By Mike Hunter - The Halifax Herald, May 2, 1999Sydney - When Ann Ross saw television pictures of a mysterious
substance oozing into her neighbour's home, she recognized it right
away - because something similar is coming into her own basement.
Community environmental concern focused on two homes on nearby
Frederick Street late last week, when yellowish-orange ooze was found
coming into the basements. Ms. Ross and her daughter live two streets
away.
The material bears a strong resemblance to a similar substance found
oozing out of a railway embankment behind the Frederick Street home
of Debbie Ouellette.
A similar yellowish deposit found in the same spot last year was found
to contain arsenic at 18 times the acceptable limit, plus high levels of
lead, copper, antimony, molybdenum, benzopyrene and other
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Ms. Ross won't know if the sludge in her basement is the same until
she can arrange to have samples collected and tested, but she said
Saturday she "wants out" if it's found to be harmful.
"If anything toxic - arsenic or whatever poison - is in this, I want out
of here until something is done."
Ms. Ross noticed the substance about three months ago, when she
moved her lawn mower, but she thought it was something like rusty
water - until Friday night.
"You hear about this stuff around, but until you see it, you're not
concerned," she said. "Then I saw it on TV and I'm scared to death."
Environment officials are expected to return Monday to get more
samples from the Ouellettes and from the home of Rick and Juanita
McKenzie.
Ms. McKenzie has spearheaded political action to persuade
government to move people out of homes in the area, if that's what
they want to.
"Enough is enough," she said. "This is the worst fear of the
community, and I think this is the alarm button" that's needed.
"I think it's appalling that they are allowing the family to live in that
house," she said, referring to the Ouellette home.
Federal and provincial officials haven't taken action on demands to
relocate residents of Frederick Street. They're awaiting results of
laboratory testing of the material.
Nova Scotia Environment Minister Michel Samson has been quoted as
saying that the government will not act unilaterally, preferring to work
with the Joint Action Group and their partners who are studying the
area.
Ms. McKenzie said she doesn't think the minister understands the
situation and is calling for immediate action to move people out.
JAG has urged the government to reveal its plans by June 1, and
members want residents to have the option of being relocated at
government expense.
And opposition parties have called for action by the MacLellan
government.
"Enough is enough," said NDP Leader Robert Chisholm, speaking of
the Frederick Street problem.
"We have said right from the beginning that their physical and
emotional health is in jeopardy and that they should be moved," he
said Saturday.
"It's the minimum that needs to be done."
Ms. Ross said she won't be satisfied until something is done to ensure
her family's safety. "It begins Monday - my battle begins then."
In Halifax, a new group, Action for the Evacuation of Frederick Street,
was also calling for residents to be moved.
The group held a rally Saturday at the corner of Spring Garden Road
and Queen Street.
"I guess a lot of people just feel removed from the situation, and that's
something we're going to fix. These are our neighbours," said Luke
Fraser, a member of Youth for Social Justice. Members of Friends of
Frederick Street and the Sierra Club also belong to the new
organization.
NDP environment critic Don Chard said that even if the government
wants more studies done to determine whether the ooze is toxic,
residents should be moved in the meantime.
"Move people out while you do the studies, then study it to your
heart's content. But get people out of that environment, otherwise we
may be leaving them at risk, and by the time we have definitive
evidence of the precise nature of the risk, it may be too late for those
people," said Mr. Chard, who attended the small protest.
He said the rally will help people realize the problem is not confined to
one Sydney neighbourhood.
"I think this is very necessary because it's going to take a lot of money
to clean up the coke-ovens site and the tar ponds in Sydney, and the
more information the general public throughout Nova Scotia and the
rest of Canada has about this problem, the better the likelihood that the
federal government will accept its responsibility to help the province
clean up that site."
With Christine Doucet, staff reporter
Toxic protest hits Spring Garden
By CHRIS LAMBIE - The Daily News, Sunday, May 2, 1999
Frederick Street slime oozed on to the agenda yesterday on
Spring Garden Road.
A handful of protesters toting signs that read "Evacuate
Frederick Street now," gathered at the Queen Street intersection
to tell Halifax residents about the ongoing Sydney problem.
Residents want the province to move them out of the area,
which borders a coke oven, because they believe it's toxic and
is making them sick.
"When I heard that this yellow ooze was coming through the
basements, I thought that the government would jump on their
feet and say, `OK, we'll fix it up. Obviously there's something
wrong,'" said protest organizer Caitlin Hancey. "But they
haven't."
Federal and provincial Environment Department officials were
in the basements of two homes last week, taking samples of an
orange-coloured substance seeping into the homes.
Environment Minister Michel Samson is waiting for lab analysis
before deciding what to do. Initial results are expected later this
week.
Some of the Birkenstock-sporting protesters were from a group
called Youth for Social Justice, and Hancey admits she's never
even been to Frederick Street.
"We're interested in the environmental impacts - and just the
social justice issue in general - of the government denying these
people the basic human right of safety and health," she said.
No Frederick Street residents took part in the rally.
Resident Juanita McKenzie, who has led the charge for
relocation, meant to come, said Hancey. "But she had to work
at the last minute."
The protest was supposed to be buoyed by a van-load of
people from Chester and Bridgewater, said Hancey. "The
drivers got sick."
But the protesters got a warm welcome from people enjoying
the sunny Saturday afternoon downtown.
"I think the environment down there is a nightmare," said
Rowland Spear, who was on his way to fly a kite on Citadel
Hill.
"I don't know how effective pickets are, but hopefully it will
draw some attention to it."
Sydney - When Ann Ross saw television pictures of a mysterious
substance oozing into her neighbour's home, she recognized it right
away - because something similar is coming into her own basement. 
