Fish not biting ‘like they used to’ in Lac-Mégantic 10 years after rail disaster | 24CA News
Pierre Grenier says that ever for the reason that 2013 prepare derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Que. spilled 100,000 litres of crude oil into the Chaudière River, fishing hasn’t been the identical.
Anglers like him are catching fewer fish, and their catches are more and more grownup fish — an indication that fewer fish are being born. The fish, Grenier mentioned, “don’t bite like they used to.”
Experts with Quebec’s Environment Department might be deployed within the coming weeks to check the river’s rehabilitation since a runaway prepare carrying crude oil derailed and exploded 10 years in the past, killing 47 individuals and destroying components of downtown. The division says it’ll analyze the degrees of hydrocarbons in river sediments, the well being of animals that reside on the riverbed and the general state of fish populations.
Grenier, president of Lac-Mégantic’s affiliation of hunters and anglers, says his group has helped the province keep the well being of the area’s fish shares by introducing new species into Lake Mégantic, which feeds the Chaudière River. But, he mentioned, stocking the lake hasn’t had the specified impact.
“We stocked brown trout four years after the disaster, but anglers aren’t catching them,” he mentioned. “Is the water suitable for the feeding and reproduction of fish? If it’s contaminated, we need to know.”
Grenier pointed to the placement of the spill, the place the lake drains into the river.
“Right here, the water was full of oil, and it was flowing down into the Chaudière River. Have any toxins remained throughout the lake?” he requested, including that he hopes the upcoming Environment Department research will reply that query.
In 2015, a abstract report from the Environment Department concluded fish caught at a number of stations alongside the river confirmed extra deformities and different anomalies than in every other river within the province.
The final examine by the provincial authorities on the results of the oil spill within the waterway dates again to 2017. Government specialists provided at the moment a “reassuring” evaluation of the well being of the fish inventory, regardless of a persistently excessive charge of anomalies.
“The fish integrity index has not improved, and the percentage of fish exhibiting anomalies (deformities, fin erosion, injuries, and tumours) which was very high in 2014, remained equally high in 2016,” the researchers mentioned within the 2017 examine, including that there was “no comparison” between these elevated charges of anomalies and what existed earlier than the spill.
But the examine additionally mentioned sediments within the lake and river had low concentrations of pollution and “did not warrant decontamination efforts.” Oil-contaminated sediments “do not accumulate in the flesh of fish,” that are fit for human consumption, the researchers mentioned.
It was beneficial new research be carried out earlier than 2022, however for varied causes, together with the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve been delayed, authorities spokesman Frédérick Fournier mentioned. Results from this summer season’s research on the lake and the river ought to be printed subsequent 12 months, he added.
Back in July 2013, it took 30,000 litres of fire-retardant foam to extinguish the flames attributable to the explosion. The foam contained perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — often called PFAS or “forever chemicals.”
Knowledge about these chemical substances has considerably developed lately, and they’re now below scrutiny by Environment Canada. A draft report by the federal division, printed in May, proposes concluding that “all substances in the class of PFAS have the potential to cause harm to both the environment and human health.”
Studies by the provincial Environment Department instantly after the Lac-Mégantic derailment concluded that there was no proof the catastrophe led to an increase within the ranges of PFAS in fish.
But Céline Guéguen, a Université de Sherbrooke chemistry professor, says the presence of these chemical substances ought to be re-evaluated within the lake and within the river. “Ten years ago, we knew that forever chemicals existed, but we may not have had the technology to measure them accurately,” she mentioned.
Guéguen belongs to a gaggle of researchers in search of funding to evaluate the contamination of the water 10 years after the spill. “We aim to contribute to improving knowledge about the health of the lake,” she mentioned. “If multiple experts delve into these questions, it can only be beneficial for the environment.”
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