Dead swan helps reveal high lead levels in pond
Wetlands access will be limited due to damage caused by shotgun pellets in sediment
The death of a trumpeter swan and a Brampton woman’s dogged determination to find out what killed her has uncovered a potentially toxic secret in the city’s north end.
A pond in Heart Lake is believed to have “elevated levels of lead” from shotgun pellets that at one time littered its murky bottom, according to Peel Public Health.
A fence is being erected around the pond — on Heart Lake Rd. north of Bovaird Dr. — to keep area residents, their children and pets away.
“Restricting public access to the pond will prevent exposure to the sediments, water and soil in and around the pond,” said Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s associate medical officer of health, after Peel Health visited the site recently. He said exposure to lead can affect human health.
“We are particularly concerned about preventing exposure in children since they are more vulnerable to health effects resulting from lead exposure.”
Loh said Peel Health was recently advised by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks that there were “elevated levels of lead” in the pond and pond sediment. Retired Brampton veterinarian Maureen Harper raised the issue last month after two swans that frequented the pond fell victim to suspected lead poisoning, the ministry has confirmed. One swan that Harper named “Mama” died Sept.13. Her mate, Glenn, fell gravely ill and was rushed to the Toronto Wildlife Centre on Sept. 15.
What happened was a mystery until Harper learned the pond was located on the site of the old Peel Gun Club, a shooting range that closed nearly 20 years ago. She alerted the wildlife centre, which confirmed the bird had high levels of lead in his blood.
He underwent two rounds of treatment for blood poisoning, and survived.
“These two swans were the canaries in the coal mine,” says Harper, who has been monitoring the swans in the Heart Lake wetlands for the past two years.
She contacted the parks ministry.
“About 130 tonnes of lead shot was removed from the pond between 2011 and 2013,” confirmed Leah Noordhof, the ministry’s Halton-Peel District supervisor, in an email to the Guardian. “However, lead has been found in the soil, sediment and water on the property.”
Noordhof and Loh said there is no danger to Brampton’s drinking water, which comes from Lake Ontario through two Region of Peel water treatment plants.
Noordhof has not said what the levels of lead are in the pond, or if they are above the accepted standard, but Loh defined “elevated levels” as those exceeding the contaminant limit.
Not so, says Sherman Chan, vice-president of development for Vandyk, the development company that now owns the property.
He said Peel Health is working with old information and that the levels of lead in the pond have been dropping since his company bought the property about three years ago from the owner that removed the lead shot.
“They (Peel Health) don’t necessarily have the most updated information,” Chan said. “They are basing it off of what they know of the past, not what they (the ministry) know today.”
Chan said Vandyk has hired “professional ecologists and scientists” to monitor the site for the past two years, taking water and soil samples and submitting the test results to the ministry.
He said tests show the pond water is “clean” and lead levels are not above accepted standards.
Chan said the fence is only to ease community concerns.
“Does it mean it (the pond) poses any health concerns? Ab- solutely not,” he said.
He said the fence is “to show people it’s not a swimming pool. This is a pond that’s under study.”
He said there are no current plans to develop the land, but the company is working toward an environmental certificate once the test results are accepted by the ministry. He said based on the test results, that certificate should be issued soon.
He also said there is no direct link between the property and what happened to the swans.
But the ministry said it has also ordered Vandyk to submit a plan to prevent waterfowl from accessing the pond. When that will be done is unknown.
Meanwhile, Glenn has recovered, but he’s back on the pond, and that has Harper extremely concerned that he is in danger, and no one is willing to capture and relocate him to protect him. He was released on a different pond, but has since returned to the pond on Heart Lake Rd.
“I don’t want to see him getting sick again,” she said. Mama’s death was heartbreaking for her. Harper spent last year fighting for the ecofencing along Heart Lake Rd. to protect the swans from traffic.
Although the pond has been noted as provincially significant wetlands, it is located on private property that was already signed “No Trespassing.” But area residents in the new VANDYK subdivisions nearby walk their dogs and stroll through the area.