Soil samples
are continuing to be collected this week in Whitney Pier to determine the
extent of arsenic contamination.
Wayne Pierce,
spokesperson for a newly-formed monitoring committee, said Thursday, samples
are being turned in daily to the lab at the University College of Cape
Breton for analysis.
He said it's
hoped a final report will be ready to present to residents sometime in
early July.
In addition
to sampling, three monitoring wells have also been drilled and Pierce,
spokesperson for Environment Canada here in Cape Breton, said lab staff
are working overtime to meet the tight committee-imposed deadline.
Meanwhile
residents of Frederick Street are planning to meet next week to plot their
next round of strategy.
Resident spokesperson
Juanity MacKenzie said residents are tired of waiting and want action.
The problem
centers on elevated levels of arsenic and other metals found in soil samples
taken from a brook bank. The results have residents nervous especially
since they live near North America's worst toxic waste dump - Sydney tar
ponds.
Since the
release of the initial results, residents have been asked to keep children
and pets away from the brook.
According
to the results, arsenic levels are 18.5 times higher than acceptable limits
established by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME).
The recommended CCME level is 12 and the level found on Frederick Street
is 222.55.
Arsenic levels
on the nearby railbed were three times higher than recommended levels.
Frederick
Street borders the north side of the former coke ovens site which is part
of the . The area is now fenced in with signs
warning of human health hazard.
The most toxic
part of the watershed is the tar ponds - 700,000 tonnes of highly toxic
sludge left behind after nearly a century of steel making.
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