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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-04-27, Page 3Wednesday, April 27, 2005 Exeter Times–Advocate 3 Ausable River clean-up after chlorine spill By Stephanie Mandziuk TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — Three days after a chlorine leak killed thousands of fish (at least 17 different species) in the Ausable River, the clean-up began. The source of the leak was traced to a 5,000 litre, out- door storage tank at MacLeans Home Hardware on Main Street in Exeter. Store owner Gary MacLean has co-operated with ministry and conservation officials from the beginning and organized the clean-up April 21 with the ABCA and the local high school. Chris Hutt, senior environmental officer with the Ministry of the Environment, faxed a letter to MacLean on April 20. Hutt says he requested MacLean to volun- tarily take action in a number of ways. •MacLean has been asked to hire the services of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority to help direct the clean-up of the three mile stretch of river running through Exeter. Large fish, easily accessible, were to be removed and buried in the flood plain by April 24. •MacLean has been asked to contract the services of the ABCA to conduct an impact assessment remedia- tion study. The study's purpose is to implement a gameplan on how to approach and deal with the reper- cussions of the chemical spill. •MacLean has been asked to provide copies of the proposal to the Ministry of the Environment and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans so that both bod- ies may review it before it is implemented. *MacLean has been asked to produce a report with conclusions and recommendations. Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Environment's investi- gation is ongoing and could take take several months to complete. Students from SHDHS help clean up dead fish along a three mile stretch of the Ausable River in Exeter. The students are part of an environmental resource man- agement class. Above, Robin Hammond picks up a fish. (photo/Stephanie Mandziuk) Nurse your feet back to health Sarah Wuerth, C. PED Certified Pedorthist • Footwear Fitting Specialist • Custom Orthotics • Foot Problems Wuerth's 1.877.235.0611 SHOES new balance Proper shoes for problem feet 1111i? III • I I I Vi 14F I I I III I Test results on drainage ditch "very good" By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF SOUTH HURON — Sample results taken from a drainage ditch that included field run-off were "very good," according to the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority. The samples were taken after it was discovered a property owner at the cor- ner of Huron Street West and Corbett Line (Part Lot 20, Conc. 18) dug his own drainage ditch along the side of the road, resulting in run-off from the field entering a public drain. Concern was raised by South Huron Coun. Pete Armstrong at council's April 4 meeting. The ABCA tested for lev- els of E. coli and nitrates from samples from three different areas April 14. Two of the samples were taken from open water- courses, with the other coming at a tile outlet. The three E. coli counts, per 100 millilitres, were zero, four and 200. ABCA manager Tom Prout said provincial standards for swimming dictate there be an E. coli count of no more than 100. The first nitrate sample showed undetectable amounts of nitrates, while the others showed one milligram and 3.4 mil- ligrams of nitrates per litre, much less than the provincial standards of 10 milligrams per litre. Despite the good results, Prout cautioned that the ABCA took "grab sam- ples," which reflect the water quality at the time the tests are taken. "If we came back a day later, after a rain fall, the A1, Gaiser + Kneale MBroker EXETER - 235-2420 GRAND BEND - 238-8484 CLINTON - 482-3401 results could be quite dif- ferent," Prout said, adding he intended to recom- mend to the municipality that more testing be done to provide a better indica- tion of water quality. "The results came back very, very good," Prout said, "but if we went out there next week, they could be totally different." While the one E. coli count was above provin- cial standards for recre- ational use, Prout said the count is relatively low for an agricultural area, where E. coli levels some- times measure in the thousands. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • :Goose • •.• • • •MAY • • • • • • • • • • • • The G• NEW LONGER Gossiping Restau••ran•t • • epre00140,49--. ' • • Sat. 9-3 • p.m. • • • • our • • • • • • • • 2 HOURS: Mon. -Fri. 7-7; BRUNCH BUFFET: Sun. 10:30-2 DINNER BUFFET: 4:30-8 p.m. ... 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