Potential threats to water exist everywhere

Realizing the potential threats to drinking water is the first step to protecting it.
Robert Stewart, a faculty member of the department of geography at Lakehead University, addressed the subject during the Matawa Environmental Conference for Northern Ontario Oct. 28 in Thunder Bay.
“People need to be aware of the impact of their actions on drinking water,” Stewart said. “There is no limit to the threats.”
Stewart led a discussion with participants about what they viewed as threats to drinking water.
Fly-in First Nations will have different threats than road access ones, he said.
Among the threats identified by the group were road salt, waste disposal site, airplane de-icing chemicals, septic systems, water treatment plant lift stations, dumps, old sawmill sites, fuel storage drums and radar base stations.
“I see a lot of new fuel tanks going in to communities but very few are coming out,” Stewart said.
He levied a harsh criticism at the federal government over the northern radar base stations built in the 1950s and 1960s.
“Anything of strategic importance to the government gets built, but there’s not a lot of follow-up afterwards,” Stewart said.
In some cases, it’s not just the physical threat, but there could be a human component as well. He cited septic systems installation sites as an example.
“If the regulations (about installation) aren’t being enforced, they aren’t going to help anyone,” Stewart said. “If your community is facing more than one of these issues, you may have to prioritize and rank which threats should be addressed first.”