LIAISON Newsletter Volume 1, Number 3

CRMN Participating in Canada-United States Environmental Monitoring Project

Health Canada's Canadian Radiological Monitoring Network (CRMN) is participating in an inter-operability study with the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory (NAREL).

The CRMN national laboratory located in Ottawa, Ontario, monitors environmental releases of radioactivity from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing and accidental releases from nuclear facilities. It collects air, precipitation, drinking water, atmospheric water vapour and milk for analysis.

The network currently includes 26 environmental monitoring stations, and additional sites located near nuclear reactors.

NAREL, located in Montgomery, Alabama, operates a similar national network of 59 monitoring stations.

The study was launched as a step towards understanding the potential for inter-operability between the two laboratories of the network. The intent of the study was to compare the data obtained by the two laboratories to see if there are differences in the results and, if so, why.

The first experiments were conducted in 2005 and they were designed to compare legacy data, as the US EPA will soon be adopting a new high-volume air sampling system that has real-time gamma spectroscopy capability and data telemetry on board.

In March 2005, existing air sampling equipment was exchanged and, in May 2005, the equipment began operating side-by-side, at the national laboratories in Ottawa and in Montgomery. The air filters were then returned to their home laboratories—those from NAREL's systems that were operated in Ottawa, were returned to Montgomery, and vice versa—for data comparison and analysis.

To date, the results of gross beta and gamma analyses from the two systems and between the two laboratories have been in very good agreement.

The two groups plan to meet in the Fall 2005 to discuss furthering their collaboration.

For more information about the project, please contact Jeff Whyte at jeff_whyte@hc-sc.gc.ca

Community Resiliency – Theme of Conference

Community resiliency in the face of disaster was the theme of the 18th emergency preparedness conference organized by the Pacific Northwest Preparedness Society (PNPS) and held in Vancouver, October 4–6, 2005.

The conference attracted delegates from across the province and was based on the action plan that delegates had developed the year before.

Workshops included:

• public awareness and education,
  
  
• psycho-social impact on responders,
  
  
• volunteer management,
  
  
• community health care resources,
  
  
• critical infrastructure, and
  
  
• community emergency programs.

For more information about the conference and the PNPS, please go to http://www.epconference.ca/