Residents updated on $20M cleanup of contaminated soil at North Bay’s airport

On Wednesday, officials updated the public about the P-FAS situation in North Bay’s drinking water and getting the contaminants removed.

More than 26,000 tonnes of contaminated soil have been removed from the North Bay airport, officials told members of the public at a meeting Wednesday evening.

The event updated residents on efforts to remediate lands around the Jack Garland Airport, which were contaminated by Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contained in firefighting foam when the site was used for firefighter training from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s.

The foam seeped into the soil, moving through groundwater into Lee’s Creek. That waterway is connected to Trout Lake, the source of North Bay’s drinking water.

Wednesday’s meeting included representatives from the City of North Bay, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, the Department of National Defence and the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.

City officials said the first phase of the PFAS remediation work, which began in October 2024, is complete.

Moving to the next phase

“Now we’re moving on to our next phase, which is a pilot study for surface water remediation at a stormwater management pond just south of the airport site,” said Karin Pratte, the city’s director of water, wastewater and environmental services.

“We’re going to implement some groundwater remediation … There will be several other phases, I suspect.”

The city is preparing to conduct a pilot study for surface water remediation for stormwater management just south of the airport.

“We take the surface water as it comes down out of the storm ditches and then flow it through the adsorptive media and then release it back into the stormwater pond,” Pratte said.

“So, while it’s doing that, it is treating and removing the PFAS through that adsorptive material, similar to like a Britta filter.”

Brennain Lloyd, the project coordinator with the environmental advocacy group Northwatch, said the session left her with more questions than answers.

“How much are you going to get and what’s the difference between getting 90 per cent versus 70 per cent,” she said.

“Is that a dollar difference or is it a technical obstacle?”

First detected in 2016 by the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, research suggests that exposure to certain PFAS may be harmful to human health.

PFAS have been linked to high cholesterol, increased liver enzymes, decreased vaccination response, thyroid disorders, pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia and cancers such as testicular and kidney cancer.

Dr. Carol Zimbalatti, the health unit’s medical officer of health, said studies have looked at North Bay’s kidney cancer statistics compared to the provincial rate and two other northern Ontario cities.

“There was one five-year period in which the City of North Bay did have higher kidney cancer rates than the Ontario rate,” Zimbalatti said.

“However, they were not significantly different from other northern Ontario cities.”

She wants North Bay to be included in the Canadian Health Measures Study, which is considered a “comprehensive human bio monitoring study.”

“They take blood samples, they look for levels of PFAs and other chemicals and they also have questionnaires in terms of human health impacts so that we can get a more robust understanding of what possible links there may be with us and health effects,” Zimbalatti added.

The current level of PFAS detected in the municipal water supply remains lower than the interim guidance level provided by the province of 70 nanograms per litre.

However, it is above Health Canada’s final objective at 30 nanograms of PFAS per litre.

Health Canada benchmark

Health Canada said the objective is a benchmark for all jurisdictions to aim for, recognizing that achieving it may take time due to the “technical complexity and costs associated with measuring and managing PFAS.”

The city is asking for an additional $107 million from the federal government for remediation and to design, engineer and upgrade the water treatment plant on Trout Lake to treat PFAS.

“That would go a long way to addressing impacts on the population in the future,” said North Bay resident Liza Vandermeer.

“I’ve drunk the water for 30 years. There’s not too much that can be done to protect my health at this point, but I’m worried about the pregnant women and the small children in our community.”

It was also revealed at the meeting that Ottawa-based lawyer Nathan Adams is proposing a class-action lawsuit seeking $105 million in damages and punitive damages for property owners with private residential drinking water wells within a three-kilometre radius of 22 Wing/Canadian Forces Base.

Details of the lawsuit can be found here.

The city and the Department of National Defence have a $20 million agreement in place to address the remediation at the airport.

The DND will cover $19.4 million for the study, removal and remediation.

“We hope the city persists because really this is not an issue that’s going to go away without real action, both in terms of remediation and treatment,” Lloyd said.

A long-standing drinking water advisory for Lee’s Creek remains in place. There’s also an advisory for eating fish from the creek.