"Politicians Cancel Oilsands Pollution Probe, Tear up Draft Reports"

"OTTAWA - Federal politicians from the government and opposition benches have mysteriously cancelled an 18-month investigation into oilsands pollution in water and opted to destroy draft copies of their final report, Canwest News Service has learned.

The aborted investigation comes as new questions are being raised about the Harper government's decision to exempt a primary toxic pollutant found in oilsands tailings ponds from a regulatory agenda.

The government is in the process of categorizing industry-produced substances that could either be toxic or harmful, but has excluded naphthenic acid - a toxin from oilsands operations - from the list, and left it off another list of substances that companies are required to track and report."

Mike De Souza reports for Canwest News Service July 6, 2010.