Water around Giant Mine in N.W.T. may never recover from arsenic contamination
-by Bob Weber, originally posted on August 20, 2016
YELLOWKNIFE — A study of lakes near one of Canada’s most contaminated industrial sites suggests the water immediately around Yellowknife’s Giant Mine won’t return to its natural state for generations — if ever.
“This is going to be a contaminated site indefinitely,” said Jules Blais, a University of Ottawa professor and lead author on a paper just published by the Proceedings of the Royal Society in the United Kingdom.
need fix on yesterday’s Giant story. Report published in Proceedings of the Royal Society in the UK, not the Royal Society of Canada.
“Even when we’ve looked at other parts of Canada that have been heavily affected by mines, including Sudbury, we’ve never seen these kinds of impacts.”
Blais and his colleagues used sediment cores to examine the impact of the gold mine’s heavy arsenic contamination on the tiny bugs and plants that live in Pocket Lake, one of the small lakes that ring the Giant property.
The Giant Mine operated from 1948 to 2004 and produced about seven million ounces of gold. It also left behind an environmental nightmare that includes underground caverns filled with 237,000 tonnes of arsenic and a 95-hectare surface site poisoned with 13.5 million tonnes of arsenic-contaminated tailings.
Blais estimates another 20,000 tonnes of arsenic blew out of smokestacks and ended up in land and water in the mine’s early days. Pocket Lake sediments from the 1960s contain up to three per cent arsenic. That means a handful of dried mud weighing about a kilogram could contain up to 30 grams of the metalloid.
A lethal dose would be between 80 and 240 milligrams for a Canadian man of average weight.
“We don’t ever see values like that,” Blais said. “These are some of the highest arsenic concentrations I’ve ever seen in a natural setting.”
Even though the mine has been dormant for 12 years, fresh sediments in the lake remain tainted with arsenic at levels that far exceed safety thresholds. Its water, too, is contaminated.
The cores revealed that entire classes of tiny plants and animals — planktons and water fleas — were wiped out during the peak years of contamination.
“We’ve never seen these kinds of impacts,” said Blais.
Those parts of the ecosystem have never come back.
“Usually, after a number of decades after the peak of contamination, normally we start seeing these populations returning. Here, we don’t see a recovery.”
The findings underscore the mammoth and unique scale of Giant’s environmental liability, said Blais.
“We have looked at population impacts in other parts of the world,” he said. “We’ve never seen this kind of thing.”
The last company to own the mine as well as its environmental liability, Royal Oak Mines, no longer exists. The mine was established before laws requiring environmental performance bonds were passed.
The federal government is in the middle of a billion-dollar, taxpayer-funded program to remediate the site. But even that cleanup, focused on the many remaining structures and vast subterranean arsenic-stuffed caves, isn’t likely to restore the ecosystem in the immediate area to what it was, Blais said.
“Those 20,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide that was released to the environment are going to continue to contaminate the local environment.
“That’s a genie out of the bottle. It’s out and it will continue to cause problems.”
Yellowknife gets its water from the Yellowknife River, which flows near the mine. But the river’s watershed is big enough to keep arsenic levels low. The city also tests for arsenic.
Village of Waddington under boil water advisory
originally posted on August 18, 2016
WADDINGTON — Village Clerk Cheryl D. Dumas said the entire village is under a boil water advisory that could last up to three days.
“There are two water main breaks actually happening at the moment,” Ms. Dumas said Wednesday morning.
The larger of the two breaks was at the corner of Route 37 and Main Street, according to Mayor Janet Otto-Cassada. The other break was on the north side of the village by the bowling alley.
The breaks came at a time when village workers were getting stages and fences put up for this weekend’s Waddington Party in the Park and Thunder Island Regatta.
“The city of Ogdensburg graciously stepped in with equipment and manpower,” Ms. Otto-Cassada said. “Without them it would have taken us days to make the repairs. We don’t have the equipment.”
The break by Route 37 was repaired by about 4:30 p.m. The break by the bowling alley was fixed about an hour later.
Ms. Otto-Cassada attributes the breaks to the age of the water system.
She said the village is searching for grants to upgrade the water system and has hired an engineering group to study the situation and make recommendations to go along with grant applications.
Ms. Dumas said all residents of the village were without water at one point. “I had probably 60-some phone calls this morning … they were wanting to know what was wrong.”
Ms. Otto-Cassada reported on her Facebook page late Thursday that residents should boil water they intend to consume.
Boil Water Advisory Issued By Elkins Road PSD
by Bethany Butler, originally posted on August 18, 2016
A Boil Water Advisory has been issued by the Elkins Road PSD for customers in the Maple Heights Division of Buckhannon.
Boil Water Advisory For Richland County
originally posted on August 17, 2016
Columbia, SC (WLTX) A boil water advisory has been issued for areas in Richland county.
The City of Columbia has experienced a six inch water main shut off during the installation of a hydrant valve. This could possibly result in bacterial contamination of the water on Meadowood Road- from Sylvan Road to Satchelford Road, Satchelford Road- from Meadowood Road to Peachtree Circle, ALL of Peachtree and Orchard Circle. Water customers should continue to vigorously boil their water for at least one
The City of Columbia Water Works advises the water customers of Meadowood Road- from Sylvan Road to Satchelford Road, Satchelford Road- from Meadowood Road to Peachtree Circle, ALL of Peachtree and Orchard Circle, located in Richland County, to vigorously boil their water for at least one (1) full minute prior to drinking or cooking. Also, any residents near the affected area who have lost water and/or water pressure are advised to vigorously boil their water for at least one (1) full minute prior to drinking or cooking.
The City of Columbia Customer Care Call Center, 545-3300, may answer other inquiries concerning this Advisory.
Boil advisory issued for Diversion Water Co. water systems in Ascension
originally posted on August 17, 2016
The Diversion Water Co. reported a boil advisory for the Ascension Parish neighborhoods of Bayou Estates, New River, River Run and Cypress Lakes.
The advisory has been issued due to due the lack of access in regards to high water.
Water restored in Rixford, boil advisory in place
originally posted on August 17, 2016
RIXFORD — Water was restored in Rixford about 6 p.m. Tuesday, Rixford Water Association official Jeff Anderson reported.
A boil water advisory will remain in effect until further notice for Rixford residents, according to Anderson, who indicated it would be up to the lab that is testing the water to determine when the advisory will be lifted.
Boil water advisory lifted in Grabill, Harlan
Water main break happened Saturday
originally posted on August 17, 2016
GRABILL, Ind. (WANE) A boil water advisory that had been in place for residents in Grabill and Harlan for nearly four days has been lifted.
Town officials in Grabill told NewsChannel 15 Wednesday afternoon the water in the northeast Allen County communities is safe to drink again.
A water main break in Grabill late Saturday night caused the advisory to be put into effect. Residents of both towns were asked to boil water, before drinking, until further notice.
Boil water advisory issued for some people living in McCormick County
originally posted on August 17, 2016
MCCORMICK COUNTY, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) — A water advisory has been issued for several residents in McCormick County after a water main break.
The county’s Water and Sewer Department has issued the advisory for those living in Clarks Hill, Lost Wilderness, and Woodhaven off S.C. Highway 28 south past the intersection of S.C. Highway 211 (Clarks Hill Highway). The advisory does not include Furey Plantation.
Crews have repaired the breakage, but said dirt or debris may have entered the drinking water system. People are urged to boil their water for at least one full minute prior to drinking or cooking.
The boil advisory will end Aug. 18 at 4 p.m.
Watson Lake, Yukon, issues boil water advisor
Residents advised to boil water for 2 minutes before drinking it or preparing food
-originally posted on August 16, 2016
The Town of Watson Lake, Yukon, has issued a boil water advisory.
It applies to all water received through the town piped system or from the water delivery truck.
All water should be boiled for two minutes prior to drinking, cleaning food, prepared food, baby formula or fruit drinks, washing dishes, making ice or brushing teeth.
A release from the town says the advisory is in place until officials complete the “necessary bacteriological testing.”
No other information about the reason for the advisory has been released
Boil advisory in effect for Buffalo Center
originally posted on August 16, 2016
Update: The City of Buffalo Center canceled the boil advisory as of Friday, Aug. 19. Previous story below.
The City of Buffalo Center has issued a boil advisory for the city’s water supply, following a loss of pressure in the water system on Tuesday, Aug. 16.
The loss of pressure means that bacteria may have gotten into the water supply, so everyone who uses city water is advised to boil it before driking or cooking. People may also wish to use bottled water. Directions for boiling are to bring the water to a boil for one minute and let it cool before use. Boiled or bottled water should also be used for brushing teeth or making ice.
City water may still be used for bathing and other similar purposes.
The boil advisory will remain in effect until further notice. The city says the water system has been repaired, repressurized, and bacteria samples will be collected. This advisory is a precaution until bacterial sample results are available.
For more information, contact Deb Jensvold, City Clerk at 641-562-2505. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.