Interior Health pushed to act on nitrate in drinking water

SPALLUMCHEEN – Dozens of North Okanagan residents are buying their drinking water these days because of high levels of nitrate in the water that comes out of their taps.

The 53 homes served by the Steele Springs Waterworks District have been living with a water quality advisory since 2014 and have asked legal experts for help.

As a result, the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre is putting pressure on the Interior Health Authority to take action.

The law centre wrote to Interior Health this week asking it to issue what is called a drinking water hazard protection order.

In particular, the law centre wants to see the health authority step in to stop one particular farm from applying liquid manure to a particular field that the law centre believes is contributing to the problem.

In 2014, the Ministry of Environment gave the farm a compliance order saying they couldn’t put any more manure onto the field that year without permission.

“We are quite confident that the medical health officer will order a drinking water hazard protection order now because of the fact the evidence that has been gathered by our law students to show the levels of nitrate in the drinking water and the likelihood that the most likely contributor to this nitrate contamination is the government authorizing manure effluent to be added to the field.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are quite confident that the medical health officer will order a drinking water hazard protection order now because of the fact the evidence that has been gathered by our law students to show the levels of nitrate in the drinking water and the likelihood that the most likely contributor to this nitrate contamination is the government authorizing manure effluent to be added to the field."

However, Interior Health says it is taking time to review the Law Centre’s letter and can’t say if a moratorium will be issued.

“The last levels that we have observed were at 10.1 ppm which is slightly above the maximum acceptable concentration. At those levels the risk is actually for infants that are less than six months old,” says Rob Birtle speaking on behalf of Interior Health.

Meantime, the waterworks district says their last test of nitrate levels showed they were even higher above 12 ppm.

The health authority suggests the contamination of the water source in question, the Hullcar Aquifer, isn’t coming from just one place.

Birtle says it is often difficult to tell where nitrates are coming from.

“The land over top of the Hullcar Aquifer is agricultural and residential based. Everyone is actually contributing nitrates to that aquifer via their animals, via their agricultural practices, septic systems [and] lawn nitrification,” says Birtle. “All those practices do contribute.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The land over top of the Hullcar Aquifer is agricultural and residential based. Everyone is actually contributing nitrates to that aquifer via their animals, via their agricultural practices, septic systems [and] lawn nitrification," says Birtle. "All those practices do contribute."

For its part, the Ministry of Environment says it has been working with provincial health officials “to ensure there is no risk to public health and safety.”

“Environment ministry staff collect samples from the aquifer monthly. These test results are sent directly to Interior Health to determine public health and safety risks, issue public water advisories and keep residents advised and up-to-date,” wrote a ministry spokesperson in a written statement.

The farm at the centre of the controversy turned down Global Okanagan’s interview request. However, a representative suggested the contamination predated their business saying the aquifer had been contaminated for years.