A 2017 report commissioned by the federal government found elevated levels of arsenic, nickel and hydrocarbons
'It’s like nobody wants to tell us the truth,' said Allan Adam, Chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation , seen here in 2019. 'We’re finding out all these things because of the hard work that we put in and the pressure, but it just goes to show that we’re in a losing battle.
Allan Adam, Chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, says the community only found out this summer through a third-party contractor who came across the report when they asked Transport Canada for information to potentially dredge the site for ease of access. The dock, built in 1961, juts into the Athabasca River from the middle of the community. It’s where children swim in the summer, people eat berries picked from the shore and residents fish from the wharf; there’s even a fishing derby there each year. It’s also not far from the intake pipe for Fort Chipewyan’s drinking water.
Despite the findings of the 2017 study, they said, “Transport Canada officials have taken no action to warn our community of the risks to human and environmental health.” Transport Canada press secretary Laurent de Casanove did not respond as to why the community was not told about the contamination, but said in an e-mail that the government is “working with the local First Nations community to ensure that operations at the port facility are carried out safely. Remote and Indigenous communities must have access to the safe and reliable connectivity that they need.”
Community Government Dock Contamination Nation Health Study Site Imperial Alberta Ottawa
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