Dear Editor,
As we approach the municipal election, there is an important question candidates for mayor and council should be prepared to answer:
Do we really know what decades of military training may have left behind in our soil and groundwater?
The Department of National Defence acknowledges that live-fire training at the Meaford military training area releases unexploded ordnance and munition residues into the environment. DND says it conducts annual surface- and groundwater monitoring and has found “minimal contamination.”
DND also acknowledges that construction of the proposed TC Energy pumped-storage project could affect how munitions or other residues move through soil and groundwater.
If contamination is considered minimal, shouldn’t residents be able to see the evidence?
What contaminants have been found in the impact zone? Where are they? At what concentrations? And how do we know whether any are moving through groundwater?
I am not saying contamination is migrating into local groundwater. That has not been established. I am saying that, given the site’s history and geology, it is a reasonable question that deserves an answer based on actual testing.
There is another reason to pay attention. Historical monitoring found phosphorus above the provincial objective in the Bighead River in 87 of 394 samples. Agriculture is one recognized source, but that does not establish whether it accounts for all of the phosphorus or whether other pathways contribute.
The proposed pumped-storage project makes understanding our groundwater even more important. Before major excavation or changes to groundwater movement occur, shouldn’t we know what the environmental baseline is today?
The municipality is not responsible for monitoring the military training area. That is DND’s responsibility.
But council represents the residents who live here. It can ask questions, request information, bring the appropriate agencies together and advocate for monitoring that protects local residents and private wells.
The regular provincial private-well program is valuable, but it mainly tests for bacteria such as E. coli and total coliforms. It is not designed to identify the wider range of chemical contaminants that could potentially be associated with a military training environment.
I am not saying those contaminants are in local wells. That is precisely what needs to be established.
TC Energy should also be part of the conversation. It will be carrying out extensive environmental studies on the same landscape where DND has conducted military training for decades.
DND has the history and monitoring data. TC Energy will be studying the site. The municipality represents the people who live here.
They should work together to establish a clear environmental baseline before major changes occur, with the results made available to the public.
And for those of us who live here, especially neighbours who rely on private wells:
Do you know what is in your water?
You deserve to know.
Ask the candidates what they will do to make sure you can.
Anton Komar, Meaford
