Posted: September 2, 2015
Fireworks on the Ottawa River
The fireworks on the Ottawa River this past month have brought thousands of people out to the shores of the Ottawa River to view the spectacle. With over 1500 shells going off in a single show, many people are wondering what impacts the fireworks are having on river health.
By Meaghan Murphy
Photo courtesy of James Peltzer.
On Thursday, August 20th Ottawa Riverkeeper (ORK) scientist Meaghan Murphy, Ph.D. and Director of Operations for Quebec Adele Michon, took to the river to investigate the Casino Lac-Leamy’s Sound of Light fireworks competition site at the Canadian Museum of History and meet with the event organizer about the measures they have in place to protect our river. While fireworks do add pollutants to our waterways, based on the information available, the fireworks competition on the Ottawa River at this location is not likely to pose a significant risk to river health. Nevertheless, Ottawa Riverkeeper recommends that surface water testing be done to know exactly what those impacts are.
For perspective on other pollution issues on the Ottawa River, consider that there were over 101 overflow events that released 552,000 m3 of raw sewage into the Ottawa River from the city of Ottawa alone in 2014. That is the equivalent of 220 olympic-size swimming pools of untreated sewage! A typical pulp mill on the Ottawa River can release 2-7 tonnes of phosphorus, 10-17 tonnes of ammonia, 31-120 kg of arsenic, and 33-37 kg of lead into the Ottawa River over a year. See Environment Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory for more info on what companies release into our waterways.
Here are some of the questions and answers frequently associated with the fireworks over the Ottawa River:
1. Do the fireworks release pollutants into the river?
2. What is being done to reduce the impacts on the river?
3. What about the soot and chemicals that do fall into the river? What impact do these have?
4. What is the take home message on fireworks on our waterways?
1. Do the fireworks release pollutants into the river?
Yes. Fireworks shows produce numerous by-products including debris from the shells and casings, and particulate pollutants in the ash/soot (e.g. heavy metals perchlorates and other chemical compounds) all of which are deposited in surface water. An additional source of pollution at these events is the garbage left on the water by spectators.
2. What is being done to reduce the impacts on the river?
All organizers of fireworks events must apply for provincial permits and these permits mandate that the sites be cleaned after every event. Organizers are required to pick up the debris from the shells and casings immediate after the event and again the following morning at first light. In addition to picking up this debris they also collect garbage from spectators and other sources that they come across. Inspectors from the Ministre du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MDDELCC) visited the site unannounced twice during last year’s event and found no issues of concern.
Historically fireworks haven’t been good for our waterways, particularly toxic heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and mercury that were common in fireworks fifty years ago. Many of the most toxic of these pollutants are no longer used in most fireworks and are prohibited in Canada by Natural Resource Canada’s Explosives Regulatory Division. For international fireworks displays, all fireworks that are imported to Canada must be assessed for safety and content. Regulators assess the chemical composition of fireworks to make sure that the composition matches what is disclosed on their labels and what is permitted in Canada. Similarly, phosphorus compounds, which can cause eutrophication of waterways, are also now being limited in fireworks. Perchlorates (ammonium and potassium) which are common propellants used in fireworks and have been cited for their potential disruption of thyroid function in humans, are in the process of being phased out by many manufacturers. One of the fireworks displays at the 2015 event was perchlorate-free.
3. What about the soot and chemicals that do fall into the river? What impact do these have?
Despite these improvements, fireworks will always use chemicals and some of those chemicals will inevitably settle out of the air onto the land and into the water. Among these chemicals, copper oxides, barium and perchlorates are still released in many fireworks displays. Unless we are monitoring surface water quality at fireworks sites, we cannot know for certain the long-term impacts that repeated events are having on any water body. For this reason, Ottawa Riverkeeper recommends that surface water monitoring be conducted before and after events to understand and evaluate impacts.
In general fireworks displays on larger water bodies with greater water volume and flow will have less impacts than those held over small isolated water bodies with less volume. Larger water bodies with better flushing capacity such as the Ottawa river system have a better capacity to dilute and disperse chemicals of concern, keeping their concentrations below critical levels that are considered a risk to humans and aquatic life.
Nevertheless, long-term exposure of small stagnant water bodies to large yearly fireworks displays such as at Lac Leamy where the same competitions were previously held for 18 years, can impact the environment over time. A 2010 study of the water and sediment at Lac Leamy indicated that maximum surface water concentrations of metals (aluminum, copper, iron and lead) were found at levels that exceeded the Canadian Council of Environmental Ministers (CCME)’s recommended thresholds for aquatic life and that there was an accumulation of numerous fireworks related chemicals in the sediment over time.
4. What is the take home message on fireworks on our waterways?
Fireworks displays can be a great way to get people out to the river but like with most things, we must also consider potential impacts. While the number of pollutants in fireworks has decreased over the years, pollutants are still added to our waterbodies during these shows and we cannot know their true impact unless surface waters are monitored before and after these events.
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Thank you very much for this information. I had attended one firework display this summer and wondered about the impact of this activity on the Ottawa River. Obviously it is far more important to deal with the raw sewerage that gets into the Ottawa Rive.
Meaghan,
I am a bit disapointed that you took the opportunity in this article to slam the City for combined sewer overflows without making any reference to the fact that they are on the verge of building a multi million dollar storage facility that will drastically reduce such overflows. See link below. (Maybe it can be the focus of your next good news article.)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/federal-government-matches-province-s-62m-for-ottawa-sewage-project-1.3023883
You also ommitted the fact that the City of Gatineau is not reporting (and likely not measuring) its overflow volumes.
You’re so righteous to inform us on this issue; I never actually stopped to think about it. Can we start a petition???
LOVE you all at Ottawa Riverkeeper…. it’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it, eh?!
Two questions:
– is anything being done to repair the damage to Leamy Lake?
– what about the concern expressed by the National Gallery — damage to their glass.
“For perspective on other pollution issues on the Ottawa River, consider that there were over 101 combined sewer overflow events that released 552,000 m3 of raw sewage into the Ottawa River from the city of Ottawa alone in 2014.”
“For perspective” these combined sewer overflow events are 99% water that would normally make its way to the river overland. The actual “filth content” is minimal, even the normal sewage flows to the sewage treatment facilities are better than 95% water.