[All] SWM ponds may plug up aquifer recharges

[Louisette Lanteigne]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
To: Regional Councillors <regionalcouncillors at regionofwaterloo.ca>; "minister.moe at ontario.ca" <minister.moe at ontario.ca>; "melissa.durrell at waterloo.ca" <melissa.durrell at waterloo.ca>; "jeff.henry at waterloo.ca" <jeff.henry at waterloo.ca>; "Mark.Whaley at waterloo.ca" <Mark.Whaley at waterloo.ca>; "diane.freeman at waterloo.ca" <diane.freeman at waterloo.ca>; "angela.vieth at waterloo.ca" <angela.vieth at waterloo.ca>; Karen Scian <Karen.Scian at waterloo.ca> 
Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2012 3:17:14 PM
Subject: SWM ponds may plug up aquifer recharges
 

Dear Mayors and Council members

Simcoe must clean up its drinking water or find a new supply, a county official has warned due to high nitrate issues: 
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/08/28/simcoes-drinking-water-at-risk-due-to-nitrate-levels

Experts I met with this morning in Paris Ontario told me they believe the rinse of aggregates in the infiltration ponds bumped up the local nitrate issues, releasing pesticides and fertilizer particulates directly into the water supply. Because they didn't want to lose water volumes, these ponds allowed for infiltration which introduced silt and sediment particulates impairing the overall recharge capacity. The aquifer in these areas are literally plugged up now creating long term water budget deficiencies and elevated contamination in wells with less water to dilute issues. 

In areas such as Vista Hills, which is over top farmland, the SWM pond will concentrate nitrates, atrazine and other farm particuates because the entire landscape served as recharge and was a corn crop for years. The SWM pond, particularly in Vista Hills is specifically "designed" to infiltrate water back into the aquifer. No doubt we can expect the same issues to surface at this location.

In response, I would like to request the City of Waterloo and Region to secure independent studies for nitrate and atrazine levels in these ponded areas.  I would like there to be independent monitoring the contaminate levels going into Clair Creek, particularly in proximity to the window recharge. I fear we might be introducing serious contamination risks associate with nitrate, phosphate and atrazine into our aquifers directly at these locations and I do not want taxpayers to have to pay the added burden of having to clean this mess up when it is the responsibility of the proponent to comply with local, provincial and federal laws. We could lose wells as a result of this.

The West Side Lands were subject to an OMB case PL071044 (Superior Court Case C-280-10) The Court Order conditions that were agreed upon are outlined here: http://waterloomoraineact.com/expertminutes.htm

Please provide me with a point by point of the current status update of the agreed upon concessions with reference to supporting documentation to show that these conditions have been reasonably met. 

Thank you kindly for your time. 

Louisette Lanteigne
700 Star Flower Ave.
Waterloo Ont.
N2V 2L2
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