Cancer-causing air pollution is forecast at 44 times the annual level in Ontario. First Nation, show documents | The Canadian News

After a protracted battle with the provincial government, an Ontario First Nation finally obtained critical air pollution data, previously kept secret, showing alarming levels of a cancer-causing chemical in the air.

Recently released data from the Ministry of the Environment, released last week following questions from Global News, shows an alarming prognosis for contamination by benzene, a cancer-related chemical, up to 44 times the annual level in the northern part. of the First Nation.

Members of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, located along the Michigan border, said the Ontario government has been blocking them and withholding crucial data for years in what amounts to a “disrespectful” association that has treated them as less than equal.

“When we talk to the ministry and the province about nation-to-nation and reconciliation, if we can’t even get a minister to answer our letters, it talks about the government’s commitment,” said Aamjiwnaang environment coordinator Sharilyn Johnston.

Aamjiwnaang had been requesting the government for benzene data for months and other air pollution reports since 2017. Community members were also eagerly awaiting new government regulation to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from oil plants. close.

Both the reports and the proposed regulation on SO2 were released last week following questions from Global News.

“The only reason he shared some of the data is because of pressure from (Global News),” said Aamjiwnaang boss Chris Plain.

The Aamjiwnaang First Nation is located on the southern side of Sarnia and is surrounded by heavy industry.

The area is known as Chemical Valley – a group of more than 50 registered polluters, some located just steps from homes in Aamjiwnaang.

For years, the people who live here have suspected that the high level of pollution was making them sick. A study published last spring by an Ontario health research institute indicated that air pollution likely contributes to an increased risk of asthma in children in the region.

Other serious health problems, including cancer cases, remain anecdotal in the absence of hard data.

A 2017 Global News investigation, in association with the Toronto Star and the Institute for Investigative Journalism, exposed a pattern of industrial leaks and spills in the Sarnia area and revealed the stories of residents who believed it was making them sick.

Just two days after the investigation was made public, the provincial government announced that it would launch a health study that the community had been requesting for a decade.

The health study stakes are high.

Should it demonstrate a connection between elevated levels of air pollution and adverse health impacts, the oil and chemical companies, Sarnia’s lifeblood, could be forced to invest millions to renovate their plants.

Some speculate that the financial cost could jeopardize Ontario’s competitive advantage, putting jobs at risk.

A spokesperson for the Environment Ministry said the Sarnia Area Environmental Health Project “will enhance our understanding of the links between environment and health.” It is scheduled to be completed this spring.

The people of Aamjiwnaang were eager to see the underlying data.

In 2017, the provincial government, then led by Kathleen Wynne, assured the Aamjiwnaang First Nation that it would be included in the project, which the government said would “improve relations with Ontario’s indigenous communities.”

The Ford government also reiterated its importance.

“People can count on us to make sure the health study is done, obviously in partnership with the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, with the city, with the health authorities,” former Environment Minister Rod Phillips said in 2018.

While the Environment Ministry has kept the First Nation regularly updated on the project, until last week it withheld key air pollution data that inform the health study.

“This is just the continuation of the Canadian legacy of putting indigenous peoples, people of color, in a lower place,” said Janelle Nahmabin, chair of the Aamjiwnaang environment committee, who goes by the spiritual name of Woman. Red Cloud.

The recently released benzene data is part of the Health Study Air Exposure Review, which aims to identify hazards, assess exposures, and characterize risks.

The ministry identified five priority chemicals for inclusion: benzene and 1,3 butadiene, which are known carcinogens, as well as sulfur dioxide, which can cause respiratory distress.

The five chemicals were modeled by the Environment Ministry, a projection of pollution levels based on industrial emissions and weather patterns combined.

Global News was able to obtain some of that modeling data, under freedom of information legislation. The data indicated levels of sulfur dioxide in concentrations much higher than most Canadian cities.

The maximum annual average sulfur dioxide over three years was forecast to be as high as 11 parts per billion (ppb) in the industrial heartland of Sarnia and five to six ppb in north Aamjiwnaang, which is close to a oil plant.

Toronto, by contrast, had an annual SO2 level of 0.3 ppb for the last year that data was reported.

The Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standard for SO2, a non-enforceable standard, is five ppb per year and will be reduced to four ppb per year in 2025.

“These are very high levels,” said Scott Grant, an air pollution engineer who retired from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and is now consulting with Aamjiwnaang.

“There have been a number of studies dating back to the early 2000s that show a higher level of hospitalizations and a higher level of mortality, even with these higher levels of SO2 in the long term. This is a major concern. “

On October 27, Global News contacted the Ministry of the Environment for information on sulfur dioxide and its health effects. On November 1, there was a request to follow up on more data and an interview with the minister, which was not granted.

On November 9, however, the ministry proposed a new regulation for sulfur dioxide.

If approved, heavy emitters would have to reduce SO2 levels by 30 percent by early 2022 and would have to cut emissions by as much as 90 percent by the end of 2026. It would also allow the province to fine a company to $ 100,000 for violating the new requirements.

“Our facility in Ontario, near Aamjiwnaang, is decades behind in terms of air pollution control,” Grant said.

“There are cost-effective solutions that have already been tested in the United States and that could be applied here.”

The proposed regulation also stipulates that companies will have to share emissions data with local municipalities and First Nations.

Among the other documents released to the First Nation this week: an air monitoring report showing the government had been aware of the severity of benzene exposures for years.

The emissions report was published in 2017 by a Swedish company hired by the ministry to conduct specialized air monitoring using “state-of-the-art” laser and infrared techniques.

It measured air quality at 18 different locations in the Sarnia area and found benzene levels outside two of Aamjiwnaang’s neighboring industrial plants up to 10 times the Ontario time reference. The report also focused on the specific sources of the emissions.

Aamjiwnaang had been petitioning the government for this report for four years.

“It is inconceivable why the Ministry could not produce a report for the Aamjiwnaang First Nation,” Aamjiwnaang Chief Chris Plain wrote to Environment Minister David Piccini on July 13, 2021.

Currently, benzene emissions have been reduced in parts of Aamjiwnaang, but they are still well above Ontario’s stringent air quality standard.

An independent analysis by Global News found that the annual benzene level in 2020 in a government air monitor on the north side of Aamjiwnaang was still seven times higher than the Ontario Ambient Air Quality Criteria, a threshold set to protect the Health.

Environment Ministry spokesman Gary Wheeler said the level is a 50 percent reduction from 2019 and the government has taken action when placing orders, requiring an industrial plant in front of Aamjiwnaang to reduce its benzene emissions.

For Red Cloud Woman of Aamjiwnaang, continued pollution and lack of association is environmental racism.

In an era of reconciliation with indigenous communities across Canada, he said the rhetoric of rebuilding relationships rings hollow.

“We are tired of empty words. We want action. “