SOIL AND VEGETABLE SAMPLING NOW COMPLETE

SUDBURY - Soil and vegetable garden sampling in the Greater Sudbury area has been completed, and testing is now underway to determine the types and levels of metals that may be present in those samples. This information was presented to the Sudbury Soils Study Technical Committee (TC) by the Sudbury Area Risk Assessment (SARA) Group - the consortium hired to conduct the study - at its regular monthly meeting yesterday.

SARA toxicologist Glenn Ferguson explained that the data that’s been collected so far as part of the study is now being analyzed to determine what other information may be needed to complete the study. He also noted that the SARA Group has been meeting with researchers from Laurentian University about any current and past research they are involved with that may supplement the work the SARA team is doing.

As part of its comprehensive human health and environmental risk assessment, Dr. Ferguson says the SARA team has been exploring a wide variety of potential risk issues – including the vegetation that wildlife in the area are eating, and the contributions to human health risk related to a number of sources, including metal uptake from home gardens, store-bought produce, air, well water, and surface water. He noted that SARA Group is also preparing a historical report on smelting operations in the Sudbury area to provide a backdrop to the study process.

In the coming weeks the SARA team will be undertaking several more steps in its study process – including conducting air monitoring at various locations in Greater Sudbury, developing criteria for metal levels in vegetables, collecting information about historical air emissions from Inco and Falconbridge, and selecting representative lakes in the area to undergo further detailed sampling of water and vegetation.

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For more information, contact:

Dr. Chris Wren
SARA Group – ESG International
Toll-free: 866-315-0228