| Military: No secrecy about contaminated water |
|
|
|
TheChronicleHerald.ca By JEFFREY SIMPSON Staff Reporter The Canadian military says it has been upfront with information about its contaminated water supply at 14 Wing Greenwood. "There’s no secrecy involved whatsoever," base spokesman Capt. Scott Spurr said Sunday in an interview. "We have been very open and transparent with all of our personnel and everybody who’s involved with the water that we’ve had here." Spurr was responding to comments made by Al Belliveau, chairman of the Greenwood Village Commission, who has been critical of the base over its handling of its contaminated wells. Water-quality tests have uncovered high levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate, a man-made chemical used as an additive in firefighting foams and in some water-repellent clothing and fabrics. The military issued a news release last month advising the 1,300 Forces personnel, family members and single people living in quarters to avoid drinking tap water. "Everybody’s been informed," Spurr said. "We’ve sent out letters to all of our personnel. We’ve had town halls to let them know what’s going on. And right now, we’re just waiting to hear back from the municipality in terms of being able to hook up to their municipal drinking water." He wouldn’t specify how many wells are affected on the base due to security concerns. The chemical was first detected in the water on Jan. 29, but the military waited for further testing to confirm there was a problem before warning residents. "We’ve had no reports of anybody being sick here at all," Spurr said. The military is trying to determine the extent of the problem in the base’s groundwater but expects that will take awhile, he said. "It is fairly common in the environment, so we’re not exactly sure where it’s come from. So we’re doing more testing." Belliveau said the base has been connected to Greenwood’s water supply, so people living there could be soon drinking from their faucets again. "It’s all hooked up and ready to go." No traces of the chemicals have been detected outside of the base, he said. But he maintained that the military hasn’t been as free with information about the contamination as he would like. "We haven’t heard or seen anything on paper about the extent of the pollution," he said. Health Canada says that almost 600 tonnes of perfluorinated chemicals were imported to the country from 1997 to 2000 in different kinds of products. The primary supplier of the chemicals voluntarily phased out production in 2002, putting an end to most imports into Canada. Yet about three tonnes of the chemical were imported in 2004 for use in fire suppressants. "PFOS, its salts and its precursors may enter into the environment through treated or untreated municipal/industrial waste-water discharges to surface water and through leachates from landfills when products and materials containing these substances are sent for final disposal," said Health Canada’s website. "PFOS may also be released directly to air, land and surface water when products containing PFOS are used." Almost every Canadian carries some level of the chemical in their blood due to exposure, but tests have concluded that the levels detected so far don’t carry significant health risks, said the website. ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|