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Adverse Water Quality Incident Report

Location:
Willowdale Trailer Park, 1 km north of Highway 17 Dryden, Ontario

Incident Resolution:
Pending. The Northwestern Health Unit issued a drinking water advisory on May 10, 2005.

The Drinking Water Advisory identifies elevated levels of naturally occurring uranium and cautions against the use of the water for human consumption.

Type of water source:
Ground water supply. The system uses chlorination for disinfection. Filtration and water softening are not provided.

Population served:
25 Trailers and one house

Water works owned/operated by:
Privately owned
Operated by owner
Non-Municipal Year Round Residential

Date MOE notified and by whom:
May 10, 2005, by Ministry of the Environment Laboratory

Date MOH notified and by whom:
May 10, 2005, by Ministry of the Environment Laboratory

Date of First Sample(s):
May 6, 2005

Who conducted the sampling?:
Ministry of the Environment Staff

Why was sampling initiated?:
Investigation surrounding naturally occurring uranium in the groundwater in the area.

Sample contaminant details:
Uranium – 0.0213 mg/l first sample
Drinking Water Quality Standard - 0.02 mg/l

Resampling details and results:
Ministry staff will be resampling on May 11, 2005

MOE Role:
Field Response – Ministry staff will be resampling on May 11, 2005 The local Health Unit and Ministry staff will continue to work closely with the owner of the system to protect public health, and to ensure that a safe potable water supply is maintained for the users of this system.

Background (if there is a history of the site):
On May 9, 2005, a drinking water advisory was issued to any persons using water from a ground water source in the entire Dryden/Vermilion Bay area. This drinking water advisory was issued by the Northwestern Health Unit in reaction to the high levels of naturally occurring uranium in the ground water. The drinking water system was inspected by Ministry staff on January 24, 2006. Several non-compliance items were noted, including, a lack of an operations manual, lack of reporting, lack of sampling, and lack of record keeping. An order was not issued as a result of the inspection.