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N.B. government kept residents in dark about lead contamination: council
June 15, 2006 - 13:19

FREDERICTON (CP) - The New Brunswick government withheld information for decades about lead contamination and related health risks in a northern industrial community, an environmental group alleged in a new report Thursday.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick claims the province had several warnings about higher than normal levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic linked to a smelter in Belledune, but did nothing to alert residents.

"The public health scandal here is that in 1981, it was clear to both the provincial and federal governments that there was a significant risk to people's health and they never told them," David Coon of the council said following the release of the 93-page document, called Dying for Development.

"They were kept in the dark."

The council said it obtained government documents that trace a legacy of denial and neglect dating back to the 1960s, two years after the lead smelter complex opened in the small rural community on the Bay of Chaleur.

It found the federal government had discovered high lead levels around the Belledune school in 1968, which was just hundreds of metres away from the smelter.

The council said the documents show the province ignored the federal government's recommendation to investigate the levels.

In 1981, years after sheep living near the facility started dying, the director of Health and Welfare Canada's bureau of health and safety told the province that the smelter posed a health risk to the community.

Again, the province did not inform the residents, the council says.

"The health of those people was sacrificed to concerns that government departments seemed to have had about rocking the boat with the company," Coon said.

The council has asked the province to hold a public inquiry into the matter and compensate people in the area who have been affected by the smelter.

Provincial Environment Minister Trevor Holder said he would review the issue and consider cleaning up properties that have been harmed by contaminants in the soil or water.

"We've made it clear that if we have to sit down with any property owners, we're certainly there to look at trying to come up with some form of remediation for it," he said, adding that officials are looking at one site that has shown some contamination.

Inka Milewski, who wrote the report, said the government only started revealing the extent of the problem in a 2005 provincial health study that found Belledune residents had higher death, disease and cancer rates compared to other parts of the province.

The study showed that lead levels in the bodies of pregnant women and children were within the normal range.

Seven pregnant women and 47 children were tested for lead levels, which ranged from 0.3 to 3.7 micrograms per decilitre.

According to Health Canada guidelines, blood-lead levels below 10 micrograms per decilitre aren't a medical concern.

The study showed that residents are at a greater risk of contracting certain cancers, but the health minister maintained the cancer and mortality rates are not linked to the region's heavy industrial activity.

The province also found in a study earlier this year that soil samples in the area contained levels of lead and cadmium that were higher than federal guidelines

Frost__2001,Jun 15 2006, 03:14 PM Wrote:N.B. government kept residents in dark about lead contamination: council
June 15, 2006 - 13:19

FREDERICTON (CP) - The New Brunswick government withheld information for decades about lead contamination and related health risks in a northern industrial community, an environmental group alleged in a new report Thursday.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick claims the province had several warnings about higher than normal levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic linked to a smelter in Belledune, but did nothing to alert residents.

"The public health scandal here is that in 1981, it was clear to both the provincial and federal governments that there was a significant risk to people's health and they never told them," David Coon of the council said following the release of the 93-page document, called Dying for Development.

"They were kept in the dark."

The council said it obtained government documents that trace a legacy of denial and neglect dating back to the 1960s, two years after the lead smelter complex opened in the small rural community on the Bay of Chaleur.

It found the federal government had discovered high lead levels around the Belledune school in 1968, which was just hundreds of metres away from the smelter.

The council said the documents show the province ignored the federal government's recommendation to investigate the levels.

In 1981, years after sheep living near the facility started dying, the director of Health and Welfare Canada's bureau of health and safety told the province that the smelter posed a health risk to the community.

Again, the province did not inform the residents, the council says.

"The health of those people was sacrificed to concerns that government departments seemed to have had about rocking the boat with the company," Coon said.

The council has asked the province to hold a public inquiry into the matter and compensate people in the area who have been affected by the smelter.

Provincial Environment Minister Trevor Holder said he would review the issue and consider cleaning up properties that have been harmed by contaminants in the soil or water.

"We've made it clear that if we have to sit down with any property owners, we're certainly there to look at trying to come up with some form of remediation for it," he said, adding that officials are looking at one site that has shown some contamination.

Inka Milewski, who wrote the report, said the government only started revealing the extent of the problem in a 2005 provincial health study that found Belledune residents had higher death, disease and cancer rates compared to other parts of the province.

The study showed that lead levels in the bodies of pregnant women and children were within the normal range.

Seven pregnant women and 47 children were tested for lead levels, which ranged from 0.3 to 3.7 micrograms per decilitre.

According to Health Canada guidelines, blood-lead levels below 10 micrograms per decilitre aren't a medical concern.

The study showed that residents are at a greater risk of contracting certain cancers, but the health minister maintained the cancer and mortality rates are not linked to the region's heavy industrial activity.

The province also found in a study earlier this year that soil samples in the area contained levels of lead and cadmium that were higher than federal guidelines
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I live in belledune, have all my life and my dad is an employee of the brunswick smelter in question.... My dad's lead is good for someone working there 32 years and most people's lead levles in this area are in the normal range... It's really a section of a few square miles that's truly affected by it.... Plus there is a sawmill, NB power generating station, and a battery reclying plant all in the same area. Alot of people made a big fuss over it, most of them were former employees :rolleyes:

There has been many people dieing of cancer in that area for many many years the government just dont care because of the money that it brings to the nb government. People being sick and dieing is not worth that some people have jobs, most of those with jobs as soon as they retire or are close they die and guess whats the cause 99.9 % of the time ? Cancer! All the plants in northern new brunswick should be investigated and closed down and the people who have been affected by the s*** they pumped out should be well rewarded, funny how they pump s*** in the air and get away with it though, noone in that area could ever take them to court because of the lack of money. And all the people are left in the dark about it and as far as the topic goes about lead levels .. who pays for the testing ? brunswick smelter ? same as water testing ive had my well tested guess who was getting them tested ... brunswick smelter ... Think they arent gonna get the results they want ?

timhickey,Nov 6 2006, 09:59 AM Wrote:There has been many people dieing of cancer in that area for many many years the government just dont care because of the money that it brings to the nb government. People being sick and dieing is not worth that some people have jobs, most of those with jobs as soon as they retire or are close they die and guess whats the cause 99.9 % of the time ? Cancer! All the plants in northern new brunswick should be investigated and closed down and the people who have been affected by the s*** they pumped out should be well rewarded, funny how they pump s*** in the air and get away with it though, noone in that area could ever take them to court because of the lack of money. And all the people are left in the dark about it and as far as the topic goes about lead levels .. who pays for the testing ? brunswick smelter ? same as water testing ive had my well tested guess who was getting them tested ... brunswick smelter ... Think they arent gonna get the results they want ?
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Do you want the north shore of this province to become a ghost town? I don't care what anyone says, the smelter, nb power and the rest keep this place alive and without them there would be nothing and nobody left....

Most of JR and surrounding areas have low lead levels, it's the belledune townsite and lower belledune that has higher levels of lead.... There are plenty of men and woman from this part of the province with very low levels of lead in their system, my father being one of them.... Most of the things that have gone into the air were the days of when pollution laws were non existent and nobody cared.... These days, plants have scubbers and other pollution components to make sure eveything coming out of the stacks is clean as the gov't see fit.... Blame the government and basically human kind because nobody gave a damn but greenpeace.

You do know most of the people complaining about high lead levels in gardens, well's etc... are close and near the townsite and are former employess of the brunswick smelter and nb power.... Don't bite the hand that feeds is all i have to say, it's a shame people die of cancer, but cancer deaths are on the rise everywhere, not just here.... Don't automatically blame the smelter as the culprit for 100's of deaths.

I have met very few people who think anything in the area should be shut down because their carrots and turnips have high lead. Move out of the damn townsite where you have a sawmill, lead smelter and coal generating power plant a rock throw from your front porch....

I just find it funny that people that work there for 30 years, come out and complain and whine afterwards because they have high lead in their yard... Their just looking for money.... Everyone says so.

Yeah that is true that if it wasnt for the plants in the north shore it would be a ghost town and the companies know this thats why they use it as a place to put all there plants to pump s*** into the air. Its a shame that there is no work in the area nice little towns to live and most get along and everyone knows each other. I just find it funny how when the bennett plant was trying to open people were complaining and didnt want it to open because of what it does but I mean whats the difference theres already a lead smelter , wood mill , power plant whats the difference if theres one more ? its just a shame that eventually it will either shut down or be shut down .

All because the stuff they would be treating is more harmful then anything else around and would all be trucked in, not shipped in by container ship... The amount of damage a little bit of that contaiminated soil is significant.... More then the smelter or anywhere else could do in 20 years.

Like bennett wants to burn soil contaminated with pcb's, i don't think anyone knows they are extremely toxic to the aquatic environments and to species that eat fish. Little bit of pcb's spill, there go the fish.

The little jobs bennett would create is not worth the risk to many around here and rightfully so ....

Lets imagine if Belledune and Dalhousie were shut down..... quite a few ppl dont have jobs. Now keep in mind Belledune has recently won international recognition for their successes with their environmental equipment... the flue gas desulfurization scrubber and the electro static precipitator. These same systems are used in 3 NB Power plants. The last time people bitched and complained about these sorts of things, NB Power stepped in and said, if you dont like it, we'll make sure it doesnt bother you. Back in 83, PEI had its breaker opened from NB.... no power to PEI. They were in a complete black out. After 2 hours, calls were made to NB Power to please get the transmission line breaker closed and that they will not be concerned with their power being supplied from a Nuclear Plant.
If something like that was done again, say in the middle of January because people dont like the fact that the majority of electricity in North America are coal plants, I'm sure that we are all so dependant on power, that we can ignore this concern if it means we can stay warm. :)