In a quiet residential neighborhood on the outskirts of St. John’s, Professor of Chemistry Karl Jobst parked his truck and crossed the street to a lush wetland.
“This is essentially industrial wastewater that are downloaded from the airport,” he said.
A close sign warns that dumping is not allowed in the swamp, which is part of a conservation area called Barranca. The irony is not lost in it.
“It frustrates me as a scientist. It frustrates me as someone who lives in the area.”
Jobst’s laboratory research at the Memorial University shows that toxic chemists are contaminating the ravine and drinking water in several nearby houses in Torbay, NL
The neighborhood is 3½ kilometers downstream from an dismantled fire fighting area at the St. John’s International Airport that appears in the federal inventory of contaminated sites as contaminated with pear and polyfluoroalquilo substances (PFA).
Residents with insecure drinking water in Torbay, NL, wish Canada Transport responses.
Transport Canada is responsible for the site, one of 80 federal sites contaminated with PFAS.
PFA, a kind of synthetic chemicals, may take hundreds of years to decompose. Some have been related to cancers, liver damage and problems with reproduction and fetal development. In March, the Federal Government Committed to adding them to the list of toxic substances.
Jobst, who lives in Torbay, said he felt forced to take action after reading in 2024 CBC news article That Canada Transport had tried the wells and found contamination in a different neighborhood closer to the airport called Pine Ridge. TO Collector claim It has been presented in the name of the affected residents.
“I thought it would be good to have an independent look at this,” Jobst said.
Jobst student and Doctorate Emmanuel Tolefe began trying water in a pond and a backstream from the contaminated site.
Jobst said they found high levels of PFA in South Pond. They followed the trace of chemicals from there, finding levels 15 times higher than the limits of Canadian drinking water in a stream that runs from South Pond through the ravine.
Jobst worried that chemicals could leaching underground water in the neighborhood around the wetland, so he began to go from door to door, offering free water.
When the analysis of the first samples returned, the numbers were so high that it thought it was a mistake.
“These are not easy conversations because it is obviously very annoying for people. But I think it’s right.”
Until now, the Jobst research group has tried 15 houses less than 500 meters from the ravine and found that a little more than half of them have contaminated water. Some did not show a trace of contamination or had levels within the drinking water guidelines.
Four houses had levels above Canadian drinking water guidelines, which recommend no more than 30 ng/l of PFA in total. Four were within the Canadian standards, but above the US limits, which do not require more than four ng/l of perfluoroooctan sulfonate (Pfos) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) each.
“I wish I would not have found that. He surprised us,” Jobst said, who is concerned about the reach of pollution is not completely assigning.
If pollution comes from the airport, it would not be the first time that chemicals have always extended so far. In one case, the PFAS contaminated wells in the BAIE, which., Which were 10 kilometers Of the source: a military base.
To verify the analysis of Jobst, CBC News took samples of the stream in the ravine and two of the houses where he found levels above the Canadian limits. Water was tested by Agat, an accredited laboratory in Mississauga, Ontario.
Two independent experts who reviewed the CBC sampling results said they were in line with Jobst’s findings.
“I would certainly be very disturbed, to say the least, if I were drinking the tap water,” said Miriam Diamond, professor at the Environment School of the University of Toronto.
“None of these is’ drinkable,” said Sebastien Sauvé, a professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Montreal.
Hayley Hussey-Smart lives with his four-month-old son, parents and his younger brother in a house that goes back in the wetland.
Jobst’s analysis of his water, which CBC did not verify independently, found levels within Canadian guidelines, but above the limits of us.
“It’s not really what I want to put in a baby’s body,” said Hussey-Smart, who drank the water while she was pregnant and breastfeeding.
If Jobst had not knocked on his door, Hussey-Smart said they would never have known that their water was contaminated. Concerned about health risks, the family bought a filter for its kitchen tap.
“We just want people to realize because we were not aware, and that is the least we can do.”
Canada Transport alerted 4 months ago
After Jobst discovered high levels of contamination in drinking water, he approached the province and the city.
CBC News has seen emails from Jobst and the administrative director of Torbay, Sandy Hounsell, which shows that Transport Canada was informed of a case of contamination in a house in the area on May 15, 2025 and on the other on July 29.
“We would suggest that the tests are extended to this area and bottled water is provided accordingly,” Hounsell wrote in his email in July.
Until now, Transport Canada has not offered evidence, health tips or bottled water to any of the residents near the ravine who spoke with CBC News.
The department continues to provide bottled water to people in Pine Ridge who have levels above Canadian limits.
The Lisa Snoak resident, who has levels above the Canadian guidelines, called Transport Canada on July 22 and received a form response by email.
He declared that an environmental consultant has been hired to analyze the situation and “the study will help determine the next TC steps, including the need, if necessary, to expand the current sample area.
The email also said that residents will be contacted if a sampling is necessary in their residence.
Snoak continued by email on July 25 and requested advice on how to choose a water filter. She has not received an answer.
Contamination found upstream
In 2012, a report from the ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTATION FIGURE for Transport Canada identified pollution in South Pond Brook, including where the Brook feeds on South Pond.
He states “two of the six sample stations contained PFO concentrations in the surface water that exceeded the Drug Water Guide of Health Canada 2011”.
Ken Baird told CBC News that he and his wife requested a well permit while building their house in 2015, there were no red flags.
Years later, he learned of the contamination in Pine Ridge, but thought it was a localized problem and never imagined that he could reach them two kilometers away. Even so, for tranquility, he sent samples to an accredited laboratory and discovered that his levels are more than double the Canadian limit.
Baird said he felt “similar to someone from breaking into your home.”
Jobst wondered why Canada did not connect the same points he made.
“For me it seems obvious to follow this river, follow this pollution here.”
Jobst said he cannot think of another source in the area that would explain the high levels and types of PFA that he has detected.
“I am very sure that the pollution we are observing comes from St. John’s International Airport and fire fighting activities that occurred before 2005.”
The two independent experts that CBC spoke agreed that pollution could come from the airport.
Diamond said that while it is difficult to identify a source with total certainty, it is “possible, if not likely, that the PFA measured in the Barranco and the nearby drinking water originated in the airport.”
Filtration systems show results
The federal government rejected CBC requests for an interview twice.
In an email to CBC News, Transport Canada said that “assumes its responsibilities with respect to pear and polyfluoroalquilo (PFA) substances seriously” and that I would not comment more due to the demand for proposed collective action.
The mayor of Torbay, Craig Scott, told CBC News that he continues to advocate because the federal government intervenes.
“It is what keeps you awake at night, thinking how you are going to help these residents.”
Scott said that a long -term solution they are considering is to find a way to connect the municipal water supply to the houses near the ravine.
Meanwhile, several owners have installed filters.
In two houses, one that uses a portable filter that costs around $ 500 and another using a water filter from the entire house of $ 3,500, Jobst said the levels fell from the previous Canadian guidelines to the detectable limits below.
“There are solutions. There are ways to filter these people’s water. But they can’t do that if they don’t know they have it.”
