Fort Chip research

I'm not sure if any of you have directly looked into the stats of how many people in Fort Chip are affected by this or have cancer. I was really surprised when I read this research paper by the number of people affected by this. According to that paper overall there was 51 cancers found within 47 individuals when it was only expected to be 39 cancers. They found many different cancer cases such as Cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts), biliary tract cancers, and colon cancers, cancers of the blood and lymphatic system, lung cancer and soft tissue cancer. When I was reading all this information I was astonished that government officials were not putting all their effort into trying to affect or change this at all. It makes me think that the government doesn't care as much as they say they do.

Wildlife and water

There are also a lot of arsenic and mercury found in the water and the fish are becoming contaminated because of this. The levels of these are higher then they should be. People who were fishing caught abnormal growths and hunters found fowl covered in oil. The drinking water in this community has been tested and is said to be safe to drink. Why would you even want to drink it if you know what it is doing to the people and wildlife? The few times I visited Fort Chipewyan, I've always drank bottled water. Just knowing these things just makes you unsure. The government has to know what it's doing to the environment but probably only worried about the money that the oil sands are bringing in and not worried about the side affects.

http://mostlywater.org/study_proves_it_tar_sands_operations_poisoning_athabasca_basin_fort_chipewyan

The town that lives off the land

In 2006 a study was done to the water supply in Fort Chipewyan. There was a huge amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are associated with the oil deposits and increasing the amount of pollution. The residents of Fort Chipewyan are often eating food from hunting or fishing through out the year. These animals are eating and drinking from these waters and the land and getting diseases as well and the people of Fort Chipewyan are eating these animals. It isn't on occasion, it is more everyday for these people are eating these foods as well.

http://www.nodirtyenergy.org/index.php?Itemid=160&id=112&option=com_content&task=view

Why is Cancer Sweeping Tiny Fort Chipewyan?

Attached is yet another article from back in 2006. The author Patrick Brethour goes into details of how the conditions were brought to light by Dr. O'Connor and he also give his own opinions on the tragedy that the people of Fort Chip have lived. Notice how towards the end of the article an official from First Nations and Inuit Health says that he, "felt quite comfortable," drinking the water but then ended up draining the glass that he had poured for himself. It reminded me of when Erin Brokovich told the lawyers that they brought the water in for them directly from Hinkley and they didn't drink it.

Interesting Topic!

This is good work so far. Just make sure that all the posts meet the minimum length requirement. Who is Keganzi? I need to know in order to give you credit for your posts.

Article about Dr. John O'connor

Hello everyone! Here is an awesome article I found about the doctor that brought Fort Chips health problems to light. Dr. John O'Connor returned to Fort Chip to deliver a speech and was welcomed with a hero status. His courageous efforts to help them got him ostracized and investigated. Without him, their story might have been swept under the rug. I feel that without his selflessness the problems would've been kept under the radar by 'officials' that are supposed to be the ones to blow the whistle on such situations.

A march in downton Edmonton

Here is an article of the people from Fort Chipewyan doing a march down Jasper to Crowne Plaza. The are trying to get the word out on what is going on in Fort Chipewyan. Last year 20 people died from cancer related deaths and the popution of Fort Chip is only 1200. That is a very high number for such a small community. There are about 200 activists who did this march and are wanting to slow down oilsands development. These people are also worried about the future of their children and grandchildren and what will be left of the land in that area once or if the oil industry slows down.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/11/02-1