PUBLICATIONCape Breton Post
DATE Thu 15 Jul 1999
EDITIONFINAL
SECTION/CATEGORY Cape Breton
PAGE NUMBER3
BYLINE Steve MacInnis
STORY LENGTH 391
HEADLINE:
Pier resident determined to fight for relocation
Ann Ross sat in her tiny kitchen on Laurier Street Wednesday
undecided whether to laugh or cry.
On her basement floor there are clumps of arsenic-laced soil
leaking in through cracks in the basement wall. She was moved out
of her home because of the problem and spent 31 days in a Sydney
hotel along with 10 other families.
However, the others were offered a buyout of their properties
through a joint federal-provincial program.
Ross was told to return home because the source of the arsenic is
in the soil around her home and not from the coke ovens site which
is one reason why the other families were moved.
Department of Environment officials have told her she is
responsible to fix the cracks in her basement which will likely
halt the water and contaminated soil from leaking in. A contractor
told her it would cost nearly $4,000 plus extra charges if workers
are required to wear any type of protective clothing or other
special measures and permits.
Environment Department officials have now officially closed her
file and referred her to the departments of Health and Labour.
``I'm caught in a bureaucratic maze. I've written and called
everyone I can think of. I'm afraid I'm being forgotten here,''
said Ross, a provincial government employee with the Department of
Community Services.
``I want to be relocated. I still have a major health concern in
my basement and someone has to take action,'' says Ross.
The level of arsenic found in her home registered 49.9 mg/kg, the
same level found to be seeping from a rail bed running near
Frederick Street and the former coke ovens property.
That property is part of the highly contaminated Muggah Creek
Watershed which is now the focus of a remediation effort being
spearheaded by the Joint Action Group.
The site contains a host of highly toxic substances such as
polychlorinated biphenyls.
Her case has been referred to the province's ombudsman Douglas
Ruck.
Ross' MLA Paul MacEwan, who is seeking re-election, has been
advised by investigator Janet MacKinnon, that someone from the
ombudsman's office will be contacting Ross soon.
Ruck's office must first determine whether they have jurisdiction
to proceed with an investigation into her case.
Meanwhile, Ross said she has no intention of going quietly into
the night and vowed to continue fighting until she is relocated.
PUBLICATIONCape Breton Post
DATE Thu 15 Jul 1999
EDITIONFINAL
SECTION/CATEGORY Letters
PAGE NUMBER15
BYLINE Malcolm Campbell
STORY LENGTH 311
HEADLINE:
Recycling tar ponds sediment is not an option for cleanup
To the editor:
Not so long ago, I had a conversation with a colleague who like
myself has lived in industrial Cape Breton during the raw steel
making years of the steel plant. The net result of this
conversation provided us with a list of family, friends and
relatives who passed away due to various forms of cancer. I am
very sure that anyone who takes the time to read this piece can
add to this list.
In Pius Corbett's letter, ``Incinerators Could Do Clean Up'',
(Cape Breton Post, Saturday July 10), he confidently states that,
``with modest system upgrades the incinerators could be
recommissioned today to destroy tar ponds sediment safely and
efficiently.''
We are sure of two things in this life; death and taxes. Many
residents have experienced death prematurely due to the processes
which produce these tar ponds. Why would any logically sane
individual want to create a furnace to recycle this toxin into the
atmosphere?
Once is enough for me; how about you? The regulatory standards
that Mr. Corbett talks about may be fine for a population that has
not been exposed to the pollutants associated with the steelmaking
process. What about those of us who have those toxins in our
systems? Are we supposed to lie down and let some quick fix
process bellow out smoke and pollutants for a second time?
I say no, thank you, to Mr. Corbett and those of that ilk.
Recycling dangerous tar ponds sediment is not an option. Let's not
provide the coming generation with a pollution site created by
people who lacked the logic to effect an acceptable solution to a
problem created by the bourgeoisie at the turn of the century. We
don't need an incinerator and its tailings left behind to drain
the tax dollars from yet another generation of cancer-stricken
Cape Bretoners.
Malcolm Campbell
Sydney, N.S.
