Don’t eat Binbrook Reservoir fish

[Spiel]

Don't eat Binbrook Reservoir fish

 

Mon Apr 11 2011 / thespec.com

 

 

 

For years, Binbrook Conservation Area's reservoir Lake Niapenco was thought to be relatively free of pollution.

 

It's not.

 

The popular five-kilometre-long reservoir and Welland River tributary feeding it are contaminated with a toxic chemical restricted in Canada since 2004 to such unsafe levels that the province now warns children and child-bearing aged women not to eat any fish at all from the reservoir, and others to eat no more than two meals a month. Furthermore, only smaller fish should be consumed because the larger the fish, the higher the concentration of the pollutant.

 

Those fish consumption restrictions exist for only three other water courses in Ontario – one of them the creek that flows into Lake Niapenco, formally known as Binbrook Reservoir.

 

The synthetic chemical, called perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) or perfluorooctane sulfonate, is the key component in the suppression foam airport fire crews use to fight aviation fires. It also used to be the main ingredient in Scotchgard, 3M's stain repeller used in everything from clothes to carpets until 3M began stopped using it in the formula in 2000.

 

"I'm totally devastated by this," said Andy Fevez, 70, a member of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board of directors and a leading member of the Glanbrook Conservation Committee, a volunteer group dedicated to improving the park.

 

"We're in there planting vegetation and keeping out the invasive plants at one end, and at the other end, this stuff is coming in unbeknownst to us. It just breaks my heart having worked on this conservation area for the past 25 years."

 

Not a lot is known about the health effects of PFOS on humans. Unlike other chemicals that accumulate in fat tissues, PFOS builds up in the blood, liver and gall bladder. Animal studies have shown organ damage from high concentrations, but few long-term human studies have been done.

 

The big concern about PFOS is that it is "a biocumulative bioconcentrator," said Don McLean, a well-known Hamilton environmental advocate. Smaller fish get eaten by bigger fish, and so on, concentrating the chemical the higher up the food chain one goes.

 

"The highest concentrations in North America generally are found in birds like eagles," he said.

 

The discovery of the Lake Niapenco contamination was purely accidental and totally unexpected.

 

In 2009, Environment Canada scientists began an organic toxins accumulation study in Hamilton Harbour and the Humber River in Toronto, and they picked Lake Niapenco as the study's reference or "control" site, believing the rural lake was not impacted by industrial or municipal sewage discharge. The last thing they expected to find was high concentrations of PFOS in reservoir turtle blood.

 

That set off a chain of events. The feds told the province, who went in and began their own fish testing. Sure enough, the lake's large and smallmouth bass, pike, carp, crappie, bullheads and catfish were all contaminated. It meant Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish, which came out this month, had to be changed to reflect new restrictions on consumption. Ontario's Ministry of Environment (MoE) notified the conservation authority in December.

 

The big question is: Where is it coming from?

 

In three weeks, the MoE kicks off a large-scale hunt for the source of the PFOS called a track-back, and to figure out what remedial action may need to be taken.

 

"We are sending a team to do all the tributaries of the upper Welland River," to test the creek waters and sedimets for PFOS, said senior MoE spokesperson Jennifer Hall. "It's a major study (in which) we follow the trail. If we find a path for it, we keep going until identify the source of the path."

 

Depending on what the chemical sleuths find, the question may become: Where did it come from in the past?

 

A leading suspect is John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, which sits on the headwaters of the Welland River. Fire crews used to train at the airport with the PFOS-laden fire suppression foam.

 

"We have it in our trucks, but we don't train on site, we haven't done so in about a decade," said Richard Koroscil, president and CEO of the airport. Specialized airport firefighting training is now done at a facility at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

 

Another suspect is the old Mount Hope dump at the corner of White Church Road and Highway 6 South. "It's possible something in there is leaking out," Fevez said.

 

The fishing season on the reservoir is currently closed, but set to open May 1. The reservoir is mandatory catch-and-release for bass and pike, but not for the other fish species. Conservation officials say they devising an extensive notification and information campaign for anglers.

 

"We will post signage around the lake and hand out fact sheets at our gate," said Darcy Baker, NPCA director of land management. Because anglers with Asian backgrounds like to use the reservoir to catch carp, which they consider a delicacy, the conservation authority will also post the information in Mandarin and Cantonese.

 

The NPCA was supposed to discuss the problem at its March board meeting, which was cancelled due to an intense snowstorm. The next public board meeting is April 20.

 

 

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Perfluorooctanesuflonic acid, or perfluorooctane sulfonate.

 

An organic compound produced synthetically through electrochemical fluorination.

 

Primary ingredient in aviation fire suppression foam. Used to be key compound in household waterproofing compounds like sprays for repelling water and keeping clothes, furniture and carpets from staining. Was also used in electronics and photofinishing.

 

Main manufacturer was 3M, which phased out it out of its Scotchgard formula in 2000. China still produces it.

 

A widespread global contaminant.

 

Accumulates in the tissues of human and animals, primarily in the blood, liver and gallbladder. Remains in tissues for an extremely long time. Health impacts remain unclear.

 

Canada put it on its Virtual Elimination List under the Canadian Environment Protection Act in 2004.

 

 

[pics]

The spec got it wrong as usual...you're ok for 4 meals...

[Loadman]

The spec got it wrong as usual...you're ok for 4 meals...

 

 

I ate alot more that 4 meals out of there.... is that a year or total?

[lureme]

That is one serious issue for sure but on the other hand, I lived right beside this lake and it was made from an intermitten creek at best and all farm land around it. So guess what we used on our fields to make our crops grow? Thats right , either manuer or chemicals. So all that runs into a holding tank called lake Niapenco making it like a big septic tank.So thats why they have to close the swimming every so often. Some fish species can tolerate higher consentrates of bacteria then others but you won't find any trout living in there for sure. I for one would like to see those test results in the summer!

[Ralph Field]

Thanks for the warning !

[Old Ironmaker]

It latter was confirmed that the contaminates indeed were from run off of field exercises using the firefighting foams from the airport. I'm not positive but I believe I read where it was recommended" NO FISH" should be consumed from Niapenco from a Spec article follow up a few years latter. A shame for sure.

[pics]

Lureme, the lake water isn't as bad as you want people to believe. The guide for eating sportfish says you can eat crappie 4 times a month,similar to many northern lakes... We know what mercury does to our body but there isn't really much out there about pfos. These chemicals are everywhere in our daily lives and in much higher concentrations than in the water at lake Niapenco. Very little manure flows into the lake because there are very few farms in the watershed that spread it. The majority of farms now grow beans and corn and they use pellet fertilizers... The beach rarely closes and when it does it's because the park guys aren't chasing the geese off the beach.....