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WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2017
TREES POISONED
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‘One-off event’ killed 9,000 research fish U OF A
Freshwater tanks flooded by chlorine, officials say Omar Mosleh
Metro | Edmonton
City workers removed three poisoned elm trees near Valleyview Drive in southwest Edmonton Tuesday morning. KEVIN MAIMANN/METRO EDMONTON
More than 9,000 fish and frogs are dead after a dechlorination pump failed at the University of Alberta’s Aquatics Facility. According to university officials the freshwater tanks at the facility were flooded with chlorinated water sometime between May 12 and May 13, after the switch that provided power to the pump corroded and stopped working. The chlorine found in tap water is toxic to fish and frogs, and levels became fatal within 30 minutes, said Walter Dixon, the university’s associate vicepresident of research.
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“It was really a one-off unfortunate event, but with very tragic consequences,” Dixon said. Among the casualties were 75 frogs, 1,093 adult trout, 96 carp, 2,073 goldfish, and about 6,000 baby fish. The fish were used for research on the impact of toxins in the environment, including hydraulic fracturing fluids and microbeads, as well as how climate change affects fish. “The biggest consequence is actually on the grad students doing their research,” Dixon said. Those students will likely have to wait months before the fish are replaced, as the facility needs approval from a regulatory agency. The incident comes as the university was ready to start phase 1 of a renovation, Dixon said, which would have included a new “fail-safe backup system” with online chlorine monitoring. “Circumstances overtook us and this event happened before we could begin that process.”