Alberton Wells' Contamination Could Pose Health Risk
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Date:
Mon, 9 Dec 2002 08:25:48 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Saturday, December 07, 2002 - Charlottetown Guardian
Alberton Wells' Contamination Could Pose Health Risk: Sweet
Chief health officer visits residents whose wells became contaminated with the agricultural fumigant dichloropropylene By Jim Day
Chief Health Officer Dr. Lamont Sweet said the water contamination in Alberton may lead to residents becoming ill.
"There's not a complete assurance that there will not be a (health) problem,'' he said.
"We do know that the toxicology people would not expect short or long-term effects from the small amounts found in the water.''
Sweet made the comment Friday after paying a visit to three homes affected by a potentially cancer-causing chemical that got into their drinking water. He did not visit the home of the property owner who used the fumigant even though her private well also tested positive with the chemical, called dichloropropylene.
He said he reviewed with the homeowners all that he knew about the chemical, including the fact it causes cancer in mice but not in humans =but is still classified as a "possible cancer-causing agent in humans.''
Sweet conceded that the residents he visited are concerned about the possible ill-effects they may incur as a result of consuming contaminated water.
"Everybody would be upset if this was found in their water,'' he said.
"So it's a very disturbing situation for all of them . . . It's a difficult time for them.''
Elda Getson said Sweet did little to calm her fears. Getson said she is left wondering what affect the contamination of her private well will have on her family of six.
"He didn't tell me anything I didn't know,'' she said of Sweet's visit to her home Friday.
"He really didn't disclose any new information on the health side of it . . . They (government) have no information about the health effects of it, short term or long term.''
Getson said Sweet gave her a list of symptoms associated with exposure to the chemical dichloropropylene, such as abdominal pains, nausea and rapid heart rate. She said members of her family have experienced such symptoms over the past two years.
Sweet said it's difficult to determine how long the private wells were contaminated with the chemical.
Getson said she also sees little cause to rejoice over Environment Minister Chester Gillan's announcement Thursday that he wants to ban the use of dichloropropylene, which has been used on a strawberry operation near Getson's home.
She fears damage may have already been done to her family. She also wonders what, if any, pesticide may be used to replace the dichloropropylene, which was used to sterilize the soil at Westech Agriculture Ltd.
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Pesticide Levels In Wells Pose Little Risk: Gillian
By Ron Ryder - The Guardian
Pesticide levels found in Alberton wells should pose little risk to residents, Environment Minister Chester Gillan said Friday.
But Gillan said government is sticking to its plan to ban a soil fumigant that found its way into the drinking water of homes near Westech strawberry farm. Tests from the area found the chemical dichloropropylene at levels of 7.5 and 11.5 parts per billion (ppb) in two samples.
Gillan said studies provided by Health Canada suggested there could be serious consequences to lifelong exposure to dichloropropylene at levels of 90 ppb; these included liver and kidney disease and breathing difficulties. The same studies found that lifetime exposure at a level of 0.2 ppb would raise someone's chances of getting cancer by one in a million.
Gillan said short-term exposure to the chemical at levels found in the Alberton drinking water is not expected to have adverse health effects.
The minister told reporters there isn't a Canadian standard but Health Canada advised the province to follow the state of California's guideline that drinking water should not be allowed to contain more than 0.5 parts per billion of dichloropropylene.
"We have been advised that the best information available is that it should not be tolerated at anything above those levels. We have decided that the best thing to do is to stick with our original decision to ban it," he said.
In the legislature, government acknowledged dichloropropylene carries warnings advising growers not to use it in areas where ground water lies close to the surface or places where soil is permeable.
Agriculture Minister Mitch Murphy said the spray was used in Alberton during both the spring and fall of 2002, but he couldn't say for certain if it was applied within guidelines.
"There will be an investigation of what took place there and why the fumigant got into the water table," he said in the legislature. "People will try to ascertain what went wrong."
Residents of homes near the affected area of Alberton have been advised not to drink or bathe with water from their domestic wells. Provincial officials visited the town Friday to address resident concerns.
Gillan said government will keep its eyes open for cases where farm chemistry may contaminate drinking water. But he said there won't be a sweeping review of pesticides in broader use than dichloropropylene. The minister said despite the decision to ban the fumigant, the province will not automatically be taking action against chemicals that are shown to pose risks similar to dichloropropylene.
"That would be an extrapolation I wouldn't be prepared to make. The information simply isn't available to us."
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