Chester Gillan, Minister for the Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment, rejected claims today that the Province is delaying action on well field protection strategies aimed at protecting municipal drinking water supplies until 2004. The criticism was raised by the Leader of the Opposition, citing a report prepared by Dillon Consulting. The Opposition Leader's comments included concerns over land use in the vicinity of one of Charlottetown's three well fields.
Mr. Gillan said, "Well field protection is one of the cornerstones of the strategy unveiled by the Province earlier this week, and work on this initiative is already underway."
Mr. Gillan explained that the report being quoted was not commissioned to conduct a detailed examination of well field protection in any one area, but to review possible approaches to well field protection and to make recommendations on a generic, province-wide approach to well field protection strategies in general.
Mr. Gillan noted that, " Any recommendations in the report are preliminary in nature and intended only to provide examples of how well field protection plans might be implemented in a PEI setting. The Province is not delaying the development of well field protection strategies in any way, and this work is already in the process. The development of well field protection strategies is a detailed and complex process involving highly technical expertise in delineating protection zones, stake holder consultation, and land use planning."
The Minister explained that, rather than simply develop guidelines for municipalities to follow, the Province is going the extra step to provide the technical expertise to conduct the delineation of appropriate protective zones and to work with municipalities and other stake holders on issues of land use, etc. "This course of action was chosen because Government believes that it will provide the most timely and cost effective approach to implementation of well field protection goals," said Mr. Gillan.
Following the recommendations of the Dillon report, the Province is in the process of hiring a qualified individual to conduct technical aspects of the work needed to delineate well field protection zones and to support communities in land use planning relating to this initiative. Other recommendations in the report note the importance of working with communities and educating the public. Mr. Gillan noted that, "The Drinking Water Strategy is aimed precisely at these areas."
Mr. Gillan went on to note that the current water problems in Charlottetown have absolutely no connection with land use in the vicinity of the Suffolk well field. "Water samples from the Suffolk station--from as recently as yesterday--show that the water is fine," said Mr. Gillan. The Suffolk station was also one of the sites sampled by the Sierra Club/ University of Waterloo when a very detailed analysis of water quality was conducted by an independent body. There were no water quality concerns raised by this report, which included an analysis of over 140 different pesticide compounds.