Cancer-causing chemicals from old fuel tanks continue to put the health of Manitoba First Nations at risk despite federal pledges to clean up the toxic waste.
According to the Treasury Board of Canada's Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory, 839 of Manitoba's 1,290 contaminated sites are in the federal riding of Churchill -- the majority of which are located on or near First Nations reserves.
Churchill is the federal riding with the third-highest number of contaminated sites in the country, behind Kenora, with 1,104, and Skeena -- Bulkley Valley in B.C., with 984.
While the database doesn't specify the extent of the contamination or the toxins for many locations, tonnes of potentially carcinogenic chemicals -- including petroleum hydrocarbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and heavy metals like mercury -- have been reported in some First Nations communities, including Shamattawa, where more than 11,000 tonnes of petroleum hydrocarbon has contaminated soil.
Jeff Solmundson, spokesman for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's Manitoba office, said the federal government is working to clean up many of the sites through a national action plan, but admitted the process has been slow-going since testing to see the extent of the soil contamination and the cleanup itself is "time-consuming."
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has flagged 15 priority sites in Manitoba for assessment and remediation this fiscal year at a cost of $9.6 million.
But First Nations leaders and environmental scientists allege the government hasn't done enough work to clean up the toxic mess that's been seeping into the soil for years and are worried about the potential health impacts of living next to hazardous pollutants.
"A lot of them are carcinogenic," said Elaine MacDonald, senior scientist at Toronto-based Ecojustice, noting some chemicals may leak into the groundwater supply or cause a build-up of volatile gases in the soil.
Grand Chief Ron Evans said the government has to do a mass cleanup to remove the mess left by diesel generators, once used to power schools and other buildings on reserves more than 30 years ago. Homes and buildings that were initially built on the toxic soil have been demolished, Evans said, and have yet to be rebuilt.
In other cases, Evans said barrels filled with chemicals were buried in the soil when First Nations switched from diesel to hydroelectric power in the early 1970s.
Today, he said chemicals have surfaced and are a huge cause of worry for the people who live in affected communities where children play in or near the toxic soil.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
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