ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUPS: WHO PAYS? Introduction
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ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUPS: WHO PAYS? Introduction In recent years, Canadians have been troubled to learn that what is probably the world's largest toxic waste dump is sitting in the city of Sydney, on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, one of the most scenic parts of the country. This huge site of industrial waste, known to local residents as the Sydney Tar Ponds, but also referred to as "poison city" or "the monster," is the result of a century of iron and steel manufacturing in the region. The area contains huge amounts of toxic sludge, much of it heavily contaminated with cancer-causing chemical agents and other substances that are hazardous to the health of plants, animals, and human beings. To make matters worse, the ponds are really a tidal estuary that sends toxic products into the Atlantic Ocean with every daily cycle of the tides, poisoning all nearby marine life and making fishing impossible. To provide some perspective on the enormousness of this environmental disaster, the Sierra Club of Canada has estimated that the amount of poisonous material contained in the Tar Ponds is probably over 35 times the total amount of toxic sludge that was found in the infamous Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York. The Love Canal is the most widely known ecological horror story of the 1970s. For over a century, the industrial wastes produced by the refining of iron ore into iron and steel from the Sydney Steel plant have been running into the Muggah Creek watershed located in the city's downtown area. It is now thought that the site holds about 700 000 tonnes of toxic matter and is contaminated by at least two severely carcinogenic substances: polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Recent health studies of local residents have revealed an alarmingly high death rate from various forms of cancer and other diseases. People living in Whitney Point, a neighbourhood adjacent to the site, and especially the residents who occupy the 17 houses on Frederick Street, are very concerned about their health and safety. They have formed a community group to pressure local, provincial, and federal government officials to take immediate action to clean up this environmental mess. Since 1986 there have been a number of proposals to deal with the ecological and health problems posed by the Sydney Tar Ponds. Although a great deal of money has been invested in various failed attempts, to date very little has actually been accomplished. While most experts who have studied the issue are convinced that the medical data overwhelmingly demonstrate that the site is a serious medical hazard, some observers attribute the high levels of cancer and other respiratory diseases in the area to lifestyle factors such as smoking, poor diet, and prolonged exposure to air that has been contaminated by decades of industrial activity in Cape Breton. But local inhabitants are becoming tired of being held responsible for serious medical problems that they believe are caused mainly by their living in such close proximity to "the monster" and the lethal industrial wastes it emits. Introduction The Impact One Thing Leads To Another Cleaning Up the Arctic Local Views Legacy Discussion, Research, and Essay Questions Indicates material appropriate or adaptable for younger viewers. Comprehensive News in Review Study Modules Using both the print and non-print material from various issues of News in Review, teachers and students can create comprehensive, thematic modules that are excellent for research purposes, independent assignments, and small group study. We recommend the stories indicated below for the universal issues they represent and for the archival and historic material they contain. "Oakville: The Town that Missed Christmas," February 1993 "The Clean Air Act," December 1990 Other Related Videos Available from CBC Learning Does Your Resource Collection Include These CBC Videos? Asthma: Air of Mystery Bright and Shining Visions Business of the Environment Canadian Way: Global Warming Environmental Alert Environment Show Galactic Mess Global Warming: Turning Up the Heat The Good Fight Green Quiz The Green Zone Greening Business Harvesting the City Hooked On Oil Little Short of Magic Recycling Toxic Journey: Rethinking Pollution Control ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUPS: WHO PAYS? The Impact How Would You Like it in Your Back Yard? Watch this News in Review report, and while watching, jot down your immediate reactions to the images you see. Note also the problems environmental pollution has caused for the residents of Sydney and the native people of the Arctic. When you have finished, form groups with your classmates to discuss your first reactions to what you have seen. Use the following questions to direct your discussion: Why do you think these environmental problems have occurred? Who do you think is chiefly responsible for each of them? Who should be required to deal with the problems? How do you think the local residents of the two areas involved feel about being exposed to toxic substances from these sites? Digging Deeper Now watch the video again. This time increase your knowledge of this story by recording the factual information suggested by the questions below. Why is it important to begin "digging deeper" after a first reaction to a story such as this? 1. Who was the former federal minister of the Environment who called the Sydney Tar Ponds a "national disgrace?" 2. What was the name of the steel company that began operations in this area in 1899? 3. What kind of coal is mined in Cape Breton? 4. What workers in 18th-century London, England, had high rates of cancer? Why? 5. What modification to the steel factory was made in 1988? 6. What local industry had to be closed down in 1982? Why? 7. Of what diseases does Sydney have the highest rates in Nova Scotia? 8. What is the "superburn system?" What advantages did it offer? Why did it not work? 9. What plan was proposed to deal with the chemical pollutants in 1996? 10. What poisonous chemicals have been found at high levels in the area near Frederick Street? What serious diseases can they cause? 11. What was the name of the defensive installation the United States built in the Canadian Arctic during the 1950s? Why did they build it? 12. What environmental problems is this former installation causing the local Inuit people today? Introduction The Impact One Thing Leads To Another Cleaning Up the Arctic Local Views Legacy Discussion, Research, and Essay Questions Indicates material appropriate or adaptable for younger viewers. ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUPS: WHO PAYS? One Thing Leads To Another Below are answers to the questions in "Digging Deeper" and more questions that ask you to think about the issues even more deeply. 1. Sergio Marchi. Suggest why the federal government has a Minister of the Environment. 2. Dominion Iron and Steel Company. What is the importance of this industry in Canada? In the world? 3. Bituminous coal. What is the generic name for the kind of fuel coal represents? What is the importance of this name? 4. Chimney-sweeps. Because they were in regular contact with soot. Why is it important to know about jobs that no longer exist, that no longer exist to the same extent, or that have been changed by technology? 5. The coke ovens were shut down and replaced by less-polluting electric furnaces. Suggest primary and secondary effects that this change would have caused. 6. The lobster fishery. Because lobsters were found to contain high levels of PAH compounds (polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons). Suggest how this crustacean could have become so polluted. 7. Lung cancer, breast cancer, and stomach cancer. Suggest causes of these diseases related to lifestyle. 8. The superburn system was a way of removing toxic sludge from the Sydney Tar Ponds by pumping it out and burning it. This process would have generated electricity that could be sold to pay for the environmental clean-up and would also have provided hundreds of jobs for unemployed steelworkers. The problem with this system was that the burning process would not eliminate PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), extremely toxic substances that are very difficult to destroy. What lesson can be drawn from this failed experiment? 9. It was proposed that the pollutants should be sealed in concrete. In your opinion, was this or was this not a solution to the problem? 10. High levels of arsenic, molybdenum, benzene, benzoprene, antimony, napthalene, lead, sulphur, and copper have been found in the Frederick Street area. These chemicals are known to cause various cancers, birth defects, heart and kidney disease, brain damage, immune deficiencies, and skin rashes. Why can we not simply ban such chemicals in society? 11. It was called the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. Its purpose was to spot bombers from the Soviet Union flying over the Arctic Circle before they were able to drop nuclear bombs on cities in North America. Social scientists often talk about the interrelationship or interconnectedness of all things. How does the DEW Line suggest this concept? 12. The site contains a large amount of waste that has contaminated the water supplies in many remote Arctic communities. Suggest the wider implications of this factual information. Critical Thinking Watch the video once again. This time form groups after viewing to discuss the following questions. 1. Why do you think there has been so little action to date on the part of local, provincial, and federal government officials to clean up the Sydney Tar Ponds? 2. Why do you think residents of Cape Breton employed in the steel industry were relatively unconcerned about environmental hazards in their area until recently? 3. In your opinion, were jobs made a priority over the state of the local environment in the Sydney Tar Ponds situation? 4.