Contaminants investigated

Two of the families living there were recommended to move, but have since been told by Health Canada that it is safe to live on the site.

And residents, and the company performing tests on the land, question the effects of the contamination on Rainy Lake and its fish.

“The bottom line is we need some help. We need some big help from big people,” said resident Laura “Sue” Foran.

The contamination is currently known to include concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (dioxins and furans) at the former site of the J.A. Mathieu Sawmill, according to reports provided to the residents by DST Consulting Engineers. DST employees have done extensive testing inside and outside of homes in the area — groundwater testing, boreholes and soil samples, and dust sample collection inside the buildings — and have provided the results to Couchiching First Nation.

Couchiching First Nation and the residents have been advised that further testing will be required to see if more than six additional chemicals are on the site.

“The health and safety of the residents of Couchiching First Nation is a priority of the department,” said Susan Bertrand, manager, communications north for Indian Northern Affairs Canada. “(INAC) is working closely with the project team to expedite the assessment.

“Currently, further soil sampling is required to confirm the possible presence of any contaminants that were previously unidentified,” she continued. “First Nations are responsible for tendering, selecting a contractor and overseeing implementation of these projects. As such, INAC will continue to provide funding for the site assessment to identify the extent of the contamination and to develop a remedial action plan.”

Residents are currently looking to Health Canada to provide results of blood tests on 17 residents that were conducted June 17. After Health Canada gets the necessary data, staff will instruct INAC how to proceed, according to Foran.

Dr. Thomas Dignan, regional community medicine specialist with Health Canada, said residents could expect results from their blood tests this week, and he said he hoped to travel to Fort Frances to schedule appointments with them at their local clinic.

“Our blood results go straight to Dr. Dignan at Health Canada. They’re not going to our own doctor; they’re going to the people we’re fighting with. That's really comforting,” resident Lisa McPherson said sarcastically.

A report on dioxins and furans from Health Canada said that potential health effects of exposure to dioxins and furans include skin disorders such as chloracne; liver problems; impairment of the immune, endocrine and reproductive systems; effects on the developing nervous system and other developmental events; and certain types of cancer. The health department also noted that effects depend on many factors such as the way a person is exposed, the quantity of exposure, individual susceptibility, and whether a person is also exposed to other substances that may be associated with health effects.

Foran said that her mother has unexplained skin lesions on her legs, which she and McPherson said may be attributed to exposure to the chemicals from a lot of gardening during 18 years at her Harry’s Road home. However, no health effects in the residents have yet been linked directly to the contamination.

“They say, ‘It probably won’t hurt you, but we can’t say it won’t,’” McPherson quoted officials for Health Canada.

According to Christine Jourdain, project manager and economic development officer for Couchiching First Nation, who has been involved in this project for about a decade, it is likely that if more contaminants are found on the site that further blood tests for residents would be conducted.

Jourdain also said that INAC was responsible for ensuring that the site of the former sawmill was returned to its natural state, but that they “dropped the ball.”

“Someone in INAC way back when should have known the history,” said Jourdain. “INAC should have ensured the clean up ... We want it back to its natural state.”

According to Jourdain, INAC leased the land to at least four sawmills on that location and was responsible to ensure that the site underwent cleaning after each lease ended. She said that no one was aware of a pentacholorophenol (PCP) dipping pond on the location, which is likely the source of the contamination, but that Couchiching First Nation was going to “hold INAC on the line” for remediation.

According to a July 6 letter to the First Nation from DST, “A draft Human Health Preliminary Quantitative Risk Assessment completed by DST identified unacceptable risks to human health at the site related to the PSDDs and PCDFs.”

Residents were notified of the analysis of the investigation in March. At that time, DST recommended as a precaution that two families, those of Marc and Lisa McPherson, and Shawn and Amanda Jourdain, move out of their homes.

The two residences were fenced off in June and posted with signs reading “Caution Keep Out.” Both families moved from their homes. Out of necessity, the McPhersons returned to their home after more than a month, but the Jourdains are still not living in their Harry’s Road home.

“I’ve got a brand new house with a big seven-foot corral around it,” McPherson said of her three-year-old home.

“The residents are perfectly safe to live in their homes,” said Dignan. “Their consultants said that it was prudent to move them out. There was no evidence to base that on.”

“They know it’s contaminated, they’ve fenced it off, and they’re saying it’s OK to live here,” said Foran.

For McPherson and Foran, questions about their family’s health and where they will be living in the future are pressing.

“For the amount they’ve spent right now, which is $1.2 million, of just petering around here, they could have bought us out, all of us, the main four concerns. We could have been gone and they could have tested, quarantined it off, and taken their sweet time cleaning it up,” said McPherson.

The four homes of concern mentioned are the two that were fenced, plus the homes of Foran and her mother. It was suggested by Foran and McPherson that INAC buy out the homes so that the families could relocate.

Jourdain agreed that it would be in the best interest to move several of the residents permanently while testing and cleanup continued.

“If they were relocated, we could take our time cleaning up the site,” she said.

A larger question about water quality of Rainy Lake and the safety of its fish has also been voiced by residents and DST, because ground water from the dipping pond site flows toward the lake.

A March letter from DST to Couchiching First Nation states, “The proximity of the contaminants to Rainy Lake presents a potentially wider ecological concern with respect to the aquatic environment.”

Jourdain said, “We haven’t bothered with the water yet,” and that efforts were focused on the hot spots on the land, but that testing of Rainy Lake has “always been on the agenda.”

“It’s leaking into the lake that all of us use,” Jourdain said. “We know there’s a lot in there, but we don’t know what.”

“What about the fish we’re eating? We catch them not too far off shore,” questioned McPherson.

For the residents, this is not just about numbers and chemicals, it is about their quality of life and being comfortable in their own homes.

“There are lots of blood, sweat and tears up here. This is beautiful land ... It’s a great place to raise children,” said Foran. “They can swim, they can boat, they can snow machine. Now it’s no good.”