Environment Official Offers Rebuttal On Acid Rain
Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 14:46
A provincial air quality monitoring specialist says recently-published data on acid rain in La Loche area is misleading.
Murray Hilderman of Saskatchewan Environment says the pH readings from water samples collected in La Loche fall within normal variables.
He says that while the La Loche sample readings of 4.96 are more acidic than average, in so-called “pristine” areas, the natural pH of rainwater can be as low as 4.6.
Hilderman also says the readings were drawn from only nine water samples, collected sporadically over a 16-month period, due to problems with the sample collection — first with equipment breaking down in minus 40 weather, and then with an inability to keep technicians from La Loche in the job.
“We’re on our third person (since early 2008), but they’ve also said that they are considering not doing it any more. So we’re having real problems keeping staff up there that are willing to do it for the long-term, and to do it on a consistent basis,” Hilderman says.
Meanwhile, La Loche mayor Georgina Jolibois is upset she heard about the readings from an environmental group, and not the government.
Hilderman says he did not contact La Loche officials because he felt the readings shouldn’t cause concern — but he will be doing so now that the issue has been raised.
Either way, because most of the chemicals polluting La Loche’s lakes and soil are coming from oilsands plants in the Fort McMurray area, Jolibois says La Loche can’t be expected to find a solution on its own.
“We’re dealing with an issue, the acid rain issue, that is coming from Alberta. The issue is greater than us, and it affects us as a group. However, it’s a bigger issue,” Jolibois says.
According to Hilderman, the province has invested more money in air quality monitoring, and has conducted a survey of close to 200 northern lakes, with a report set for release this fall.