Water quality matters
By now you may have seen or heard of the controversial comments made in Banff recently by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Speaking to a crowd of 620 people, at a $500-per-plate fundraising dinner for his Waterkeeper Alliance, the environmentalist said 90 per cent of Alberta’s fish are inedible.
Not surprisingly, people whose livelihoods depend on sport and commercial fishing in the province are livid.
They don’t want anyone, particularly rich Americans who travel to this province to fish, to believe that there is anything wrong with our swimmers or water.
It is an exaggeration to suggest that almost all the fish in this province are not fit to eat due to contamination.
That said, some of them are likely not safe to eat and some of our rivers have certainly been contaminated.
Dr. David Schindler, a University of Alberta biologist widely considered Canada’s top water expert, has expressed great concern for the impact of this province’s oil industry on the Athabasca River, in particular.
“We found rather massive inputs of toxic organic compounds by the oilsands industry to the Athabasca River and its tributaries,” Schindler reported in December. “The major contribution to the river was from industry.”
Schindler said the total concentration of pollutants is already high enough to be toxic to some fish embryos.
The provincial government has tried without much success to dismiss Schindler’s findings.
Given the opportunity, would you want to eat a fish caught in the Athabasca River? Me neither.
Schindler has more credibility on this issue than Premier Ed Stelmach and his minions.
A number of years ago, it was the Alberta government itself urging people not to eat fish in the Swan Hills area after that community’s toxic waste plant was found to be emitting a troubling amount of toxins into the air.
Would you eat a fish caught in a river near Swan Hills? Me neither.
The current provincial government recommends that people eat a limited amount of fish caught in certain areas of Alberta because of its mercury content.
For instance, as noted in a recent Calgary Herald story: “It is recommended that women of childbearing age and kids under 11 avoid eating walleye and northern pike caught in the Bow River, below the Bassano dam, while healthy adults are advised to limit consumption to 75 grams per week.”
The provincial government would be well advised to consult with such people as Schindler and Kennedy and work with them on solutions to the problem of Alberta’s rivers being contaminated by industry.
Treating them as ill-informed kooks only makes the general public suspicious and angry.
Alberta’s Conservative government may or may not still be around after the next provincial election.
But our rivers and fish certainly will be.
Lee Giles is an Advocate editor.
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