Here is an article about cancer sweeping Fort Chipewyan! There are a lot of people suffering from very random cancers and at very young ages. I am from Hay River, NT and the effects from the oil sands are even being felt there. The Slave River leaves Lake Athabasca and runs north into the Great Slave Lake and Hay River is on the shore of Great Slave Lake. There are so many people from Hay River dying from cancer and being diagnosed often just like Fort Chipweyan. It isn't Hay River only, there is Fort Smith, Lutselk'e, Yellowknife and Fort Providence that are all on that lake or river as well, that are experiencing all these effects from the oilsands.
http://mostlywater.org/node/6332
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What is happening at Fort Chipewyan is just horrendous. There should have never been a 4 year gap between the report of the problem, and the government’s action. The money the oil sands generate in revenue is not worth those people's, current and future, health. Especially since at this moment it is only conjecture that the oil sands are the cause. It seems likely since it is only lately that people have lost their confidence in the water purity. Their slow response has delayed any study which could make it harder to determine the cause, and has most defiantly allowed people time to form their own opinions.
ReplyDeleteIf the is cause is the pollutants leaking into the Lake, the problem will spread farther away as the water from the lake moves further down the water table. If it is a dietary or lifestyle problem it could have been taking care of years ago. Transport route could have been improved so that fruits and vegetables would not cost as much.
At least now that the study is being done they are taking a step in the right direction, and the people will get the help they so desperately need. And hopefully while they are looking into Fort Chipewyan they can also look into the Alberta government environmental laws to see if they still are effective. Maybe with all this increase in oil sand’s activity we as a province need to update our regulations.
It is an unfortunate story that I wish wouldn't have to be told. Can they not see the devastation that the oilsands are causing as far as the river goes? If 'they' (government officials) actually cared about the problem they would shut down the oilsands completely. That is the only way that this is going to be solved. It won't happen though because dollars, apparently, are much more important than lives. This topic gets me going as I have seen first hand just how careless the oilsands companies really are. For an example of just how much they care about the environment, the site I work at doesn't even recycle! We've thrown away thousands of cans every week and were questioned when we tried to recycle them ourselves. The amount of cardboard, plastics, and cans that are thrown away is ridiculous and has a major impact on the environment. If the companies don't even care to recycle, why would they care about what they put in the water? They don't care and that's the bottom line.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Government of Alberta,Alberta Oil Sands site (http://oilsands.alberta.ca/) the oil sands industry has been working on finding ways to reduce their environmental footprint. But hearing what Dawn just had to say it sounds like they aren't putting as much effort into finding a solution as they led people on to believe. Because by not recycling and not trying to reduce the amount of water pollution they create they are not solving anything. It sounds to me like they are doing the bare minimums and are not even trying to promote environmentalism.
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