Two Cape Bretoners will tell North America's guardians of the environment about the benefits of small, toxic communities coming together in a bid to solve their problems.
Dan and Clotilda Yakimchuk, along with Elizabeth May, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, are scheduled to make a presentation to the Environment ministers of Canada, United States and Mexico during meetings next week in Mexico.
The Yakimchuk's were among eight island residents to participate in a toxic exchange organized by the Sierra Club.
Residents of Whitney Pier, the Yakimchuks are all too famliar with the Muggah Creek Watershed which includes the Sydney tar ponds - 700,000 tonnes of toxic sludge left behind after nearly a century of steel and by-product manufacturing.
They exchanged with residents from Fort Valley, Ga., who have been dealing within their own problem, the cap which is a mound of synthetic materials, clay and dirt covering over arsenic concentrations more than 300 times acceptable limits.
The communities were brought together by the Sierra Club and the project was funded by North American Federation of Environmental Cooperation. The purpose is to allow residents to share their experiences and offer recommendations on how to get action to clean up the sites.
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