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YOUR Independent Community Newspaper Vol. 10 Edition 3
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
Funds sought to support water testing
By Pam Wright Local Journalism Initiative pamwrightlji@gmail.com
Ten years have passed since Christine Burke began her fight for clean well water. But while frustrated, she’s far from done. In partnership with the Wallaceburg Area Wind Concerns group, Burke has started a GoFundMe campaign to pay for sediment testing in affected wells. Launched Jan. 4, the GoFundMe effort passed the halfway mark towards its $12,000 goal after only three days, with one donor committing $5,000. “This is for the people that are financially burdened,” Burke said of the fundraiser, as the testing costs about $1,500 per well. The initial campaign will cover the cost to test six or seven wells in late
January. Burke said a certified hydrologist will draw the samples, maintaining the chain of custody, and ship them to RTI Laboratories in Livonia, Mich. Burke said RTI’s technology is state-of-the-art. It’s the same company that conducted testing in the Flint water crisis. According to Burke, the decision to undertake further testing is going forward based on a recommendation from local geologist Keith Benn. The Port Lambton resident sat on the expert panel of an all-hazard investigation carried out by the provincial government. The probe came about following an election promise made by Premier Doug Ford to conduct a health hazard study of brown and black water from wells said to be af-
fected by the construction and operation of wind turbines in North Kent. However, the province downgraded the investigation to an all-hazard study and excluded property owners in Dover, who like their counterparts in Chatham Township, had dark sediment fouling their wells. In a report released last November, Benn said the results of the all-hazard study fell short, as some of the solid particles found in the North Kent area wells had elevated levels of heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead and nickel. Benn said bioaccessibility testing needs to be carried out on the wells to determine if the elevated concentrations of heavy metals pose a health hazard concern.
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Sitting on the dock of the bay
Pam Wright/The Chatham Voice
These Canada geese decided to take a break from swimming and were spotted lazing on a dock near Port Lambton recently. They may have been waiting for the sun to come out.
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