Muggah Creek neighbours consider
class action civil suit
By Steve MacInnis, Cape Breton Post, April 24, 1999
The federal and provincial governments could be
slapped with a class action civil suit by residents
living near Canada’s worst toxic waste dump.
Residents living around the Muggah Creek
Watershed area of Sydney are being invited to a
meeting Tuesday to discuss their options for
either compensation or relocation.
“It is simply an information meeting to explain
the options to residents in that area,” said
Sydney lawyer Joe Rizzetto, who has been
retained by some residents living near the toxic
zone.
Created after nearly a century of unregulated
dumping from steel making, byproduct
manufacturing and an overstuffed municipal
landfill, the watershed area includes the famed
Sydney tar ponds which contain some 700,000
tonnes of toxic goo.
Rizzetto said Tuesday’s meeting is open to any
residents living in the watershed area from
Whitney Pier to Sydney’s northend. The
meeting is slated for 7 p.m. at the Hankard
Street Community Centre.
'No magic wand' for toxic problem
Province won't pay to move residents
By Beverley Ware, Halifax Herald, April 24, 1999
Sydney - Frederick Street residents shouldn't expect to be moved out of their
homes at government expense, their MLA says.
"I would say if any person is unhappy where they're living, yes, they should
move," but the province won't pay for it, Paul MacEwan said.
The federal and provincial Environment Departments are investigating yet another
pool of toxic goo that has surfaced behind homes on the Sydney street, which
runs beside the coke ovens.
Angela Poirier, spokeswoman for the provincial Environment Department, said an
official inspected the site Friday and took samples that will be analysed. The
department expects to have the results within 10 days.
A federal Environment Department official investigating the find could not be
reached.
Resident Juanita McKenzie found the gooey substance this week and reiterated
her call to be relocated.
A similar pool of the orange-yellow liquid bubbled out of the ground in the same
spot near her home a year ago. It was found to be heavily contaminated with
arsenic and to have elevated levels of cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, heavy metals and benzene.
But Mr. MacEwan said the province is not responsible for moving residents who
want out of the neighbourhood. He said the toxicity of the coke ovens site is not
the result of any direct government act, and if the province were to pay to move
some families, it would have to do the same for countless others.
Cleaning up the site, not relocating the residents, is the answer, Mr. MacEwan
said.
"I say clean the mess up, that's the definitive solution."
And while there's no doubt living near the coke ovens site is a nuisance and
affects residents' quality of life, there is no proof the area is unfit for human
habitation, he said.
People have to trust the process in place to get the tar ponds and coke ovens sites
cleaned up, he said.
"It took a hundred years to create this problem, you just have to be patient," Mr.
McEwan said. "There's no magic wand we can wave."
In Ottawa, the federal government was criticized Friday for failing to lift a finger
eight months after promising to clean up the Sydney tar ponds.
Sydney-Victoria MP Peter Mancini said the toxic waste site is an ugly reminder
that the Liberals are all talk and no action when it comes to environmental
initatives.
Mr. Mancini said he now knows the government was insincere when it signed the
memorandum of understanding.
"Since then, the Frederick Street (toxic soil) situation has happened, there have
been more health studies, we know we have a higher cancer rate so clearly it's
time for action to be taken," he said after raising the issue in Parliament.
"There is no specific amount of money committed to this in the federal budget."
Liberal MP Paddy Torsney, parliamentary secretary to Environment Minister
Christine Stewart, said several initatives in February's budget are earmarked for
environmental projects.
"With regard to the tar ponds, we are actively negotiating a cost-share agreement
with the municipal and provincial partners and we are working with the Joint
Action Group to identify the solutions and to implement those solutions so the
people who live there will have healthier lives," Ms. Torsney said.
No Magic Wand for Frederick Street says Paul McEwan
