But hanging around for an hour awaiting the arrival of the NDP delegation, newcomers to the Whitney Pier street got a chance to savor the sharp acrid odor tinging the fresh air as the sun dried out the ground behind the adjoining fence-enclosed coke ovens site.
A drain with clear running rain water left over from Thursday's downpour was running brought and clear, normally an enticement for youngsters to soak their feet or wade through. A culvert under the tracks now covered win with gravel oozed a yellowish-colored substance later identified as arsenic.
It was just hours earlier that the heavy rains flooded the drain and overflowed into backyards.
Juanita McKenzie said she took the For Sale sign off her Frederick Street home because she knows there would be few buyers who would want to live next to a hazardous site.
Neighbor Debbie Ouelette listed the names of five neighbors whose pet dogs died int he last three years from cancer. They also see mice in the neighborhood with deformities.
McKenzie told the provincial NDP leader a temporary relocation is not the answer to the problems associated with the cleanup of the contaminated area.
The areas are the site of coking batteries that cooked coal to be used in the steel making process. The byproducts contained high levels of arsenic, lead, and poly aromatic hydrocarbons which have soaked into the soil over the years.
"We can't be temporarily relocated when it will take 25 years to clean up the site."
McKenzie admitted some people who have made Frederick Street their home most of their lives would be reluctant to move.
Some of those people don't see it as a problem, she added.
Environmental lobbyist Elizabeth May will be guest speaker at a public meeting int he community hall on Hankard Street, Monday.
NDP federal members Michelle Dockrill and Peter Mancini visited the site int he past week as did provincial Tory Leader John Hamm.
"We are getting excellent support, I would just like to know when Premier Russell MacLellan is going to come to visit us. He is from Sydney and he knows what we are living in here," McKenzie said.
Chisholm was accompanied by MLAs Helen MacDonald and Frank Corbett and Mancini.
during the spring session of the legislature MacDonald asked to have the province temporarily relocate the families so the concerns of the residents are addressed before going on with the testing which will decide if the site can be remediated.
Less than a dozen people were on hand for the meeting with Chisholm.
"We want people to know we are deeply concerned, we want to see it resolved," said Chisholm, who promised the party will continue to pressure the government for action.
Chisholm said the government did not have any trouble finding $25 million to help Michelin Tire expand.
When it comes to finding money to fund projects they want to fund, the seem to be able to find the money pretty quick, he added.
Cape Breton Regional Municipality Councillor Lorne Green said relocating the residents is a priority but it should be done on a volunteer basis.
A Neighborhood Improvement Program in the 1970s didn't have success in moving the residents, he said.
If a toxic spill occurred in a workplace the employees would be removed from the site until it is cleaned up. He sees no difference with the situation on Frederick Street.
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