‘Ottawa’ NRC Staff Warned About Tainted Drinking Water Two Years Before Notifying Neighbours
The National Research Council protected its own staff from firefighting chemicals in their drinking water for nearly two years before it told its neighbours about the problem, Postmedia has learned.
Chemicals used in the NRC’s National Fire Lab in Mississippi Mills have spread through the surface water and groundwater around the facility.
In December, the NRC warned neighbours that they should get their well water tested. And it began supplying bottled water and filtration systems to the neighbours.
Some of the wells contain a class of chemicals called PFAS (perfluorinated alkylated substances) which are contained in firefighting foam and also consumer products including non-stick frying pans and stain-resistant carpets.
But documents released under an access to information request by Postmedia show the NRC had declared its own well water unsafe to drink two years earlier.