Joan Marie Aylward, minister responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation (NLHC) and Dianne Whalen, Mayor for the Town of Paradise, today released the results of a health and ecological risk assessment that had been conducted in Octagon and Rocky Ponds, Paradise. A joint statement was made today by Minister Aylward and Mayor Whalen.

“I am very pleased to advise the human health risk assessment concluded that risks associated with the use of Octagon and Rocky Ponds for recreational purposes are acceptable.” Minister Aylward explained. “In addition, the ecological risk assessment concluded that the population of organisms in the ponds are not being adversely affected.”

“However,” the minister continued, “due to the previously identified trace levels of contaminants in the fish, as a precautionary measure, we will be advising the public to limit their consumption of fish from these ponds. Caution is always the best approach even with minimal risks.”

In consultation with the Departments of Environment and Labour and Health and Community Services, and the Town of Paradise, it has been decided that a fishing advisory will be placed on each pond to ensure the public are aware of these findings. Both the human health risk and the ecological risk assessments were completed at the minister’s request earlier this year  to determine if the detected levels of contaminants found in the ponds presented any risk to the public.

Commenting on the results of the study, Mayor Dianne Whalen noted: “We are quite pleased that the overall results of the assessments are so positive. The risk assessment is designed to be conservative, and issuing a fish advisory is in keeping with our collective commitment to ensure the public continues to be provided information that will help them make informed decisions regarding their future use of the pond.”

Please see the following backgrounder for consumption levels.

Backgrounder

The following provides the levels of fish consumption considered to be acceptable for Octagon and Rocky Ponds based on key findings from the human health risk assessment conducted by Jacques Whitford Environment Limited:

• Children (up to 4 years old) – 600 grams of fish per year (approximately 5 fish).
• Children (4 years to 10 years old ) – 1000 grams of fish per year (approximately 8 fish).
• Adult (10 years and over) – 1,250 grams of fish per year (approximately 10 fish).

For further information, contact:  
Jenny Bowring, Corporate Communications  
Telephone:  (709) 724-3055   
E-mail:  releases@nlhc.nf.ca