Suspicions about water quality and the presence of toxins in and along Lesser Slave Lake have been confirmed, but the full extent of the problem is still under investigation, report local environmentalists.
In September, the Regional Environmental Action Committee sent off nearly a dozen samples of water collected from various points along the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake.
After exhaustive testing for various compounds, the results of that round have come back, and the news isn’t great.
“We now have the results from our last set of water quality tests on Sept. 18, 2008,” said REAC member Jule Asterisk. “As it turns out, the sample we tested proved positive for blue green algae, or Aphanizomenon. Although a health advisory was recently issued for non-specific Alberta lakes, we had understood that Slave Lake was not among those affected. Now, we know that in fact our lake is affected by blue green algae once again this year.”
But that’s not all. The group had cast a pretty broad net, hoping to get as much information from two years’ worth of testing as possible. They were hoping to be proven wrong with the absence of certain suspected toxins, but the results don’t look promising.
“Results for the other parameters we tested for, including dioxins and furans, PCB’s, PAH’s, arsenic and pesticides were all positive. These chemicals exist in the lake water,” reported Asterisk.
Still, the group is being cautious about raising any red flags just yet. The plan is to first hire an environment consultant to analyze the data provided by the lab, and get a clearer picture of just how bad the problem is.
“Because we are not trained surface water biologists, we are not able to interpret the findings and we will be hiring an environmental consultant to write up the results of all of these tests we have taken over the past two years. We will be releasing the consultant’s report on results of all of our water quality testing at a public meeting planned for the spring of 2009.”
The Regional Environmental Action Committee is holding its next meeting in Slave Lake on Nov. 29, 2008. For more information about the testing program, call 780-805-3403 or 780-355-3054.

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