Environmental scientist Timothy Lambert reports in our newsletter on toxic waste leachates from the Blackburn landfill (which operated 1966-1911). Although the landfill had few mitigation measures to avoid leaching toxic chemicals into Blackburn Lake, the practice of burning the landfill waste seems to have avoided significant contamination of the lake, at the expense of air quality.

WPS-affiliated scientist John Millson co-authored (along with P.S. Ross, A. Parkinson, and S. Scott) a scientific paper whose findings show the presence of biocontaminants in the Fulford Harbour basin. This may need to be mitigated to safeguard Indigenous shellfish garden harvesting practices.

In this issue of the WPS newsletter: Incoming WPS president Jean Wilkinson thanks outgoing president Maxine Leichter for her hard work on behalf of the society and reports on WPS business. • WPS-affiliated scientists Maggie Squires and Drew Bodaly have published a book based on their studies of watersheds on Salt Spring and Cortes Islands. • The WPS Board of Directors calls for volunteers to help with our MailChimp email list and Facebook page, and recommends a couple of film about fresh water. • Maxine Leichter reports on groundwater testing policies. • WPS film executive John Millson describes how the WPS will shift its public engagement strategy in the context of the COVID pandemic.

In a study of phosphorus levels in St Mary Lake, engineer Donald O. Hodgins, finds that “on-site sewage treatment systems are working efficiently, with phosphorus retention factors immediately under the drain fields exceeding 95% for the slightly acidic soils around St. Mary Lake.”

A study by BC Ministry environment researcher Richard Nordin found that phosphorus runoff from humans and cows is causing “unacceptable algal growth” in Weston Lake. Mitigation, in Nordin’s opinion, would be “neither easy nor inexpensive since both the sewage disposal and agriculture practices are established and difficult to modify.”