Board of trade not impressed as JAG
exhibits Website
By Steve MacInnis, Cape Breton Post, February 27, 1999 Much to the chagrin of the Industrial Cape Breton
Board of Trade, the rest of world can now access
information on Canada’s worst toxic waste dump.
The Joint Action Group (JAG) unveiled its Website
Friday (www.muggah.org) in Sydney. It will allow
Internet users to access a wealth of information
about the .
The watershed contains Canada’s worst and
largest toxic waste site, the legacy of nearly a
century of steel and byproduct manufacturing.
“I’m not going to deny it exists but you don’t need to
advertise your pimples and warts,” said Avvie
Druker, board of trade president.
Druker said the board is appalled that JAG would
display this region’s shame on the Internet.
“We don’t need to advertise this. Not everyone
knows about this but now it’s being made available
around the world,” he said.
But JAG chairperson Carl (Bucky) Buchanan is
unapologetic about the Website and the
information presented.
Buchanan said JAG is also concerned about the
island’s economy and doesn’t want to discourage
investment but the reality is the watershed exists
and problems need to be addressed.
JAG was created in 1996 to develop a
community-based solution to cleaning up the site.
The group has already spent more than $15 million
in its quest for remediation options.
The Website cost about $20,000 to create and
features six areas of interest – about JAG; about
Muggah Creek; about JAG groups’ current events;
library and Website maps.
Sierra Club calls for review of health
assessment
By Tanya Collier, Cape Breton Post, February 27, 1999 The Sierra Club of Canada is asking the provincial
government to conduct a peer review of a health
risk assessment prepared by Cantox Inc.
The request was ignited by the realization the
Ontario government requires a peer review
whenever a risk assessment is conducted on a
contaminated site, said Elizabeth May, executive
director of the Sierra Club.
“They should have done their own peer review or
should take ours seriously,” she said.
The Sierra Club paid the International Institute of
Concern for Public Health (IICPH) to conduct a
review of a health risk assessment by Cantox Inc.
that concluded contamination poses no serious
health risk to residents near Canada’s worst toxic
waste dump. The review by IICPH reported the
assessment was flawed.
“It defies belief the government would continue to
put its faith in the document,” added May.
Dr. Jeff Scott, chief medical officer for Nova Scotia,
provided information to the Cape Breton Post that
reported Health Canada and the Department of
Health hired Cantox jointly and reviewed the
assessment.
“Health Canada and the Department of Health
continue to support the Cantox recommendations.
The recommendations are actively being
implemented.”
Committee prioritizes wastewater
issues
By Tanya Collier, Cape Breton Post, February 27, 1999 The Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM) is
reviewing an interim discussion paper composed
to develop a wastewater management (WWM)
strategy for the province.
Frank Potter, municipal engineer for the working
committee that created the paper, said the group’s
objective was to identify and prioritize wastewater
issues and to provide options for stakeholders.
At first, the committee believed raw sewage being
dumped into harbours would be the main problem
but it has since concluded aging infrastructures and
failing on-site (septic) sewage systems are also
large hindrances.
He noted in about 30 communities, 30 per cent of
the province’s population discharges untreated
sewage, 25 per cent of the population is serviced
by a central treatment facility and 45 per cent are
served by on-site systems.
The total cost of adhering to recommendations
itemized in the discussion paper would be about
$700 million across the province – about $100
million of that to repair problems in the Cape
Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM). That
includes collector lines for the CBRM, not
upgrading old systems or improving on-site
systems.
Potter said he hopes the UNSM – now creating a
final draft of the WWM – won’t develop a strategy
that “mirrors” the solid waste management strategy
(SWM) previously developed by the province.
JAG Web site rankles board of trade
'Could deter' tourists, business
By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau - Herald, February 27, 1999 Sydney - The Cape Breton Industrial Board of Trade is hoping to
kill a new Web site launched Friday that features the Sydney tar
ponds and coke ovens site.
President Avvie Druker says the Joint Action Group's Web site
will hurt the island's image and its business sector.
"I think it could deter either tourists or people coming here to start
up businesses," he said after a ceremony to launch the site at
Silicon Island.
The site (www.muggah.org) features information about the
mammoth problem, including a three-minute video shot on site.
There's also information about JAG's structure, achievements,
minutes and meetings, and copies of every health and
environmental study that's been completed.
The Web site also shows maps and pictures of the unsightly mess
in downtown Sydney.
Mr. Druker says his group will lobby every level of government and
funding agency to shut down the site.
"I believe we should move quickly to get that out of here but I don't
see how this helps, having a Web site and advertising it to the
world. ... I don't see how it helps us to achieve that goal," he said.
He said the board, by its position, is not denying that the toxic
sites exist.
"You don't have to advertise your pimples or warts," he said.
Carl Buchanan, chairman of JAG, is also disappointed with the
board of trade's position.
He said the group is very proud of the work it has accomplished.
"To deny it's in our community is wrong. We want to clean it up,
and we want people to know we're cleaning it up," Mr. Buchanan
said.
The toxic sites were created from over 100 years of steelmaking
in downtown Sydney.
The tar ponds contains more than 700,000 tonnes of sludge that
contains volatile organics, polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons,
polychlorinated biphenyls and heavy metals.
The toxins at the coke ovens site are believed to have reached as
deep as the bedrock, some 60 metres below.
Mr. Buchanan said to avoid talking about the toxic sites won't help
solve the problem.
"It's wrong not to mention it to people. Plus, we need support from
the federal and provincial governments ... we have to let people
know what we're dealing with, good or bad, and to seek their
assistance financially and their help otherwise."
More than $15 million has been spent by JAG since it began
looking for a solution in 1996. Volunteers have given more than
30,000 hours to define the process and the projects to be
undertaken in the gradual cleanup.
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