GRCA PROCLAIMS "NO RISK" ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPILL AT THE SHADE'S MILL RESERVOIR

The article in today's Waterloo Region Record is titled "GRCA says Shade's Mills reservoir in Cambridge not adversely impacted by jet fuel spill". In this story the GRCA are making a pronouncement way out of their area of expertise which is water volumes, flooding etc. Yes they are relying on the Ontario Ministry of Environment which is long proven to be a discredited source of accurate environmental information. As far as the credibility of Waterloo Region Public Health let me point out that they were next to useless in regards to both the Bishop St. communities trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure issues and not much better regarding the exposure to NDMA of Elmira residents in 1989 and 1990. With regards to the ongoing air fumigations by Uniroyal Chemical from 1999 to 2001, they were even worse.

Allegedly citizens can safely partake of swimming, boating and fishing at Shade's Mills immediately. Are we to conclude from this that fish sampling has been underway and that there has been no uptake of contaminants by fish? Oddly I haven't seen any mention of fish tissue sampling having been done this past winter or spring.

I have seen and heard comments that kerosene-based jet fuel is insoluble in water. I believe that that may be simply a misnomer based upon the definition of "soluble". Kerosene and many oils, fuels and other hydrocarbon (hydrogen & carbon) mixes indeed are not FULLY soluble in water. Hence they will often float on top of the water however very small amounts can and do "dissolve" in the water. This solubility is very low and is often measured in parts per billion or even trillion. The problem is that the drinking water standards for these compounds are usually even lower than their solubility in water. Yes the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS) do indeed have concentrations for benzene, toluene, xylenes and numerous other hydrocarbons which form chains to produce gasolines, oils and other fuels.

Therefore I advise caution in and around Mill Creek and Shade's Mills for some time to come. Yes dilution and flushing of the surface waters of the creek greatly exceeds dilution and flushing of contaminated groundwater obviously. It is sad however when our authorities still hold "Dilution is the solution to pollution", so close to their hearts.