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Canada  

Toxic rocket on the way

Environmentalists are angry that a Russian rocket stage potentially carrying highly toxic chemicals is slated to splash down this weekend in the Canadian Arctic.

An international aviation authority has issued a notice that debris from a Russian rocket launch will fall Saturday into Baffin Bay, outside of Canada's territorial waters but inside its economic zone.

Arctic experts say the rocket will be powered by hydrazine, a Cold War-era fuel that nearly every other space program in the world has backed away from.

Greenpeace Canada says dumping hydrazine from a ship would violate international law and dumping it from the air should be no different.

Previous rocket stages have come to earth carrying thousands of litres of unspent hydrazine, creating a significant hazard.

Baffin Bay is hunted and fished by Inuit from both Canada and Greenland.



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