Industry Update
Government proposal on road salts
Manitoba government accepts drinking water recommendations
released
Manitoba's Health Minister, Dave Chomiak,and Conserva
tion Minister Oscar Lathlin, accepted a number of recom mendations of the Drinking Water Advisory Committee on bacterial testing of water, November 9, 2001. The govern ment will:
• accept 70% of the cost for testing private wells and 100% for repeat tests of wells with positive results; •continue education and communication initiatives such as
a drinking water information line and the distribution of well water fact sheets;
•conduct a legislative review of regulations governing semipublic water systems such as restaurants and other estab lishments that serve the public;
• set the goal of drafting key legislation and regulations for the spring sitting of the legislature; and Five million tonnes of road salts are used each winter in Canada.
A 60-day public comment period started December 1,2001, with the publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I of the recommendation that road salts, which contain inorganic chloride salts with or without ferrocyanide salts, be added to Schedule 1 under the Canadian Environmental Protec
tion Act(CEPA). The government will make a final deci sion on this legal step following a complete review and consideration of the comments received. Canadians are
welcome to provide comments until January 29, 2002, to Environment Canada.
The government recognizes the importance of road salts in protecting roadway safety and is not proposing a ban on road salts or to put in place any measures that would com promise or reduce road safety. Consultations will be launched next year on better ways to manage road salts so that harm to the environment is re duced. This follows the release of a comprehensive five-
year scientific assessment by Environment Canada that de termined that road salts in sufficient concentrations pose a risk to the aquatic environment, plants and animals. A five-year study concluded that because of high releases
around storage and snow disposal sites and through runoff and splash from roadways into soil, streams and rivers, road salts are harmful to the environment. The assessment was
restricted to ecological effects as the expert panel judged that there was no evidence of human health effects.
The assessment report is available on Environment Cana da's Green Lane web site at: www.ec.gc.ca/CEPARegistry.
• act on the recommendations for a task force to examine,in
detail, the resources required to carry out the rest of the rec ommendations including the establishment of a drinking wa ter coordinating centre for Manitoba. During the summer, despite the absence of any reported illnesses, Premier Gary Doer had called for the testing of water systems being used by schools, hospitals, personal care homes, and day cares.
US panel of water security experts underscore threat to drinking water A panel of top US water security experts cautioned public utility officers November 13, 2001, on the potential physi cal, chemical and biological threats to public drinking wa ter supplies. They predicted new requirements for expanded water testing and monitoring. The Water Security Monitoring panel, convened by the
Hach Company at an AWWA Water Quality Technology Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, discussed threats to,
and the security of, public drinking water supplies. Leading engineers, consultants, environmental program managers and a retired Center for Disease Control executive, all underscored the importance of practical solutions includ ing intensive and frequent water monitoring, physical secu rity and emergency response plans in all water districts. Teiry Engelhardt,a drinking water specialist with the Hach Company in Loveland, Colorado, said: "Water systems of every size across the country need to be vigilant and pre pared for deliberate attempts to contaminate water systems." Bill Borlase to serve on WEF Executive At the Water Environment Federation
Conference in Atlanta, the Board of Di rectors elected William J.(Bill) Borlase
Consultants Limited Consulting Engineers, Project Managers, Ecological Planners, Landscape Architects Providing Professional Services Since 1959 Brampton (905) 459-4780 Cobalt
(705) 679-5979
•
Pickering (905) 837-0314
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Kitchener
(519) 743-6111
Internet Site; http://wwwv.kmk.on.ca
E-mail: kmk@kmk.on.ca
For more information, circle reply card No. 173 (See page 25)
to the WEF Executive Committee for the 2001-2002 term. Bill is a member of the Western Canada Water Environment Association and the Water Environment Association of Ontario.
He presently serves on the WEF Board of Directors, rep resenting Western Canada. As the only Canadian elected to the Executive Committee,Bill is committed to representing all Canadian issues during his term of office. He also serves on ES&E's Technical Advisory Board. Environmental Science & Engineering, January 2002