What a busy day.

There is now an interim agreement until 2014-03-31 for ELA. So, long-term monitoring by IISD will continue. Ontario will control access to the ELA camp. Manitoba has committed $900,000 over six years. Ontario has committed up to $2,000,000 per year.

Scott Vaughan, IISD president, is quoted in the Globe & Mail, “It’s an interim measure and what we are all looking for is a permanent home and we are really optimistic.” He describes ELA as “one of the best-kept secrets in Canada’s long tradition of scientific research” in an op-ed peice for the Ottawa Citizen.

What will happen to the $800,000 nanosilver research project that was already approved to happen at ELA? Researchers from Trent extended a three year project to four years but it’s unclear if they will be able to research the impacts of nanoparticles on aquatic systems.

The importance of long-term ELA researchers is critical. While external scientists come and go based on individual experiments, it is important that the methods used are consistent in the long-term and that institutional knowledge is not lost.

It takes several years of background work before any research project gains approval, so it is imperative that researchers are able to plan for new experiments.

Press release from the Government of Manitoba and IISD.

Press release from the Government of Ontario.