Goldfish cull using controversial chemical to resume at west Edmonton storm pond

A stormwater pond in the west Edmonton neighbourhood of Glastonbury on July 30, 2024. (Nicole Weisberg/CTV News Edmonton)

So long, chums: the chemical culling of goldfish is back on in a west Edmonton neighbourhood.

Epcor, the Edmonton-based utility responsible for operating and maintaining the city's water systems, told CTV News Edmonton in a statement on Monday that Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA) has instructed them to move ahead with the use of a chemical treatment including rotenone to eradicate invasive goldfish at a storm pond in the Glastonbury neighbourhood.

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A group of residents in Glastonbury, which sits south of Whitemud Drive and west of Anthony Henday Drive, expressed concerns over the use of rotenone in the pond at Guinevere Park after Epcor informed them it had hired a contractor to perform work to apply the treatment there.

Epcor had halted the use of the treatment last week after some people asked AEPA to stop using it

Literature Epcor had sent to Glastonbury residents said rotenone is "not harmful to humans." Rotenone is approved for use to control invasive species such as goldfish by AEPA and by Health Canada.

A group of Glastonbury residents, however, claimed that stance is false, and lobbied the AEPA and Epcor to stop using the treatment.

Resident John O'Connor told CTV News Edmonton in late July he was "sort of jarred" by the claim that rotenone isn't harmful to humans.

"It didn't take much research to find out that it definitely is harmful and has been banned in many jurisdictions and restricted in others," he said.

Representatives of AEPA and Epcor met with the residents a week ago — Epcor said residents asked them to find "an alternative management approach that could be implemented next year" in Glastonbury — after which the AEPA asked the utility to pause the use of the treatment at the pond.

On Monday, after "carefully" considering residents' concerns, the utility said AEPA sent a letter to them "indicating their support for Epcor to use rotenone to eradicate the goldfish" in the Guinevere Park storm pond.

"We agree with AEPA that use of rotenone is the least disruptive and most practical eradication method," Epcor said in the statement.

In a statement to CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday, a representative of the group of concerned Glastonbury residents said they "are greatly disappointed" with the decision by Epcor to resume plans for the chemical treatment.

Nora Holt, a member of the group, said in an email the collective has tried "to get open, honest, and transparent communication on a variety of health and environmental concerns from both agencies" and has proposed "viable alternative measures" that would protect waterways, but has "received no substantive evidence or communication from either AEPA or Epcor on these requests for information and proposals."

She said the group is reviewing "all possible actions that are open to us" before Epcor proceeds with work at the storm pond.

Work preparing the site for treatment will begin this week, Epcor told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday, adding it will notify residents adjacent to the two stormwater facilities ahead of it..An Epcor spokesperson said two treatments for each will be applied three weeks apart.