The village of Normétal in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which came to the fore this summer when it was nearly destroyed by flames, is still dealing with the effects of wildfires despite having a boil water warning in place there for almost two months.
Published at 2:02 am. Updated at 6:00 am.
Since September 1st, a truck has regularly made the 34 km journey from La Sarre to Normétal, a small community with 800 inhabitants.
On board: 70 18 liter containers of water. Destination: Lacroix bakery in Normétal.
“Water is a basic product for the production of bread, so it is important to ensure its quality,” emphasizes the company’s co-owner, Sandrine Lacroix.
At the beginning of September, enterococci – a type of bacteria – were detected in the community’s main well, forcing the community to issue a boil water warning.
Hoping residents won’t have to boil their water for a few minutes to use it, Normétal has turned to its secondary well. The content turned out to be even worse.
“The water was beige-yellow,” says the village’s general manager, Lyne Blanchet. This non-consumption notice lasted approximately ten days in early October before power from the main well resumed.
However, the presence of bacteria remains. As far as Lyne Blanchet can remember – she has been working at Normétal for 25 years – the municipality has “never” faced such a problem in its water distribution network.
Suspected fires
Suspicion naturally focused on the forest fire that raged last June barely 500 meters from the village and required the residents to be evacuated for around ten days, also a first.
“Our wells had to fill the tanks. We think that could be the cause, but we’re not sure,” explains Lyne Blanchet.
The current practice of the Fire Protection Company (SOPFEU) is to extract water from natural waterways using motor pumps.
During its deployment in the Normétal sector in the spring, the organization stated that it was entrusting this task to the Normétal fire department. In the early days, a “free-standing tank” was installed to store water.
“The local fire department had the task of filling this tank with their tanker truck,” said a SOPFEU spokeswoman, Mélanie Morin, last week. “The SOPFEU manager on site at the time had information that the water came from a small river near the community. »
Right in the well
In the event of an emergency, the Normétal fire department admits to having obtained supplies from the municipal reserve in the first few days. “Until municipal employees informed us that the water level had become too low,” explains director Doris Nolet, explaining that she then turned to the streams in the region.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Doris Nolet, head of the Normétal fire department
Normally we don’t empty a 100,000 gallon supply, but here, let’s say it was a large request.
Doris Nolet, head of the Normétal fire department
According to them, the forest fires themselves may have had an impact on Normétal’s groundwater level, as the water in the distribution network was assessed as compliant immediately after the fire. “It is certain, that [la forêt] There was fire all around, so maybe that had an impact, I don’t know,” explains the head of the fire department.
The origin of the bacteria present in the soil is not yet clear. The expert consulted by Normétal would have pointed out that perhaps a break in the water distribution network, leading to pressure problems, could be the cause of their introduction, explains general director Lyne Blanchet.
A new backstop for the water distribution network is expected in the coming days to prevent backflow. “If it works, the problem is solved, otherwise we have to find the leak,” she lets go.
Ms Blanchet added that she is in contact with the Ministry of Public Security, although no request for assistance has yet been made. The ministry’s Abitibi-Témiscamingue regional directorate confirmed that it was ready to help Normétal if necessary.
Protect drinking water
The municipality’s mayor, Ghislain Desbiens, says the boil water advisory could be lifted “within one to two weeks” thanks to a local company. He also believes firefighters are partly responsible for polluting the water distribution network.
He wants to change the way things are done. “We will ensure that they do not use drinking water as much as possible. […] They’ll get their water from that [ruisseaux] “To protect our drinking water, because two months without drinking water is no fun,” he says.
“We can’t wait for the problem to be solved, but we don’t have much information about when it will be solved,” sighs baker Sandrine Lacroix, still happy that the municipality covered the costs of water deliveries in September. “We hope they will cover October as well. »