Residents protest discovery of airborne chemical
By Tanya Collier Macdonald
Cape Breton Post - Front Page
Wed., June 9, 2004
High levels of naphthalene
recently emitted during work
at the coke ovens property has
some residents demanding a
voluntary buffer zone of at
least 300 metres from the toxic
site.
The call came one day after
the provincial Sydney Tar
Ponds Agency reported that
unacceptable levels of the
chemical that give mothballs
their unique smell was detected
in an air sample taken May
27 near Curry's Lane in Whitney
Pier. The agency sent a
news release to media Monday
reporting the exceedance.
The 11 days it took before
the incident was reported to
the community led a small
group of angry residents to
demonstrate at the steps of
the Nova Scotia Environment
Department in Sydney Tuesday.
"The community was the
last to find out," said Bruno
Marcocchio a concerned citizen
and a Sierra Club of
Canada official.
"It shows the contempt
they have for human health.
They'd rather spin the information
than warn citizens."
The dozen or so residents
questioned environment officials
about where the department's
loyalties lie - with the
provincial agency or with
residents surrounding the site.
"Our regulator is failing us
completely," said Marcocchio.
Residents concerned about other chemicals
Terry MacPherson, a
spokesperson for the regulatory
department said it answers
to environment legislation, and
no one else.
The department is presently
reviewing the incident and is
expecting a summary in the
coming days of air monitoring
results taken around the site.
Eric Brophy, a concerned
resident and member of the
Joint Action Group, said naphthalene
is one of the most discernible
chemicals because of
its distinctive odour.
"My fear is that if they
admit to that, what other emissions were going on."
He said he also objects to the
work not being stopped as soon
as the exceedance was detected.
"If it's been going on for
weeks, why didn't they shut it
down."
Parker Donham, a
spokesperson for the provincially
run Sydney Tar Ponds
Agency, said results from the
air sample collected in May
didn't arrive at the provincial
office until Friday. Since work
wasn't conducted over the
weekend, officials had until
Monday to determine how to
handle the naphthalene
exceedance of three parts per
billion.
"Our system for ensuring
the safety of the community
works," said Donham.
"We monitor very intensively.
We had a single exceedance
of a single chemical - a
relatively benign chemical.
"We stopped work, and
we're working to resolve the
problem and we will resolve
the problem before we start
work again."
Naphthalene was the only
exceedance reported by AMEC
Earth and Environmental for
the 24-hour air samples it
collected from monitoring
stations surrounding the site.
Donham said the people
who object to every attempt at
cleaning up the site will never
be satisfied.
"We stop work, we notify the
community, we notify the proper
authorities and we take
action to correct the problem,"
he said. "What would people
have us do? Do they want it
cleaned up or not? "
Clean Harbors Canada Inc.,
an Ontario company, is cleaning
out the Domtar tank.
Before work began more than a
year ago, a containment structure
was built around the tank
to control emissions while the
water, sludge, and solids were
removed.
"We go the extra 100 miles to
protect this community from
the slightest shadow of a
suggestion of a hint of anything
dangerous," he said.
"Nevertheless, when we carry
out those activities as we're
mandated to do, Bruno Marcocchio
goes nuclear every
time we do.
"And that's just crazy. It
doesn't help matters.
"It's not going to make it easier
for this community to clean
up this problem and get on
with life."
Brophy agreed that adding
the extra protection around the
tank did give surrounding
communities an assurance that
their safety was a priority.
But the reported exceedance
puts that assurance in jeopardy.
He also said that if people's
health is being jeopardized,
they should be moved.
"How much of a chemical
does it take before your health
is impacted," he said. "Every
time you're in contact with
these chemicals, it adds to the
body burden. It's accumulative."
The contractor is now
attempting to correct the air
emission problem - likely triggered
by a new method of heating coal
tar oil in the tank, Donham has said.
It plans to replace the activated charcoal
in the air handling system and
to make sure that the exhaust
fan is working to its design
capacity.
On the United States Environmental
Protection Agency Web site,
it's noted that short-term
exposure to naphthalene
through inhalation, ingestion,
and skin contact is associated
with hemolytic anemia, liver
damage,and neurological damage.
Cataracts have also been
reported in workers acutely
exposed to naphthalene by
inhalation and ingestion.
Long-term exposure of
workers and rodents to the
chemical has been reported to
cause cataracts and damage to
the retina.
Hemolytic anemia has been
reported in infants born to
mothers who sniffed and
ingested naphthalene
(as mothballs) during pregnancy.
Available data is inadequate
to establish a causal relationship
between exposure to naphthalene
and cancer in humans
although the EPA has classified
the chemical as a possible
human carcinogen.
Air quality standards
enforced throughout the tar
ponds and coke ovens cleanup
project to date are designed to
detect problems early, before
harmful effects occur, Donham
has said.
tcmacdonald@cbpost.com
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