"The best evidence we have available right now is the risk of long-term health effects is not a concern at this point," he said. Patterson also said there does not seem to be any health risks to Iqaluit residents who drank contaminated tap water. It could be damage to the infrastructure ΓǪ there's a number of things. "It could be an old spill that's been liberated with (thawing) permafrost. Michael Patterson, said whatever the cause is, it didn't happen naturally. Nunavut's chief public health officer, Dr. The cause of the fuel contamination has not yet been determined. In addition, the city is doing an environmental assessment around the water treatment plant to look for possible contaminants in the soil. One-time-use instruments are to be utilized as much as possible. Iqaluit's hospital, the only one in the territory, will only be doing emergency surgeries for now, over concerns about sterilizing tools with contaminated water. The process is to continue for another 48 hours, then residents will get instructions to flush their home pipes by running their water for 20 minutes. The city is also flushing its water distribution system to remove contaminants. Water in the city's treated reservoir, which is downstream from the treatment plant and is the last point before water delivery, showed levels "well within health limits," Elgersma said. Once the tank is emptied, the city will conduct an investigation to determine how contaminants entered it, she said. The Nunavut government has been flying in shipments of potable water, while many residents have collected fresh water from a nearby river.Įlgersma said the city has isolated and bypassed the contaminated tank, and its water is being pumped out into trucks and transferred to holding tanks so it can be treated. Residents of the community of 8,000 people were told Tuesday not to drink tap water after it was discovered it may be contaminated by fuel. "The results of water quality testing showed exceedingly high concentrations of various fuel components in the sample collected from that tank," said Amy Elgersma, the city's chief administrative officer. Officials at a news conference Friday said the fuel could be diesel or kerosene. The City of Iqaluit says testing shows a high concentration of fuel in a tank that supplies water to the Nunavut capital, but long-term health effects are not a concern.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |