Editor:
I’m surprised no one seems concerned that drilling a well under the SCRD landfill site and Lehigh gravel works might provide us with contaminated water.
Geologist Peter Hews recently told me the following:
“The Dusty Road well has already been drilled and tested. It has some of the best water flow and production rates on the Coast. However, it has the least desirable potential water quality on the Coast. The Gibsons aquifer is a confined aquifer and generally protected from contamination from adjacent areas.
“The Dusty Road test well is tapping into an unconfined aquifer – in other words, there is potential for contamination from the Lehigh sand and gravel operations and from the landfill above.
“They may have tested the water for Provincial quality standards at Dusty Road but I believe that they should test for petroleum contaminants as well as a range of pharmaceuticals. Historically, there was no control over what went into a landfill and what leachate drained out.”
Mayor Henderson suggests in his advertisement that there is no time for delay, which prudent testing may require, but can we afford making mistakes with our water supply? The Seawatch debacle is a painful example of inadequate oversight by municipal government, and in this case, people’s health is at stake.
Peter Hews goes on to say, “The only way public trust can be gained on the quality and safety of the water is to do way more testing for trace substances than the minimum provincial standards require.” Let’s hope good sense prevails at City Hall and the SCRD.
Mary Beth Knechtel, Halfmoon Bay
