Sludge Watch ==> Publicly funded agencies have to monitor water for private sludge contamination

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

		Welland Tribune (Ontario)

Ontario Canada - the Welland Tribune

July 27, 2006


Drain will be monitored
Osprey News Network


The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority will begin monitoring the Nun 
drain for possible contamination from a paper- fibre sludge pile in Pelham.

Neighbours of the 20,000-tonne berm of paper-fibre biosolids at 325 Church 
St. have expressed concerns about run-off from the pile escaping to local 
waterways.
The provincial Ministry of the Environment has ordered the landowner to 
clean up contamination in a nearby ditch and ensure future run-off doesn't 
leave the site.

However, the ministry isn't mandated to do regular water-quality monitoring 
in the area.
The conservation authority may be able to help fill that void, water 
management director Tony D'Amario said.

D'Amario said the agency has pledged to provide "a background picture" of 
water quality in the area with regular testing of the nearby Nun 
agricultural drain.

"We'll test upstream and downstream (of the pile) and see if there's a 
difference," D'Amario said. "Essentially, we're trying to provide a basis of 
comparison."
Establishing a baseline for normal water quality could help determine 
whether berm run-off is making its way into the agricultural drain, D'Amario 
said.

The authority monitors water quality at almost 100 sites across Niagara.

The Nun drain usually isn't one of them, D'Amario said, "but because of 
people's concerns, we're going to try and provide some data."

The monitoring will include some expensive lab tests for chemicals and 
bacteria. More often, however, officials will check on the health of living 
creatures in the water and sediment that tell the tale of water quality.

The Environment Ministry has tested area water quality on at least 20 
occasions since berm construction began, area supervisor Rich Vickers said.

Vickers said he wasn't aware of the conservation authority's plans, but 
noted the two agencies often work as partners.

D'Amario stressed his agency doesn't plan to redo ministry tests or impinge 
on provincial responsibilities.

But he said the authority can offer regular monitoring, something municipal 
officials have requested in Pelham.

Randy Desnoyers, a spokesman for a Pelham group opposed to the berm, said 
neighbours believe run-off routinely escapes into a nearby ditch.

In the past, Desnoyers has said protesters are frustrated by a perceived 
lack of regular water testing in the area.

Any monitoring is a step in the right direction, Desnoyers said, but the 
group still plans to do its own testing, including groundwater sampling on a 
nearby property