Edmonton residents raise alarm over use of chemical to cull goldfish from stormwater ponds [Video]

Residents of a southwest Edmonton neighbourhood are calling into question the use of a pesticide called harmless to humans by the utility that manages their stormwater ponds.

• Download the CTV News App for breaking news alerts on all the top Edmonton stories

Epcor manages Edmonton’s drainage system, including bodies of water such as the Keswick Stormwater Management Facility, where it has been using a broad-spectrum pesticide to kill invasive species of fish, specifically goldfish.

The utility informed residents in Keswick — a southwest community located at the western edge of Ellerslie Road, south of the Windermere Golf and Country Club and adjacent to the North Saskatchewan River — it has hired a contractor to fence off the neighbourhood’s three stormwater ponds and treat the water with a chemical treatment including rotenone, which Epcor says has been used successfully over the last five years.

The province requires Epcor to keep stormwater …