Chemical tasting blueberries in C.B.S. worry berry picker
A casual evening picking berries in Conception Bay South turned into a worrying experience for one man and his family, and now he's spreading the word in the hopes that others can avoid such an encounter.
Stephen Lee, his wife and daughter were walking behind their house on Aug. 18, in a wooded area off Garden Road in Seal Cove, when they stumbled upon an abundance of ripe blueberries.
The trio began picking and eating them, but quickly noticed something was off.
"My daughter came over to me around the same time that I had a funny taste in my mouth, my daughter came over and asked me to smell her hand," Lee told CBC Radio's On The Go.
"I smelled her hand and I smelled my hand, and it was a strong chemical odour on our hands, as well as an odd, unpleasant taste off the blueberries."
Lee said he couldn't identify what chemical it was, besides being reminiscent of his days completing a biochemistry degree, but he was sure of one thing.
"It was the kind of smell you wanted to get off your hands as soon as possible."
Province investigating
The same night following the berry picking, Lee and his daughter went for a run through Seal Cove and noticed the same chemical scent wafting through the air, downwind from the oil-fired Holyrood Generating Station.
After that, Lee phoned the provincial Department of Environment and Conservation to report the bad berries. The province has confirmed it is investigating the incident.
In the meantime, Lee is concerned about the number of vegetable patches in the same area as the berries.
"I just hope it's nothing significant, or widespread," he said.
Lee has taken a few cuttings of berries and leaves from the patch to give to the province, but when he went back to cut them, after a rain, the smell was gone. He said he didn't want to try eating one to see if the strange taste remained.
"I wouldn't eat anything from there again."
