Year-on-year increase in average amount of beryllium in soil samples undeniable

We write with an update to our study of the beryllium (Be) in the vicinity of BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada on Monaghan Road in Peterborough.

We previously called attention to increasing concentrations of Be in soil samples from the neighbourhood surrounding BWXT.

We acknowledge the effort that both BWXT and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have put into obtaining more data about this trend.

The results of the CNSC soil analysis from 2020 have recently been released and have confirmed our previous analysis: there is an undeniable year-on-year increase in the average amount of beryllium in soil samples.

We independently analyzed the CNSC data using statistical regression that includes error terms around the reported measurements as well as controlling for confounding effects of sampling location that could inflate the apparent significance.

Even with these conservative controls, the results show a clear upward trend. CNSC and BWXT have claimed there is no trend, but simple math shows that the average concentration of Be in soil samples has increased from 0.95 mg/kg in 2014, to 1.2 mg/kg in 2018, to 1.4 mk/kg in 2019, to 1.5 mk/kg in 2020.

Although the 2020 average (1.5 mg/kg) is well below what is deemed a safe threshold (4 mg/kg), the trend reveals a statistically significant linear increase of about 0.1 mg/kg in Be concentrations every year.

Our concern is not with the soil concentration itself but with the question of what is causing the increase. In particular, is the transmission taking place through the air and, if so, what is the concentration of Be in the atmosphere?

It is in the public interest to err on the side of caution and continue soil testing and initiate air monitoring to investigate why Be levels are rising.

Therefore, we respectfully ask the CNSC and BWXT to monitor and publish Be concentrations from air samples surrounding the facility to establish the relationship between increasing soil concentrations and Be in the atmo

sphere.

Julian Aherne, Gary Burness, James Conolly, Peter Lafleur, Erica Nol, Mark Parnis, Rachel Wortis

CLIFFORD SKARSTEDT EXAMINER FILE PHOTO Environmental program officer Kate Peters of Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission takes soil samples on the property of Prince of Wales Public School near BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada on Monaghan Road on July 21.