Water Wells First is filing a complaint about Chatham-Kent's medical officer of health with the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Spokesperson Kevin Jakubec says Dr. David Colby and the local health unit are not doing enough to keep the public safe from murky well water that, the group claims, contains toxic heavy metals.
Water Wells First wants the health unit to do a health risk assessment of the sediments.
Colby is defending himself, saying the water doesn't pose a public health hazard because particles are not dissolved in solution, they are in suspension and get excreted instead of getting absorbed by the body.
"Particulates in suspension that can be filtered out that are not dissolved in the water don't present a health hazard. They may cause your washing machine to wear out sooner and they are certainly aesthetically awful," says Colby.
Water Wells First also has a problem with the Ministry of Environment, saying it's not looking in the right place because it's only taking water samples but not sediment samples where, the group says, the toxic particles are embedded.
Colby insists that he is looking after the public's health and well being.
"It's dissolved substances that are toxins that you can absorb that we are concerned about. Checking sand for what its trace compositions are is not something that we need to do," Colby says.
Colby says if particles are not dissolved in the water then they are not of concern and don't put public health at risk.
"It doesn't matter what's in the sediment, it doesn't," he says. "If you want to go and bathe in the mud then that's OK, that's fine. It won't be absorbed to any degree into the body."
