Thursday, March 5, 2009

Radioactive Drinking Water ALERT!

The radioactive material level in municipal drinking water in Ottawa is extremely high! And it's being blamed on Chalk River.

Please alert anyone you know who lives there.

From SunMedia:
"The levels of radioactive tritium in Ottawa's drinking water are routinely two, three, sometimes four times above the background level of tritium and this is because of these nuclear facilities on the banks of the river," said Meredith Brown, the Ottawa Riverkeeper"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

To be perfectly clear, Ottawa Riverkeeper has never issued an "ALERT", advisory or warning regarding the health and safety of Ottawa's drinking water.

The City of Ottawa is the only authority providing official information regarding the status of our drinking water, and to date, there have been no health or safety advisories issued.

For more information, please contact the City of Ottawa water services department:

The City of Ottawa, Water Services
110 Laurier Avenue, West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1J1
E-mail: info-water@ottawa.ca
City of Ottawa Contact Centre 3-1-1

Natasha Wilson
Communications Coordinator
Ottawa Riverkeeper
613-321-1120
communications@ottawariverkeeper.ca

James Curran said...

Ottawa Riverkeeper Executive Director Meredith Brown, who is launching a campaign calling for increased accountability for spills into the Ottawa River, wrote on February 26: “Under the best of circumstances I am uncomfortable with the very idea of a nuclear reactor operating on the banks of the Ottawa River. But when that reactor is old and prone to leaks, I am particularly concerned”.

“Even more alarming is the fact that these leaks are not reported to the public, in detail, in a timely manner,” Brown concluded.

According to a February 28 report in The Ottawa Sun, Sun Media uncovered that the 51-year-old Chalk River nuclear facility had been leaking up to 7,000 liters (1,849 gallons) of water a day for more than a month from a crack in a weld.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission told Sun Media that the leaking water had “a very low level of radioactivity” and that it is not a safety concern. The water was released into the Ottawa River.

Brown’s report addressed statements made by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. She wrote, “I did the math on the amount of tritium (a highly carcinogenic substance) contained in the heavy water being released. The results were alarming.”

Anonymous said...

Re: James Curran

Our organization has been vocal in advocating for information, and for bringing attention to incidents that may effect the health of our the Ottawa River. Specifically, what was "alarming" was the amount of tritium that was dumped because of a small heavy water leak. A separation between levels of tritium in our river, and levels of tritium in drinking source needs to occur. And remember, presently, the City is meeting and exceeding allowable health and safety standards for municipal water services.

James Curran said...

Does the general public in Ottawa know of their plight? Do you yourself there dirnk the water from the tap? Just asking.

http://whatdoiknowgrit.blogspot.com/2009/03/do-citizens-of-ottawa-know-theyre.html