 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
Arsenic scare leads to investigation Soil sold to community garden collective had seven times the recommended limit of arsenic content
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 16, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) is investigating arsenic-laden soil sold to the Yellowknife Community Garden Collective (YCGC) last fall.
Alex Debogorski stands in front of his soil screener, which he uses to make topsoil, on Thursday morning. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is currently investigating a batch of contaminated soil Debogorski sold to the Yellowknife Community Garden Collective. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo |
The investigation started after the collective approached ENR with a complaint about contaminated soil it purchased from contractor Alex Debogorski.
Tests of the soil conducted last fall revealed it had an arsenic concentration of 83.8 mg/kg, nearly seven times higher than the Canadian Soil Quality Guidelines of 12 mg/kg.
Levels of boron, copper, selenium and zinc were also well above the recommended guidelines.
"I think this has highlighted a particularly Yellowknife problem, because we live on a mine site," said Dave Taylor, president of the YCGC.
Taylor said he does not blame Debogorski for the quality of the soil, saying when the collective notified him that it was contaminated, Debogorski agreed to replace it free of charge.
Instead, Taylor said the problem is with the lack of regulations.
"There is no regulation that says soils need to be tested when they are being moved," said Taylor. "I don't think the distributors are going to do it unless it's regulated."
Neither the GNWT nor the city currently regulates the sale of soil.
In an e-mail, Judy McLinton, manager of public affairs and communications, stated, "The right to soil/aggregate is under municipal authority within their boundaries and under federal authority outside of the municipalities."
Jeff Humble, Yellowknife's director of planning and development, said the city is not responsible for the transfer of soil, adding, "The onus is still on the operator to provide that (assurance)."
In the absence of regulation, testing for contaminants in the soil is only done at the discretion of either the seller or the buyer.
Debogorski, who has been delivering soil in Yellowknife for 30 years, said he does not test soil because it is too expensive. A standard pH test for an average $500 load of soil costs $50 and a more in-depth test to look for contaminants can cost as much as $250, he said.
"If you want to test it you go ahead and test it, I can't afford it," said Debogorski. "It's already very expensive. If I start testing it for you, you're not going to want to buy it because it's going to cost way too much."
According to Taylor, the YCGC had not previously tested its soil for anything except pH levels. After the pH levels from a batch of soil ordered from Debogorski last fall were found to be sub-par, the soil was tested for contaminants.
"The only reason we tested the contaminants is because there was a low pH," said Taylor, adding that if the pH had not been low, they would never have known about the arsenic.
Once the contaminants were discovered, Taylor said he believed the arsenic could be diluted by adding fertilizer and composting.
"I was led to believe last summer that it might be possible to remediate the soil by adding various things to raise the pH."
A group of three gardeners, whom Taylor says were warned about the poor soil quality, did garden on the plot.
However, once Taylor learned the levels of contaminants in the soil could not be diluted, the garden was dug up.
"When we found out the soil wasn't going to be usable, we contacted (the gardeners)," said Taylor.
Taylor said the gardeners sent samples of their produce to be tested and they are currently waiting for the results.
Yellowknifer spoke to one of the gardeners who did not wish to comment.
Officers from ENR met with Debogorski on Thursday morning to collect samples from the soil that was removed from the garden plot. Other mounds of soil which were being prepared for distribution were also tested.
According to Debogorski, the officers planned to take samples from behind the Tlicho rock quarry near the dump, where he collected the contaminated dirt.
Debogorski said he has not collected dirt from that site since test results showed high levels of contaminants.
However, he said arsenic, as well as other contaminants, are relatively common in soil across the city.
"All you have to do is look at the studies to see how much arsenic there is," said Debogorski. "Everything
in Yellowknife is contaminated with arsenic."
According to a study by the Environmental Sciences Group conducted in 2001, the "typical background concentration range of arsenic in the Yellowknife area is three to 150 ppm."
Debogorski suggested that if ENR was going to investigate the soil he sold, it should also test samples from gardens and lawns across the city, as well as from other distributors.
During an interview with Yellowknifer, McLinton said ENR would only be investigating this incident unless other cases were reported.
She added that if any wrongdoing was detected, Debogorski could be issued a fine under the Environmental Protection Act.
Although she could not speak to the specifics of the case, she said it was uncommon for a fine to be issued in cases where the contaminated site was dealt with to the department's satisfaction.
"As long as they are doing what they are meant to make sure that they are cleaning up or taking care of it, then no, there is no fine," said McLinton, adding that she could only remember one case where someone had been fined during her time working at ENR.
When asked whether she believed ENR would eventually regulate the sale of soil, McLinton emphasized that the responsibility for regulation lay with the city.
Nalini Naidoo, city director of communications and economic development, said the only thing a distributor requires to sell soil is a business licence.
"The city does not regulate the sale and distribution of soil," she said.
Chief public health officer, Andre Corriveau, said the guideline limits for contaminants issued by the government usually incorporate a tenfold safety factor, so that the actual threshold for contamination is usually higher than stated.
He also said in its naturally occurring state, arsenic is not nearly as harmful as arsenic trioxide, which is a bi-product resulting from the roasting process used in gold mining.
"So when they measure arsenic indiscriminately and say total arsenic it doesn't really tell you to what extent it is a public health problem or not, because some of it may be natural," said Corriveau.
| 
