News stories tagged with "quebec"

(05/02/12) Missisquoi Bay is in the northeast corner of Lake Champlain, along the Vermont-Quebec border. The bay has some of the highest phosphorus concentrations in the lake and is frequently plagued by blue/green algae. In 2008, the US government asked the International Joint Commission, a bi-national body that helps manage US and Canadian boundary waters, to assist in reducing phosphorus levels in the bay.

They've now completed a study that identifies where the phosphorus is coming from and how it gets to the lake. Two public hearings are underway to discuss the results. Sarah Harris was at last night's meeting in Saint Armand, Quebec and has more. more

(02/29/12) The company that hopes to run a $2-billion underwater electric line from Quebec to New York City says it has reached an agreement with some of the environmental groups that had raised concerns about the project.

Donald Jessome, head of TDI, says the deal was reached after 15 months of closed-door negotiations and will shape how the underwater line is laid under Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. more

(01/05/12) Governor Cuomo's agenda for the coming year includes more than $20 billion for capital projects aimed at boosting the state's infrastructure.

One of the big ticket items is a $2 billion plan to develop new high tech utility lines designed to feed electricity from producers in the North Country and Quebec to consumers downstate. Brian Mann reports. more

(06/29/11) The last couple of weeks, our Adirondack reporter Brian Mann has been exploring the St. Lawrence River. Yesterday, we heard his report on questions surrounding the shipment of nuclear waste through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

This morning, Brian sends an audio postcard from a different sort of trip. He explored a vast marsh in Sorel, Quebec known as the Lake St. Pierre Bisophere Reserve.

The wetland --one of the biggest heron nesting grounds in North America--is formed by the St. Lawrence and by the Richelieu River which flows north out of Lake Champlain. more

(04/06/11) A couple years ago, a friend of the station e-mailed us to say she had heard something about a "strategic maple reserve"--a vast bunker of maple syrup hidden somewhere in the Great White North just in case of--well, we didn't know.

The "strategic maple reserve" fell off the radar until this spring, when David Sommerstein snooped around. Turns out it wasn't hard to find. Simon Trepanier is the director of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. Trepanier's organization maintains the strategic maple reserve, and it's pretty serious. Quebec is the world's largest maple syrup maker by far. The province's 7500 producers boil down 75% of all the maple syrup on Earth.

So as more countries and more people hanker for the sweet stuff, one bad year in Quebec could turn the market upside down. That is, until the strategic maple reserve was created. Trepanier told David Sommerstein the reserve isn't as secret or mysterious as it sounds.

(03/07/11) Northeast states are increasingly looking to Canada to meet a growing demand for low cost hydro electricity from renewable sources.

But the energy imports are stirring controversy. In northern New Hampshire, local activists are fighting a power line that would send the electricity south. And questions are being raised about whether big hydro is really green.

As part of a collaboration of Northeast stations John Dillon of Vermont Public Radio reports.

Northeast environmental reporting is made possible, in part, by a grant from United Technologies. Northeast environmental coverage is part of NPR's Local News Initiative. more

(12/31/10) Brockville storyteller Deborah Dunleavy shares a midwinter tale about a young logger and a flying canoe at a lumber camp in northern Quebec.

(07/22/10) One of the highlights of Burlington's summer is the yearly "brewfest" on the waterfront. It brings brewers and beer fanciers together for a big, cheery, Canadian-American party. As Angela Evancie found, there's serious tasting going on, with some unexpected elements.

(06/17/10) The purple boxes are up on ash trees again this summer. They're traps for the emerald ash borer, an invasive bug that has devastated ash stands in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. In this state, the insect's been confined to western New York. Today we revisit the fight against the emerald ash borer. David Sommerstien has more. more

(06/03/09) Aviation and history buffs may be interested in events on tap this year from Vintage Wings of Canada. The organization near Gatineau, Quebec has an extensive collection of still-flying, restored planes, including legendary World War II aircraft like the Spitfire, Hurricane and Tiger Moth. Two open house events this year will celebrate classic airplanes. The first is Saturday in Gatineau. Aircraft from the Vintage Wings collection will also appear at this year's air show in Geneseo, NY in mid-July. In May, Lucy Martin toured Vintage Wings of Canada with founder Michael Potter, a pilot and retired executive. Afterwards, she got more personal impressions from Communications Manager Dave O'Malley. That day featured sedate work inside the hanger. But O'Malley says the place is busy this month.