Environmentalist Brad Komishke finds ways to improve environmental performance from within the walls of industry

By Joey Podlubny

In 1989, Brad Komishke was working at Husky Energy’s asphalt refinery in Llyodminster, Alberta, doing analytical support, when he volunteered on a project with the focus to use moss to clean up asphalt spills at the plant. There weren’t too many options for disposal at the time, and Komishke wanted to find an effective method. So, he gave his time to help come up with a way to get the natural bugs from moss to eat up a spill.

Things went a little slower than expected. During the experiments, the bugs were not producing at a fast enough rate. The system was proven to work, but it lacked efficiency and speed. Studying the tanks that housed the mixture of bugs and asphalt, Komishke considered ways to speed up growth.

He remembered his fish tank at home. Taking an aeration pump, he blasted oxygen into the tanks. They were in business. It was efficient. They did it. No more asphalt in the landfills, no more burning the stuff. There was positive impact on the environment that came from within the walls of industry, not outside of it. “That’s when I realized what kind of impact I could have working from within an oil company,” says Komishke.

A bright light lit up the sky around 5:30 MT Thursday evening in Western Canada, with people reporting sightings in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

People telephoned the CBC newsrooms in Edmonton and Calgary to talk about what they saw.

"It was a really big flash, lit up the sky, and there was this huge, flaming fireball falling from the sky," said Rowyn Windsor, 12, who lives on the Canadian Forces base in Cold Lake, Alta., about 350 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

"This huge light in our kitchen window lit up our whole kitchen," said Sabrina Schneider, who lives just outside Lloydminster on the Saskatchewan-Alberta border. "It kinda flashed a couple of times. It was really bright. It was a different light than lightning.

Tacoy Ryde returns to the Heart of Alberta to celebrate their 40th anniversary. They will be performing at the Village of Rochon Sands community hall (Buffalo Lake) Saturday, July 26th at 9:00 PM. 

From tacoyryde.com:

“This band is an Alberta institution.”
- CKUA Radio

“In an age when attitude frequently overshadows substance and the tuning of instruments can be an afterthought, Edmonton's Tacoy Ryde remains one of Western Canada's best rock bands.”
- Peter North, Edmonton Journal

Tacoy Ryde was first conceived almost 40 years ago in the minds of a group of twelve year olds from Stettler, Alberta in the summer of 1967 (commonly referred to as ‘the Summer of Love’).

A Dedication Ceremony was held today at Memorial Park to name Stettler's 50th Avenue "Veteran's Way".  The ceremony was attended by members of the Royal Canadian Legion, Stettler Mayor Jim Hunter, County of Stettler Reeve Vic Carey and local MLA Jack Hayden.  MP Kevin Sorenson was represented by Neil Thorogood.  Numerous onlookers were also on hand to watch the final step of the naming process.  The Town of Stettler Council recently officially made 50th Avenue's name "Veteran's Way", carrying out a long-standing wish of local veterans to name a street in honor of area veterans.  After several short speeches in honor of the event, refreshments were served at the Stettler Legion.