#groundwater-contamination

#groundwater-contamination

A new 20-year study of nearly 11,000 adults in Bangladesh found that lowering arsenic levels in drinking water was associated with up to a 50 percent lower risk of death from heart disease, cancer and other chronic illnesses, compared with continued exposure.Published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study provides the first long-term, individual-level evidence that reducing arsenic exposure may lower mortality, even among people exposed to the toxic contaminant for years.

Projects that involve dumped soil near groundwater are highly risky and there are lots of provincial rules about preventing soil from getting in them, says retired water resources engineer Ian McLaurin. "Groundwater is what we drink," McLaurin, who has his own water well at his home in Durham Region and serves as volunteer advisor for upset residents, told CBC Toronto. "We pull it straight out of the ground and we drink that stuff totally untreated, and so that's why we're concerned about soil going into water," he said.

It is very risky in terms of groundwater contamination. As the motion currently stands there is no groundwater quality or quantity study. There is no ecological assessment.