THE
HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Wednesday, November 10, 1999
Environmental group will reveal Red Hill charges
|
A private environmental enforcer has turned its attention to Hamilton. The Environmental Bureau of Investigation (EBI), a grandiose name for a mostly volunteer group that dares to go where provincial government enforcers aren't, will be in town today to announce a private prosecution. The group, which is getting help
from the Sierra Legal Defence
|
THE
HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Thursday, November 11, 1999
City charged over PCBs
|
Sharon Oosthoek
Members claim Hamilton has known for at least 18 months that PCBs and toxic levels of ammonia are seeping into the creek. And environmentalists say that levels of the poisons are so high that test fish dipped in the leachate died within minutes. Correspondence from former city public works commissioner Doug Lobo in August 1998 acknowledges the provincial environment ministry's concerns about polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination from the Rennie Street works yard. He states Hamilton plans to confirm provincial test results and take "the necessary remedial measures" to stop toxic seepage into the creek. The Environmental Bureau of Investigation held a news conference yesterday at the Brampton Street footbridge over the Red Hill Creek to announce the charges. The Sierra Legal Defence Fund will represent environmentalists in the prosecution of the complaint. Hamilton aldermen -- in particular the politicians who represent east-end Ward 4 --were caught off guard by the allegations and the charges. They were also unaware of the concerns expressed by the environment ministry about PCB contamination from the works yard. Alderman Dave Wilson represents the area. Chad Collins heads the transport and environment committee. They say that out of all city aldermen, they at least should have been made aware of problems at the yard. "It's safe to say neither of us are happy," Wilson said. "Clearly no discharge is acceptable. I know there are problems with the Brampton Street landfill (a closed dump just downstream from the works yard) but I wasn't aware of any problems from Rennie Street." About 30 area residents attended the news conference. The EBI, made up mostly of volunteers, has successfully prosecuted the City of Kingston over Fisheries Act violations. It was a two-year-long process but the city was eventually fined $150,000. The maximum fine for charges against the City of Hamilton is more than $2 million. EBI investigator Mark Mattson said he gathered samples from leachate seeping into the Red Hill Creek over the course of six days this summer. Mattson told residents he was shocked by the levels of PCBs and ammonia found in the samples -- PCBs were "thousands of times" over provincial water quality objectives and ammonia in concentrations lethal to fish. That did not surprise some residents, who say they've called the city several times about their worries over leachate from the works yard. The yard was built next to a small landfill that was closed in the 1960s, before authorities began keeping records. Area activist Burke Austin is especially worried about the implications. "For years, I worked to have the trail and bridge installed across the creek so that citizens could have access to it, and now I am so worried because I know that many children are playing in this polluted area and there are no signs to warn them," Austin said. Lukasik says she would like to see the city post warnings in the area to keep people away until it can be cleaned up. In the meantime, residents say they're looking for answers as to why the city hasn't acted on their concerns. Both Wilson and Collins say they have received calls about the Brampton Street landfill, but not about Rennie Street. The aldermen expressed frustration yesterday they'd not been made aware of discussions between city and ministry staff over the landfill. After discussions with city staff yesterday, Wilson said city workers had isolated a leachate source in May. They spent $10,000 to dig out PCB-contaminated soil at the site, cap the source and ship the soil to Quebec, where it was treated. City workers have since found other sources of leachate. Ministry of Environment staff are also investigating water quality around the site.
|
THE
HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Friday, November 12, 1999
Agostino demands probe of toxic Rennie St. runoff
|
Jon Wells
"We need an independent investigation to assess who knew about the problem, what action was taken, and who screwed up for this to carry on this long," said Agostino. His riding includes Rennie Street in the city's northeast. About 18 months ago, the provincial ministry detected PCBs and toxic levels of ammonia seeping into Red Hill Creek, originating from land along Rennie Street -- property which has been used as a public works yard since a landfill on the site was closed in the mid-1950s. The ministry sent a letter to the city in May 1998, expressing concern about polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination on the site. Former commissioner of public works Doug Lobo responded with a letter in August 1998, saying evaluation and remediation would address the issue. No work was done until last May, one year after the ministry's letter, when the city says $10,000 was spent to dig out some PCB-contaminated soil at the site and take it to Quebec for treatment. At issue is whether the city and ministry acted promptly, and why elected city officials were allegedly never told about the problem. The upshot could be as much as $2 million in fines against the city, which is the maximum penalty that can result from the charges. There is also the issue of health impacts related to the toxic runoff. These impacts are unknown, particularly given the largely inconclusive research on limited human exposure to PCBs, but of no less concern to local residents. "These are serious allegations," said Agostino. "Kids play in that area. To allow toxic material to flow there without anyone taking concrete action is gross negligence on someone's part." Ward 4 Alderman Dave Wilson, whose ward includes Rennie Street, said of the PCBs: "I don't see them as the massive problem others do. "But they are clearly a problem and should be dispersed properly in the environment." Wilson and Chad Collins, who is head of the transport and environment committee, claim they never knew about the toxic material, not even as staffers were corresponding with the ministry. But clearly aldermen and staff knew for some time that Rennie Street contained contaminated material. A consultant's report related to construction of the Red Hill Creek Expressway released in July 1998, pointed to the need to remove 2,000 cubic metres of hazardous waste from the Rennie Street site. It said nothing about specific pollutants. While the city removed some of the PCB-ammonia contaminated soil in May, environmentalists say this was symbolic remediation at best. Lynda Lukasik, Hamilton's 1999 environmentalist of the year, is working with the volunteer Environmental Bureau of Investigation (EBI) to file the charges. She says EBI testing between last June 18 and Aug. 20, well after the city's digging, showed toxic contamination was still prominent. "The city dug out some soil with a backhoe and then plugged it up -- it was just patch work," she said. "My sense is, they need to do a complete remediation." City officials claim the remediation is a work in progress, and consultants continue to monitor the site to gear up for further action. Yet aldermen were never told of this continued concern until the announcement of the charges this week. Moreover, it appears that funding necessary to conduct further remediation has not been included in the city's 2000 capital budget. A proposal to allocate $100,000 annually to clean up old city-owned dumps -- like the one at Rennie Street -- was nixed from early budget drafts by staffers before it ever got to aldermen on the budget steering committee. Wilson, for one, plans to make a move to reintroduce that funding when the capital budget is debated at council. He is upset staff never told him about the PCBs and ammonia. But, apart from this, he believes the city and ministry handled the remediation issue properly. He said he discovered yesterday that the two bureaucracies exchanged several letters between January and May, before the ministry gave approval to remove some PCB-contaminated soil. As for the 12-month delay from the first letter to the soil removal, he said: "It's as quick as anything (the city and ministry bureaucracy) ever do. A turnaround of a year or less is considered pretty good. It shouldn't be, but it is. "It takes time, with all the reports, reviewing paperwork, exchanging comments." But Agostino believes "somebody dropped the ball" by not releasing information on the toxic runoff, and for not ensuring an immediate, thorough cleanup. The outspoken Liberal MPP is a spirited critic of the provincial government, often attacking its budget cutbacks to ministries. He said cuts to MOE staff hurts its response time to situations like those at Rennie Street. "The ministry is ultimately responsible. But if the city didn't do what they were supposed to, they should have been charged. And if there was no follow-up, then the MOE is negligent in their duty." PCB PRIMER * Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of manufactured organic chemicals that contain 209 individual chlorinated chemicals (known as congeners). PCBs are either oily liquids or solids and are colourless to light yellow in colour. They have no known smell or taste. There are no known natural sources of PCBs. * PCBs don't burn easily and are good insulating material. They have been used widely as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment. They went into use 70 years ago, became suspect as a health hazard 30 years ago, and their manufacture was stopped more than 20 years ago when it was determined the substance is carcinogenic. Products containing PCBs are old fluorescent lighting fixtures, electrical appliances containing PCB capacitors, old microscope oil, and hydraulic fluids. * You can be exposed to PCBs by: using old fluorescent lighting fixtures and old appliances such as television sets and refrigerators that may leak small amounts of PCBs into the air when they get hot during operation; eating food, including fish, meat and dairy products containing PCBs; breathing air near hazardous waste sites that contain PCBs; drinking PCB-contaminated well water; repairing or maintaining PCB transformers. * Health impacts of PCBs have always been a controversial area. PCBs were synonymous with cancer in the 1980s. Protesters in Quebec fought riot police and threw themselves in front of trucks carrying PCBs to prevent their transfer through their town. But it is not known whether PCBs cause cancer in humans. In a long-term (365 days or longer) study, PCBs caused cancer of the liver in rats that ate certain PCB mixtures. People exposed to PCBs in the air for a long time have experienced irritation of the nose and lungs, and skin irritations such as acne and rashes. The most recent PCB health debate is whether PCBs cause birth defects or reproductive problems in people, but this is so far inconclusive. Animals that breathed very high levels of PCBs had liver and kidney
damage while animals that ate food with large amounts of PCBs had mild
liver damage. Animals that ate food with smaller amounts of PCBs had liver,
stomach and thyroid gland injuries, as well as anemia, acne and problems
with their reproductive systems. Skin exposure to PCBs in animals resulted
in liver, kidney and skin damage.
|
CTV News and Current Affairs, Saturday, November 13, 1999
A toxic waterway prompts a public outcry in Southern
Ontario
|
** SANDIE RINALDO: One of Ontario's top environmentalists
is taking
PETER MURPHY (Reporter):
Salmon swim up Hamilton's Red Hill Creek
LINDA LUKASIK (Resident):
It's amazing that the water doesn't
MURPHY: But they marvel not
that the salmon return but that they
LUKASIK: One of the samples
that we took, we found that the PCBs
MURPHY: So Linda Lukasik,
who lives close to the creek, filed
ELIZABETH CHRISTIE (Sierra
Legal Defence Fund): It's a tragedy
MURPHY: As a boy, Stan Lukish
watched them dump tonnes of
STAN LUKISH (Area Resident):
I seen a lot of chemicals dumped
MURPHY: Hamilton alderman Dave Wilson claims the city didn't know. DAVE WILSON (Hamilton Alderman):
We weren't aware of the facts,
MURPHY: But provincial government
tests on this site two years ago
Hamilton.
|
THE
HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Saturday, November 13, 1999
Hamilton ignored '89 cleanup caution; Ammonia a greater threat than PCB-tainted soil
|
Wylie Rogers
"The problem is always the same one," said Dr. George Sorger, a biology professor at McMaster University. "Not enough people know about it, therefore, we quite democratically ignore it." Privately laid charges against the City of Hamilton were filed this week by the Environmental Bureau of Investigation (EBI). The organization studied seepage from the landfill and found unusual levels of PCBs and concentrations of ammonia. Laboratory tests have shown PCBs caused cancer in mice. PCBs have also been linked to embryo mortality and deformities in wildlife. Sustained, high-level exposure can cause health problems, but the federal health department says short-term, low-level exposure is unlikely to have significant health effects. EBI investigator Mark Mattson said ammonia levels detected during his group's testing were the highest he has ever seen. "Certainly, these levels would be unjustifiable," he said yesterday. "I have no reason to believe it hasn't been going on for years." Sorger said PCB-contaminated soil may pale in comparison to the threat
posed by ammonia running into the creek. It's a product of accumulated
garbage, sewage or fertilizer. He said fish dying immediately when exposed
to contaminated water is a powerful indicator of a problem that needs to
be fixed. "If you get a direct toxic effect like that on fish, that says
what is coming out of there is very toxic." Ammonia easily dissolves in
water and irritates the mouth, throat and nose. Sorger said the highly
toxic levels found in leachate seeping into Red Hill Creek would likely
affect the respiratory system. Although he isn't a health specialist, Sorger
said, "It would be something that probably affects you through your
The report estimates 197,000 cubic metres of waste are on site. Around 1,200 cubic metres of hazardous PCB waste were found. To dispose of only the PCBs would cost an estimated $700,000. The overall cleanup had a projected price tag of $4.2 million. Within the 1998 report, the findings of several other environmental investigations were noted. A 1989 report recommended: "...the removal of all the waste prior to the construction of the roadway (Red Hill Creek Expressway) and relocation of the creek, and installation of a leachate collection system for the remaining waste. ** Outspoken environmentalist Patricia Pennzari said councillors such as Dave Wilson have known about the problem since the early '90s.She says she has correspondence to support her claim. Wilson said Thursday he was not aware of a toxic material problem. Sorger says many studies were done on the neighbouring Brampton Street Landfill which was experiencing similar problems. Despite public outcry, he says council did nothing. Ministry of the Environment spokesperson John Steele says an investigation
started in 1997 to determine the cause of high PCB and ammonia levels
in Red Hill Creek. Hard results came in May 1998.
As a result, the city says $10,000 was spent to dig out some PCB-contaminated
soil at the site. It was taken to Quebec for treatment. "I would say for
sure that's just a band-aid solution to a long-time problem," said
Sorger. Steele said the slow remediation process is part of their investigation.
He stops short of warning people to stay away from the creek. He does say
the allegations from EBI are cause for concern. "Do we have people swimming
in Red Hill Creek?" he asked. "No. (But), (high levels of ammonia) could
pose a threat to aquatic creatures."
|
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Monday, November 15, 1999
Hamilton caught flat-footed
Lack of a spill response policy is astonishing
|
Editorial
In our view, the courts are more likely to produce prompt action than a provincial investigation. Liberal MPP Dominic Agostino was predictably quick on the partisan draw in demanding an "independent" government probe. The chances of the Mike Harris goernment calling a probe are almost as likely as an inquiry into the Platimet fire. And the independence of an investigation would be suspect since there are questions about whether the province, not just the city, acted promptly. Science is inconclusive on the risks of limited human exposure to PCBs, but there isn't any doubt about the importance of preventing the discharge of toxins such as PCBs and ammonia into streams. The handling of the Rennie Street spill, as reported so far, suggests that Hamilton needs to get its act together. It took a year for the city to start cleaning up the site after the provincial environment ministry raised the red flag. The aldermen who represent east-end Ward 4 say they were never told of discussions between city and ministry staff about the issue. Here was a problem that warranted a priority, fast-track cleanup form city council. Instead, action was delayed for a year apparently due to a communications breakdown and the evident lack of a foolproof pollution response policy. This is astonishing, given Hamilton's chronic air and water pollution problems.
Of equal concern, the remediation of old municipally-owned dumps, like
Rennie Street, isn't getting the necessary priority. Staff cut a
$100,000 annual allotment for landfill cleanup before it reached
aldermen on the budget steering committee. That's wrong. By
reinstating this money, council will take an important first step in
assuring Hamiltonians that it's serious about dealing more effectively
with pollution hazards and developing a plan to prevent them.
|
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Tuesday, November 16, 1999
Toxic leak shocks expert
|
Carolynne Wheeler
The ammonia leaking into Red Hill Creek is in concentrations of 430 to 500 parts per million -- astronomically higher than the six to 16 parts per million discharged regularly by Hamilton's Woodward Avenue water treatment plant. Last week, local environmentalist Lynda Lukasik and the watchdog group Environmental Bureau of Investigation laid private charges against the City of Hamilton under the provincial Environmental Protection Act and the federal Fisheries Act. They said city officials knew for at least 18 months that PCBs and toxic levels of ammonia were seeping into the creek without taking action. City politicians expressed concern that they had never been alerted to problems caused by the site, which is now a public works yard. And area residents who have fought for the creek's survival said they now worry about their children's health. Ammonia seeping into water is a problem across the continent. It kills fish and can permanently change the type of plant life able to thrive. In moderate amounts, ammonia is a good thing. The chemical exists naturally in animal manure and human waste and is a valued fertilizer for farmers' fields. But in large amounts, ammonia in air or water is a toxin that kills aquatic life and makes people sick. It isn't clear what ammonia in a stream will do to people. But even at lower concentrations, warns Carleton University chemistry professor Bryan Hollebone, there is likely to be discomfort. Other scientists warn babies and very small children are more vulnerable, since exposure to nitrates -- a breakdown of ammonia -- can limit their blood's ability to carry oxygen. A more visible problem may be the effect ammonia contamination has on aquatic life. In high enough concentrations, it can kill fish outright; in the case of the Rennie Street site, environmentalists said fish introduced to the leachate in a lab died within minutes. Almost as serious, it can create "dead zones" where aquatic plants and algae feed on the liquid fertilizer and begin to grow at an astronomical pace, taking up all the oxygen and essentially suffocating fish. The Red Hill Creek finding is also much higher than guidelines used for water discharge from fertilizer plants, ranging from 10 parts per million in Ontario to 35 in Alberta.
However, one thing isn't clear -- how the
Environmental Bureau of
Investigation measurements compare to provincial
guidelines on what is an
unacceptable level of ammonia in water.
The provincial guideline of 0.02 parts per million
measures only the portion
of ammonia molecules that are actually toxic, also
known as un-ionized,
which changes with the water's temperature and
acidity. It also takes into
account how much the ammonia has been diluted by the
water it's leaking
into.
"The bottom line is they're not supposed to have any
ammonia in the water,"
said John Steele, media officer for Ontario's
Ministry of Environment.
|
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, Tuesday, November 16, 1999
Hamilton ordered to stop dump leak - Leachate collection system proposed
|
Rick Hughes
The ministry slapped a field order on the city after the seepage into the creek was publicized by local environmentalists working with a private environmental investigation group. City staff has proposed spending up to $600,000 to build a leachate collection system around the closed dump, which is leaking PCBs and ammonia. David Adames of the city's communications staff, confirmed the ministry order. Municipal staff and politicians have found money for the collection system in a special reserve fund. The proposal will go to council next week. The situation has embarrassed the city and forced it to try to explain why it didn't act sooner on warnings about conditions at the dump. Privately laid charges against the city were filed last month by environmentalist Lynda Lukasik after a group called the Environmental Bureau of Investigations gathered evidence and did its own testing. John Steele, an environment ministry spokesman, said it wants immediate action to control the seepage as well as a longer term solution. "Initially what we want is to have those five point sources capped and, of course, we would expect they would give us a more definite plan about what they intend to do." Steele said the overall objective is clear. "It means stopping the material from entering the Red Hill Creek, whichever waay they deem to be appropriate." The city maintains the new leachate collection plan has nothing to do with the charges. However, the charges clearly spooked city staff who refuse to talk about the proposal. And when the plan was presented to politicians earlier this week, there was no written material, as is customary. It was a verbal presentation. So details are scarce and it's not clear just how far the plan has been developed. Alderman Dave Wilson, whose ward contains the dump and who was clearly uncomfortable with the legal restraints he's been advised to follow, is pleased with the action. "That is a recommendataion that is not tied to the charges, I'm told," he said. "It's an initiative that has to go ahead because we have problems aand they have to be resolved." Lukasik said, "It's good to hear that," when told about the city pln. "It looks as though our efforts here are already having an impact." The order requires the city to take several steps at the dump and
the city works yard built over it.
They include: The city may already have much of the information required since the site was investigated by consultants hired to workd on Red Hill Creek Expressway studies. Expressway plans call for part of the waste in the dump to be excavated, which would also mean tearing up the collection system. Adames said only a quarter of the system would have to be removed. The city had its first day in courd yesterday. The case was put
over to Jan. 25 when a trial date will be set.
|