Black Diamond - Town advised to do indepth water testing

Okotoks Western Wheel
September 20, 2006 Vol 31 No 59
By Laurel Nadon
staff reporter

An engineering company is recommending that the Town of Black Diamond begin testing for more substances in its raw and potable water.
Dennis Westhoff, chief engineer with Westhoff Engineering Resources Inc., suggested the town initiate a long-term monitoring and sampling program, repeating the analysis which has been done at least once a year.
They also recommended expanding the scope of the tests to include testing for additional substances as per Alberta Environ-
ment guidelines.
Councillor Michel Jackson, who pushed for the town to begin testing for methyl mercury last year, said he would like to budget the extra money to have the recommended substances included in testing.
“They’re recommending that we start testing for five to six things that we’re not required to test by law,” Jackson said.
“We should be doing that testing so as a council we’re doing our due diligence and so people in the town know we’re concerned with the water and want to provide nothing but the best quality that we can.”
He said that comments from residents about how the town has been handling the issue have been positive.
“They appreciate the fact that we do take the issue seriously and that we’re going to make efforts to ensure that we’re testing for everything we should be testing for,” Jackson said. “We’re very concerned about
giving everyone piece of mind.”
He added that he can’t imagine the test costs will be so high that they’re not worthwhile.
“What’s a human life worth? I don’t want to be responsible if someone died because we didn’t do our homework,” Jackson said.
Roxanne Walsh, a member of the Turner Valley Gas Plant Committee for a Safe, Historic Site, said she’s happy that the town has been proactive in doing extra testing.
“I feel that if those tests are recommended that they should be going ahead and doing that,” Walsh said, adding her only concern is that it took until September to receive results from
samples taken in April.
Samples for the test were collected on April 4, 2006 and tested by Maxxam Analytics Inc. from Calgary.
Test results show that the samples complied with published water quality guidelines. Both raw water samples and drinking water samples complied with published values where available. With the exception of two compounds resulting from chlorine addition, all values were less than laboratory reportable detection values.
The samples were compared with the latest information from Health Canada guidelines and with the values in the Alberta soil and water quality guidelines for hydrocarbons at upstream oil and gas facilities
published by Alberta Environment.
Westhoff Engineering Resources Inc. then put the results into laymen’s terms and noted that no opinion on long-term trending or changes in water quality can be offered based on a single sample.
The testing, done to the same parameters that the City of Chilliwack, B.C. uses, cost the town $3,400 plus consultant fees.
Joanne Irwin, administrative assistant for the town, said the town currently uses daily, weekly and semi-annual tests as outlined in the town’s licence to operate.
Council also decided last November to have methyl mercury tests conducted once a year.
The first test in November 2005 found methyl mercury was either not present or was below the detection limit of 0.03 nanograms per litre.
The next test is planned for this October.
“Anything that’s got to do with the safety of water for residents is of cause of serious importance to council,” Irwin said. “The standards we have to do, we’re doing and we’re going beyond that to test for methyl mercury because it was a specific concern for councillors and residents.”
Council decided to have administration investigate the costs to include the suggested parameters and bring the numbers forward to the 2007 budget deliberations which are coming up.
The earliest the town could begin testing for those substances would be in 2007.
The water sample results and consultant report are available for the public to view at the town office.