As DC enjoyed weather peaking over 70 degrees the second week of February, it seems almost like a dream that I was experiencing -40 degree weather the first week of February on my trip to Alberta, Canada.  I spent a few days visiting an area just north of the tar sands oil region of Fort McMurray called Fort Chipewyan. 

 

The purpose for my trip was to participate in a meeting to discuss the public health concerns in the community of Fort Chipewyan based on the release of a study by Dr. Kevin Timoney that found high rates of cancer-causing toxins downstream from the oil sands. [Link to: “Study confirms high levels of toxins downstream Alta. Oil sands,” by Renato Gandia, Edmonton Sun, November 8, 2007, http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2007/11/08/4641399.html]

 

Representing a U.S.-based environmental group, I went to this meeting to learn more about these concerns that I could bring back with me to the U.S. since the U.S. is the primary consumer of tar sands oil and the driver for further development in this region. 

 

Fort Chipewyan is the oldest settlement in Alberta and is for the most part considered a pristine and beautiful place.  However, given its close proximity to Fort McMurray’s tar sands mining and upgrading facilities along the shared waters of the Athabasca River, the community is now concerned with the increasing number of rare cancers and blood disorders afflicting their friends and family.

 

Fort Chipewyan is a small community without cell phone access or wireless email.  As a person who actually appreciates having a Blackberry to easily access her email, it was quite a pleasant surprise for me to spend a few days in what I considered “wireless silence”.  However, the community was overcome with an even greater sense of silence due to a recent death of a person in their community.

 

I arrived on February 5th to a very somber town still in mourning the death and burial of a 28 year-old person who was diagnosed with and passed away from a rare form of cancer.  He spent the majority of his life living in the community of Fort Chipewyan and had only recently moved away from the community before he was diagnosed.  His name is now added to a quickly growing list of names on a wall inside a church in town of all those they have lost.  As we drove through town, we also drove past the cemetery which had several new graves just since the last time I visited in August last year. 

 

While in Fort Chipewyan, I had a chance to speak with several members in the community and listen to their concerns with tar sands development.  The stories I heard from speaking with various residents all conveyed the same message—something is happening to the public health and livelihoods of this community.  And there remain many unanswered questions regarding the community’s health and the future livelihoods for those people who depend on fishing, hunting, and trapping.  I found out that the majority of the people in Fort Chipewyan still maintain a subsistence diet—eating the majority of their food from local meat and fish.

 

Given this large percentage of people who continue to live off the land, I was shocked to find out that there still continues to be a lack of attention by both the Alberta and Federal Canadian Government to these public health concerns.  [Link to: “Alberta doctors support outspoken peer”, March 27, 2007, CBC News,

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/03/27/oconnor-ama.html]

 

Equally terrible is the lack of interest by these same governments to understand what is causing these impacts by conducting independent analysis of the quality of the water, fish, and animals in the area. 

 

It was an incredible experience to see first-hand what livelihoods are under threat and which people will be affected greatest because of those changes.  It is the not only the fishermen, hunters, and trappers that stand much to lose, but everyone else in the community and neighboring communities on the shared waters of the Athabasca River the longer questions and concern remain unanswered.

 

Just last week, a report was released, “Canada’s Toxic Tar Sands: The Most Destructive Project on Earth,” which addressed the pervasive scope of pollution that is contaminating the waters shared by the community of Fort Chipewyan with the tar sands industry.  This report includes summaries of the various carcinogenic toxins that are found in the water and the lack of government oversight to deal with this growing problem.  Link to report: http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/reports/tarsands.htm

 

While I am pleased to see this report clearly tell the toxic story of the tar sands, I now wonder if those responsible for ensuring the well-being of Fort Chipewyan are listening.