Dear Editor:

Monday, May 17, 2010 newspapers were writing about a “newly released report” on “Canada’s Water Protection”, there are excerpts from the report below and quotes from Nancy Goucher, a water-policy expert.

The report focuses mostly on old Walkerton and ecoli type stuff.  Just ignore that, and apply the Canada wide protection concern to Lillooet’s arsenic drinking water problem. We had more than double the arsenic limit coming out of the kitchen tap of a residence in Lillooet in April, and again it was “over limit” for arsenic in May.  Municipal water that has been supplied to this house and others for consumption over 16 years. Concentrate on this – what protects Lillooet residents from drinking toxic arsenic?  Health Canada, IHA and DOL have not prevented harmful arsenic from being ingested in Lillooet. Why? People need to be made aware that they have to protect themselves from what they are being served.

Report excerpts:

Canada still doesn't have national standards to ensure safe drinking water. The report warns there are still significant risks with the water, particularly in rural and First Nation communities. Canadians do not have equal access to safe drinking water, a basic source of survival, and, that there are high costs in failing to protect the water we drink.

Canada's system of guidelines falls short of legally binding national standards found in other jurisdictions, such as the U.S. and Europe. Instead, we have voluntary national guidelines and provinces establish their own standards, which may or may not meet those guidelines. (This is in part Lillooet’s problem, where citizens are not protected from being force-fed toxic municipal arsenic well water.)

Canada has a patchwork of standards in various jurisdictions, with only Alberta, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and Yukon adopting the national guidelines. “Guidelines” leave significant populations, such as First Nations and rural communities (like Lillooet) vulnerable.

Nearly half the jurisdictions in Canada "lack mandatory testing for chemical contamination of drinking water (like the IHA position on the testing of arsenic in our well water or in the homes of Lillooet).

Nancy Goucher, water-policy expert, said, “the end result was a two-tier system in Canada for rural and First Nation communities versus urban areas of the country”. She commented, “the thought of not having that guarantee of safe drinking water, I think, would just reduce your entire quality of life”.

In Lillooet, water quality and human health could be affected not only by lack the of the assessment of the water, but by choosing inferior ground water sources over our abundant good surface water sources, and, by poor delivery methods and oversight. The practice of Lillooet pumping arsenic well water directly into distribution mains for the last 16 years (to try to dilute it with good surface water sources) is an uncontrolled, imbalanced and flawed method which needs to stop. Firm, unified federal regulation as outlined in the report should assist to steer communities away from choosing to use any inferior arsenic well water, and encourage development of their good, safe surface water sources.

Thank you,

Kate Maxon

Taxpayer, Lillooet