Posted by Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Bill Bradley
Children near the historic areas of Greater Sudbury where smelting occurred need to have their blood tested, said Inka Milewski, science advisor for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
She studied lead contamination from an Xstrata lead smelter in
New Brunswick, starting with a local schoolyard, in 2003.
Elevated levels of lead and arsenic were found in soils,
eventually leading to blood testing of children living
nearby.
She was one of the expert speakers at a community forum Saturday at Tom Davies Square. All the speakers were critical of the Sudbury Soils Study's Human Health Rick Assessment study released last May by the SARA Group of consultants.
The forum, titled "Toxic Tresspass: A Tale of Three Cities," discussed the impacts on three communities affected by decades of toxic release by mining companies-Greater Sudbury, Belledune New Brunswick and Port Colbourne in southern Ontario.
The most important recommendation she made in her presentation was that children, especially those six and under, need to have their blood tested for metal contamination, said Milewski, in an interview with Northern Life.
"For every 100 ppm of lead elevated in the soil that can mean a child's blood level can increase by one microgram per decilitre. For every two to five micrograms per decilitre, the I.Q. of a child can drop by five to six points," she said.
Younger children are most vulnerable, because their bodies are more susceptible to contamination.
"I think this could be a problem here in Greater Sudbury. Children were tested in Belledune. We need testing done here, especially in Falconbridge and Copper Cliff," she said.
Diana Wiggins, a Port Colbourne resident involved in the risk based assessment process in that community, spoke on the experience of soil contamination and human health effects, and how Port Colbourne mobilized resources to get an more independent analysis of the community risk.
Milewski said the kinds of risk assessments done in the three communities are a "weak and blunt tool" to find out what is really going on.
She noted that Belledune has higher rates of cancers than anywhere else in New Brunswick or even in the surrounding regions.
Julien Dionne of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) said 64 per cent of Sudburians do not trust the findings of the Sudbury Soil Study.
SOAR joined the Community Committee on the Sudbury Soils Study last fall.
"We wanted to make sure that contamination from mines and smelters in the Sudbury area is properly identified, remediated and (where it can not be remediated) contained. We wanted to ensure that those people whose health is at risk are provided with diagnosis, treatment and (where this is not possible) with compensation," he stated.
Dionne noted that Sudbury has some of the worst health indicators in Canada.
"Statistics Canada reports that, in 2000, Greater Sudbury had the lowest life expectancy for all metropolitan areas in Canada at 76.7 years. We were second only to Saint John in terms of people with high blood pressure, at 16 per cent," said Dionne.
Rick Grylls, past Mine Mill Local 598 union president and member of the community group, said he thinks the high death rate in Sudbury is not entirely due to excessive smoking and drinking rates.
"I have been to other Northern Ontario cities like Timmins or North Bay. Our consumption of alcohol or tobacco is no different from there, yet our cancer rates are higher. There is another factor at play here. We want to know what it is," said Grylls.
Franco Mariotti, process observer for the Sudbury Soils Study, did not comment on the criticism of the science done in the multi million dollar research study.
He insisted the presence of the two mining committees on the major decision-making committee did not skewer the decision making process in any way.
For more information about the session, phone Rick Grylls at 673-3661, ext. 23 or visit www.sudburysoils.com or email [email protected] .
