Transport Canada’s worries about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly referred to as forever chemicals, date back to the 1980s, as revealed in files obtained through an access-to-information request. These PFAS chemicals, with thousands of variations, have been associated with health issues such as liver and prostate cancer, pregnancy-induced hypertension, fatty liver disease, and disruptions in lipid function linked to Type 2 diabetes.
Over the years, Transport Canada, the Department of National Defence (DND), and the National Research Council of Canada conducted firefighter training exercises at Canadian airports using aqueous film-forming foams containing PFAS. While these foams were effective in combating jet fuel fires, their use at various sites led to groundwater contamination with these persistent chemicals.
Leading a proposed class-action lawsuit concerning the contamination of drinking water wells near Newfoundland airports is Alex Templeton, a partner at the law firm McInnes Cooper in St. John’s. The lawsuit, spearheaded by plaintiffs Eddie and Susan Sheerr, highlights how their wells exceeded Health Canada’s new drinking water guidelines limiting PFAS concentration to 30 nanograms per liter.
The contamination issues stemmed from firefighter training exercises managed by Transport Canada near Torbay and Logy Bay–Middle Cove–Outer Cove in Newfoundland. Transport Canada’s own documents, obtained through access-to-information requests, reveal a 1984 report indicating high toxicity levels in the effluent from these exercises.
While Transport Canada implemented effluent containment standards as early as 1979, concerns arose by 1990 regarding outdated standards and their inefficiency in addressing winter runoff conditions. The agency’s response to recent revelations contradicts the concerns raised in the reports from the 1980s and 1990s.
In North Bay, where a $120-million cleanup project is underway to remove PFAS from the drinking water, similar concerns have arisen. The firefighting foams contaminated groundwater that eventually reached the municipal water source at Trout Lake. Despite the relatively low concentration of PFAS in the lake water, it surpasses Health Canada’s guidelines.
A proposed class-action lawsuit filed by Mann Lawyers in Ottawa targets PFAS contamination in North Bay, alleging that DND was aware of elevated PFAS levels near the airport as far back as 2011. The lack of communication between involved parties and the delayed response to identified risks have left residents like Liza Vandermeer questioning the oversight and accountability of Transport Canada and the DND.