New $150 million Abbotsford courthouse has lead-tainted drinking water

Two years after Abbotsford’s new “state-of-the-art” courthouse opened, its drinking water has been found to be hazardous to human health.

The gleaming white Abbotsford Law Courts building was the first new courthouse constructed in BC in two decades and cost the province more than $150 million to build. A government minister hailed its design and safety. It replaced an aging and derelict facility that inspectors once deemed to be “vermin-infested.”

But the new building has significant problems of its own, The Current has learned.

Testing reveals lead in water

In January, the province posted a notice on its online bidding portal declaring that it was hiring a company, Pinchin Ltd., to conduct ongoing testing of the water at Abbotsford’s courthouse. That document showed that Pinchin had already completed two previous rounds of testing.

Now, in response to an inquiry by The Current, the province admitted that the building has been beset by water quality problems for at least a year.

In January of 2022, courthouse users started to complain about the taste of the water and green residue left on glasses, a spokesperson wrote in an email.

The province said the building’s operator, Plenary Justice Abbotsford Limited Partnership, “took immediate steps to address the issue.” (It’s not clear what those steps were. The Current has asked but has yet to receive a response.) Those steps included flushing the system’s water and providing bottled water to staff.

In August of 2022, eight months after staff first complained about the green, foul-tasting water, test results showed that the water had unacceptably high levels of copper and lead. Water fountains were then disconnected and bottled water was made available.

The province said building users haven’t been able to drink the water since and that work is now underway to figure out the root cause of the problem and develop a “reasonable long-term solution.”

It has not yet been confirmed, though, that the water quality issues are confined to the property and don’t stem from Abbotsford’s water infrastructure.

Construction on the 180,000-square-foot courthouse was completed in 2020, with the first cases heard in January of 2021. It featured 14 courtrooms that could be used for a range of purposes, along with a courthouse library and a variety of offices.

Officials touted its ability to provide better access to legal and justice services. Lisa Beare, the Minister of Citizens’ Services also hailed the building’s advanced design.

“Through innovative and green design, we’ve created a safe, fully accessible and energy-efficient building that will improve people’s access to justice services, meet the needs of a rapidly growing community and help put B.C. on a cleaner, more sustainable path.”

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