distressing news about water around here (again)...
Private firm mishandled water tests, province says
Missed steps prompt warning to 67 communities
Robert Benzie and April Lindgren
National Post
Thursday, June 13, 2002
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TORONTO - The Ontario government was scrambling last night to warn 67 communities about potential problems with their drinking water after it was revealed that a private water-testing laboratory did not adequately check for contamination.
While no one has died or been reported sick, the province's chief medical officer of health issued an emergency edict to public-health officials in towns and cities across Ontario to re-test water previously checked by London-based MDS Laboratory Services.
Dr. Colin D'Cunha said in a statement that a Ministry of Environment and Energy review had "found procedural irregularities" in the lab's testing of the water supply for hundreds of thousands of Ontarians.
The communities affected include London, Brantford, Orillia, Chatham-Kent, Owen Sound, Guelph, St. Catharines and Welland.
Chris Stockwell, the Minister of Environment and Energy, said a tipster contacted officials to report the MDS irregularities. He said he was "very, very disappointed and very angry" when he learned of the problems late Tuesday.
"There's no indication they had a faulty test, they just didn't complete all parts of the test. All the tests they did complete, the water was good," said Mr. Stockwell.
Walkerton is not among the towns whose water is tested by the MDS lab.
"Prompt testing by local health units is being undertaken and will allow the local medical officers of health to provide an assurance of safe drinking water to users of the affected water systems," Dr. D'Cunha said in a news release.
"In the event that microbiological contamination is identified, the local medical officer of health will take the appropriate action, including the issuance of a 'boil water' advisory, if necessary."
An internal government memo released to the media last night and sent to 270 water utilities in 67 municipalities said the lab was breaking rules introduced by the Conservative government after the Walkerton disaster.
"Its practices were found not to be done in accordance with its standard accredited methods," wrote Joan Andrew, a senior government bureaucrat. "In some cases, the laboratory was not adhering to the immediate reporting obligation contained in the regulations when indicators of adverse water quality were observed and timely electronic data submission to the [ministry] was not carried out.
"We believe that precautionary actions are warranted."
In the wake of the Walkerton tragedy, testing facilities are required to alert the Ministry of the Environment and Energy and local health officials when they detect contaminated water.
Jennifer Bowman, an MDS spokeswoman, said last night the company stood by its testing. She admitted it had problems entering results into the provincial Web site during the recent civil service strike. ''We're confident all the adverse results have [now] been reported according to the procedures,'' she said.
''We stand by the quality of our testing and we'll co-operate with the ministry to make sure they get the information they need.''
Jim Bradley, the Liberal environment critic, said the key issue was whether having the tests done by the private sector was a factor in this latest water scandal.
"The water testing in this province is in disarray. This is the same pattern as happened in Walkerton. We're lucky it appears that nobody is sick or died in this particular case but the water supply of this province is at risk when they are not doing their job properly," Mr. Bradley said.
"[The Conservatives] closed the Ministry of the Environment labs. They were very good labs, top notch, that provided excellent service to people. They decided in 1996 under Ernie Eves as minister of finance that they would close them. That was a big mistake to do then [without having proper protocols in place]," he said. "We've had several ministers and two premiers assure us that everything is fine now with the reporting system and the testing system in Ontario, but it simply isn't happening."
Marilyn Churley, the NDP environment critic, said the government has learned nothing from Walkerton.
''Their feeble responses to the Walkerton tragedy have clearly been ineffective in preventing similar problems," she said. "When will the government learn its lesson that privatized and deregulated testing is not in the interest of public safety?" |
