Chatham-Kent's Medical Officer of Health is clarifying that a recent water well investigation done by the province wasn't a proper Health Hazard Investigation because there were no medical doctors on the expert panel.
The Ministry of Health requisitioned an expert panel comprised of three toxicologists, an epidemiologist, and a geologist to investigate if poor well water quality north of Chatham was being caused by a nearby wind farm, but Dr. David Colby said the panel had no medical representation and it was not qualified to assess health risks and that's why it was called an All-Hazard Investigation.
The panel found “no widespread health risks” in the area’s drinking water, although the ministry admitted it needs more information to get a clearer picture.
Colby said the study did not definitively prove that the nearby wind farm northeast of Pioneer Line and Bear Line damaged water wells and caused turbid water because there wasn't sufficient data. Colby said more scientific data is needed to prove that the wind towers actually caused the poor water quality.
"I really don't think that this can be overinterpreted in the sense of saying yeah, here is your proof that the wind turbines are doing this. There is no proof in this report of that at all," said Colby. "They have suggested the possibility and I would agree with that, but have they provided scientifically rigorous evidence? No, they have not."
Dr. Colby said the standard of proof would be quite high given the "scientific implausibility" that the tiny ground vibrations from wind turbines could have an effect on well water, particularly when compared to the vibrations from the well pumps. He also said it would have been a challenge to write this report with the low participation rate from the well owners.
Colby noted he was not contacted by any member or representative of the panel throughout the process and his published work was not cited in the report.
The doctor said the other problem with the investigation is that the sample size was too small and it wasn't done randomly.
"You can't just ask for volunteers within the area to participate and expect that you're going to get a representative sample of what's going on," he said.
The ministry report showed that data derived from the 2021 investigation revealed well water in the North Kent 1 area to be of “substantially poorer quality” in comparison to well water from outside of the North Kent 1 area and a comparison of the recent data to the baseline assessment before the towers were constructed indicates that the general water quality in the North Kent 1 area has deteriorated significantly between 2017 and 2021.
The ministry added the results of those two comparisons are consistent with well water interference within the North Kent 1 area between 2017 and 2021.
Water Wells First, a community group fighting to protect water wells in Chatham-Kent, is calling the investigation a sham.
The ministry has not yet responded to questions from CK News Today about the difference between a Health Hazard Investigation and an All-Hazard Investigation and what future investigations, if any, would entail.