Time for Alberta to come clean about environmental accidents

Pictures of a 100 km long leak of coal mine sludge, making its way down the Athabasca River. This picture taken Nov. 3, near the confluence of the Plante and Athabasca rivers. One billion litres of sludge leaked from the closed Obed Mountain Mine near Hinton on Oct. 31.
Photograph by: Supplied , Alberta Environment

Time for Alberta to come clean about environmental accidents

By Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal November 14, 2013

EDMONTON - Mercury levels nine times higher than normal.
Levels of cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons four times the allowed standard for Canadian drinking water.

Those are the kinds of disturbing test results Dr. James Talbot, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, is seeing as he monitors a huge plume of coal mine waste water currently oozing down the Athabasca River.

“Our overriding concern is the safety of the drinking water,” says Talbot. “We’re advising people, ‘Don’t draw water as the plume is going by.’ ”

Read story here: http://bit.ly/1cWmNG5