Tar Ponds

My father died of cancer when I was one. My aunts have breast cancer. My sister had severe asthma which magically disappeared when she moved to Halifax. My best friend in high school had pre-cancerous cells in her ovaries; her mother already had ovarian cancer. Her dog's uterus literally fell out when she was a puppy. My mother had a lump removed from her throat the size of a golf ball, and had severe nosebleeds. I used to be taken to the hospital twice a week with stomach pains so severe I couldn't stand up; I was given painkillers and sent home.

Home was Cape Breton Island, named the most beautiful island in Canada, and the site of the worst toxic waste disaster in all of North America: the Sydney tar ponds.

Most people outside of Nova Scotia have never even heard of this disaster. Most in Cape Breton are used to going to funeral after funeral, and have given up hope of anyone caring. Right now you may be wondering why you should care, why this rant is in a newspaper a safe seven hours from the deadly toxic waste? Because people are dying, that's why, and our government is not only allowing it to happen, they are part of the reason.

The tar ponds are the result of years of coal burning in coke ovens owned and operated by Sydney Steel Corporation, which just happens to be owned by the government. The tar ponds run from the closed plant, downtown and through Frederick St. They have a concentration of arsenic 18.5 times higher than acceptable under federal/provincial standards. Included in the "toxic soup" is naphthalane, lead, toluene, tar, benzene, kerosene and copper. It contains over 700,000 tonnes of toxic sludge, with an estimated 50,000 containing PCB's. There are 15 types of cancer causing materials mixed together. This sludge has 35 times the amount of toxic waste in New York's Love Canal.

On May 18, 2001, Health Minister Allan Rock announced that he would fund a relocation of the residents located on Frederick St. if tests proved that there was a health risk in the area. On December 4, a federal and provincial report concluded that the Sydney tar ponds were safe! Parker Donham, spokesperson for the Sydney tar ponds agency, said that there is no reason to relocate residents.

"What we've said throughout is that we're going to act on the basis of science. There is to this point no scientific basis for relocating any body. We're not going to relocate."

Apparently the orange ooze rising from a brook wasn't evidence enough. Nor was the green ooze in their back yards and basements. And the ground spontaneously erupting in flames that cannot be put out is not caused by the fact that the ground contains some of the most dangerous chemicals known to man, and woman. One resident of Frederick St., Juanita McKenzie came home to men in "space suits" in her back yard! If the tar ponds are so safe why were these guys acting out a scene from Outbreak? The residents of Sydney were not given any "space suits."

It is obvious why the government is sweeping this problem under the rug - they owned Sysco and are therefore liable for any lawsuits set forth by the people of Sydney. How can they deny the danger to the people of Sydney? Puddles turn fluorescent green when it rains, for God sake! Sydney has the highest rates of breast cancer, lung cancer and stomach cancer in the country! It is the cancer capital of Canada. 19 percent of males have cancer, and 14 percent of women. What has the government done? They built a magical chain-link fence, which magically protects us from the danger, and which I magically jumped last year to take photos of the disgrace. They were even thinking of just covering it with soil. Surprised? Yeah, the government never just tries to cover up things that make them look bad. Sobey's also built a magical floor which protects the newly built store from the toxic waste they built on top of.

And if you think that it doesn't affect you, you're wrong. Our government is allowing people to suffer, to die. The toxic waste is situated in a tidal estuary, which sends PCB's to the ocean with every tidal cycle. Do you want this to reach you, your father, your children, your family? Canada can not allow its government to continue the suffering of the people of Sydney. This is as serious a situation as I have made it seem.

What used to be a tourist attraction for a white sandy beach is now a national disgrace.