Title

An Investigation of Landfill Emissions in Assessing the Potential for Health Impacts on Communities Within the Nlaka’pamux Nation

Fiscal Year

2007-2008

Community/Region

Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council, British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Michael Easton

Community Project Lead

N/A

Project Members

Bob Pasco, Shirley Raphel, Sherry Grosart, Don Sam, Pauline Douglas, Amy Charlie, Nathan Spinks, John Haugen, Leslie Edmons, David Dick, Dayton Dick, Rick Campell, Hank Andrew, Gordie Edwards, and Al Lanfranco

Project Summary

The members of the Nlaka’pamux Nation in southern British Columbia (BC) were concerned about landfill contaminants in their traditional diet. Approximately 500,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste and fly ash were transported annually from the BC Lower Mainland to landfills in their region. In this initial phase of the study of the environmental impacts of the Cache Creek and Chaumox landfills, the objective was to identify contaminants that may be travelling by air or water outside the landfill perimeters.

The project team took samples of surface and ground water, sediment, and tissue from coyotes and rainbow trout. They analyzed the samples for dioxins, furans, PBDEs, PCBs, perfluorinated compounds, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

The analysis of groundwater and sediments at the Cache Creek landfill site showed levels of uranium that were within the BC Water Quality Guidelines but exceeded the World Health Organization Guidelines. The team was concerned with the quality of the water supply due to this increased level of uranium. They discovered groundwater, river water, and sediments were contaminated with leachate from the landfill. Contaminants were reaching the Bonaparte River. The coyote liver samples from within 2 km of the landfill site had much higher levels of dioxins, furans, PCBs and brominated diphenyl ethers than fish in nearby Bonaparte River. For example, the levels of dioxins and furans in coyote liver were sufficiently high to be a health concern. Coyote samples also showed the presence of the perfluorinated compound, PFOS. However, the team could not determine the source without a control group.

The samples from the area around the Chaumox landfill showed the presences of leachate from the landfill. No fish or coyote samples were collected from this study area. The study authors recommended additional chemical analysis of the sampling, along with further analyses of local fish and wildlife in the region.