Flea market fire toxins contaminate more wells

Two years after fire destroyed a flea market near Smiths Falls, Ont.,toxic chemicals from the foam firefighters used to douse the flames have appeared in the well water of homes half a kilometre away.

The RideauValley Marketplace and everything in it burned to the ground shortly after 5 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2016.As CBChas reported, residents of about a dozen homes adjacent to the Rideau Valley Marketplace soon noticed their tap water was foul-smelling and bubbly, and were advised not to drink it, cook with it, bathe in it or even flush their toilets.

• Smiths Falls, Ont., residents fearful after water contaminated by fire
• Health fears persist for residents near razed flea market

Now CBCNews has learned that the wells of more homesfurther from the scene of the firehave become contaminated.

"To learn after about 19 months that in fact our water was polluted, it was a shock," said Nancy MacDonald, whose home on PoonamalieSide Road is among those affected.

8 homeowners notified

PoonamalieSide Road meets Highway 43about 500 metres from where the flea market stood, and stretches southwest toward the Rideau River and Lower Rideau Lake. MacDonald is amongeight property owners on theroad who were informed in October that their well water containsunsafe levels of Perfluoroalkylated substances, or PFAS.

PFAS are a group of chemicalsused in a wide variety of productsincluding adhesives, cosmetics, cleaning products and firefighting foams.

• What are perfluoroalkylated substances, or PFAS?
• Their water poisoned, fed up residents demand answers about toxic fire foam

High levels ofPFAShave been linked to negative health effects in animals, including liver damage and stuntedneurological development, according to Health Canada. There is little information about the human health risks associated with the chemicals.

Smiths Falls-area woman deals with contaminated water

6 years ago

Duration 0:57

Nancy MacDonald can no longer use her water after a 2016 fire in town and she doesn't know when that will change.

Long-lasting chemicals

"[PFAS]are chemicals that hang around a long time in the environment," said Dr. Paula Stewart, medical officer of health for the Leeds,GrenvilleandLanarkDistrict Health Unit. "They glom to rocks and move into the water bit by bit."

Heavy rainfall within the last several months has likely pushed the chemicals into the groundwater along fractured rock,Stewart said.Whether a particular well is affected depends on which part of the aquifer it taps into, she explained, which means levels of contamination differ from neighbour to neighbour along PoonamalieSide Road.

We were the priority. We needed clean drinking water.- Nancy MacDonald, PoonamalieSide Road resident

Stewart would not reveal the addresses of newly affected properties, or say whether the contaminated wells are clustered near the highway or staggeredalong the three-kilometre road, describing that information as "sensitive."

Twenty more homeowners on the roadhave been issued precautionary notices pending the results of water testing, she said.

In total, 31 homes are now being supplied with drinking water at the expense of the provincial government, according to a statement fromOntario's ministry of the environment.

Province providing drinking water

Previously, the flea market's insurer was paying for the water, but "due to a lack of action by the responsible party, the ministry arranged for bottledwater to be delivered to affected homes."

However, delivery began more than a month after affectedresidents first received notice their water posed a risk a delay that concerns MacDonald and her neighbours.

"I would think [the ministry's]foremost concern should have been our health and safety, and deal with the owner after the fact," MacDonald said.

"We were the priority. We needed clean drinking water."

Tom Pirie, the owner of the Rideau Valley Marketplace, did not return messages left by CBC.

Filtration systems imperfect

Unlike people living closer to the site of the fire, who were told they were at risk of inhalingaerosolizedbenzene from the contaminated water, MacDonaldand her neighbours have been told their water is safe for bathing because PFAScan't be absorbedby the skin.

However,with regular visits from her four young grandchildren,including a 10-month-old, MacDonaldsaid she's uncomfortable taking the risk.

"Children do tend to drink bathwater,"MacDonaldsaid. "I'm just erring on the side of caution, especially with the baby."

Eleven of those previously affected homes now have drinking water treatment systems,paid for by the flea market owner's insurer, according to the province.

But Cory Read, who lives across the street from the fire site, said it's not a perfect solution. His family can only drink from a special tap in the kitchen and the water dispenser in the fridge, and he worries about his young children drinking from other taps or swallowing bathwater, particularly after he receivednotice in recent weeks of a spike in the level of contamination.

The system also requires annual maintenance, Read said, and he's not confident the government will foot the $500 bill he's expecting to receive soon for work completed last Friday.

"I've tried to get in touch with the appropriate ministry representatives and haven't been able to get any answers," Read said.

No guarantees, MPPsays

Randy Hillier, the PC MPP for the affected property owners, said he doesn't believe homeowners with filtration systems were ever guaranteed reimbursement for maintenance costs.

Is this a short-term blip or a long-term and prolonged problem?- Randy Hillier, MPP

As for whether the residents of PoonamalieSide Road will require such systems at all, Hillier said it's too soon to say.

"Is this a short-term blip or a long-term and prolonged problem? Those things can't be determined until more water sampling is done," Hillier said.

If the systems are needed, they will be installed at no expense to homeowners, Hillier said, but because Pirie's insurance coverage has been exhausted, the province may have to pursue himfor costs later.