CONTAMINATED SITE MAKING FAMILIES SICK IN ATTAWAPISKAT

2009-04-07       Post a Comment

Fumes from an unfinished “clean up” of a contaminated school site are posing serious health concerns to residents in Attawapiskat. These are the findings of MP Charlie Angus and MPP Gilles Bisson who travelled to the community to investigate why a clean-up of the abandoned J.R. Nakogee grade school resulted in a state of emergency being declared and the area schools being shut for more than two weeks.

Angus says they were appalled at what they saw. “The federal government has left an open toxic wound in the centre of the community. The stench of diesel emanating from this pit, even on a blustery windy day was overwhelming. We have met teachers, children and parents who were so overcome with fumes and dust that they threw up and were left with severe headaches. Even two weeks after the demolition many of those symptoms persist in families living near the site.”

Angus says the refusal by Indian Affairs to support an evacuation of families living near the site is typical of a negligent approach to health and safety. “Indian Affairs have been sitting on reports for nearly two decades that identify this site as an extreme hazardous to human health. They did a half-assed clean up job and have left a gaping hole that they don’t intend to remediate for another two years.”  

Gilles Bisson says it is essential that the Province step in with a full assessment of health and safety risks. “Families and children have been left at risk in this community. There is no other community in Ontario where such a situation would have been allowed to develop. It’s time the Province committed to a team of independent medical, labour and health and safety experts to assess the situation in the community.”

Bisson points out that symptoms being experienced by families in Attawapiskat are consistent with exposures to benzenes, toluenes and ethyl benzenes. “We are talking about chemicals known for causing leukemia, bone marrow damage and kidney failure. The smell of these chemicals has made going to school a dangerous proposition for children. I shudder to think of what the contaminant levels will be when the ground around the hole begins to thaw and fill with spring rain. Action is required now.”