By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
Christine Burke says the Ford government has reneged on its promise to test the sediment in North Kent’s fouled water wells.
Her comments came following a recent letter from the Ministry of Health, asking residents in North Kent to test their wells for E. coli and coliforms. A resident who received the letter passed it on to Burke.
But it looks like the government isn’t looking to test the bio-accessibility of sediment found in the aquifer’s black shale – something homeowners with dirty wells have been seeking for years.
“They want to check for E. coli and coliforms and ignore the sediment,” Burke told The Voice. “Testing the sediment to find out if it’s toxic to humans was the whole purpose.
“We want to know what the sediments are doing if we consume or ingest these sediments,” she emphasized. “We were promised a health hazard investigation by Doug Ford. This was reduced to an all-hazard investigation. It’s just so frustrating.”
The Mitchell’s Bay area resident, whose own well has been spewing black water for a decade, has been dealing with the issue since 2014 when the East Lake St. Clair wind farm went into operation. Burke and her husband Terry have been part of the fight advocating for clean water for residents whose wells have been affected.
Some of wells are now useless and homeowners are forced to truck in water for drinking, cooking and bathing.
However, Burke’s well wasn’t among the those tested by in the ministry’s all-hazard study conducted in 2022.
The letter, sent to all of the North Kent residents whose wells were tested in the study, states that “overall, the water quality in this area, from the sampled homes, does not constitute a health hazard under the Health Protection and Promotion Act. Nevertheless, the ministry recommends that individual well owners exercise vigilance to safeguard against any risks that may be present in an individual’s owner’s well.”
As part of what it calls a “final outreach” the ministry is encouraging residents to undertake E-coli and/or total coliforms” this November, and again in April and August of 2026.
If problems are found, the ministry is encouraging residents to seek help from Chatham-Kent Public Health.
The letter is the latest development in Chatham-Kent’s long-running black-water saga. Residents in the former Dover and Chatham Townships discovered their wells went bad during the construction and subsequent operation of three wind turbine projects.
In the Dover area, the Boralex project came online in 2009, with the East Lake St. Clair prouect taking shape in 2013. The North Kent Wind project in the former Chatham Township became operational in 2017.
That’s led to the formation of grassroots advocacy groups, protests, court cases and pleas to government to remedy the problem. In response, the province ordered an all-hazard study of affected wells in Chatham Township, overseen by an expert panel, including local geoscientist Keith Benn. At the time, Benn stressed that toxic heavy metals found in the water needed to be tested, but his request went unheeded.
In 2023, Burke and Wallaceburg Area Wind Concerns members fundraised to have nine North Kent wells tested by an independent lab in the United States. The water analysis found significant concentrations of arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, and nickel. Mercury was found in two cases.
Later in 2023, a motion was brought forward by North Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville asking the Ministry of Health to test the well sediment for health hazards.
Two letters requesting the sediment testing be done have been sent to the MOH by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, but no response has been received to date.
In recent times, three wind turbine projects have been turned down, including one in the Wallaceburg area and two in East Kent. However, the municipality has stopped short of declaring itself an unwilling host to wind turbine farms. To date, 159 Ontario municipalities are prohibiting wind turbine development.
Burke said she is in contact with Ontario ombudsman Tom Baker about the matter. She also points out that while on the campaign trail prior to the 2018 election, Doug Ford wrote a letter to Water Wells First members vowing to complete a health hazard study of affected wells.
