By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The Quebec Liberal Party critic for environment and climate change is calling on the CAQ government to offer more support to municipalities with concerns about the impact of “forever chemicals” on their water supply, after spot testing from a Université de Montréal research team led to drinking water advisories in several municipalities.

Virginie Dufour tabled a bill at the National Assembly on Friday which would require the government to conduct a sweeping evaluation of the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the province’s drinking water, residue from water treatment plants and runoff from dumps. The bill would require municipalities, public utilities and dump operators to participate in the evaluation by having their water (lixiviate or runoff, in the case of a dump) sampled by an accredited lab.

After the evaluation, the bill would require the government to establish norms for PFAS concentration in drinking water, conduct regular testing and sanction violators.

Dufour said “thousands” of water sources in the province hadn’t been adequately tested for PFAS. “We don’t know what water sources are contaminated… if we know some of them, it’s because [Université de Montréal chemistry professor Sébastien] Sauvé tested them for research, but we don’t know the portrait of all the water sources in Quebec.” She emphasized that she didn’t want municipalities to bear the burden of funding PFAS testing, suggesting the provincial government could fund it, using the proceeds from joining a class action lawsuit against several PFAS producers, currently before Quebec’s superior court. “At the beginning, it will be up to the government to pay, but ultimately, we want the companies to pay,” she said.

She pointed out that Quebec and Canada have yet to establish hard and fast safety thresholds for PFAS levels in drinking water. The Quebec government has fixed an informal “objective” of no more than 30 nanograms per litre.

PFAS have been commonly used in fire retardants and in waterproofing, leakproofing and packaging common household goods for decades; Canada has moved to ban the importation of some PFAS-containing products in recent years, but PFAS residue can linger for long periods in the environment. According to a Health Canada fact sheet, studies suggest long-term PFAS exposure may affect the liver and metabolism, the nervous and immune systems as well as the birth weight of infants. Dufour called on the government to conduct more research into the environmental and health impacts of PFAS.

At a National Assembly press conference, Sauvé said his team had tested drinking water at “a few hundred” wells and municipal water lines across the province and found “half a dozen” where PFAS levels were problematic. “People have a right to know whether their drinking water might be contaminated…The name ‘forever chemicals’ scares people, but there are ways to treat water to remove chemicals. Before removing them, we need to know where they are.”

Paul Sarrazin is the prefect of Haute-Yamaska and the mayor of Sainte-Cécile de Milton. Thirty-seven households in his municipality, all on well water in proximity to a decades-old dump, are under a Quebec government drinking water advisory. The local primary school is also taking measures to clean its water and supply bottled water to students. Residents and elected officials learned of unsafe PFAS levels in the local water supply after Sauvé’s study.  “Our case is not unique in Quebec,” he said. “This is a complex dossier…and the purpose of this bill is to investigate where the sources of contamination are so we can identify them and take measures.” said Sarrazin, whose municipality is part of the lawsuit. “There are municipalities that are going to need to upgrade their water treatment plants [and] our citizens should not have to pay the price.”  Sarrazin said.