Sydney - Frederick Street residents say they'll form a human chain and physically block any
attempt by the government to restart the cleanup at the coke ovens site.

"The time has come, I think, to be a little radical," resident Ronnie McDonald said Tuesday.

"Whatever it takes, we have a plan in place. ... If they come down here tomorrow ... we'll stop
them. If it takes chaining ourselves to the fence or the gate or (forming) a human link ... we're
going to blockade the trucks from leaving the site."

The residents' planned protest comes despite a recent health assessment study by Cantox
Environmental that said residents were not in any immediate danger from the toxins on the
site, located about 90 metres from Frederick Street.

"What about the long term, nobody is capable of determining long-term risks," Mr.
MacDonald said. He called the Cantox study unbelievable and flawed, and said Dr. Jeff Scott,
the province's chief medical officer who backed the findings, should resign.

Several months ago, a yellow patch of ooze turned up near the back entrance of one
person's home. That ooze had levels of arsenic 18 times higher than acceptable limits.

Other tests conducted over the summer by Environment Canada confirmed high levels of
toxins, including 13 times higher than acceptable limits of arsenic, as well as unacceptable
presence of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzopyrene and heavy metals. Those tests
were conducted on the soil around the dozen or so homes and in a nearby brook.

Phillip's Environmental has the contract for the cleanup at the coke-ovens site, the suspected
source of many of the chemicals.

The contract involves removing tonnes of buried coal and some structures on site.

Before the cleanup was shut down, residents complained of headaches, sore throats and
watery eyes. Now the group, with the backing of the Sierra Club, plans to hire its own
toxicologist to test their bodies for toxins.

Work at the coke-ovens site isn't expected to resume for at least three weeks, if not longer.

Gary Campbell, spokesman for the provincial Transportation and Public Works Department,
said the department is putting together a better plan to keep coal dust down.

"We hope that the work we're doing right now ... will convince them (residents) absolutely
nothing will be coming off that site and hopefully that will satisfy them. To leave the piles of
coal out there now on the site, we think is worse than to get it off."

Copyright © 1998 The Halifax Herald Limited

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