Study contradicts earlier findings on N. Alberta water quality

Below is the CBC article on the issue. After that I include the Edmonton Sun article. The latter does not stress the contradiction but on the other hand it does note that earlier a doctor in the area had noted many cancer cases. As I recall the doctor was accused of being alarmist.

Study contradicts earlier findings on N. Alberta water quality
Last Updated: Thursday, November 8, 2007 | 2:27 PM MT
CBC News
Research conducted for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta has cast doubt on a government study about the town's water quality and its connection to cancer rates.

The study, by Kevin Timoney, was done to determine whether oilsands pollution is making people sick through the water supply.

Timoney's research, presented to the community of 1,200 on Wednesday evening, found that elevated levels of arsenic and mercury in the water and wildlife are cause for health concerns.

"We looked at things such as arsenic, mercury, methylmercury, a variety of heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, furans, naphthenic acids, et cetera," he told CBC News Thursday in an interview.

"We found that there is reason to be concerned that levels of arsenic, mercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are higher than would be considered safe."

Those levels are particularly higher in local fish, according to his report. Timoney looked at data from 1970 to the present, focusing on the Peace River, Athabasca River and the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Fort Chipewyan.



Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons rose between 2001 and 2005 in sediment in the Athabasca Delta, the report says, with current levels considered unsafe to aquatic life.

Timoney's conclusions are in stark contrast to a government-funded study this year on cancer rates that found no elevated disease rates in connection with the Athabasca River.

Timoney said there seems to be a reluctance on the part of governments and industry "to admit there is any cause for concern even though the data suggests there is a cause for concern.

"I can't answer for the government and industry as to why they would always downplay the risk," he said.

"Certainly the numbers indicate to any objective scientist that there is a cause for concern."

He urged the people of Fort Chipewyan to push for yet another independent study of the water and wildlife.

He said the contaminants were not only found in fish, but also in waterfowl, muskrat, beavers, and moose — all of which are traditional foods that the community relies on.

Resident Ray Ladaceur, who has fished on Lake Athabasca for about 50 years, said he has pulled deformed fish from his nets. He said he believes the fish are sick because of the chemicals from the oil sands in Fort McMurray.

"I've seen many changes in this, the water. There's all kinds of stuff coming down," Ladaceur said.

"You can see it right in the water, there's kind of a scum, I guess, flowing down the river."

As for the town's water supply, Timoney said the water treatment system is working well and the water is safe to drink.

Fort Chipewyan is located downstream from Fort McMurray, the heart of the province's
oil sands projects.


Here is the Edmonton Sun article:


November 8, 2007

Study confirms high levels of toxins downstream Alta. oilsands
By RENATO GANDIA, SUN MEDIA
High levels of cancer-causing toxins are being found in areas downstream of Fort McMurray’s oilsands, says a study commissioned by residents of Alberta’s oldest community.
Waters in Fort Chipewyan contain high levels of arsenic, the fish are contaminated with high levels of mercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – another pollutant – are higher than they should be, said Kevin Timoney.

Timoney is the ecologist who studied the waters and sediments in the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Fort Chipewyan, 610 air km northeast of Edmonton.

However, the study found that the hamlet’s drinking water was safe.

Residents are not surprised with the results of the study because their elders have been saying all along something is wrong with their water. Anglers have caught fish with abnormal growths in them and hunters have found fowl covered in oil.

“This is only a start to proving that there is a direct link to oilsands development and our health,” said Allan Adam, the newly elected chief of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

“This is not news to us. It simply supports what we have been saying to this government of Alberta and to industry for decades.”

Timoney’s findings re-ignited Mikisew Cree First Nation’s call for a moratorium on oilsands development.

“The federal and provincial governments are continuing to issue approvals for projects despite all of the uncertainties with the true environmental effects of oilsands development,” said Russell Kaskamin a councillor with Mikisew Cree.

In a series of federal-provincial regulatory hearings for three different oilsands companies last year, Fort Chip residents aired concerns about high levels of arsenic in their local food, specifically moose meat and cattail roots.

“I know of no reason why they shouldn’t (eat the moose meat). I’m not aware of a contaminant from the area,” a country food expert from Health Canada told a hearing for Imperial Oil’s Kearl project in Fort McMurray in November 2006.

“I’m shocked but I’m not surprised,” said Dr. John O’ Connor, the doctor who was documenting rare cases of cancer in the area. “(The study) verifies what has been happening in Fort Chip for many years.”

O’ Connor said he hopes the government will now listen to residents and conduct a human health study in the area. “It’s needed and it’s needed now.”

Health Canada was given a copy of the report three days ago but the residents are still waiting for a response, said Donna Cyprien, director of the Nunee Health Authority.

renato.gandia@sunmedia.ca