Review suggests study flawed

By Steve MacInnis, Cape Breton Post, December 4, 1998

An independent review of a health assessment study done on the Frederick Street area suggests the findings were skewed because of incomplete data.

Roger Dixon, an industrial hygienist, said the Cantox study did not have sufficient base data to accurately portray the effects of contamination in and around the Frederick Street neighbourhood.

"The technique they used is common and there is no reason to think their application of the computer model was incomplete but the great weakness in their report is the nature of the base data," said Dixon, of the Ontario-based International Institute of Public Health.. The Cantox study, paid for by the provincial government, was released last summer and even company officials admitted the assessment was a rush job but were confident the report painted an accurate picture of the contamination problem.

The report concluded the contamination poses no serious health risk to residents. Such a finding outraged residents of the Whitney Pier street who have complained about eye irritations, headaches and a host of other problems. They blame their problems on the nearby coke ovens site which until earlier this year was subject to a remediation project to clean up some of the debris..

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