Yahoo!: Soil testing underway for 100 properties in St. Boniface amid contamination concerns
University of Manitoba researchers and volunteers went yard-to-yard in south St. Boniface Monday collecting garden vegetables and soil samples for testing amid concerns the dirt is contaminated.
Preliminary testing in August, by Shirley Thompson, an associate professor in the University of Manitoba’s Natural Resources Institute, found elevated levels of lead, copper, zinc and cadmium among a dozen soil samples.
In some cases, the levels exceeded Canadian standards by 3-15 times the recommended limits. A version of Thompson’s report was submitted to the province.
Researchers are now collecting samples from at least 100 residential properties, as well as ditches, streams and parks in the area which border Mission Industrial Park — which some in the area believe may be the source of the contaminants.
“We are targeting the layer of soil that’s very close to the surface because we suspect that a lot of the contaminants that come in, they’re coming from the atmosphere,” said Francis Zvomuya, an associate professor of soil science at the University of Manitoba.