Members of the Friends Of French Creek Conservation Society say they are sampling local water to test for radioactive elements from the Fukushima nuclear accident which leaked radioactive isotopes into the Pacific Ocean.
The society will take a water sample from the Strait Of Georgia at Columbia Beach on August 25 and send it to the acclaimed Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, which is gathering data from all along the Pacific coast, explained member Don McConnell by e-mail.
"There's so little government data available, groups like us are rising to fill that gap," said fellow member Ceri Peacy.
She said that according to the institute, based on other tests around B.C., the radiation levels don't appear to be high. The institute is working with the Center for Marine and Environmental Radioactivity and is recommended by the David Suzuki Foundation. Check http://ourradioactiveocean.org/ for more information.