The anxious residents of Frederick Street, Whitney Pier, find themselves on the national podium as the moment's exemplary victims of "Canada's worst toxic waste site."  That may help them get what they want -- a government relocation program -- but not without cost.  The spotlight itself, along with the high-decibel rhetoric generated by lobbyists on their behalf, can only add to the emotional strain arising from the fear that they are living in a dangerously contaminated place.
    There is another cost as well.  While it is hard to define a general community attitude towards the Frederick Street situation, certainly some will dismiss the now tearful pleas for help as overwrought.  Politicians such as Cape Breton Nova MLA Paul MacEwan wouldn't toss off the caralier statements they do about industrial pollution if they weren't reflecting an old-stock attitude in a community that long accepted the mire of big industry as the salve of prosperity.  mere attention by outside news media and environmental advocates is enough to engender siege mentality among the locals.
    The people of Frederick Street are caught in this crossfire.  One thing the community can do is maintain a fair and reasonaable view of the situation through the smoke of environmental politics.
    Consider, for example, that the soil and water contaminants identified in recent tests almost certainly have been there for years -- quite possibly in higher concentrations than today.  This probable history should temper the histrionic demands by reidents, environmental lobbyists and opposition politicians for an immediate evacuation-type relocation.
    The authorities say they need a little more time -- to mid-August -- to get results from a recently commissioned health assessment.  Residents and their advocates are understandably suspicious that this is a stalling tactic by a government looking for a way to do nothing, but the fact is the government will do nothing until that study is in.
    However, the probable (though undocumented) chemical history of Frederick Street Street does not in itself serve as any justification for dismissing the concerns that residents now have.  Whether the contaminants have been there for a month or for 80 years, they are there now, and the consequence must be judged in light of environmental health standards applicable today.
    Residents of Frederick Street have at least a prima facie case for relocation.  If they can cement the argument over the next month, they deserve the support of the wider community.
Next Article