The Town of Bonnyville hosted a delegation during its last council meeting regarding the quality of Bonnyville's drinking water.
Corita Vachon addressed council on Oct. 9 about the issue, asking they take an active role in ensuring the town has safe drinking water.
“Water is vital to life,” she began. “Today, I am before you in front of public record to voice the concerns of 280-plus adult townspeople plus 50 high school students. We want a cleaner, safer water source.”
She said the issue is no stranger to council or the residents of Bonnyville. However, she felt the problem has gone unaddressed and unsolved for far too long.
“Questioning the quality of our water is not a new subject to anybody in this room and for many residents of our town. We've been hearing about how the water quality and safety are on the top of your priority lists for about a decade. I wonder now if part of the problem is that we've been hearing about it for so long that we've stopped listening to the heart of the matter.”
She said in order for the town to continue to flourish and grow, clean, safe drinking water is something that needs to be prioritized and provided.
“Growth and development of our community depends on the many attractions and services we have to offer. Drinking water, safe drinking water, is a basic, fundamental, essential service. What message are we sending about our town? It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there?”
Vachon explained after Moose Lake (which is the water source for the Town of Bonnyville) received two separate health advisories this summer, the Town “was pressured to perform an impromptu test.”
This test was conducted on Aug. 16, on top of the quarterly tests required by Health Canada, which normally are conducted in March, June, September and December.
She said this additional test was done in August, which meant it was done during the lake's peak organics level, providing more accurate results. They showed the levels exceeded Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines.
“This all begs the question, how many times have we exceeded max levels? All I can say for certain at this time is that this was the first time that I knew the water samplings was taken at peak period, which by the way Health Canada recommends, and to no surprise, we were busted with unsafe levels.”
Coun. Jim Cheverie agreed, stating water quality is a huge problem and has been an ongoing issue for years.
“It's true that in the past, there have been problems with the excessive amounts of products in the water, especially THMs. What you said is 100 per cent accurate,” said Cheverie.
“Ten years ago, we did a study on Moose Lake. We did 10 different locations on the lake for a whole year. The lake itself was deemed at that time to no longer be eutrophic, it was classified by Alberta Environment as hyper-eutrophic.”
Eutrophication is a process where bodies of water receive excessive nutrients, which stimulates extreme plant growth.
Cheverie said Alberta Environment agreed to give the Town of Bonnyville a grant to install a carbon system to bring the water levels to an acceptable average.
“But at that time, Alberta Environment told us that Moose Lake was not a very good source of water for treatment. That is true, still today. And this council, and previous councils, have been pursuing that and we will continue to pursue it with Alberta Environment, but what you're saying is 100 per cent true.”
Vachon said council should be actively seeking permission to use Cold Lake's water to sustain Bonnyville.
“(Our best) option for addressing the (reduction) of harmful concentrations is to use an alternative water source. Cold Lake, to my knowledge, is our nearest alternative to a cleaner water source,” said Vachon.
Cheverie said four years ago council voted toward making a financial commitment to getting water from Cold Lake but nothing has come of that motion.
“We wanted to make sure we would have a financial commitment to that project, whether it's a waterline for treating water or raw water from Cold Lake,” he said. “We all voted ‘yay,' no questions asked. That was four years ago. It just shows how much we support getting Cold Lake water; whether it's raw or treated, we need to get that water source.”
Vachon stated Bonnyville's current water treatment plant is outdated, having been installed in 1983, making it 29 years old today. These systems are designed to last 25 years.
“What are you waiting for? A catastrophe? That's my nightmare,” said Vachon. “We will not wait to become part of proven scientific research from those harmful chemicals. This debate has been going on for far too long. Decisions need to be made, action needs to follow.”
Coun. Ray Prevost said council has actively been working toward fixing the issue for a number of years.
“Council has been on board with this forever,” he said, stating Bonnyville has been in discussion with Alberta Environment about the issue since 2008.
He said council is grateful for people like Vachon, who take an active role in helping to lobby governments for clean drinking water.
“I can tell you that I really appreciate you being here, I wish there were 1,000 people,” he said. “I wish that people had your enthusiasm. Because the seven of us, if we had 1,000 people like you, this thing would be resolved soon.”
Prevost encouraged Vachon to also bring her presentation to the MD of Bonnyville, Northern Lights School Division, Lakeland Catholic School District, the Conseil Scolaire Centre-Est division, and other boards. He stated school boards should be interested in the issue as well, since most of Bonnyville's children use the water at those schools.
“With your enthusiasm, if you could build a fire under the parties I named before, they swing a pretty big stick.”
Vachon said exposure to unsafe water could lead to a number of problems in the future.
“Health Canada states there is compelling scientific evidence that suggest exposures to THM and HAA over time are linked with liver, kidney, bladder and colon cancers. In our community, you don't have to look far to find a cancer victim.”
Mayor Ernie Isley said the Town has been lobbying for a better water source for over a decade. They held one of their most successful meetings with Alberta Environment earlier this month and Isley has a positive feeling that change may be coming.
“I think they're starting to agree with you that it is a time to act,” said Isley.
Coun. Gene Sobolewski said council has made more than one motion to move forward Bonnyville's water source issue and said they have been doing everything they can to fix the problem.
“I can assure you we are trying to go the extra mile,” he said.
“Next year it's going to be eutrophic again and using the same treatment philosophy, we're going to have the same issues. We have to get a different water supply or a cleaner raw water resource or something that will sustain the community for the next two years, because conceivably, it would take 18 months to two years to get a new water system.”
Years ago, when Fort Kent and Ardmore were hooked up to Cold Lake waterlines, Bonnyville was also discussed but the Town was told there was no way Bonnyville could receive water from the city, explained Coun. Rene Van Brabant.
However, in 2006 the Cold Lake water treatment plant underwent major upgrades, which made the facility able to supply water to Bonnyville.
“About four years later, (the province) came back and they said yes, they would fund us 90/10. But we had no permission from anybody to get water from Cold Lake and we needed permission from the provincial government. To this day, we still do not have permission and we're still working at it. I'm very disappointed it's taken this long,” said Van Brabant.
Vachon has been lobbying community members and businesses to sign a petition to move the project along faster, which she plans to provide to the municipality, school boards and MLA for Bonnyville – Cold Lake, Genia Leskiw.
“If money is what's holding you back then my answer is simple: where there's a will, there's a way. Do you have the will? Because together, I'm sure we can find a way,” said Vachon.
