water and the site.

But 2017 was the last time the health unit provided an update on the PFAS info page on its website. Five years later, there is still an advisory against drinking or fishing from Lees Creek, which is closest to the contaminated site and drains into other bodies of water. Residents still get their private wells tested regularly.

That’s because all the city has done so far is test the contamination, not remediate it: in 2021, North Bay announced it would fund up to $600,000 of a $20-million study to evaluate water treatment options, with National Defence picking up the rest of the tab. The study got underway in late 2022 and a report was due this spring, but city spokesperson Gord Young told The Narwhal the study isn’t finished yet.

Once it is, council will have to review the report before the public can see it. Sometime after that, remediation can officially begin.

Meanwhile, North Bay residents who develop symptoms related to water contamination may not be able to get a diagnosis — let alone treatment — due to a shortage of doctors in the region. Other small North American towns have seen the effects of leaving such conditions unmonitored and untreated. In 2016, Merrimack, New Hampshire, learned of forever chemical water contamination dating back decades. A community health survey a year later showed higher-than-average incidence of a slew of health concerns, with those under 18, women, industrial workers and longtime residents most likely to be affected. The survey also noted a “critical gap in information” for PFAS-exposed residents without a doctor to guide them.

Legislative purgatory: Canada and Ontario lag on classifying and regulating forever chemicals

Nocera repeated more than once that Guarniflon and Industrial Plastics follow all regulations to “meet the necessary safety and efficacy standards.”

“We stay up-to-date on all developments through our corporate departments and initiatives that lead industry research and liaise with government to establish or update safety and environmental standards,” he wrote. He also said the company’s products meet a variety of safety standards, including KTW certification, a German requirement for plastic that comes in contact with drinking water.

But scientific knowledge is full of blank spots in regard to the ever-growing list of the thousands of chemicals classified as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and their health effects. And regulatory bodies at every level of Canadian government have been slow to take on the challenge. At present, Health Canada prohibits the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale and import of only three subgroups of PFAS. And even those prohibitions have exemptions, meaning many are still in circulation.

“Regulatory compliance will always lag behind new science and processes to get chemicals and materials of concern into new restrictions,” Beverley Thorpe, former director of Greenpeace International, told The Narwhal. “The fluoropolymer industry knows that PFAS is now a global concern.”

The European Union’s chemicals agency wants to label the many thousands of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as a single class of chemicals and ban them, which could alter one of the safety standards Nocera said the company currently meets. Health Canada is also figuring out “an approach to address PFAS as a class in Canada,” spokesperson Joshua Coke told The Narwhal via email.

“That is why the fluoropolymer industry is fighting hard to be exempt from within any class-based approach,” Thorpe said. European lobbying has been documented extensively in “The Forever Pollution Project,” a collaboration between 18 newsrooms on the continent that included a map of thousands of sites where PFAS are known to exist, including Mazza Holding’s Italian, Romanian and French factories.

Curtis Avery samples water at sites on Lake Nipissing associated with species at risk. Health Canada is currently considering how to “approach PFAS as a class”: a recent draft report proposes all of the chemicals are toxic to the environment and human health. Photo: Vanessa Tignanelli / The Narwhal

In May, Health Canada issued a draft report on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances two years in the making that proposes all substances in the class of PFAS are toxic to the environment and human health, including fluoropolymers like PTFE. If this holds in the final report, which Coke said will come “as quickly as possible,” the government will develop “risk management options.”

Coke said the entire life cycle of the chemicals is being considered. When asked if industry had been lobbying the department, Health Canada said only that public consultation is open until July 19.

De Leon said “class-based” regulatory steps are necessary, but also won’t solve existing contamination.

“The problems associated with these chemicals are ongoing,” de Leon said. “You can turn off the tap on its use or its production, [but] because many of these chemicals have been used in thousands of products, you are going to have to deal with them from a life cycle approach because they are ultimately released into the environment and eventually … end up in waste. That’s where a lot of the evidence is starting to show the presence of those types of chemicals in our environment.”

In some ways, Health Canada’s draft report is already behind — it says there are “more than 4,700 substances” that fit the definition of PFAS, while De Leon said her organization works with 12,000 types and counting. “But the federal government has a really important role,” she said. “The fact that they’ve designated these chemicals as being problematic is key.”

One task for Health Canada is setting an acceptable level of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water, measured in nanograms per litre. As part of its current process, the department published a “draft objective” level of 30 nanograms per litre in February. That’s less than half of what Ontario currently recommends: 70 nanograms per litre for just 11 different PFAS, and that’s just a suggestion, not a binding regulation.

North Bay’s drinking water was 60 nanograms per litre in April 2023 according to Young, who said testing is done quarterly. He expects it could take up to a year before Health Canada’s draft is finalized, and new rules come into play.

In 2021, North Bay announced it would fund up to $600,000 of a $20-million study to evaluate water treatment options for waterways contaminated with forever chemicals. National Defence is picking up the rest of the tab.

 Photo: Vanessa Tignanelli / The Narwhal

Federal drinking water guidelines are set in collaboration with provinces and territories, which then set regulations — currently, only British Columbia and Ontario have any kind of regulatory framework for the forever chemicals in drinking water. Municipalities are left to do the actual monitoring, with the federal government responsible for First Nations’ water quality.

That leaves North Bay positioned to face new regulations even as it still needs to clean up significant existing contamination.

“In North Bay, for a number of years, they not did not want to focus on PFAS. They knew that there was some evidence showing it as a problem, but they didn’t know what their role was,” de Leon said. With contamination a problem across the country, she said many are watching how the city copes. “Because of the public pressure, the public health unit had to engage but that’s not the case with every community that may be facing the same problem.”

Meanwhile, as the Industrial Plastics factory opens, it looks like the region home to Nipissing First Nation and North Bay have forever chemicals in its past, present — and foreseeable future.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

A new ‘forever chemicals’ factory opens in North Bay | The Narwhal

WAR IS RAPE

Sudan: Sexual violence against women spikes

Dozens of women and girls have been raped and sexually assaulted by fighters in Sudan as the conflict approaches its third month.


Kate Hairsine

DW

07/06/2023

Sudan's Gender-Based Violence Unit has documented nearly 90 cases of sexual assault and rape of women and girls since fighting erupted in April between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Sulima Ishaq Sharif, a prominent human rights defender in the Horn of Africa nation, told DW there's a much larger number of cases going unreported.

"We know that so many atrocities have been committed in the civilian population, but we don't have all of the numbers," said Sharif.

Victims of sexual violence are struggling to access services, such as medical care for any injuries, emergency contraception or medication that can stop HIV infection.

Nearly 3 million people have been displaced internally and across borders by the conflict in Sudan

Image: AP/picture alliance

Only weeks after the conflict began on April 15, the United Nations had already reported critical shortages of supplies for the clinical management of rape.

Health care across Sudan is on the verge of collapse, as most of the nation's health facilities have been occupied by RSF forces, bombed or looted. Medicine is in short supply and many medical workers have fled the country.

RSF blamed for rapes

Various organizations are collecting survivor accounts, including the Gender-Based Violence Unit and the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, known as SIHA.

According to these groups, survivors have overwhelmingly identified the perpetrators as RSF fighters.

The majority of sexual assaults are taking place in Khartoum, which is largely controlled by the RSF. Troops continue to loot and occupy people's homes, at times raping women and girls in front of their husbands, fathers or siblings.

"If they find women and girls in the houses, they can rape them," said Dalia Obeid, advocacy and human rights officer at SIHA. "They have to fear — within their own homes, within their own families. They're not safe."

Rape 'one of their tactics of war'

Before she fled Khartoum last week, Amira Saleh spent 76 days confined inside her family home. The 26-year-old said she was originally afraid of being shot in the fighting, but that fear was replaced by the dread of being sexually assaulted or raped.

"My mum and the other women in the neighborhood decided not to allow us to go out for whatever reason," she told DW. "We were afraid that if we go out and are seen by those Rapid Support Forces, we can easily be exposed to a rape or being assaulted sexually."

"The RSF is using sexual assault deliberately," she said.

Rapes have also been documented in Nyala and El Geneina in the western region of Dafur.

But, Obeid stressed, sexual assaults, rapes and abductions of women and girls are happening across Sudan and are increasing in intensity.

"There is a clear pattern that the RSF is targeting women and girls in this war to plant fear in civilians," said Obeid, who fled Khartoum after the outbreak of the conflict. "This is one of their tactics of war."

RSF has a history of using rape

Obeid and Sharif both said these reports come as no surprise, given the RSF's history using rape as a weapon of war in Darfur, where the paramilitary group has its roots.

The RSF was created out of Darfur's notorious Janjaweed militias in 2013 to fight rebel groups in the region.

Human Rights Watch, for example, documented mass rape by the RSF in numerous towns and villages in Dafur over an extended period.

"Firsthand accounts of orders from commanders to commit crimes and the RSF's repeated use of abusive practices indicate that they were systematic," stated a 2015 HRW report about atrocities in the region.

RSF paramilitaries are also believed to have carried out more than 60 rapes as they violently dispersed a peaceful pro-democracy protest camp in Khartoum in 2019.

General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo rose through ranks of the Janjaweed in Dafur's 2003-05 war to head the RSF

Image: MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH/REUTERS

RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, said last week that he would establish a field court to investigate offenses — including rape — allegedly committed by the RSF since fighting broke out between his forces and the Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah Burhan.

"These violations are against the RSF law and the instructions of its senior leadership," he said in an audio address. "We are going to address them firmly and seriously. I am here sincerely assuring our people that we reject and condemn any violation against civilians, including those believed to have been committed by our RSF forces."

For human rights advocate Obeid, this statement is "absolute nonsense."

"[The RSF have] been committing these crimes since day one," she told DW, "and they are still on the street committing them now."
UN condemns sexual violence

United Nations agencies on July 5 voiced their "shock and condemnation" at the increasing reports of sexual violence against women in Sudan.

"We are receiving shocking reports of sexual violence against women and girls, including rape. And in the aftermath of such cruelty and brutality, the women and girls are left with little or no medical and psychosocial support," Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, said in a press statement.

UN condemns Sudan armed conflict  01:39

Human rights activist Sharif said the sexual violence is "intensifying the trauma" of a conflict in which more than 1,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 3 million people have been displaced.

"Women have no protection," she said. "Women know any kind of woman could be exposed to this kind of sexual violence. It's made them expect the worst."

Michael Atit in Juba contributed to this report.

Edited by: Keith Walker

https://frauenkultur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Against-Our-Will.pdf

Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape - Frauenkultur 

in feminism to look it squarely in the eye. I wrote this book because I am a woman who changed her mind about rape. SUSAN BROWNMILLER. New York City.

BAN BULLFIGHTING

Spain: 6 injured in Pamplona bull run

TRY BULL LEAPING INSTEAD

Medics say six people have been hurt, none badly, on the first day of the famous "running of the bulls" in the northern Spanish city. The event is strongly opposed by animal rights activists.

The first bull running race in Spain's San Fermin festival in the northern city of Pamplona took place on Friday, with six people suffering slight injuries in falls or from being trampled.

The popular event, during which a group of bulls races through the city's narrow cobbled streets, has led to 16 fatalities since 1911.

Four runners were gored in the festival last year.

What happened at Friday's race?

"Six people were taken to hospital" with injuries to the face or limbs, Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba told Spain's public television.

"None of the injuries seem to be serious," Aldaba said.

"For a July 7, which is still one of the most crowded, it has been a 'clean' run," he added. The event traditionally begins on July 7, with thousands usually attending the first race.

Last year, when the running of the bulls in Pamplona resumed after a two-year break during the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 1.7 million people visited Pamplona. Even more are expected this year, with all COVID-19 restrictions now lifted.

An official tour guide group, Destino Navarra, said 70% of the total bookings this year were by people from the US and Canada.

Several people were injured after falling or being trampled

Image: Cesar Manso/AFP/Getty Images

Summer highlight in Spain

The San Fermin festival in Pamplona is the best known of the Spanish bull-running events in summer, and was made famous worldwide by US author Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises." This year marks the 100th anniversary of Hemingway's first visit to the festival.

In Friday's run, six bulls guided by six tame oxen ran through Pamplona's streets for around two minutes and 30 seconds before reaching a bull ring, while expert bull runners sprinted ahead of them before running to the side at the last moment.

The participating bulls are killed in the afternoon by professional bullfighters.

Altogether eight such runs are scheduled for this festival, which otherwise features cultural events in addition to much drinking and eating.

The Pamplona festival is regularly criticized by animal rights activists as involving cruelty to the animals involved.

tj/lo (AFP, AP)

WHO WILL AID THE WIDOWS SON

India: Lung disease turns Budhpura into 'village of widows'

Budhpura in Rajasthan state is the epicenter of India's sandstone industry. Many men here have died of the lung disease silicosis, and life has become tough for their families.

Adil Bhat in Budhpura, Rajasthan

DW

In Budhpura, unregulated and unsafe mines are thriving, rights groups say

Jumma Bai, a 40-year-old widow, holds a hammer and chisel as she makes her way to the mining site.

She works at a mine that took away the life of her husband two decades ago. Each day, she is joined by three of her daughters and other widowed women who work alongside her.

Their heads are covered with the loose ends of their saris as they strike huge stones with hammers, inhaling the fine silica dust that fills the surrounding air.

With their bare hands, they carve and break sandstones for nearly 10 hours a day.

Jumma and most of her fellow miners have tragically lost their husbands to silicosis, a deadly and incurable lung disease caused by the inhalation of the silica dust.

"There were a lot of struggles after the death of my husband. There were times when there was no flour at home to cook food. We used to sleep hungry," she told DW while breaking stones.

"When my daughters grew up," Jumma said, "I asked them to study, but they said 'mother how will you feed us alone,' and decided to come to work with me."
The only means of livelihood

Due to prolonged exposure to dust, Jumma wakes up with a headache and chest pain on most days. Despite the health problems, she goes to work as she sees no other option to feed her family.

Jumma has lost her husband to silicosis, a deadly and incurable lung disease caused by the inhalation of the silica dust

She is not alone. Her neighbor, 38-year-old Kaushalya Bai, was diagnosed with silicosis three years ago. She was only 16 years old when she started working in these vast sandstone mines.

She is now chronically ill and looks frail. The disease left her struggling to speak. The doctors advised her to stop working on stone and stay away from dust, but she still goes to the mine three days a week as she has four children to feed.

Recently, her eldest son Mahaveer, 16, has taken on the responsibility of supporting his sick mother and the family. He dropped out of school and now works as a full-time miner. Kaushalya Bai's husband, Kanhaiya Lal, also died of a lung disease in 2015.

India's sandstone hub

The village of Budhpura, located in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, is the epicenter of India's sandstone industry.

The men here died one after another after toiling in the expansive sandstone mines and inhaling silica dust found in rock, sand and quartz every day until they were eventually diagnosed with silicosis.

As time passed, almost the entire male population of Budhpura succumbed to this disease. Today, this place is known as the "village of widows." But the tragedy does not end there. With no other employment options left, the widows have been compelled to undertake the same tasks that claimed their husbands' lives.

In Budhpura, unregulated and unsafe mines are thriving, rights groups say. The lack of health safeguards is a concern for women working in this industry as the rights of workers are flouted and laws are hardly enforced, miners told DW.

India's village of widows   03:20

According to one estimate, there are 2.5 million mine workers in Rajasthan, and a large number are at risk of silicosis. However, the exact number of people suffering from the disease remains unknown.

The village also serves as a prominent hub for sandstone exports to Europe.

A 40-page report, "Blood Stone 2022," notes Germany as one of the top 10 countries that import sandstone from India. The report was exclusively shared with DW by the Mine Labor Protection Campaign (MLPC), a non-profit that advocates for mine workers' rights.

The group estimates the value of sandstone exports from India to Germany at $4.43 million (€4.06 million) in 2021-2022, slightly down from $4.83 million from a year ago.

The United Kingdom is the top importer of Indian sandstone, according to the MLPC.

Fight for stricter regulations

MK Devarajan, a former member of the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission, spent many years fighting for the rights and safety of mine workers.

During his tenure, he urged the Indian government's Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS), who is in charge of mine worker welfare, to tighten the rules by canceling licenses of those who flout regulations.

Devarajan also helped formulate the state policy on silicosis.

Budhpura village also serves as a prominent hub for sandstone exports to Europe

Sharique Ahmad/DW

Now the Rajasthan government is addressing the health issue by offering financial compensation to widows and patients.

Since 2019, the state government has been providing 200,000 rupees (€2,218, $2,420) as compensation to people diagnosed with silicosis and 300,000 rupees (€3,328, $3,632) to their families after their death.

"This is not even the tip of the iceberg. The problem is much bigger. If the government does not intervene properly, with time we will witness a massive increase of silicosis patients," Devarajan told DW in a phone interview.

"Government needs to enforce and crack down on illegal mines to stop this crisis."
Helping widows to secure compensation

A few hundred meters away from the mining site, the non-profit MLPC was organizing a legal camp for the women who have lost their husbands to silicosis. Dozens of widows gather to attend the legal camp that helps them in claiming financial compensation from the government. Some of the widows attending have been fighting for compensation for years.

The group CEO Rana Sengupta headed the legal camp. He was checking the documents of widows and registering their names. His team of lawyers was preparing a long list of women who lost their husbands to silicosis. He said that getting financial compensation from the state is a long and daunting task.

"There is no financial penalty on mine owners and they don't care when they [miners] die or live. So, the government needs to wake up as there are so many mine workers who have died. And we cannot bear the loss of human life anymore," Rana told DW.

Yogesh Gupta has been operating mines in different parts of Rajasthan. Previously, he owned a sandstone mine in Budhpur village, but he has since closed it.

Gupta blames the rise of unregistered and unregulated mines for the grim situation.

"These unregistered and unregulated workers work without any safety helmets for long hours. The rise of new or mafia mine owners who do not follow any regulations is leading to this massive health crisis," Gupta told DW.

Dozens of widows gather to attend the legal camp that helps them in claiming financial compensation from the government

Lack of health care access

Outside the village, dozens of mine workers who have been diagnosed with silicosis are pouring into the local hospital in the town of Bundi on a daily basis. There were just a couple of doctors attending to patients and they lacked equipment that could be used to diagnose or treat respiratory diseases.

According to the hospital medical officer, Dr. Jitendra Kumar, the lack of human resources as well as inadequate training among doctors related to silicosis have resulted in a substantial number of misdiagnoses over the years.

During DW's visit to the facility, Dr. Kumar was examining a mine worker who was diagnosed with silicosis two years ago and was complaining of severe chest pain and breathlessness. The doctor said his lungs were completely damaged.

"In our hospital, every day we have 50-60 patients who have respiratory problems and among them 50% cases are of those who are diagnosed with silicosis. This is an alarming disease. There are cases which have reached the third stage and are in a dangerous zone," he said.

Still, Jumma and other women continue to risk their lives without any proper support or protection. They work in the mines despite splitting headaches and congested lungs.

Remembering her husband, Jumma pointed towards the mines and said: "You see these mines. My husband fell sick working there."

PHOTOS: Sharique Ahmad/DW

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Adil Bhat TV reporter and correspondent with a special focus on politics, conflict and human-interest stories.

What the Munich synagogue destroyed by the Nazis symbolized

The remains of Munich's Great Synagogue, the first in Germany to be destroyed under Hitler's orders, were found in the Isar River.

Stefan Dege

DW

One of the stones found in the Munich river

Image: Jüdisches Museum München


Until Adolf Hitler personally ordered its destruction, the Great Synagogue was an integral part of Munich's cityscape.

Historical documents show Munich's main synagogue being inaugurated in 1887 on Herzog-Max-Strasse, today's Lenbachplatz. As the third-largest Jewish house of worship in Germany back then, it had stood right next to the city's Catholic cathedral, fitting perfectly into Munich's old town.

It was "a symbol of long and hard-fought Jewish equality," as described by the Jewish Museum Munich in a blog post.

This was probably why it was a thorn in the flesh for the Nazis. On Hitler's orders, the synagogue was destroyed on June 9, 1938.

An etching of the Great Synagogue from 1925

Image: Jüdisches Museum München

Unexpected find in Munich's Isar river

The remains of the synagogue have now resurfaced 85 years after its destruction.

While working on the renovation of a weir on the Isar River, construction workers found fragments of the building. Among the 150 tons of stone found in the middle of the river at a depth of two to eight meters (6.5 to 26 feet) were pieces of masonry featuring artistic friezes and a carving of a tablet with the Ten Commandments in Hebrew.

Bernhard Purin, director of the Jewish Museum Munich

Image: Daniel Schvarcz

It was a sensational find that literally "swept him off his chair," says Bernhard Purin, director of the Jewish Museum in Munich, who was called to identify the ancient tablet of the law as the one that formerly stood above the Torah shrine in the synagogue.

The find was particularly surprising because no one knew where the synagogue rubble had landed after its destruction. This could be due to the fact that Munich suppressed its Nazi history longer than other German cities, explains Purin, adding that after the end of World War II in 1945, the city initially stuck to its "cheerful beer bliss of the Oktoberfest identity."

In fact, it was not until 1969 that the people of Munich erected a memorial for the destroyed Great Synagogue, a granite monument by sculptor Herbert Preis.

Munich's new main synagogue, Ohel Jakob, on St. Jakob-Platz in the middle of Munich's old town, was inaugurated in 2006. The Jewish Museum was created in 2007, and the Munich NS Documentation Center in 2015. Today, there is common consent surrounding the duty of memory in Munich.

Plans of the interiors of the synagogue from 1886

Image: Jüdisches Museum München

A test run for the November pogroms

Munich's main synagogue was already destroyed in June 1938, months before the Kristallnacht pogrom led by Nazi forces in November 1938, during which Jewish places of worship were burned all over Germany, and Jews were persecuted, mistreated, arrested and killed.

The previously destroyed synagogue in Munich was also a way to test the general population's lack of reaction in support of the Jews, says Purin.
Where the rubble first landed

The Munich construction company Leonhard Moll received the contract for the demolition, and initially stored the rubble from the synagogue on its building yard site, until it was commissioned to repair the Isar dam in 1956, when the synagogue's remains were apparently dumped into the river by the ton.

Stones of impressive size were found in the river

Image: Jüdisches Museum München

And that too is part of the city's suppressed history: In the 1970s, the City of Munich bought the huge site from the Moll construction company before it was redesigned for the 1983 Federal Garden Show. "1.5 million cubic meters of earth were moved to shape the landscape. In addition, 6,000 large trees were planted," states the Federal Horticultural Show Society on its website.

Today the West Park extends here. It's a hilly landscape interspersed with playgrounds and sports fields, barbecue facilities, as well as walking and cycling paths, with a beer garden and inn. It is quite possible that there are other parts of the main synagogue under some mounds.

What will happen now with the sensational find? The State Office for the Preservation of Monuments has begun transporting the stonework to another storage location. Purin estimates that examining the material will take one to two years. The Jewish Museum, which already has stone fragments and broken glass from the windows of the former main synagogue in its collection, will contribute to cataloging the fragments.

This article was originally written in German.

EDMONTON ELKS LOSE AGAIN
American CFL player didn't know Canadian rule and it cost his team the game

IT'S CALLED A ROUGE;THAT'S FRENCH

Colton Pankiw
Jul 7 2023

TSN



Louisiana native CJ Sims had likely never heard of a “rouge” before coming to Canada, but you can bet the CFL rookie will now remember it for the rest of his life.

Not often does a professional athlete completely forget the rules of the sport he is playing, but that is exactly what happened to the Edmonton Elks kick returner on Thursday night in Regina.

With just 1:04 remaining in the fourth quarter of an 11-11 game, the Saskatchewan Roughriders kicked off and sent the ball past Sims and into the Elks’ end zone. Sims jogged back nonchalantly and took a knee.

Doing what Sims did while playing American rules in the NFL or NCAA would result in a touchback and would mean his team would get possession at their own 20-yard line, with no points awarded. But in the CFL, this is a rouge and gives the opposing team a single point.

So when Sims took a knee, Edmonton gave up a point and lost the game 12-11.

Given his lackadaisical effort and reaction immediately afterward, it was pretty clear that Sims didn’t understand this particular CFL rule. After the game ended, the return man expressed regret.

“It hurts, man. It hurts. I feel like I let the team down. It hurts,” Sims said. “It was a boneheaded play by me, but I’ll learn from my mistakes, and it’ll never happen again.”

As disappointing as it was, Elks head coach Chris Jones made sure to have Sims’ back.

“He knows [he made a mistake],” Jones said. “The moment was big and he’s a good little player. There will probably be more people talking about this than when he had a great game returning the other day.”

Jones isn’t wrong in that regard, as many have been poking fun at Sims for the major blunder. Elks fans probably aren’t in a mood to laugh it off, as Edmonton is winless in five straight games to start the 2023 season.

FIRE DA' COACH

‘We’ve got to do a better job of coaching’: Elks’ Chris Jones deflects blame from C.J. Sims for ‘boneheaded’ rouge decision

By

 JC Abbott

 -

July 7, 2023

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

It was a fateful kneel-down taken by C.J. Sims that condemned the Edmonton Elks to their fifth loss of the season on Thursday night, but head coach Chris Jones wouldn’t pin the blame for the defeat on his rookie returner.

“We’ve got to do a better job of coaching our young kids to perfection on exactly all the nuances of our game,” Jones told reporters post-game, referencing the game-deciding conceded rouge in the final minute.

“The kid knows (he made a mistake). The moment was big and he’s a good little player. There will probably be a whole lot more people talking about this than when he had 300 yards returning the other day.”

The 28-year-old Sims was signed by the Elks in January and had impressed since being inserted into the lineup in Week 3, returning nine kickoffs for 220 yards and nine punts for 133 more in two appearances. He added four punt returns for 21 yards and a 15-yard kickoff return against Saskatchewan, only to commit a tragic error in the waning moments.

After the Riders tied the game at 11 with 1:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, Sims went back to receive the Brett Lauther kickoff with a chance to set up a game-winning drive. Instead, the New Mexico Highlands product looked unconcerned as the ball bounced into the endzone, casually taking a knee and unwittingly conceding a single point to give away the lead.

The game management error was exacerbated when he shoved one of Saskatchewan’s taunting special teamers, erasing any potential field position gain with an objectionable conduct penalty. Four plays later, quarterback Taylor Cornelius was picked off by Nick Marshall to end the game.

“It hurts, man. It hurts. I feel like I let the team down. It hurts,” Sims told TSN after the final whistle. “It was a boneheaded play by me, but I’ll learn from my mistakes, and it’ll never happen again.”

It remains unclear exactly what level of communication Elks’ coaches had with the returner before he trotted out for the critical play, but it was not enough to drive home the importance of keeping the ball out of the endzone. Inexperience and exhaustion likely compounded to create the unfortunate mental lapse, as Jones noted that his team ran out of gas late in the game.

“We brought 28 kids that are either first or second-year guys. It was three games in 12 days with two travel, so that’s a hard little road,” he said of the team’s tough recent schedule.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t pull this win out. The kids played hard. I thought that we worked extremely hard during the course of the game, just in the fourth quarter, we didn’t execute.”

Despite leading for most of the contest, winning the turnover battle, and leading in time of possession by over 14 minutes, the Elks’ late-game gaffe dropped them to 0-5 for the first time since 1965.

That season, Edmonton averaged just 16 points per game. This year, they are averaging 12.4.

“It was a strange game,” Jones admitted. “I felt like both defences did a real nice job. Second-down efficiency, I think we were in the 50s or high 40s, and they were in the 30s. Nobody was really generating any offence; it’s kind of uncommon for the CFL to have such a low-scoring game.”

The Elks (0-5) next play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-3) on Thursday, July 13, with a chance to equal the pro sports record for consecutive home losses at 20

JC Abbott

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league's Global initiative.

Barcelona artist installs urinals as protest against people MEN peeing on walls

Barcelona artist Joan Juncosa installed colourful papier mache urinals around the city to protest the use of the city's centuries-old walls as public toilets. The Spanish city receives around 30 million visitors annually. Some people have complained about the smell in some parts of the city and the dearth of public toilets.​

First hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in the Americas running in Quebec

Kenneth Chan
Jul 7 2023

Alstom's Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use on the Train de Charlevoix in Quebec. (Alstom)

Much of the discourse on transitioning to zero-emission vehicular public transit currently centres on electrification, including overhead catenary wires for trains and battery-electric models for buses.

To date, the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles has taken the backseat behind electrification solutions.

Even the permanent adoption of a public transit bus fleet in British Columbia was short-lived; 20 new hydrogen-powered buses for BC Transit’s fleet serving Whistler were put in service at a cost of $90 million in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but they were shelved in 2014 due to high operating costs largely from the lack of a local hydrogen fuel supply, and replaced with traditional diesel buses.

A decade later, on the other side of the country, in Quebec, a hydrogen-powered passenger train is now being used in a pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility of its operations. In fact, according to French train manufacturing giant Alstom, this is the first hydrogen-powered passenger train in regular use not just in Canada but in all of the Americas.

Since the middle of last month, Alstom’s Coradia iLint model of train — billed as the world’s first passenger train powered by hydrogen — has been running on the Train de Charlevoix tourist railway service along the scenic edge of the St. Lawrence River between Quebec City and Baie-Saint-Paul, a distance of 90 km.

Regular operations using the Coradia iLint train from Wednesday to Sunday will run throughout the summer, until September 30, 2023.



Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use on the Train de Charlevoix in Quebec. (Alstom)


Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use on the Train de Charlevoix in Quebec. (Alstom)

As announced early this year, the Government of Quebec is covering $3 million of the total $8 million cost of the four-month-long pilot project, which temporarily replaces the normal use of diesel-powered trains for the service. The hydrogen used for this service is produced locally by Harnois Énergies.

With the use of hydrogen, the train emits water vapour and is quieter for both passengers and the communities along the railways. This particular model of train has a top speed of 140 km/hr and carries 120 seated passengers.

Each train is also equipped with lithium-ion batteries to store some of the extra electricity produced by the hydrogen fuel cells and the kinetic energy recovered during braking. The batteries are used during normal operations and can be used to boost the acceleration of the train.

“Hydrogen technology offers an alternative to diesel and demonstrates our ability to provide more sustainable mobility solutions to our customers, agencies, and operators, as well as passengers. It will also provide an extraordinary showcase for Quebec’s green hydrogen ecosystem, which is under development,” said Michael Keroullé, president of Alstom Americas, in a statement.

According to Train de Charlevoix’s operators, they hope the hydrogen-powered train will return to their service following the conclusion of the pilot project, and run along the entirety of their 125-km-long route between Quebec City and La Malbaie, instead of short-turning at Baie-Saint-Paul.

Alstom is using the commercial operation of this train in Quebec with paying passengers to enable the company to better understand how it can introduce and expand the use of hydrogen train propulsion technology in the North American market.

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Germany. (Alstom)


Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Germany. (Alstom)

The Coradia iLint model of train first entered commercial service in Germany in 2018 and has since travelled over 220,000 km in eight European countries. It is currently operating regularly on two different networks in Germany. And so far, a total of 41 train sets have been ordered by European operators.

Last year, Alstom’s hydrogen-powered train travelled a record distance of 1,175 km without refuelling.

Proponents of hydrogen-powered solutions state this type of energy source essentially stores electricity not dissimilar to a battery, given that electricity is vital for some methods of creating hydrogen fuel. It potentially provides a way to diversify energy sources for transportation beyond both fossil fuels and overhead-wired electricity, and it is even greener when the electricity for fuel production is clean, such as from the hydroelectricity of Quebec and BC.

But hydrogen fuel production and such unique trains currently lack economies of scale for wider adoption.

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Czech Republic. (Alstom)


Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Czech Republic. (Alstom)

However, there are potential major cost savings when it comes to converting a diesel-powered train system to a zero-emission train system using hydrogen-powered trains, as it completely avoids the major capital costs of installing overhead catenary wires and other supporting power infrastructure to run electric trains.

For example, the Government of Ontario is in the midst of a multi-billion dollar project of expanding and improving Southern Ontario’s GO Train commuter rail network, with a substantial portion of the cost going towards electrifying over 600 km of existing track with overhead catenary wires. The 23-km-long Union-Pearson Express train service linking Union Station in downtown Toronto and Toronto Pearson International Airport could also be potentially electrified with overhead catenary wires, replacing existing diesel propulsion.

Alstom is amongst the world’s largest manufacturers of trains, including vehicles powered by a third rail or overhead catenary wires. In 2021, it acquired Canada’s Bombardier Transportation, which has since become the Americas division of Alstom.

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Poland. (Alstom)


Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Poland. (Alstom)

SOON TO BE BANNED IN GOP STATES

Baldur’s Gate 3 Lets You Customize Your Character’s Genitals

Larian Studios showed the option during its last Panel From Hell presentation

By Kenneth Shepard

Screenshot: Larian Studios / Kotaku

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a big game, and with all that depth and capital C content comes character customization. While you can pick between different races, classes, and appearances, the latest Panel From Hell presentation may have accidentally revealed you can pick your character’s genitals, as well.

During developer Larian Studios’ Panel From Hell presentation today, July 7, the team showed off some updates to the character customization options that will be available in the full game compared to the early access version currently available. While the studio was primarily focused on things like showing the “maturity” slider that lets you add wrinkles to show age or vitiligo pigmentation, the menu also showed an option to change your character’s genitals at the 4:10:45 mark. The option shown on the screen simply reads “Default,” so it’s unclear just how extensive the customization will be. We’ve reached out to Larian for comment and will update the story if we hear back.
Panel From Hell: Release Showcase

This is significant because it’s another way, alongside picking your race, body type, and pronouns, that players can customize their character’s identity in the world. Allowing any mix of body type, genitals, and pronouns lets you create a protagonist that can fit into different identities that might align more closely with your own. Cyberpunk 2077 had a similar feature when it launched, but it was both very limiting and got caught up in the game’s weird determining of V’s pronouns by their voice rather than any sort of toggle the player could choose. Hopefully this is the actualization of an RPG that really lets you create a character that reflects your identity and lived experience.

What remains to be seen is whether your genitals actually appear in the game much, as Cyberpunk 2077 only showed your junk in its pause menu when you removed your pants. Larian showed off some of the romance scenes during the Panel From Hell show but cut the feed before things got too hot and heavy lest they get banned from Twitch.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PC on August 3, with the PlayStation 5 version set to come a month later on September 6. An Xbox Series X/S version is in the cards, but Larian is working on getting the Xbox Series S version working with splitscreen multiplayer before launching on either console.

Transgender woman, bookstore, teacher sue over Montana law banning drag reading events

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HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A transgender woman, the owners of an independent bookstore and an educator who teaches in costume are among those challenging Montana's first-in-the-nation law that bans people dressed in drag from reading to children in public schools or libraries.

The federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Butte argues the law violates the free speech and equal protection guarantees in the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs seek an injunction to temporarily block the law, a ruling that the law is unconstitutional and damages for Adria Jawort, whose planned talk on LGBTQ+ history at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library was canceled in early June by county officials who cited the new legislation.

Similar laws in other states have been temporarily blocked while legal challenges play out in court.

The complaint calls the Montana law, sponsored by Republican Rep. Braxton Mitchell, “a breathtakingly ambiguous and overbroad bill, motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ animus.”

Like many Republican-led states, Montana’s conservative lawmakers also passed laws in recent sessions targeting transgender people. The state is among those to ban gender-affirming care for minors — which is also being challenged in court — and also passed a bill defining sex in state law as only male or female.

Montana became the first state to specifically ban drag kings and drag queens — defined as performers who adopt a flamboyant or parodic male or female persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup — from reading books to children.

Unlike in other states, the performances do not need to contain a sexual element to be banned in Montana. The law took effect when Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed it on May 22.

The state attorney general’s office did not immediately return emails seeking comment after the lawsuit was filed late Thursday afternoon. Mitchell said in a statement that to him and his constituents, “keeping hyper sexualized events out of taxpayer funded schools and libraries” does not violate the First Amendment.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community testified during legislative hearings that the law would be misused to silence transgender people and ban teachers from wearing costumes while reading to their classes. It cannot block drag reading events at private businesses.

Chelsia Rice, who co-owns the Montana Book Co. with her spouse, Charlie Crawford, said they wanted to get involved, “to make sure everyone who this law effects is supported and defended by those that have the wherewithal and fortitude to do it.”

Related video: Local transgender woman speaks out about lack of transparency around gender identity law (KSHB Kansas City, MO) Duration 2:50  View on Watch

Jawort's talk, scheduled for June 2 at the Butte library, was canceled a day earlier after county officials decided to err on the side of caution after receiving a complaint via Facebook about whether her talk would violate the new law.

Jawort, who is Northern Cheyenne, was invited back to Butte on June 20 by a nonprofit foundation. About 100 people attended, The Montana Standard reported.

She talks about how two-spirit people — which includes transgender people — have been part of Native American tribes for generations and were accepted for who they were and sometimes revered. She did not dress in drag, but wore a black dress and hat along with purple lipstick and fingernail polish.

“It was gracious of her to return,” said library director Steph Johnson, who attended the talk.

Rachel Corcoran dressed up as literary, historical or pop culture characters to teach special education students at a Billings high school, and still wears costumes at times when she visits classrooms while coaching teachers of first-time English learners, she said.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Corcoran said she was aware the drag ban had been proposed, but soon “realized it was going to impact me as a teacher, specifically with dressing up for school days or how I wanted to run a classroom or celebrate for homecoming or Red Ribbon Week,” a drug prevention campaign.

Other plaintiffs in the case include businesses, organizations and community centers that plan and host all-ages drag events, a fitness studio and an independent theater that receives state grants and may show PG-13 or R-rated films. Such films could violate the part of the law that prohibits sexually oriented performances in locations that receive any funding from the state if minors are present.

The bill's co-sponsors, which included more than half the Republicans in the state Legislature, sought to forbid drag shows “and stifle the expression of individuals who do not conform to conventional gender presentations," the lawsuit charges.

People who support such legislation believe drag performers are inherently sexual, but they aren't, Jawort said.

She likened it to Chris Rock doing an R-rated comedy performance and then recording the voice of the zebra in the animated children's movie “Madagascar.”

“You adjust to your audience,” she said.

Schools, libraries or businesses that violate the law could be fined while educators and librarians could be suspended for a year or lose their credentials after a second conviction.

The law also allows anyone involved in putting on a drag performance to be sued within 10 years of the event by a minor who attended the performance, even if the minor and their guardian had consented at the time, the lawsuit notes.

In other states, a Tennessee bill to restrict drag performances in public spaces or in the presence of children was temporarily blocked in March by a federal judge who sided with a group that filed a lawsuit saying the statute violates their First Amendment rights.

A judge in Florida also cited First Amendment rights in blocking a drag ban in a lawsuit filed by a bar and restaurant that hosts all-ages drag shows on Sundays.

Amy Beth Hanson, The Associated Press

J ROBERT OPPENHIEMER AND FATHER